Learn French: Prends-en un peu. - Take a little of it.

Prends-en un peu.

Take a little of it.

Breakdown of Prends-en un peu.

prendre

to have (a meal/drink) / to take

peu

little, few

of it / of them (quantity)

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Questions & Answers about Prends-en un peu.

Why is en placed after the verb here?

In French, object pronouns usually go before the verb (like Tu en prends). However, in affirmative commands (when telling someone to do something), pronouns move after the verb and are attached with a hyphen, resulting in Prends-en.

Why do we use en instead of a pronoun like le or la?

The pronoun en replaces nouns introduced by de or a quantity. The phrase un peu requires de (meaning a little of something). Therefore, en steps in to mean of it or some. You would only use le or la if you were saying Take it to refer to a specific, complete object (Prends-le).

Does prends have an s at the end just to make it easier to say with en?

No, prends naturally ends in an s in the tu command form. You might be thinking of -er verbs like manger, which drop their final s in commands but add it back before en or y (like manges-en for pronunciation). Since prendre is an -re verb, it already keeps its s.

Is there a liaison between prends and en?