We already know that y means there. There is another way to use it. Y can replace any noun that comes after à, as long as it’s not a person. Be careful, you can only use y in this context.
| Tu t’intéresses à la musique. You are interested in music. |
Tu t’y intéresses. You are interested in it. |
|---|---|
| Vous réfléchissez à ma suggestion. You think about my suggestion. |
Vous y réfléchissez. You think about it. |
| Ils pensent aux examens. They think about the exams. |
Ils y pensent. They think about it. |
The same way y can replace verbs with à, en can replace any noun that comes after de, as long as it’s not a person.
| Je rêve de ce voyage. I dream about this trip. |
J’en rêve. I dream about it. |
|---|---|
| Vous parlez de vos problèmes. You talk about your problems. |
Vous en parlez. You talk about it. |
| Ils ont besoin d’aide. They need help. |
Ils en ont besoin. They need it. |
| Nous avons peur de cet examen. We are afraid of this exam. |
Nous en avons peur. We are afraid of it. |
When talking about how long you’ve been doing something, you’ll use depuis. If you put depuis before a particular year, it means you’ve been doing something since that year. If you put depuis before an amount of time, it means for that amount of time.
Je joue au foot depuis deux mois.
I have been playing soccer for two months.
Nous apprenons le français depuis trois ans.
We have been learning French for three years.
Ils habitent dans cette maison depuis 1980.
They have been living in this house since 1980.