Both are different words: one is a preposition, while the other is a pronoun. Looking at the definition of en, you’ll notice two tabs: EN1, prép. (preposition) and EN2, pron. atone de la 3e pers. (3rd person pronoun).
Only the preposition can adequately be translated by “in”; you should be able to infer easily from the context whether it’s a preposition or not.
“En” can have different functions:
adverbe: indicates the origine
Il en vient / He comes from there
préposition: indicates a location, a situation, a form, a transformation, a duration, a mean
J’y vais en train / I go by train
Or it can be a gérondif, placed before a verbe : en mangeant, en jouant.
Il buvait sa bière tout en jouant du piano / He was drinking his beer while playing piano.
pronom personnel: De ce, de cela, de lui, d’elle, d’eux, d’elles
Tu n’en sais rien / You know nothing about it
Leave a comment