dans vs. en

I. W.A2Kwiziq community member

dans vs. en

Why can't I write "Ton père est dans la prison.?

I think "dans la" & "en" both work in this example. My reasoning is that prison is a physical place.

Asked 2 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Ignatius, 

This question has been asked before and here is the answer -

https://french.kwiziq.com/questions/view/en-vs-dans-1

Bonne Continuation !

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

You haven’t given the example (it does help),  but it is unlikely both answers will fit. 

If the English is  ‘ is in the prison’  you would use ‘(être) dans la prison’ to translate to French, as in both languages the respective phrases emphasise/mean being inside the prison, as a physical structure. 

 However if the English is  ‘is in prison’  the French translation will be ‘être en prison’ with both mean being incarcerated/imprisoned, an abstract ‘place’ rather than a specific location. 

I. W. asked:View original

dans vs. en

Why can't I write "Ton père est dans la prison.?

I think "dans la" & "en" both work in this example. My reasoning is that prison is a physical place.

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