Tu ne peux t'en prendre qu'à toi-même

Rod B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Tu ne peux t'en prendre qu'à toi-même

Asked 7 years ago
Rod B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
I’m lost as to how this means You can only blame yourself. I get the Tu ne peux ....que part, meaning You can only, but can you help me with the t’en prendre part? Thanks!
GruffNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq
Hi Rod, the expression "s'en prendre à [quelqu'un]" is actually quite close in structure and sense as "to take it out on " but it can also mean to blame someone. Hope that helps!
Rod B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Yes it does. Thanks Gruff!
Ron T.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Merci Gruff pour votre réponse. I have not seen this locution previously. The words/phrases that I learned are: reprocher être responsable, i.e. tu es responsable. . . attribuer à quelqu'un la responsabilité de qch Is the phrase «s'en prendre à» an idiomatique phrase? Bonne journée
Donald H.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Rod/Ron: J'ai eu le même question moi-même. Je pense qu'on pourrait écrire Je ne peux m'en prendre à moi-même. J'aimerais aussi savoir que la phrase soit une phrase idiomatique. C'est très interessante.
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Just to complement the answer: French is a pretty idiomatic language, meaning that it relies heavily on the specific meaning of idioms. Of those there are many using "en". You can't literally translate them. Just learn them by heart and start using them. You'll see they work very nicely in everyday speech. J'en ai marre = I am sick of it. Tu m'en veux = You are mad at me. Il s'en va = He is leaving. Je m'en fiche = I don't care. There are many more (also using "y"), of which your example is only one among many. -- Chris (not a native speaker).
chris w.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

J'en ai marre. Is he related to the guitarist in The Smiths?

Tu ne peux t'en prendre qu'à toi-même

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