A, En, De?

In French, there are three words that often cause confusion because they are used in seemingly similar ways. These words are a, en and de.

A

Let me explain this by use of an example. In English, we have the term "tea cup".  This term consists of two nouns, tea and cup. However, in this particular term, the noun tea actually functions as an adjective to describe the cup - it is not any cup; it is a cup for holding tea.

In French it is usually not permitted to use a noun as an adjective. Thus, it would not be correct to see "une tasse thé" (most adjectives follow the noun in French). To solve the problem the French use the word "a". This word has no meaning of its own and performs a specific function. That function is a conversion function: it converts one type of word to another. In this case, it converts the noun "thé" into an adjective. Now that we have an adjective we can translate "tea cup" as "tasse a thé".

Note: Do not confuse "a" with "à", which is a preposition that does have a meaning.

En

One of the meanings of this word can be translated "made from". So, for example, if you go to a jeweller you might see "une montre en or", a watch made from gold, that is a gold watch.

De

One of the meanings of "de" is of. I will not give an example of this just yet.


Understanding the Difference Between A, En and De

une tasse a thé                   a tea cup
une tasse en thé                 a cup made from tea (that would be rather strange)
une tasse de thé                 a cup of tea (the cup contains tea)

So, if I wanted to buy a tea cup, I would ask a shop assistant to help me find "une tasse a thé". If I was thirsty, however, I would make myself "une tasse de thé". If I were insane or creative, I would try to make a cup from tea leaves or similar - "une tasse en thé".