What does the "y" stand for in "Je m'y attendais"?

Question

What does the "y" stand for in "Je m'y attendais"? There's no À, and it certainly does not mention some place there. So why is there a "Y"?

Please provide context "Y" is a pronoun and stands for something but we cannot tell you what if you do not say what comes before. — None, Apr 16 '16 at 06:02
"Y" stands for something that is mentioned before so you must write more, not just the sentence you do not understand. — None, Apr 16 '16 at 06:06
"Je m'y attendais" --> "I was expecting it". Y in french stand for 'it' in this context. — Emmanuel M., Apr 19 '16 at 14:39

None · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-16T07:55:26.633

7

Personal pronoun "y" can replace something that is indirect object to a verb whose indirect object is introduced by preposition "à".

A verb phrase :

A- Il pleut.
B- Je m'y attendais, il y avait de gros nuages noirs.

A noun :

A- Voilà la pluie.
B- Je m'y attendais, il y avait de gros nuages noirs.

The verb is "s'attendre à". We could react to "Il pleut" with:

Je m'attendais à ce qu'il pleuve.

and to "Voilà la pluie" with :

Je m'attendais à la pluie.

we will usually replace "à ce qu'il pleuve" or "à la pluie" by personal pronoun "y" placed just before the verb.

edited Apr 16 '16 at 07:55

answered Apr 16 '16 at 06:38

None

y can replace more than just verb phrases. – Vlammuh Apr 16 '16 at 06:47
3

Obviously. And this is not a complete grammar course about the use of "y". This is an answer to OP's question. – None Apr 16 '16 at 06:51
That may be true, but how can you be sure it replaced a verb phrase in this case without the OP having given context? – Vlammuh Apr 16 '16 at 06:53
@Sander Read Laure's reply closer, she wrote "can replace" not "does replace". – jlliagre Apr 16 '16 at 07:07
@jlliagre I am aware of that. What I'm just trying to say is that, though it is a completely correct answer, it might give the OP the impression that a verb phrase is the only thing y could have replaced in this sentence. – Vlammuh Apr 16 '16 at 07:09
@Sander Point taken, I'll expand a little. – None Apr 16 '16 at 07:49
The personal pronoun Y. I think if you're giving grammar explanations, your grammar should be right.... – Lambie Apr 16 '16 at 12:54
1

@Lambie: Just fix it if you're bothered. English grammar is not the topic here. – Stéphane Gimenez Apr 16 '16 at 14:57
Am I the only one who think y avoir (as presented in il y avait) is different from other uses of y? – iBug Apr 03 '19 at 16:51

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