"in" in seven languages
Meaningin
Spanish
en
/en/
inherited
Also 'on' and 'at': en la mesa, en casa.
French
dans
/dɑ̃/
other source · Old French denz, from Latin DĒ INTUS 'from within'
French en survives in set phrases and before country names: en France, en été.
Italian
in
/in/
inherited
Portuguese
em
/ẽj/
inherited
It fuses with the article: em + a → na, em + o → no.
Romanian
în
/ɨn/
inherited
Catalan
en
/ən/
inherited
Before the definite article Catalan uses a instead: a la bossa 'in the bag'.
English
in
/ɪn/
Indo-European kin · PIE *en
English → ItalianininDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
IN‘in, into’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin IN survives everywhere, but everyday French 'in a place' is dans, built from 'from within' (as in dedans 'inside').
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLas llaves están en el bolso.
- frLes clés sont dans le sac.
- itLe chiavi sono nella borsa.
- ptAs chaves estão na bolsa.
- roCheile sunt în geantă.
- caLes claus són a la bossa.
- enThe keys are in the bag.