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Literary notes about en (AI summary)

The term “en” functions as a versatile preposition across a variety of languages and literary contexts, serving to indicate location, time, manner, or even a means by which something is done. In many Spanish texts, “en” locates actions or objects—as seen in “el gas debe ser caro en esos países” [1] and “monedas en cintas o en cartulinas” [2]—while it also denotes temporal or contextual settings, such as “En 1998, il était consultant en marketing internet” [3] and “En este momento” [4]. Its use extends beyond Spanish; in French it appears in expressions like “en même temps que” and “en somme” [5, 6], and even in Danish and Esperanto it fulfills similar functions [7, 8]. English texts, too, sometimes incorporate “en,” whether in stylistic idioms (“leap en masse” [9]) or dialectal forms ([10], [11]). This multifaceted preposition, therefore, not only grounds actions and descriptions in physical or temporal space but also enriches the narrative quality of literary works through its diverse applications.
  1. Y me refiero especialmente a la electricidad, porque el gas debe ser caro en esos países....
    — from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson
  2. [4] monedas en cintas o en cartulinas.
    — from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson
  3. En 1998, il était consultant en marketing internet chez Globalink, société spécialisée en produits et services de traduction.
    — from Entretiens / Interviews / Entrevistas by Marie Lebert
  4. V ARIANTS : En este momento; hoy; hoy día. XXVII.—POR TELÉFONO (to the vocabulary section) Vocabulary relating to the Use of the Telephone —¡Hola!
    — from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson
  5. avec , en même temps que, en compagnie de. aventure , f. , événement fortuit, surprenant; entreprise hasardeuse.
    — from French Conversation and Composition by Harry Vincent Wann
  6. Un e-book sur papier, en somme, ce que le monde de l'édition peut attendre de mieux.
    — from Entretiens / Interviews / Entrevistas by Marie Lebert
  7. Een Skalk skal man fange med en anden.
    — from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs
  8. la avino diris "Nu, kiajn lecionojn vi havis hodiaŭ en la lernejo?"
    — from A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman Reed
  9. We must not expect the Church to leap en masse to a higher position.
    — from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I
  10. I’s gwine to ask you a question, en I wants to know how you’s gwine to git aroun’ it.
    — from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
  11. Two early English instances may be pointed out in the fifteenth century, in which a husband placed his wife's arms en surtout .
    — from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

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