FR: chacun y est habillé de cramoisi

[panettonea]

Salut. J'ai une question sur quelque chose qui vient de la Bible.

This is from Proverbs:

"Elle ne redoute pas la neige pour sa famille, car chacun y est habillé de cramoisi."

My question is—what is the purpose of "y" in this sentence? If you left it out, would you lose any real meaning?

Merci pour toute aide.

 

[Yendred]

y refers to "dans la famille". Everyone in the family is dressed in crimson.

 

[panettonea]

OK, thanks, Yendred. I thought that when "y" is used, there has to be something explicit that it refers to. But obviously not, since the "dans la famille" is only implied here.

Je comprends maintenant. Merci beaucoup pour votre aide.

 

[elroy]

there has to be something explicit that it refers to

There is! "sa famille". The preposition doesn't need to be explicit (although it can be).

Je vais au parc. J'y vais tous les samedis.
(Here we have a whole prepositional phrase: au parc.)

C'est un parc très joli. J'y vais tous les samedis.
(Here we just have a noun phrase: un parc.)

Either way, "y" expresses something prepositional, like "à" or "dans." The preposition doesn't have to be explicitly found elsewhere.

Both versions (with or without an explicit preposition) are very common!

In English, too, we can say "there" whether or not we've used a preposition:

I'm going to the park. I go there every Saturday.
This is a very nice park. I go there every Saturday.

 

[Bezoard]

"Elle ne redoute pas la neige pour sa famille, car chacun y est habillé de cramoisi."

My question is—what is the purpose of "y" in this sentence? If you left it out, would you lose any real meaning?

No, you would not lose any real meaning, as the context would make it clear that "chacun" refers to everyone in the family.
Although this use of "y" is perfectly correct, it is not very usual and the sentence may appear obscure even to the French reader.
I must add that there are many other translations of the same proverb, sometimes with a very different meaning.
Proverbes 31.$Verset - comparateur dans 29 traductions de la Bible

 

[panettonea]

There is! "sa famille". The preposition doesn't need to be explicit (although it can be).

Actually, elroy, that's what I meant—an explicit prepositional phrase.

The preposition doesn't have to be explicitly found elsewhere.

Both versions (with or without an explicit preposition) are very common!

Thanks—good to know!

In English, too, we can say "there" whether or not we've used a preposition:

I'm going to the park. I go there every Saturday.
This is a very nice park. I go there every Saturday.

Oh, yeah—in English, of course. But I know that French sometimes seems a lot stricter about certain things.

No, you would not lose any real meaning, as the context would make it clear that "chacun" refers to everyone in the family.
Although this use of "y" is perfectly correct, it is not very usual and the sentence may appear obscure even to the French reader.

Interesting. Thanks for the info, Bezoard.

I must add that there are many other translations of the same proverb, sometimes with a very different meaning.
Proverbes 31.$Verset - comparateur dans 29 traductions de la Bible

Wow, I see what you mean!