Meaning & use
en passant
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
A chess rule that lets a pawn capture an enemy pawn that has just moved two squares forward, as if it had moved only one.
Grammar: Used as an adverbial phrase after the capturing verb: take en passant, capture en passant.
Patterns
- capture something en passant
- take en passant
White played c5, and Black captured en passant on the very next move.
You can only take en passant immediately after the pawn makes its two-square advance.
The rule of en passant often surprises beginners in their first tournament.
adverbliteraryformal
While moving past or in the course of doing something else; by the way.
Grammar: A literary or formal aside; it does not take an object.
Patterns
- mention something en passant
She mentioned, en passant, that the deadline had been moved up.
He noted en passant that the same problem appears in the earlier chapter.
Common combinations
- capture en passant
- The pawn can capture en passant only on the next move.
- take en passant
- She took en passant and gained a clear advantage.
- en passant rule
- The en passant rule is explained in chapter three.
- en passant capture
- An en passant capture is rare in club games.
Synonyms and how they differ
- in passing
- In passing is the everyday English equivalent for the 'by the way' sense, not for the chess rule.
Commonly confused: en passant or en route?
en passant vs en route
En route means 'on the way' and is used for travel, not for chess or casual mention.
Practice
In chess, when can you capture a pawn en passant?
Choose one answer.
En passant is available only on the very next move after the enemy pawn's two-square advance; waiting even one move loses the right. The other options describe unrelated chess situations.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “en passant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.