🔗Les connecteurs
Mais, parce que, bien que, donc — la logique d'une phrase.
25 concepts
Les colonnes suivent les langues activées en haut. Le genre après le mot (m/f/n) ; l'API en dessous ; les notes, variantes et origines encore en dessous — rien n'est caché.
| Concept | English | Français | Español |
|---|---|---|---|
and conjunction | and Usually reduced to /ənd/ or /ən/: fish 'n' chips. | et Never liaison after et: 'et un' = /e œ̃/, not /et œ̃/. | y Becomes e before an i-/hi- sound: padre e hijo, Francia e Italia. |
or conjunction | or also: either … or | ou Où (with accent) = where. Same sound, different word. | o Becomes u before an o-/ho- sound: siete u ocho, mujeres u hombres. |
but conjunction | but Weak form /bət/. | mais Homophone of mes, met, mets. | pero also: sino (after a negative: no es rojo, sino azul) Perro (two r's) = dog — tap vs trill matters. |
because conjunction | because also: 'cause, since, as | parce que also: car (written/formal), puisque (since) Parce qu'il… before a vowel. Answer to pourquoi. | porque One word = because; ¿por qué? (two words, accent) = why; el porqué = the reason. |
so / therefore conjunction | so also: therefore, that's why | donc also: alors, du coup (very informal, everywhere now) Final c pronounced — except sometimes in 'dis donc'. | así que also: entonces, por eso, por lo tanto |
if conjunction | if also: whether | si S' before il/ils only: s'il pleut (but si elle pleut). Also 'yes' to a negative question. | si Sí (accent) = yes. Si = if. |
although conjunction | although also: though, even though | bien que also: même si (+ indicative), quoique Bien que + subjunctive: bien qu'il soit tard. | aunque + indicative for facts, + subjunctive for hypotheticals. |
when conjunction | when also: whenever | quand also: lorsque (written) Liaison: quand il = /kɑ̃ til/. | cuando ¿Cuándo? (accent) = the question. |
while conjunction | while also: whilst (UK, formal), whereas (contrast) | pendant que also: tandis que (contrast), alors que | mientras Mientras que = whereas (contrast). |
however / nevertheless adverb | however also: nevertheless, still, yet | cependant also: pourtant, toutefois, néanmoins | sin embargo also: no obstante, aun así Nothing to do with a trade embargo — 'without hindrance'. |
for example phrase | for example also: for instance, e.g. | par exemple Abbreviation p. ex. 'Non mais par exemple !' = well I never! | por ejemplo Abbreviation p. ej. |
that (I think that…) conjunction | that Usually dropped: I think (that) it's late. Weak form /ðət/. | que NEVER dropped: je pense qu'il est tard. Qu' before a vowel. | que Never dropped: creo que es tarde. Qué (accent) = what / how. |
in order to / to preposition | in order to also: to, so as to | pour also: afin de (formal) Pour + infinitive: je travaille pour vivre. | para Para + infinitive = purpose. Por = cause/exchange — the por/para chapter of every textbook. |
nevertheless / still adverb · logic | nevertheless Formal. 'Still' and 'even so' do the same job in speech. | néanmoins Formal and written. Quand même is what people actually say. | no obstante Formal; aun así is the spoken one. |
on the other hand adverb · logic | on the other hand Pairs with 'on the one hand', though most people skip the first half. | en revanche Revanche is 'revenge' — the phrase has nothing to do with it any more. Par contre is the everyday one and was once considered wrong. | en cambio Cambio is 'change'. |
thus / that way adverb · logic, manner | thus Formal to the point of stiffness. 'That way' or 'so' in speech. | ainsi Both 'thus' and 'in this way'. Ainsi de suite = 'and so on'. | así Completely ordinary in Spanish, unlike English 'thus'. Así es = 'that's right'. |
indeed / in fact adverb · logic | indeed Confirms rather than contrasts — the opposite job from 'however'. | en effet Confirms what was just said. NOT 'in effect' — that trap catches every English speaker. | en efecto Same job, same false friend. |
and yet / even so adverb | and yet 'Yet' alone at the head of a clause. English marks the surprise with intonation rather than with a word. | pourtant Not the same as cependant. Pourtant marks SURPRISE that the two things sit together: il pleut, pourtant il sort. Cependant is neutral about it. | sin embargo Spanish does not grammaticalise the surprise — sin embargo covers pourtant and cependant alike. |
so / then / in that case adverb | so The conversational opener, not the logical connective. 'So, shall we?' | alors Three jobs at once: consequence, time, and filler. Alors, on y va ? Donc is the strictly logical one and cannot open a sentence this way. | entonces The same three jobs, including the filler: entonces… ¿qué hacemos? |
on the contrary adverb | on the contrary It CORRECTS rather than merely contrasts — it says the opposite of what was just claimed is true. | au contraire Stands alone as a complete rebuttal. Bien au contraire turns it up. | al contrario Todo lo contrario is the emphatic version. |
since / as (given that) conjunction | since 'Since you're here.' It presents the reason as ALREADY KNOWN, where 'because' presents it as news. Also the time word, confusingly. | puisque Puisque gives a reason the listener already accepts; parce que gives new information. Answer the question pourquoi ? and it must be parce que — puisque there is wrong. | ya que Also puesto que and dado que, both heavier. Porque is the plain 'because'. |
as soon as conjunction · time | as soon as English uses the PRESENT for a future event — 'as soon as I finish'. Almost nothing else on this list does. | dès que Takes the FUTURE where English takes the present: dès que j'aurai fini. Same for quand, lorsque and aussitôt que — French is logical about it and English is not. | en cuanto Takes the SUBJUNCTIVE for anything not yet real: en cuanto llegue, not llega. |
unless conjunction | unless One word for 'if not'. Several languages here have no such word. | à moins que Subjunctive, and usually with the ne explétif: à moins qu'il ne vienne. That ne does NOT negate — it is a leftover, and dropping it is fine in speech. | a menos que Subjunctive, always. A no ser que is the other one. |
whereas / while (contrast) conjunction | whereas Contrast, not time. English also uses 'while' for this, which is why 'while I was cooking' is ambiguous between the two. | tandis que Here French is MORE precise than English: pendant que is time only, tandis que is contrast. Alors que does the same contrastive job. | mientras que One word of difference: mientras alone is time, mientras QUE is contrast. |
anyway / in any case adverb | anyway It closes a digression, or it dismisses an objection — two quite different jobs done by one word. | de toute façon Or de toute manière. To close a digression specifically: bref, or enfin bref. | de todos modos Also de todas formas. En fin closes the digression. |