Today’s lesson covers a slighly more advanced word which commonly causes some confusion among students: ainsi. This word has several meanings including like this, in this way and thus. We’ll also look at the conjunction ainsi que (as well as, just as). Keep reading and we’ll get right into the example sentences!
ainsi
like this, in this way
Ainsi Meaning & Translation
Origin of ainsi
According to Wiktionary.org, the modern French word ainsi is derived from the Latin: ad (to) + in (in) + sic (thus). French-to-French definitions include de cette manière (of this way – WordReference) and en procédant de cette façon (preceding in this fashion – Collinsdictionary.com).
Example sentences wtih ainsi
Like this, in this way
For our first two example sentences, ainsi translates to “like this” and “in this way”. This is a very common usage of ainsi.
Tiens la raquette dans tes mains ainsi !
Hold the racket in your hands like this!
C’est ainsi que j’ai fait la connaissance de votre maman.
It’s in this way that I met your mom.
As well as
The next two example sentences use the conjunction ainsi que, which translate to: “as well as”, “along with” and “together with” and “plus”.
Il faut que j’étudie du vocabulaire ainsi que de la grammaire.
I need to study vocabulary as well as grammar.
Marie a commandé un café ainsi qu’un croissant.
Marie ordered along with a croissant.
Il faut is an impersonal expression which has many translations including “it is necessary” and “have to”. This post on our site covers il faut in detail.
Just as
When appearing at the beginning of a sentence, ainsi que means “just as”.
Ainsi que je l’avais prévu, il a commencé à pleuvoir.
Just as I’d predicted, it started raining.
In this example sentence, avais prévu is the plus-que-parfait tense of prevoir (to forecast, predict). This page on our site covers the plus-que-parfait (or pluperfect) tense, which is used to express events which “had” taken place.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! You now have a much stronger grasp of how to use the word ainsi in French. Now check our post covering the word alors (meaning so, then). In addition, one of our song lyrics posts covers a song which uses ainsi in the song title: Ainsi bas la vida (by Indila).
