Level C1 (Advanced)
The French word of the day is l’ampleur (m). This is a very versatile C1 (advanced) noun with meanings including scale, size, extent, magnitude and scope.
l’ampleur – IPA pronunciation /ɑ̃plœʀ/
Word origin
The Modern French word ampleur is related to ample (extensive, abundant, ample) and comes from amplus (big) in Latin.
Ampleur example sentences
L’ampleur des dommages causés par l’ouragan étaient terrible.
The extent of the damages caused by the hurricane were terrible.
For this first sentence, there are two words which we could have used for damage: les dommages (m) and les dégâts (m). Note, the audio for this sentence should be l’ouragan (the hurricane).
Ils ont enfin compris l’ampleur du projet.
They finally understood the scope of the projet.
In French, le projet can translate to both ‘project’ and ‘plan’. This sentence is in the passé composé tense.
L’ampleur du succès du nouveau produit a dépassé les attentes des analystes.
The scale of success of the new product exceeded the analysts’ expectations.
For this sentence, l’ampleur du succès can translate to both the ‘scale’ and ‘scope’ of the success.
Continue learning French!
Now that you’ve mastered l’ampleur, check out our lesson explaining l’apogée (apogee, height, peak), another fun advanced C1 word!
