Today’s lesson will focus on the useful French adverb pourtant, which translate to both “yet” and “however”. For example, c’est pourtant vrai (yet it’s true). Our example sentences will cover both et pourtant (and yet) as well as mais pourtant (but, yet, though).
pourtant
yet, however
Pourtant Meaning & Translation
Word origin
Pourtant (yet, however) is comprised of two words: pour (for) and tant (much). Pour in French comes from the Latin prō (for) and tant comes from the Latin tantum (such an amount).
Example sentences
In this first example, et pourant can translate to both “yet” as well as “and yet”.
Il a échoué l’examen. Et pourtant, c’est un bon étudiant.
He failed the exam, and yet he’s a good student.
For this next example, plein de is synonomous with beaucoup de (a lot of).
C’est quelqu’un qui a fait plein d’études. Mais pourtant, il ne fait rien dans la vie.
He’s someone who studied a lot. Yet, he’s doing nothing in life.
In this sentence, je vais acheter is an example of the near future tense (going to).
Je vais acheter une nouvelle voiture, c’est cher mais pourtant necessaire.
I’m going to by the new car. It’s expensive but necessary.
Elle a consulté des médecins, mais pourtant rien n’a changé.
She consulted doctors yet nothing has changed.
This last example sentence is actually the main line from the chorus of the song Et pourtant by Charles Aznavour. Here, we’re translating pourtant to both yet and however. Je n’aime que toi (I only love you) uses the ne…que “only” negation.
Et pourtant, pourtant, je n’aime que toi. (song title)
And yet, however, I only love you.
Conclusion
Félicitations ! You now know how to use pourtant in French. Now check out our lesson covering ainsi (like this) and puisque (since).
References
