Today we’ll have a look at a word which the French use all the time in conversation but rarely gets mentioned in the textbooks: Puis. The main meaning of puis is “then” but other translations include “and finally”, “and what’s more”, “and also” and “moreover”.
Puis
then
Word origin
The modern French word puis (then) comes from postius in Vulgar Latin and postĕā (afterwards) in Latin.
Example sentences
For this first example, puis simply means “then”. This sentence is in the imperative, a mood which is used for giving commands in French.
Achète les baguettes, puis achète le fromage.
Buy the baguettes, then buy the cheese.
For this second example, et puis could translate to both “and then” as well as “and finally”.
J’ai fait une pizza, une salade et puis un dessert.
I made a pizza, a salad and then a dessert.
For this third example, et puis can translate to “and what’s more”, “and also” and “moreover”. This last sentence came directly from a dialogue in the book Communication en dialogues, a wonderful intermediate dialogue book that I use with many of my students.
Promis. Et puis j’ai autre chose pour toi, regarde !
Promissed. And what’s more, I have something else for you – look!
Conclusion
Congratulations! You now know how use puis (then) in French. Now check our a related lesson covering the word puisque (since).
