Today’s lesson covers the French preposition selon, which means “according to”. Selon comes from solonc in Old French, which comes from sublungum in Vulgar Latin and secundum in Classical Latin.
selon
according to
Pronunciation [səlɔ̃]
Example sentences
This first sentence uses the futur proche (near future tense). This is the “going to” tense and it’s formed with aller (to go) + infinitive.
Selon Jacques, l’avion va arriver avec trois heures de retard.
According to Jacques, the plane is going to arrive three hours late.
This second sentence uses the future simple, the other French future tense. An -s is added to the lu, the past participle of lire (to read), in accordance with the rules for the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense.
Selon les articles que j’ai lus, l’inflation continuera à augmenter cette année.
According to the articles I read, inflation will continue to rise this year.
The conjunction selon que is a more advanced usage of selon, meaning “depending on whether”. For example, On va peut-être faire du ski, selon qu’il neige, meaning “We might go to skiing, depending on whether it snows or not.” Selon que does not require the subjunctive mood.
Related lessons
References
Word of the Day archive | Lessons by David Issokson
