Level B1/B2 (Intermediate, upper-intermediate)
The French word of the day is the conjunction tant que, which means ‘as long as’, ‘since’ and ‘as much as’.
tant que – IPA pronunciation /tɑ̃ kə/
Master “Tant que” (As Long As, Since, As Much As)
Word origin
The Modern French word tant (so, so much) comes from tantum (so, to that point or extent) in Latin.
Example sentences
The conjunction tant que does not require the subjunctive mood and is followed by the indicative.
Tant que tu fais la tête, tu ne joueras pas avec les autres enfants.
As long as you’re sulking, you won’t play with the other kids.
For this sentence, tant que is followed by a noun.
Je ne travaille pas tant que mes collègues.
I don’t work as much as my colleagues.
For these next two sentences, a loose translation of tant que ca is ‘that much’.
Est-ce qu’il est beau? – Pas tant que ça.
Is he handsome? – Not really.
Il y a has several usages in French including ‘there is/there are’ and ‘ago’. For this sentence, il y a déjà can translate to ‘it’s (already) been’.
Il y a déjà 20 ans. – Tant que ça ?
It’s alerady been 20 years. – That long?
Continue learning French
Learning conjunctions (connecting words) can be a big challenge for many intermediate students. This lesson from French Today provides a comprehensive overview of 58 French conjunctions with audio sentences.
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more useful conjunctions
- À moins que – unless
- Car (conjunction) – because, for, as
- Tandis que – whereas, while
- Quoique – even though, although
- Pour que – so that, in order that
- Pourvu que – Provided that
- Bien que – Even though, although
- Cependant – However, yet, nevertheless
Reference
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