la quantité
Expressing qualities can be quite tricky in French. The following table offers a complete list of quantity words and expressions. We’ve included some example sentences below the table.
ADVERBS | |
a lot of | beaucoup de |
a lot of | pas mal de |
a minimum of | un maximum de |
a minimum of | un minimum de |
about | environ |
almost, nearly | presque |
approximately | à peu près |
as much as | autant de |
enough | suffisant de |
enough | assez de |
few | peu de |
how much (many) | combien de |
less | moins de |
majority of | la majorité de |
more | plus de |
so much, so many | tant de |
too much | trop de |
ADJECTIVES | |
triple | triple |
little | petit, petite |
half | demi, demie |
full | plein, pleine |
entire | entier, entière |
empty | vide |
each | chaque |
double | double |
big | gros, grosse |
APPROXIMATE AMOUNTS | |
a fistful of | une poignée de |
a mouthful of | une bouchée de |
a part of | une part de, une partie de |
a piece of | un morceau de |
a piece of | une pièce de |
a portion of | une portion de |
a quantity of | une quantié de |
several, many | plusieurs |
CONATINERS | |
a can / box of | une boîte de |
un bol de | a bolw of |
un verre de | a glass of |
une assiette de | a plate of |
une tasse de | a cup of |
MEASURMENTS | |
a pound of | une livre de |
a liter of | un litre de |
a kilogram of | un kilo de |
how to form quantity sentences
To express quantities, most of the above expressions use the following grammatical structure: Quantity word + de + noun. The definite article (le, la, les) is not included. Here are examples:
- Il a beaucoup de voitures. He has a lot of cars.
- Nous avons peu de temps. We have time.
- Ils ont assez d’argent. They have enough money.
- Je prends un morceau de pain. I take a piece of bread.
- J’ai une dizaine d’amis en France. I have about ten friends in France.
- J’achète un kilo de pommes. I’m buying one kilo of apples.
When dealing with specific numbers there’s no need to use -de. For example:
- J’achète trois bananes. I buy three bananas.
- Nous avons trois heures. We have three hours.
- Ils ont un kilo de pommes de terre. They have one kilo of potatoes.
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