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1 meno
1. adv lesssuperlativo leastmathematics minusil meno possibile as little as possibledi meno at leasta meno che unlessper lo meno at leastsono le sei meno un quarto it's a quarter to sixsempre meno less and lessfare a meno di qualcosa do without somethingvenir meno a qualcuno forze desert someonevenir meno alla parola data not keep one's word2. prep except* * *meno avv.compar.1 (in minor quantità o grado) less; not so... (as); not as... (as): dovresti lavorare (di) meno e riposare di più, you should work less and rest more; il viaggio di ritorno mi è sembrato meno lungo, the journey back didn't seem so long (to me); quest'anno ha piovuto (di) meno, it hasn't rained so much this year; non per questo è meno intelligente, he is no less intelligent for that // più o meno, poco più poco meno, more or less // chi più chi meno, more or less (o some more some less): tutti hanno contribuito, chi più chi meno, al buon esito dell'iniziativa, everyone more or less contributed to the success of the venture (o everyone contributed to the success of the venture, some more some less) // né più né meno, just, exactly: gli ho detto né più né meno come la pensavo, I told him just (o exactly) how I felt about it; le cose sono andate né più né meno così, that's exactly what happened2 (nel compar. di minoranza) less... (than); not so... (as), not as... (as): l'argento è meno prezioso dell'oro, silver is less precious than gold (o silver isn't as precious as gold); lui non è meno studioso di te, he studies just as much as you do (o he studies no less than you do); oggi è meno freddo di ieri, it isn't as cold today as it was yesterday (form. it is less cold than yesterday); il traffico era meno intenso del solito, the traffic wasn't as heavy as usual (o was less heavy than usual); è andata meno bene del previsto, it didn't go as well as expected3 (correl.) (quanto) meno... (tanto) meno: the less... the less: meno si lavora, meno si lavorerebbe, the less you work, the less you feel like working; meno studi, meno impari, the less you study, the less you learn4 (nel superl. di minoranza) the least; (fra due) the less: tra tutte le conferenze, questa è stata la meno interessante, of all the lectures, this was the least interesting; la meno preparata delle due squadre, the less fit of the (two) teams; ho intenzione di scegliere la macchina che costa meno, I'm going to choose the car that costs the least (o the cheapest car); cerca di affaticarti il meno possibile, try to tire yourself as little as possible5 (con valore di no) not: fammi sapere se verrai o meno, let me know whether or not you're coming; mi domando se valga la pena o meno di accettare, I wonder whether or not it's worth accepting; mi hanno accreditato mille euro, meno le spese bancarie, my account was credited with one thousand euros, minus bank charges6 (mat.) minus: sette meno tre è uguale a quattro, seven minus three is four (o three from seven leaves four) // la temperatura è meno due, the temperature is two degrees below zero // ci sono cinque euro in meno, di meno, (mancano cinque euro) there's five euros missing; ho speso dieci euro in meno, I spent ten euros less; uno di meno!, one less!; non eravamo in meno di otto, there were no less than eight of us // se avessi vent'anni di meno!, if only I were twenty years younger! // sono le otto meno cinque, it's five to eight◆ prep. (tranne) but, except: c'erano tutti meno loro, everyone was there except (o but) them; il museo è aperto tutti i giorni meno il lunedì, the museum is open every day but (o except) Monday; ho pensato a tutto meno che a fare i biglietti, I saw to everything except the tickets.◆ FRASEOLOGIA: tanto meno, ancora meno, even less: non ho accettato finora, tanto meno accetterei adesso, I haven't accepted so far, and now I've got even less reason to accept // meno che mai, men che meno, let alone: non sa parlare l'italiano, meno che mai l'inglese, he can't even speak Italian, let alone English // quanto meno, (perlomeno) at least: avresti potuto quanto meno farmi una telefonata, you could at least have phoned me // fare a meno di qlcu., di (fare) qlco., to do without s.o., (doing) sthg.: non potrei fare a meno di lui, I couldn't do without him; non potei fare a meno di ridere, I couldn't help laughing // venire meno, (venire a mancare) to fail; (svenire) to faint; mi venne meno il coraggio, my courage failed me; a quella notizia, mi sentii venire meno, I felt as if I was going to faint when I heard the news // venire meno alla parola data, to break one's word // essere da meno (di qlcu.), to be less than s.o. // senza meno, (region.) certainly, for sure: le telefonerò domani senza meno, I'll phone her tomorrow for sure; a meno che, a meno di, unless: lo spettacolo si terrà all'aperto, a meno che non piova, the performance will take place outdoors, unless it rains; non farei mai una cosa simile, a meno di non esservi costretto, I would never do such a thing, unless I was forced to // niente meno → nientedimeno // per lo meno → perlomeno.meno agg.compar.invar. less; not so much, not as much; (con s. pl.) fewer; not so many, not as many: c'è meno traffico sulle strade rispetto a ieri, there's less traffic on the roads than yesterday (o there isn't as much traffic on the roads as yesterday); oggi c'è meno gente in giro, there are fewer people (o there aren't so many people) about today; se prendi l'autostrada impiegherai meno tempo, it will take you less time (o it won't take you so long) if you use the motorway; c'erano meno italiani e più stranieri, there were fewer Italians and more foreigners; ha meno amici che nemici, he has fewer friends than enemies; loro hanno meno preoccupazioni di noi, they have fewer worries than we have (o they haven't so many worries as we have); questa volta hai fatto meno errori, this time you made fewer mistakes (o you didn't make so many mistakes) // meno storie!, stop making a fuss! // meno male, thank goodness; just as well; it's a good job (o a good thing); not so bad: meno male che non si è fatto niente, thank goodness he wasn't hurt; meno male che siete arrivati in tempo, it's a good job you arrived in time; meno male, poteva andar peggio!, not so bad, things could have been worse!◆ s.m.1 (con valore di compar.) less, not as much: ho fatto meno di quanto avrei voluto, I did less than (o I didn't do as much as) I would have liked; ha mangiato meno del solito, he ate less than usual (o he didn't eat as much as usual); meno di così non si poteva dare, you couldn't give less than that; si accontenterebbe di molto meno, he would be satisfied with much less; oggi ho dovuto aspettare molto meno, today I didn't have nearly so long to wait (o I had much less to wait); ci vorranno non meno di tre ore per arrivare, it will take no less than three hours to get there; finirò il lavoro in meno di un mese, I shall finish the job in less than a month; arriverà tra non meno di due settimane, he won't be here for a fortnight // a meno, per meno, (a minor prezzo) for less (o cheaper): vendere, acquistare per meno, to sell, to purchase for less // in men che non si dica, in less than no time2 (con valore di superl.) the least; as little as: questo è il meno che tu possa fare, that's the least you can do; era il meno che gli potesse capitare, it was the least that could happen to him; vorrei spendere il meno possibile, I'd like to spend as little as possible // parlare del più e del meno, to talk of this and that // quando meno ci si pensa..., when you least expect...3 (mat.) minus: il segno del meno, the minus sign4 pl.: i meno, (la minoranza) the minority; i deputati che votarono a favore della proposta di legge erano i meno, the MP s who voted in favour of the bill were in the minority.* * *['meno]1. avv1) lessè meno alto di suo fratello/di quel che pensavo — he is not as tall as his brother/as I thought, he is less tall than his brother/than I thought
ha due anni meno di me — he's two years younger than me
meno ne discutiamo, meglio è — the less we talk about it, the better
deve avere non meno di trent'anni — he must be at least thirty
andare all'università diventa sempre meno facile — it's getting less and less easy to go to university
2) (con senso superlativo) least3) (sottrazione) Mat minus, less5 meno 2 — 5 minus 2, 5 take away 2
sono le otto meno un quarto — it's a quarter to eight Brit o of eight Am
mi hai dato due carte di meno — you gave me two cards too few
eh, se avessi dieci anni di meno! — oh, if only I were ten years younger!
ho una sterlina in meno — I am one pound short
ci sono meno 25° — it's minus 25°, it is 25° below (zero)
4)non è da meno di lui — she is (every bit) as good as he isnon voglio essere da meno di lui — I don't want to be outdone by him
meno di — to do o manage withoutse non c'è zucchero ne faremo a meno — if there isn't any sugar we'll do without
non ho potuto fare a meno di ridere — I couldn't help laughing
in
men che non si dica — in less than no time, quick as a flashmeno gli inglesi — least of all the Englishfammi sapere se verrai o meno — let me know if you are coming or not
meno poteva avvertire — he could at least have let us knownon mi piace come scrive e tanto meno come parla — I don't like the way he writes let alone the way he talks
2. agg inv(acqua, lavoro, soldi) less, (persone, libri, errori) fewermeno bambini ci sono, meglio è — the fewer children there are the better
3. sm inv1)il meno — the leastera il meno che ti potesse capitare — (rimprovero) you were asking for it
parlare del più e del meno — to talk about this and that
i
meno — (la minoranza) the minority2) Mat minus (sign)4. prep(fuorché, eccetto che) except (for)meno uno — all but one* * *['meno] 1.1) (in un comparativo di minoranza) less2) (con un avverbio) less3) (con un verbo) lessguadagno meno di lei — I earn less than she does, I don't earn as much as she does
meno se ne parla, meglio è — the less said about that, the better
meno esco, meno ho voglia di uscire — the less I go out, the less I feel like going out
4) (con un numerale) lessmeno di due ore — under o less than two hours
non troverai niente a meno di 200 euro — you won't find anything for less than o for under 200 euros
(il) meno, (la) meno, (i) meno, (le) meno — the least
6) (in correlazione con "più")né più, né meno — neither more, nor less
centimetro più, centimetro meno — give or take an inch (or two)
7) (con valore di negazione) not8) da menoho fatto una torta anche io per non essere da meno — I made a cake as well, just to keep up
10) a meno di short of11) a meno che unless12) sempre meno less and less13) meno male thank goodness14) quanto meno, per lo meno at least15) tanto menonon l'ho mai visto, tanto meno gli ho parlato — I've never seen him, much less spoken to him
era troppo malata per stare in piedi, tanto meno per camminare — she was too ill to stand let alone walk
16) più o meno more or less, about, roughly, round about2."ti è piaciuto il film?" - "più o meno" — "did you enjoy the film?" - "sort of"
aggettivo invariabile1) (in un comparativo di minoranza) less, fewer2) (con valore pronominale) less, fewer3.1) (in una sottrazione) from, minus20 meno 5 fa 15 — 5 from 20 leaves 15, 20 minus 5 is 15, 20 take away 5 is 15
2) (tranne, eccetto) but, besides, except4.sostantivo maschile invariabile1) (la cosa, quantità minore) least2) mat. minus (sign)••parlare del più e del meno — to talk about this and that, to shoot the breeze AE
in men che non si dica — before you could say knife, in the bat o wink of an eye, in (less than) no time
••fare a meno di — to manage o do without, to dispense with [auto, servizi]
Note:Meno è usato principalmente come avverbio e come aggettivo, anche con valore pronominale. - Come avverbio, si rende con less quando introduce un comparativo di minoranza e con (the) least quando introduce un superlativo di minoranza: less è seguito da than, the least è seguito da of oppure in (se ci si riferisce a un luogo o un gruppo). Gli esempi nella voce mostrano anche che il comparativo di minoranza è spesso sostituito in inglese dalla variante negativa di un comparativo di uguaglianza: ho meno esperienza di te = I have less experience than you, oppure: I don't have as much experience as you; la mia stanza è meno grande della tua = my bedroom isn't as big as yours. - Come aggettivo, in inglese standard meno si traduce con less davanti e al posto di sostantivi non numerabili ( meno denaro = less money; ne ho meno di ieri = I have less than yesterday), mentre davanti e al posto di sostantivi plurali si usa fewer con valore comparativo ( meno studenti = fewer students; non meno di = no fewer than) e (the) fewest con valore superlativo ( ho fatto meno errori di tutti = I made the fewest mistakes; ne ha dati meno di tutti = he gave the fewest); tuttavia, nel linguaggio parlato less tende a sostituire fewer anche con riferimento plurale: meno persone = less people. - Per altri esempi e per l'uso di meno come preposizione e sostantivo, si veda la voce qui sotto* * *meno/'meno/Meno è usato principalmente come avverbio e come aggettivo, anche con valore pronominale. - Come avverbio, si rende con less quando introduce un comparativo di minoranza e con (the) least quando introduce un superlativo di minoranza: less è seguito da than, the least è seguito da of oppure in (se ci si riferisce a un luogo o un gruppo). Gli esempi nella voce mostrano anche che il comparativo di minoranza è spesso sostituito in inglese dalla variante negativa di un comparativo di uguaglianza: ho meno esperienza di te = I have less experience than you, oppure: I don't have as much experience as you; la mia stanza è meno grande della tua = my bedroom isn't as big as yours. - Come aggettivo, in inglese standard meno si traduce con less davanti e al posto di sostantivi non numerabili ( meno denaro = less money; ne ho meno di ieri = I have less than yesterday), mentre davanti e al posto di sostantivi plurali si usa fewer con valore comparativo ( meno studenti = fewer students; non meno di = no fewer than) e (the) fewest con valore superlativo ( ho fatto meno errori di tutti = I made the fewest mistakes; ne ha dati meno di tutti = he gave the fewest); tuttavia, nel linguaggio parlato less tende a sostituire fewer anche con riferimento plurale: meno persone = less people. - Per altri esempi e per l'uso di meno come preposizione e sostantivo, si veda la voce qui sotto.I avverbio1 (in un comparativo di minoranza) less; un po' meno a little less; è meno alto di Tim he is not as tall as Tim; è meno complicato di quanto pensi it's less complicated than you think2 (con un avverbio) less; meno spesso less often; meno del solito less than usual; canta meno bene di prima she doesn't sing as well as she used to3 (con un verbo) less; l'argento costa meno dell'oro silver costs less than gold; costa meno prendere il treno it works out cheaper to take the train; dovresti lavorare (di) meno you should work less; guadagno meno di lei I earn less than she does, I don't earn as much as she does; meno se ne parla, meglio è the less said about that, the better; meno esco, meno ho voglia di uscire the less I go out, the less I feel like going out; è lui quello che lavora meno di tutti he's the one who works the least of all4 (con un numerale) less; meno di 50 less than 50; meno di due ore under o less than two hours; un po' meno di 15 cm just under 15 cm; i bambini con meno di sei anni children under six; non troverai niente a meno di 200 euro you won't find anything for less than o for under 200 euros5 (in un superlativo relativo) (il) meno, (la) meno, (i) meno, (le) meno the least; le famiglie meno ricche the least wealthy families; era la meno soddisfatta di tutti she was the least satisfied of all; è quello pagato meno bene fra i due he's the least well-paid of the two; quello mi piace meno di tutti I like that one (the) least; sono quelli che ne hanno meno bisogno they are the ones who need it (the) least; proprio quando meno me l'aspettavo just when I least expected it6 (in correlazione con "più") né più, né meno neither more, nor less; centimetro più, centimetro meno give or take an inch (or two); né più né meno che nothing less than7 (con valore di negazione) not; che lo voglia o meno whether he's willing or not; non ha deciso se firmare o meno he hasn't decided whether to sign (or not)8 da meno è un gran bugiardo e suo fratello non è da meno he's a liar and his brother isn't any better; ho fatto una torta anche io per non essere da meno I made a cake as well, just to keep up9 di meno, in meno se avessi 20 anni di meno! I wish I were 20 years younger! ho preso 30 euro in meno di stipendio my wages are 30 euros short10 a meno di short of11 a meno che unless12 sempre meno less and less13 meno male thank goodness; meno male che it's a good thing that; meno male che è impermeabile! it's just as well it's waterproof! meno male che ci sono andato! it was lucky for me that I went!14 quanto meno, per lo meno at least15 tanto meno non l'ho mai visto, tanto meno gli ho parlato I've never seen him, much less spoken to him; era troppo malata per stare in piedi, tanto meno per camminare she was too ill to stand let alone walk16 più o meno more or less, about, roughly, round about; più o meno alto come te about your height; è successo più o meno qui it happened round about here; "ti è piaciuto il film?" - "più o meno" "did you enjoy the film?" - "sort of"; più o meno nello stesso modo in much the same way; la canzone fa più o meno così the song goes something like this1 (in un comparativo di minoranza) less, fewer; ho meno libri di te I have fewer books than you; ho meno caldo adesso I feel cooler now; ci è voluto meno tempo di quanto pensassimo it took less time than we expected2 (con valore pronominale) less, fewer; non meno di no fewer than; ne ho meno di te I have less than you; ha venduto meno di tutti he sold the fewestIII preposizione1 (in una sottrazione) from, minus; quanto fa 20 meno 8? what is 20 minus 8? 20 meno 5 fa 15 5 from 20 leaves 15, 20 minus 5 is 15, 20 take away 5 is 152 (tranne, eccetto) but, besides, except3 (per indicare l'ora) le sei meno dieci ten to six4 (per indicare una temperatura) meno 10 minus 10IV m.inv.1 (la cosa, quantità minore) least; questo è il meno that's the least of it; fare il meno possibile to do as little as possible2 mat. minus (sign)parlare del più e del meno to talk about this and that, to shoot the breeze AE; in men che non si dica before you could say knife, in the bat o wink of an eye, in (less than) no time; fare a meno di to manage o do without, to dispense with [auto, servizi]; non posso farne a meno I can't help it. -
2 moins
moins [mwɛ̃]━━━━━━━━━1. adverb2. preposition4. compounds━━━━━━━━━1. <a. (comparatif) less━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► moins... que less... than━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Les expressions du type moins... que sont souvent traduites par l'équivalent anglais de pas aussi... que.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• j'aime moins la campagne en hiver qu'en été I don't like the countryside as much in winter as in summer► moins de + nom non comptable less• je mange moins de pain qu'avant I eat less bread than I used to► moins de + nom comptable━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• il y aura moins de monde demain there'll be fewer people tomorrow there'll be less people tomorrow► moins de + nombre━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► deux fois moins se traduit souvent par half.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• moins je mange, moins j'ai d'appétit the less I eat, the less hungry I feel• moins il y a de clients, moins j'ai de travail the fewer customers I have, the less work I have to do► moins... plus• moins je fume, plus je mange the less I smoke, the more I eat► moins... mieux• moins je fume, mieux je me porte the less I smoke, the better I feel• moins j'ai de coups de fil, mieux je travaille the fewer phone calls I get, the more work I can do► à moins• à moins d'un accident, ça devrait marcher barring accidents, it should work• il jouera, à moins d'un imprévu he'll be playing unless something unexpected happens• à moins de faire une bêtise, il devrait gagner unless he does something silly he should win► à moins que• vous avez cinq ans de moins qu'elle you're five years younger than her► de moins en moins less and less• ça me fera du travail en moins ! that'll be less work for me!• pas moins de 40 km les sépare de la ville la plus proche they're at least 40km from the nearest town• gravement malade, il n'en continue pas moins d'écrire despite being seriously ill, he still continues to write• il n'en reste pas moins que... the fact remains that...• il n'en est pas moins vrai que... it is no less true that...• c'est le moins qu'on puisse dire ! that's putting it mildly!► le moins possible as little as possible2. <a. (soustraction, nombre négatif) minus• il fait moins 5 it's minus 5°3. <• elle a payé cette robe au moins 3 000 € she paid at least 3,000 euros for that dress• il ne pleuvra pas, du moins c'est ce qu'annonce la radio it's not going to rain, at least that's what it says on the radio• j'arriverai vers 4 heures, du moins si l'avion n'a pas de retard I'll be there around 4 o'clock - if the plane's on time, that is► pour le moins to say the least4. <( = minable) complete loser (inf)• on les traite comme des moins que rien they're treated like scum ► moins-value feminine noun depreciation* * *
I
1. mwɛ̃1) ( dans une soustraction) minus2) ( pour dire l'heure) toil est moins vingt — (colloq) it's twenty to (colloq)
il était moins une (colloq) or moins cinq — (colloq) it was a close shave (colloq)
3) ( dans une température) minus
2.
1) ( modifiant un verbe) ( comparatif) less; ( superlatif)c'est moins une question d'argent qu'une question de principe — it's not so much a question of money as a question of principle
moins je sors, moins j'ai envie de sortir — the less I go out, the less I feel like going out
2) ( modifiant un adjectif) ( comparatif) less; ( superlatif)le moins, la moins, les moins — ( de deux) the less; ( de plus de deux) the least
dans le livre il y a du bon et du moins bon — in the book, there are bits that are good and bits that are not so good
le même en moins gros — the same, only thinner
3) ( modifiant un adverbe) ( comparatif) less; ( superlatif)
3.
moins de déterminant indéfini1) ( avec un nom)moins de sucre/bruit — less sugar/noise
c'est lui qui a le moins d'expérience des trois — of the three he's the one with the least experience
2) ( avec un numéral)les moins de 20 ans — people under 20, the under-twenties
4.
à moins locution adverbiale
5.
à moins de locution prépositiveà moins de partir maintenant — unless we/you etc leave now
6.
à moins que locution conjonctive
7.
à tout le moins locution adverbiale to say the least
8.
au moins locution adverbiale at leasttu l'as remercié, au moins? — you did thank him, didn't you?
9.
de moins locution adverbialele kilo de pêches valait dix centimes de moins que la veille — a kilo of peaches cost 10 cents less than it had the day before
il a obtenu 25% de voix de moins que son adversaire — he got 25% fewer votes than his opponent
10.
du moins locution adverbiale at least
11.
en moins locution adverbialeil est revenu du front avec une jambe en moins/avec un doigt en moins — he came back from the front with only one leg/with a finger missing
c'est tout le portrait de son père, la moustache en moins — he's the spitting image of his father without the moustache GB ou mustache US
12.
pour le moins locution adverbiale to say the least
II mwɛ̃nom masculin invariable1) Mathématique minus2) (colloq) ( inconvénient) minus•Phrasal Verbs:
••
La traduction en anglais de moins est less. Cependant, elle n'est utilisée que dans un nombre de cas assez restreint: en moins de trois jours = in less than three daysTrès souvent, même quand une traduction avec less est possible, l'anglais a recours à d'autres moyens. Certains sont réguliers: ma chambre est moins grande que la tienne = my bedroom isn't as big as yours; j'ai moins d'expérience que toi = I don't have as much experience as you (do), = I have less experience than you (do); c'est moins compliqué que vous ne le croyez = it's not as complicated as you think, = it's less complicated than you thinkD'autres ne le sont pas: j'essaie de moins fumer = I'm trying to cut down on my smoking, = I'm trying to smoke lessLorsque moins de, déterminant indéfini, est suivi d'un nom dénombrable, la règle voudrait que l'on traduise par fewer mais dans la langue parlée on utilise également lessLes expressions le moins possible, le moins du monde sont traitées respectivement sous possible et mondeOn trouvera ci-dessous exemples et exceptions illustrant les différentes fonctions de moinsOn pourra également se reporter aux notes d'usage portant notamment sur la quantité, l'expression de l'âge, etc. Consulter l'index* * *mwɛ̃1. adv1) (comparatif) lessIl a trois ans de moins que moi. — He's three years younger than me.
Nous avons trois jours de vacances de moins que l'an dernier. — We have three days holiday less than last year.
Il est moins intelligent que moi. — He's not as clever as me.
Moins je travaille, mieux je me porte. — The less I work, the better I feel.
2) (superlatif)le moins — least, the least
le moins doué; la moins douée — the least gifted
C'est ce que j'aime le moins. — It's what I like least., It's what I like the least.
C'est l'album que j'aime le moins. — This is the album I like the least., This is the album I least like.
C'est le modèle le moins cher. — It's the least expensive model.
Ce sont les plages qui sont les moins polluées. — These are the least polluted beaches.
3)moins de (livres, gens) — fewer, (sable, eau, sel) less
Ça coûte moins de deux cents euros. — It costs less than 200 euros.
Il y a moins de gens aujourd'hui. — There are fewer people today.
Il est moins de midi. — It's not yet midday.
en moins; de l'argent en moins — less money
Cette année nous avons trois jours de vacances en moins. — We have three days less holiday this year.
le soleil en moins — without the sun, minus the sun
L'endroit ressemble assez à la Côte d'Azur, le soleil en moins. — The place is quite like the Riviera, without the sun.
Ne te plains pas: au moins il ne pleut pas! — Don't complain: at least it's not raining!
à moins de; à moins que — unless
à moins de faire; à moins que tu ne fasses — unless you do
Je te retrouverai à dix heures à moins que le train n'ait du retard. — I'll meet you at 10 o'clock unless the train is late.
Il vient nous voir de moins en moins. — He comes to see us less and less often.
2. prép1) (soustraction) minus2) (température) minusIl fait moins 5. — It's minus 5., It's 5 below., It's 5 degrees below freezing.
Il a fait moins cinq la nuit dernière. — It was minus five last night.
3) (heure)Il est cinq heures moins dix. — It's ten to five.
Il est moins cinq. — It's five to.
3. nm(= signe) minus sign* * *I.moins ⇒ Note d'usageA prép1 ( dans une soustraction) minus; 8 moins 3 égale 5 8 minus 3 is ou equals 5; il a retrouvé sa voiture, moins les roues he got his car back without ou minus hum the wheels;2 ( pour dire l'heure) to; il est huit heures moins dix it's ten (minutes) to eight; il est moins vingt○ it's twenty to○, it's twenty minutes to the hour; il était moins une○ or moins cinq○ it was a close shave○;3 ( dans une température) minus; il faisait moins 15 degrés it was minus 15 (degrees).B adv1 ( modifiant un verbe) ( comparatif) less; ( superlatif) le moins the least; je lis moins ces derniers temps I read less these days; ils sortent moins maintenant qu'ils ont un enfant they don't go out as much ou they go out less often now that they have a child; il importe moins de changer le règlement que de le faire appliquer changing the rule is less important than implementing it; je gagne moins qu'elle I earn less than she does, I don't earn as much as she does; c'est moins un artiste qu'un bon artisan he' s not so much an artist as a good craftsman; c'est moins une question d'argent qu'une question de principe it's not so much a question of money as a question of principle; de moins en moins less and less; moins je sors, moins j'ai envie de sortir the less I go out, the less I feel like going out; moins je le vois, mieux je me porte the less I see him, the better I feel; c'est lui qui travaille le moins de tous he's the one who works the least of all; le film qui m'a le moins plu the film I liked the least; ce que j'aime le moins chez lui what I like least about him;2 ( modifiant un adjectif) ( comparatif) less; ( superlatif) le moins, la moins, les moins ( de deux) the less; ( de plus de deux) the least; il est moins grand/doué que son père he's not as tall/gifted as his father; c'est moins facile qu'il n'y paraît it's not as easy as it seems; il est moins menteur que sa sœur he's less of a liar than his sister; c'est moins problématique que je ne croyais it's less problematic ou less of a problem than I thought, it's not as problematic as I thought; les jeunes et les moins jeunes the young and the not so young; dans le livre il y a du bon et du moins bon in the book, there are bits that are good and bits that are not so good; il n'en est pas moins vrai que it's nonetheless true that; il ressemble à son frère en moins gros he looks like his brother, only thinner; ce sont les employés les moins compétents de l'entreprise they're the least competent employees in the company; un individu des moins recommandables a most unsavoury individual;3 ( modifiant un adverbe) ( comparatif) less; ( superlatif) le moins least; tu devrais rester moins longtemps dans le sauna you shouldn't stay so long in the sauna; elle chante moins bien qu'avant she doesn't sing as well as she used to; il fait moins beau que l'an dernier the weather isn't as good as it was last year; c'est le moins bien payé des deux he's the less well-paid of the two; le moins souvent (the) least often.C moins de dét indéf1 ( avec un nom dénombrable) moins de livres/d'assiettes/d'arguments fewer books/plates/arguments; j'ai moins de livres que toi I don't have as many books as you ou I have fewer books than you; mangez moins de graisses eat less fat; il y a moins de candidats there are fewer candidates; ils ont moins de chances d'être élus they are less likely to be elected; les éditeurs publient moins de livres publishers are publishing fewer books; pas moins de no fewer than;2 ( avec un nom non dénombrable) moins de sucre/vin/papier less sugar/wine/paper; moins de bruit/lumière less noise/light; il a parlé avec moins de hargne he spoke less aggressively; il y a moins de monde aujourd'hui qu'hier there are fewer people today than there were yesterday; pas moins de no less than; c'est lui qui a le moins d'expérience des trois of the three he's the one with the least experience;3 ( avec un numéral) en moins de trois heures in less than three hours; dans moins de trois heures in less than three hours; le voyage a duré un peu moins de trois heures the journey took a bit less than ou just under three hours; il est moins de 3 heures it's not quite 3 o'clock; les enfants de moins de 6 ans children under 6; les moins de 20 ans people under 20, the under-twenties; une planche de moins de deux m ètres de long a plank less than two metresGB long; moins de huit candidats fewer than eight candidates; tu ne trouveras rien à moins de 500 euros you won't find anything for less than 500 euros ou for under 500 euros; ça m'a coûté moins de 200 euros it cost me less than 200 euros ou under 200 euros.E à moins de loc prép à moins de partir maintenant, il n'arrivera pas à l'heure unless he leaves now he won't get there on time; à moins d'un miracle il va échouer unless there's a miracle, he's going to fail.G à tout le moins loc adv to say the least.H au moins loc adv at least; tout au moins at least; il y avait au moins 3 000 personnes there were at least 3,000 people; au moins, lui, il a réussi dans la vie he, at least, succeeded in life; tu l'as remercié, au moins? you did thank him, didn't you?I de moins loc adv ça m'a pris deux heures de moins it took me two hours less; le kilo de pêches valait deux euros de moins que la veille a kilo of peaches cost two euros less than it had the day before; j'ai un an de moins que lui I'm a year younger than he is; il a obtenu 25% de voix de moins que son adversaire he got 25% fewer votes than his opponent.J du moins loc adv at least; c'est du moins ce qu'il m'a raconté at least that's what he told me; si du moins tu es d'accord that is if you agree.K en moins loc adv il y avait deux fourchettes en moins dans la boîte there were two forks missing from the box; il est revenu du front avec une jambe en moins/avec un doigt en moins he came back from the front with only one leg/with a finger missing; c'est tout le portrait de son père, la moustache en moins he's/she's the spitting image of his/her father without the moustache GB ou mustache US.L pour le moins loc adv to say the least; ton attitude est pour le moins étrange your attitude is strange to say the least (of it).II.moins nm inv1 Math minus; le signe moins the minus sign;2 ○( inconvénient) minus.moins que rien nmf good-for-nothing, nobody.[mwɛ̃] adverbeA.[COMPARATIF D'INFÉRIORITÉ]1. [avec un adjectif, un adverbe] lessdeux fois moins cher half as expensive, twice as cheapen moins rapide but not so ou as fastc'est le même appartement, en moins bien/grand it's the same flat only not as nice/not as bigbeaucoup/un peu moins a lot/a little lessil n'en est pas moins vrai que... it is nonetheless true that...non moins charmante que... just as charming as..., no less charming than...je souffre moins I'm not in so much ou I'm in less painmoins tu parles, mieux ça vaut the less you speak, the betterB.[SUPERLATIF D'INFÉRIORITÉ]1. [avec un adjectif, un adverbe]c'est lui qui habite le moins loin he lives the least far away ou the nearestje ne suis pas le moins du monde surpris I'm not at all ou not in the least bit surprisedje vous dérange? — mais non, pas le moins du monde am I disturbing you? — of course not ou not in the slightest2. [avec un verbe]le moins qu'on puisse faire, c'est de les inviter the least we could do is invite them————————[mwɛ̃] préposition1. [en soustrayant]dix moins huit font deux ten minus ou less eight makes twoon est seize: moins les enfants, ça fait douze there are sixteen of us, twelve not counting the children2. [indiquant l'heure]3. [introduisant un nombre négatif]moins 50 plus moins 6 égalent moins 56 minus 50 plus minus 6 is ou makes minus 56il fait moins 25 it's 25 below ou minus 25————————[mwɛ̃] nom masculin————————à moins locution adverbiale————————à moins de locution prépositionnelle1. [excepté]à moins d'un miracle short of ou barring a miraclenous n'arriverons pas à temps, à moins de partir demain we won't get there on time unless we leave tomorrow2. [pour moins de] for less than3. [dans le temps, l'espace]il habite à moins de 10 minutes/500 mètres d'ici he lives less than 10 minutes/500 metres from here————————à moins que locution conjonctiveà moins que vous ne vouliez le faire vous-même... unless you wanted to do it yourself...————————au moins locution adverbiale1. [en tout cas] at least2. [au minimum] at least————————de moins locution adverbialede moins en moins locution adverbialede moins en moins de locution déterminante[suivi d'un nom comptable] fewer and fewer[suivi d'un nom non comptable] less and less————————des moins locution adverbiale————————du moins locution adverbialeils devaient venir samedi, c'est du moins ce qu'ils nous avaient dit they were supposed to come on saturday, at least that's what they told us————————en moins locution adverbialeil y a une chaise en moins there's one chair missing, we're one chair short————————en moins de locution prépositionnelle————————moins de locution déterminante1. (comparatif) [avec un nom comptable] fewer[avec un nom non comptable] lessil ne me faudra pas moins de 3 heures pour tout faire I'll need no less than ou at the very least 3 hours to do everything2. (superlatif)a. [avec un nom comptable] the fewestb. [avec un nom non comptable] the least————————moins... moins locution correlativethe less... the lessmoins il travaillera, moins il aura de chances de réussir à son examen the less he works, the less chance he'll have of passing his exam————————moins... plus locution correlativethe less... the more————————moins que rien locution adverbiale————————moins que rien nom masculin et fémininc'est un/une moins que rien he's/she's a nobodyon ne peut moins locution adverbialepour le moins locution adverbiale -
3 Historical Portugal
Before Romans described western Iberia or Hispania as "Lusitania," ancient Iberians inhabited the land. Phoenician and Greek trading settlements grew up in the Tagus estuary area and nearby coasts. Beginning around 202 BCE, Romans invaded what is today southern Portugal. With Rome's defeat of Carthage, Romans proceeded to conquer and rule the western region north of the Tagus, which they named Roman "Lusitania." In the fourth century CE, as Rome's rule weakened, the area experienced yet another invasion—Germanic tribes, principally the Suevi, who eventually were Christianized. During the sixth century CE, the Suevi kingdom was superseded by yet another Germanic tribe—the Christian Visigoths.A major turning point in Portugal's history came in 711, as Muslim armies from North Africa, consisting of both Arab and Berber elements, invaded the Iberian Peninsula from across the Straits of Gibraltar. They entered what is now Portugal in 714, and proceeded to conquer most of the country except for the far north. For the next half a millennium, Islam and Muslim presence in Portugal left a significant mark upon the politics, government, language, and culture of the country.Islam, Reconquest, and Portugal Created, 714-1140The long frontier struggle between Muslim invaders and Christian communities in the north of the Iberian peninsula was called the Reconquista (Reconquest). It was during this struggle that the first dynasty of Portuguese kings (Burgundian) emerged and the independent monarchy of Portugal was established. Christian forces moved south from what is now the extreme north of Portugal and gradually defeated Muslim forces, besieging and capturing towns under Muslim sway. In the ninth century, as Christian forces slowly made their way southward, Christian elements were dominant only in the area between Minho province and the Douro River; this region became known as "territorium Portu-calense."In the 11th century, the advance of the Reconquest quickened as local Christian armies were reinforced by crusading knights from what is now France and England. Christian forces took Montemor (1034), at the Mondego River; Lamego (1058); Viseu (1058); and Coimbra (1064). In 1095, the king of Castile and Léon granted the country of "Portu-cale," what became northern Portugal, to a Burgundian count who had emigrated from France. This was the foundation of Portugal. In 1139, a descendant of this count, Afonso Henriques, proclaimed himself "King of Portugal." He was Portugal's first monarch, the "Founder," and the first of the Burgundian dynasty, which ruled until 1385.The emergence of Portugal in the 12th century as a separate monarchy in Iberia occurred before the Christian Reconquest of the peninsula. In the 1140s, the pope in Rome recognized Afonso Henriques as king of Portugal. In 1147, after a long, bloody siege, Muslim-occupied Lisbon fell to Afonso Henriques's army. Lisbon was the greatest prize of the 500-year war. Assisting this effort were English crusaders on their way to the Holy Land; the first bishop of Lisbon was an Englishman. When the Portuguese captured Faro and Silves in the Algarve province in 1248-50, the Reconquest of the extreme western portion of the Iberian peninsula was complete—significantly, more than two centuries before the Spanish crown completed the Reconquest of the eastern portion by capturing Granada in 1492.Consolidation and Independence of Burgundian Portugal, 1140-1385Two main themes of Portugal's early existence as a monarchy are the consolidation of control over the realm and the defeat of a Castil-ian threat from the east to its independence. At the end of this period came the birth of a new royal dynasty (Aviz), which prepared to carry the Christian Reconquest beyond continental Portugal across the straits of Gibraltar to North Africa. There was a variety of motives behind these developments. Portugal's independent existence was imperiled by threats from neighboring Iberian kingdoms to the north and east. Politics were dominated not only by efforts against the Muslims inPortugal (until 1250) and in nearby southern Spain (until 1492), but also by internecine warfare among the kingdoms of Castile, Léon, Aragon, and Portugal. A final comeback of Muslim forces was defeated at the battle of Salado (1340) by allied Castilian and Portuguese forces. In the emerging Kingdom of Portugal, the monarch gradually gained power over and neutralized the nobility and the Church.The historic and commonplace Portuguese saying "From Spain, neither a good wind nor a good marriage" was literally played out in diplomacy and war in the late 14th-century struggles for mastery in the peninsula. Larger, more populous Castile was pitted against smaller Portugal. Castile's Juan I intended to force a union between Castile and Portugal during this era of confusion and conflict. In late 1383, Portugal's King Fernando, the last king of the Burgundian dynasty, suddenly died prematurely at age 38, and the Master of Aviz, Portugal's most powerful nobleman, took up the cause of independence and resistance against Castile's invasion. The Master of Aviz, who became King João I of Portugal, was able to obtain foreign assistance. With the aid of English archers, Joao's armies defeated the Castilians in the crucial battle of Aljubarrota, on 14 August 1385, a victory that assured the independence of the Portuguese monarchy from its Castilian nemesis for several centuries.Aviz Dynasty and Portugal's First Overseas Empire, 1385-1580The results of the victory at Aljubarrota, much celebrated in Portugal's art and monuments, and the rise of the Aviz dynasty also helped to establish a new merchant class in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal's second city. This group supported King João I's program of carrying the Reconquest to North Africa, since it was interested in expanding Portugal's foreign commerce and tapping into Muslim trade routes and resources in Africa. With the Reconquest against the Muslims completed in Portugal and the threat from Castile thwarted for the moment, the Aviz dynasty launched an era of overseas conquest, exploration, and trade. These efforts dominated Portugal's 15th and 16th centuries.The overseas empire and age of Discoveries began with Portugal's bold conquest in 1415 of the Moroccan city of Ceuta. One royal member of the 1415 expedition was young, 21-year-old Prince Henry, later known in history as "Prince Henry the Navigator." His part in the capture of Ceuta won Henry his knighthood and began Portugal's "Marvelous Century," during which the small kingdom was counted as a European and world power of consequence. Henry was the son of King João I and his English queen, Philippa of Lancaster, but he did not inherit the throne. Instead, he spent most of his life and his fortune, and that of the wealthy military Order of Christ, on various imperial ventures and on voyages of exploration down the African coast and into the Atlantic. While mythology has surrounded Henry's controversial role in the Discoveries, and this role has been exaggerated, there is no doubt that he played a vital part in the initiation of Portugal's first overseas empire and in encouraging exploration. He was naturally curious, had a sense of mission for Portugal, and was a strong leader. He also had wealth to expend; at least a third of the African voyages of the time were under his sponsorship. If Prince Henry himself knew little science, significant scientific advances in navigation were made in his day.What were Portugal's motives for this new imperial effort? The well-worn historical cliche of "God, Glory, and Gold" can only partly explain the motivation of a small kingdom with few natural resources and barely 1 million people, which was greatly outnumbered by the other powers it confronted. Among Portuguese objectives were the desire to exploit known North African trade routes and resources (gold, wheat, leather, weaponry, and other goods that were scarce in Iberia); the need to outflank the Muslim world in the Mediterranean by sailing around Africa, attacking Muslims en route; and the wish to ally with Christian kingdoms beyond Africa. This enterprise also involved a strategy of breaking the Venetian spice monopoly by trading directly with the East by means of discovering and exploiting a sea route around Africa to Asia. Besides the commercial motives, Portugal nurtured a strong crusading sense of Christian mission, and various classes in the kingdom saw an opportunity for fame and gain.By the time of Prince Henry's death in 1460, Portugal had gained control of the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeiras, begun to colonize the Cape Verde Islands, failed to conquer the Canary Islands from Castile, captured various cities on Morocco's coast, and explored as far as Senegal, West Africa, down the African coast. By 1488, Bar-tolomeu Dias had rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and thereby discovered the way to the Indian Ocean.Portugal's largely coastal African empire and later its fragile Asian empire brought unexpected wealth but were purchased at a high price. Costs included wars of conquest and defense against rival powers, manning the far-flung navel and trade fleets and scattered castle-fortresses, and staffing its small but fierce armies, all of which entailed a loss of skills and population to maintain a scattered empire. Always short of capital, the monarchy became indebted to bankers. There were many defeats beginning in the 16th century at the hands of the larger imperial European monarchies (Spain, France, England, and Holland) and many attacks on Portugal and its strung-out empire. Typically, there was also the conflict that arose when a tenuously held world empire that rarely if ever paid its way demanded finance and manpower Portugal itself lacked.The first 80 years of the glorious imperial era, the golden age of Portugal's imperial power and world influence, was an African phase. During 1415-88, Portuguese navigators and explorers in small ships, some of them caravelas (caravels), explored the treacherous, disease-ridden coasts of Africa from Morocco to South Africa beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By the 1470s, the Portuguese had reached the Gulf of Guinea and, in the early 1480s, what is now Angola. Bartolomeu Dias's extraordinary voyage of 1487-88 to South Africa's coast and the edge of the Indian Ocean convinced Portugal that the best route to Asia's spices and Christians lay south, around the tip of southern Africa. Between 1488 and 1495, there was a hiatus caused in part by domestic conflict in Portugal, discussion of resources available for further conquests beyond Africa in Asia, and serious questions as to Portugal's capacity to reach beyond Africa. In 1495, King Manuel and his council decided to strike for Asia, whatever the consequences. In 1497-99, Vasco da Gama, under royal orders, made the epic two-year voyage that discovered the sea route to western India (Asia), outflanked Islam and Venice, and began Portugal's Asian empire. Within 50 years, Portugal had discovered and begun the exploitation of its largest colony, Brazil, and set up forts and trading posts from the Middle East (Aden and Ormuz), India (Calicut, Goa, etc.), Malacca, and Indonesia to Macau in China.By the 1550s, parts of its largely coastal, maritime trading post empire from Morocco to the Moluccas were under siege from various hostile forces, including Muslims, Christians, and Hindi. Although Moroccan forces expelled the Portuguese from the major coastal cities by 1550, the rival European monarchies of Castile (Spain), England, France, and later Holland began to seize portions of her undermanned, outgunned maritime empire.In 1580, Phillip II of Spain, whose mother was a Portuguese princess and who had a strong claim to the Portuguese throne, invaded Portugal, claimed the throne, and assumed control over the realm and, by extension, its African, Asian, and American empires. Phillip II filled the power vacuum that appeared in Portugal following the loss of most of Portugal's army and its young, headstrong King Sebastião in a disastrous war in Morocco. Sebastiao's death in battle (1578) and the lack of a natural heir to succeed him, as well as the weak leadership of the cardinal who briefly assumed control in Lisbon, led to a crisis that Spain's strong monarch exploited. As a result, Portugal lost its independence to Spain for a period of 60 years.Portugal under Spanish Rule, 1580-1640Despite the disastrous nature of Portugal's experience under Spanish rule, "The Babylonian Captivity" gave birth to modern Portuguese nationalism, its second overseas empire, and its modern alliance system with England. Although Spain allowed Portugal's weakened empire some autonomy, Spanish rule in Portugal became increasingly burdensome and unacceptable. Spain's ambitious imperial efforts in Europe and overseas had an impact on the Portuguese as Spain made greater and greater demands on its smaller neighbor for manpower and money. Portugal's culture underwent a controversial Castilianization, while its empire became hostage to Spain's fortunes. New rival powers England, France, and Holland attacked and took parts of Spain's empire and at the same time attacked Portugal's empire, as well as the mother country.Portugal's empire bore the consequences of being attacked by Spain's bitter enemies in what was a form of world war. Portuguese losses were heavy. By 1640, Portugal had lost most of its Moroccan cities as well as Ceylon, the Moluccas, and sections of India. With this, Portugal's Asian empire was gravely weakened. Only Goa, Damão, Diu, Bombay, Timor, and Macau remained and, in Brazil, Dutch forces occupied the northeast.On 1 December 1640, long commemorated as a national holiday, Portuguese rebels led by the duke of Braganza overthrew Spanish domination and took advantage of Spanish weakness following a more serious rebellion in Catalonia. Portugal regained independence from Spain, but at a price: dependence on foreign assistance to maintain its independence in the form of the renewal of the alliance with England.Restoration and Second Empire, 1640-1822Foreign affairs and empire dominated the restoration era and aftermath, and Portugal again briefly enjoyed greater European power and prestige. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance was renewed and strengthened in treaties of 1642, 1654, and 1661, and Portugal's independence from Spain was underwritten by English pledges and armed assistance. In a Luso-Spanish treaty of 1668, Spain recognized Portugal's independence. Portugal's alliance with England was a marriage of convenience and necessity between two monarchies with important religious, cultural, and social differences. In return for legal, diplomatic, and trade privileges, as well as the use during war and peace of Portugal's great Lisbon harbor and colonial ports for England's navy, England pledged to protect Portugal and its scattered empire from any attack. The previously cited 17th-century alliance treaties were renewed later in the Treaty of Windsor, signed in London in 1899. On at least 10 different occasions after 1640, and during the next two centuries, England was central in helping prevent or repel foreign invasions of its ally, Portugal.Portugal's second empire (1640-1822) was largely Brazil-oriented. Portuguese colonization, exploitation of wealth, and emigration focused on Portuguese America, and imperial revenues came chiefly from Brazil. Between 1670 and 1740, Portugal's royalty and nobility grew wealthier on funds derived from Brazilian gold, diamonds, sugar, tobacco, and other crops, an enterprise supported by the Atlantic slave trade and the supply of African slave labor from West Africa and Angola. Visitors today can see where much of that wealth was invested: Portugal's rich legacy of monumental architecture. Meanwhile, the African slave trade took a toll in Angola and West Africa.In continental Portugal, absolutist monarchy dominated politics and government, and there was a struggle for position and power between the monarchy and other institutions, such as the Church and nobility. King José I's chief minister, usually known in history as the marquis of Pombal (ruled 1750-77), sharply suppressed the nobility and theChurch (including the Inquisition, now a weak institution) and expelled the Jesuits. Pombal also made an effort to reduce economic dependence on England, Portugal's oldest ally. But his successes did not last much beyond his disputed time in office.Beginning in the late 18th century, the European-wide impact of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon placed Portugal in a vulnerable position. With the monarchy ineffectively led by an insane queen (Maria I) and her indecisive regent son (João VI), Portugal again became the focus of foreign ambition and aggression. With England unable to provide decisive assistance in time, France—with Spain's consent—invaded Portugal in 1807. As Napoleon's army under General Junot entered Lisbon meeting no resistance, Portugal's royal family fled on a British fleet to Brazil, where it remained in exile until 1821. In the meantime, Portugal's overseas empire was again under threat. There was a power vacuum as the monarch was absent, foreign armies were present, and new political notions of liberalism and constitutional monarchy were exciting various groups of citizens.Again England came to the rescue, this time in the form of the armies of the duke of Wellington. Three successive French invasions of Portugal were defeated and expelled, and Wellington succeeded in carrying the war against Napoleon across the Portuguese frontier into Spain. The presence of the English army, the new French-born liberal ideas, and the political vacuum combined to create revolutionary conditions. The French invasions and the peninsular wars, where Portuguese armed forces played a key role, marked the beginning of a new era in politics.Liberalism and Constitutional Monarchy, 1822-1910During 1807-22, foreign invasions, war, and civil strife over conflicting political ideas gravely damaged Portugal's commerce, economy, and novice industry. The next terrible blow was the loss of Brazil in 1822, the jewel in the imperial crown. Portugal's very independence seemed to be at risk. In vain, Portugal sought to resist Brazilian independence by force, but in 1825 it formally acknowledged Brazilian independence by treaty.Portugal's slow recovery from the destructive French invasions and the "war of independence" was complicated by civil strife over the form of constitutional monarchy that best suited Portugal. After struggles over these issues between 1820 and 1834, Portugal settled somewhat uncertainly into a moderate constitutional monarchy whose constitution (Charter of 1826) lent it strong political powers to exert a moderating influence between the executive and legislative branches of the government. It also featured a new upper middle class based on land ownership and commerce; a Catholic Church that, although still important, lived with reduced privileges and property; a largely African (third) empire to which Lisbon and Oporto devoted increasing spiritual and material resources, starting with the liberal imperial plans of 1836 and 1851, and continuing with the work of institutions like the Lisbon Society of Geography (established 1875); and a mass of rural peasants whose bonds to the land weakened after 1850 and who began to immigrate in increasing numbers to Brazil and North America.Chronic military intervention in national politics began in 19th-century Portugal. Such intervention, usually commencing with coups or pronunciamentos (military revolts), was a shortcut to the spoils of political office and could reflect popular discontent as well as the power of personalities. An early example of this was the 1817 golpe (coup) attempt of General Gomes Freire against British military rule in Portugal before the return of King João VI from Brazil. Except for a more stable period from 1851 to 1880, military intervention in politics, or the threat thereof, became a feature of the constitutional monarchy's political life, and it continued into the First Republic and the subsequent Estado Novo.Beginning with the Regeneration period (1851-80), Portugal experienced greater political stability and economic progress. Military intervention in politics virtually ceased; industrialization and construction of railroads, roads, and bridges proceeded; two political parties (Regenerators and Historicals) worked out a system of rotation in power; and leading intellectuals sparked a cultural revival in several fields. In 19th-century literature, there was a new golden age led by such figures as Alexandre Herculano (historian), Eça de Queirós (novelist), Almeida Garrett (playwright and essayist), Antero de Quental (poet), and Joaquim Oliveira Martins (historian and social scientist). In its third overseas empire, Portugal attempted to replace the slave trade and slavery with legitimate economic activities; to reform the administration; and to expand Portuguese holdings beyond coastal footholds deep into the African hinterlands in West, West Central, and East Africa. After 1841, to some extent, and especially after 1870, colonial affairs, combined with intense nationalism, pressures for economic profit in Africa, sentiment for national revival, and the drift of European affairs would make or break Lisbon governments.Beginning with the political crisis that arose out of the "English Ultimatum" affair of January 1890, the monarchy became discredtted and identified with the poorly functioning government, political parties splintered, and republicanism found more supporters. Portugal participated in the "Scramble for Africa," expanding its African holdings, but failed to annex territory connecting Angola and Mozambique. A growing foreign debt and state bankruptcy as of the early 1890s damaged the constitutional monarchy's reputation, despite the efforts of King Carlos in diplomacy, the renewal of the alliance in the Windsor Treaty of 1899, and the successful if bloody colonial wars in the empire (1880-97). Republicanism proclaimed that Portugal's weak economy and poor society were due to two historic institutions: the monarchy and the Catholic Church. A republic, its stalwarts claimed, would bring greater individual liberty; efficient, if more decentralized government; and a stronger colonial program while stripping the Church of its role in both society and education.As the monarchy lost support and republicans became more aggressive, violence increased in politics. King Carlos I and his heir Luís were murdered in Lisbon by anarchist-republicans on 1 February 1908. Following a military and civil insurrection and fighting between monarchist and republican forces, on 5 October 1910, King Manuel II fled Portugal and a republic was proclaimed.First Parliamentary Republic, 1910-26Portugal's first attempt at republican government was the most unstable, turbulent parliamentary republic in the history of 20th-century Western Europe. During a little under 16 years of the republic, there were 45 governments, a number of legislatures that did not complete normal terms, military coups, and only one president who completed his four-year term in office. Portuguese society was poorly prepared for this political experiment. Among the deadly legacies of the monarchy were a huge public debt; a largely rural, apolitical, and illiterate peasant population; conflict over the causes of the country's misfortunes; and lack of experience with a pluralist, democratic system.The republic had some talented leadership but lacked popular, institutional, and economic support. The 1911 republican constitution established only a limited democracy, as only a small portion of the adult male citizenry was eligible to vote. In a country where the majority was Catholic, the republic passed harshly anticlerical laws, and its institutions and supporters persecuted both the Church and its adherents. During its brief disjointed life, the First Republic drafted important reform plans in economic, social, and educational affairs; actively promoted development in the empire; and pursued a liberal, generous foreign policy. Following British requests for Portugal's assistance in World War I, Portugal entered the war on the Allied side in March 1916 and sent armies to Flanders and Portuguese Africa. Portugal's intervention in that conflict, however, was too costly in many respects, and the ultimate failure of the republic in part may be ascribed to Portugal's World War I activities.Unfortunately for the republic, its time coincided with new threats to Portugal's African possessions: World War I, social and political demands from various classes that could not be reconciled, excessive military intervention in politics, and, in particular, the worst economic and financial crisis Portugal had experienced since the 16th and 17th centuries. After the original Portuguese Republican Party (PRP, also known as the "Democrats") splintered into three warring groups in 1912, no true multiparty system emerged. The Democrats, except for only one or two elections, held an iron monopoly of electoral power, and political corruption became a major issue. As extreme right-wing dictatorships elsewhere in Europe began to take power in Italy (1922), neighboring Spain (1923), and Greece (1925), what scant popular support remained for the republic collapsed. Backed by a right-wing coalition of landowners from Alentejo, clergy, Coimbra University faculty and students, Catholic organizations, and big business, career military officers led by General Gomes da Costa executed a coup on 28 May 1926, turned out the last republican government, and established a military government.The Estado Novo (New State), 1926-74During the military phase (1926-32) of the Estado Novo, professional military officers, largely from the army, governed and administered Portugal and held key cabinet posts, but soon discovered that the military possessed no magic formula that could readily solve the problems inherited from the First Republic. Especially during the years 1926-31, the military dictatorship, even with its political repression of republican activities and institutions (military censorship of the press, political police action, and closure of the republic's rowdy parliament), was characterized by similar weaknesses: personalism and factionalism; military coups and political instability, including civil strife and loss of life; state debt and bankruptcy; and a weak economy. "Barracks parliamentarism" was not an acceptable alternative even to the "Nightmare Republic."Led by General Óscar Carmona, who had replaced and sent into exile General Gomes da Costa, the military dictatorship turned to a civilian expert in finance and economics to break the budget impasse and bring coherence to the disorganized system. Appointed minister of finance on 27 April 1928, the Coimbra University Law School professor of economics Antônio de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970) first reformed finance, helped balance the budget, and then turned to other concerns as he garnered extraordinary governing powers. In 1930, he was appointed interim head of another key ministry (Colonies) and within a few years had become, in effect, a civilian dictator who, with the military hierarchy's support, provided the government with coherence, a program, and a set of policies.For nearly 40 years after he was appointed the first civilian prime minister in 1932, Salazar's personality dominated the government. Unlike extreme right-wing dictators elsewhere in Europe, Salazar was directly appointed by the army but was never endorsed by a popular political party, street militia, or voter base. The scholarly, reclusive former Coimbra University professor built up what became known after 1932 as the Estado Novo ("New State"), which at the time of its overthrow by another military coup in 1974, was the longest surviving authoritarian regime in Western Europe. The system of Salazar and the largely academic and technocratic ruling group he gathered in his cabinets was based on the central bureaucracy of the state, which was supported by the president of the republic—always a senior career military officer, General Óscar Carmona (1928-51), General Craveiro Lopes (1951-58), and Admiral Américo Tómaz (1958-74)—and the complicity of various institutions. These included a rubber-stamp legislature called the National Assembly (1935-74) and a political police known under various names: PVDE (1932-45), PIDE (1945-69),and DGS (1969-74). Other defenders of the Estado Novo security were paramilitary organizations such as the National Republican Guard (GNR); the Portuguese Legion (PL); and the Portuguese Youth [Movement]. In addition to censorship of the media, theater, and books, there was political repression and a deliberate policy of depoliticization. All political parties except for the approved movement of regime loyalists, the União Nacional or (National Union), were banned.The most vigorous and more popular period of the New State was 1932-44, when the basic structures were established. Never monolithic or entirely the work of one person (Salazar), the New State was constructed with the assistance of several dozen top associates who were mainly academics from law schools, some technocrats with specialized skills, and a handful of trusted career military officers. The 1933 Constitution declared Portugal to be a "unitary, corporative Republic," and pressures to restore the monarchy were resisted. Although some of the regime's followers were fascists and pseudofascists, many more were conservative Catholics, integralists, nationalists, and monarchists of different varieties, and even some reactionary republicans. If the New State was authoritarian, it was not totalitarian and, unlike fascism in Benito Mussolini's Italy or Adolf Hitler's Germany, it usually employed the minimum of violence necessary to defeat what remained a largely fractious, incoherent opposition.With the tumultuous Second Republic and the subsequent civil war in nearby Spain, the regime felt threatened and reinforced its defenses. During what Salazar rightly perceived as a time of foreign policy crisis for Portugal (1936-45), he assumed control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From there, he pursued four basic foreign policy objectives: supporting the Nationalist rebels of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and concluding defense treaties with a triumphant Franco; ensuring that General Franco in an exhausted Spain did not enter World War II on the Axis side; maintaining Portuguese neutrality in World War II with a post-1942 tilt toward the Allies, including granting Britain and the United States use of bases in the Azores Islands; and preserving and protecting Portugal's Atlantic Islands and its extensive, if poor, overseas empire in Africa and Asia.During the middle years of the New State (1944-58), many key Salazar associates in government either died or resigned, and there was greater social unrest in the form of unprecedented strikes and clandestine Communist activities, intensified opposition, and new threatening international pressures on Portugal's overseas empire. During the earlier phase of the Cold War (1947-60), Portugal became a steadfast, if weak, member of the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance and, in 1955, with American support, Portugal joined the United Nations (UN). Colonial affairs remained a central concern of the regime. As of 1939, Portugal was the third largest colonial power in the world and possessed territories in tropical Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe Islands) and the remnants of its 16th-century empire in Asia (Goa, Damão, Diu, East Timor, and Macau). Beginning in the early 1950s, following the independence of India in 1947, Portugal resisted Indian pressures to decolonize Portuguese India and used police forces to discourage internal opposition in its Asian and African colonies.The later years of the New State (1958-68) witnessed the aging of the increasingly isolated but feared Salazar and new threats both at home and overseas. Although the regime easily overcame the brief oppositionist threat from rival presidential candidate General Humberto Delgado in the spring of 1958, new developments in the African and Asian empires imperiled the authoritarian system. In February 1961, oppositionists hijacked the Portuguese ocean liner Santa Maria and, in following weeks, African insurgents in northern Angola, although they failed to expel the Portuguese, gained worldwide media attention, discredited the New State, and began the 13-year colonial war. After thwarting a dissident military coup against his continued leadership, Salazar and his ruling group mobilized military repression in Angola and attempted to develop the African colonies at a faster pace in order to ensure Portuguese control. Meanwhile, the other European colonial powers (Britain, France, Belgium, and Spain) rapidly granted political independence to their African territories.At the time of Salazar's removal from power in September 1968, following a stroke, Portugal's efforts to maintain control over its colonies appeared to be successful. President Americo Tomás appointed Dr. Marcello Caetano as Salazar's successor as prime minister. While maintaining the New State's basic structures, and continuing the regime's essential colonial policy, Caetano attempted wider reforms in colonial administration and some devolution of power from Lisbon, as well as more freedom of expression in Lisbon. Still, a great deal of the budget was devoted to supporting the wars against the insurgencies in Africa. Meanwhile in Asia, Portuguese India had fallen when the Indian army invaded in December 1961. The loss of Goa was a psychological blow to the leadership of the New State, and of the Asian empire only East Timor and Macau remained.The Caetano years (1968-74) were but a hiatus between the waning Salazar era and a new regime. There was greater political freedom and rapid economic growth (5-6 percent annually to late 1973), but Caetano's government was unable to reform the old system thoroughly and refused to consider new methods either at home or in the empire. In the end, regime change came from junior officers of the professional military who organized the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) against the Caetano government. It was this group of several hundred officers, mainly in the army and navy, which engineered a largely bloodless coup in Lisbon on 25 April 1974. Their unexpected action brought down the 48-year-old New State and made possible the eventual establishment and consolidation of democratic governance in Portugal, as well as a reorientation of the country away from the Atlantic toward Europe.Revolution of Carnations, 1974-76Following successful military operations of the Armed Forces Movement against the Caetano government, Portugal experienced what became known as the "Revolution of Carnations." It so happened that during the rainy week of the military golpe, Lisbon flower shops were featuring carnations, and the revolutionaries and their supporters adopted the red carnation as the common symbol of the event, as well as of the new freedom from dictatorship. The MFA, whose leaders at first were mostly little-known majors and captains, proclaimed a three-fold program of change for the new Portugal: democracy; decolonization of the overseas empire, after ending the colonial wars; and developing a backward economy in the spirit of opportunity and equality. During the first 24 months after the coup, there was civil strife, some anarchy, and a power struggle. With the passing of the Estado Novo, public euphoria burst forth as the new provisional military government proclaimed the freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, and abolished censorship, the political police, the Portuguese Legion, Portuguese Youth, and other New State organizations, including the National Union. Scores of political parties were born and joined the senior political party, the Portuguese Community Party (PCP), and the Socialist Party (PS), founded shortly before the coup.Portugal's Revolution of Carnations went through several phases. There was an attempt to take control by radical leftists, including the PCP and its allies. This was thwarted by moderate officers in the army, as well as by the efforts of two political parties: the PS and the Social Democrats (PPD, later PSD). The first phase was from April to September 1974. Provisional president General Antonio Spínola, whose 1974 book Portugal and the Future had helped prepare public opinion for the coup, met irresistible leftist pressures. After Spinola's efforts to avoid rapid decolonization of the African empire failed, he resigned in September 1974. During the second phase, from September 1974 to March 1975, radical military officers gained control, but a coup attempt by General Spínola and his supporters in Lisbon in March 1975 failed and Spínola fled to Spain.In the third phase of the Revolution, March-November 1975, a strong leftist reaction followed. Farm workers occupied and "nationalized" 1.1 million hectares of farmland in the Alentejo province, and radical military officers in the provisional government ordered the nationalization of Portuguese banks (foreign banks were exempted), utilities, and major industries, or about 60 percent of the economic system. There were power struggles among various political parties — a total of 50 emerged—and in the streets there was civil strife among labor, military, and law enforcement groups. A constituent assembly, elected on 25 April 1975, in Portugal's first free elections since 1926, drafted a democratic constitution. The Council of the Revolution (CR), briefly a revolutionary military watchdog committee, was entrenched as part of the government under the constitution, until a later revision. During the chaotic year of 1975, about 30 persons were killed in political frays while unstable provisional governments came and went. On 25 November 1975, moderate military forces led by Colonel Ramalho Eanes, who later was twice elected president of the republic (1976 and 1981), defeated radical, leftist military groups' revolutionary conspiracies.In the meantime, Portugal's scattered overseas empire experienced a precipitous and unprepared decolonization. One by one, the former colonies were granted and accepted independence—Guinea-Bissau (September 1974), Cape Verde Islands (July 1975), and Mozambique (July 1975). Portugal offered to turn over Macau to the People's Republic of China, but the offer was refused then and later negotiations led to the establishment of a formal decolonization or hand-over date of 1999. But in two former colonies, the process of decolonization had tragic results.In Angola, decolonization negotiations were greatly complicated by the fact that there were three rival nationalist movements in a struggle for power. The January 1975 Alvor Agreement signed by Portugal and these three parties was not effectively implemented. A bloody civil war broke out in Angola in the spring of 1975 and, when Portuguese armed forces withdrew and declared that Angola was independent on 11 November 1975, the bloodshed only increased. Meanwhile, most of the white Portuguese settlers from Angola and Mozambique fled during the course of 1975. Together with African refugees, more than 600,000 of these retornados ("returned ones") went by ship and air to Portugal and thousands more to Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.The second major decolonization disaster was in Portugal's colony of East Timor in the Indonesian archipelago. Portugal's capacity to supervise and control a peaceful transition to independence in this isolated, neglected colony was limited by the strength of giant Indonesia, distance from Lisbon, and Portugal's revolutionary disorder and inability to defend Timor. In early December 1975, before Portugal granted formal independence and as one party, FRETILIN, unilaterally declared East Timor's independence, Indonesia's armed forces invaded, conquered, and annexed East Timor. Indonesian occupation encountered East Timorese resistance, and a heavy loss of life followed. The East Timor question remained a contentious international issue in the UN, as well as in Lisbon and Jakarta, for more than 20 years following Indonesia's invasion and annexation of the former colony of Portugal. Major changes occurred, beginning in 1998, after Indonesia underwent a political revolution and allowed a referendum in East Timor to decide that territory's political future in August 1999. Most East Timorese chose independence, but Indonesian forces resisted that verdict untilUN intervention in September 1999. Following UN rule for several years, East Timor attained full independence on 20 May 2002.Consolidation of Democracy, 1976-2000After several free elections and record voter turnouts between 25 April 1975 and June 1976, civil war was averted and Portugal's second democratic republic began to stabilize. The MFA was dissolved, the military were returned to the barracks, and increasingly elected civilians took over the government of the country. The 1976 Constitution was revised several times beginning in 1982 and 1989, in order to reempha-size the principle of free enterprise in the economy while much of the large, nationalized sector was privatized. In June 1976, General Ram-alho Eanes was elected the first constitutional president of the republic (five-year term), and he appointed socialist leader Dr. Mário Soares as prime minister of the first constitutional government.From 1976 to 1985, Portugal's new system featured a weak economy and finances, labor unrest, and administrative and political instability. The difficult consolidation of democratic governance was eased in part by the strong currency and gold reserves inherited from the Estado Novo, but Lisbon seemed unable to cope with high unemployment, new debt, the complex impact of the refugees from Africa, world recession, and the agitation of political parties. Four major parties emerged from the maelstrom of 1974-75, except for the Communist Party, all newly founded. They were, from left to right, the Communists (PCP); the Socialists (PS), who managed to dominate governments and the legislature but not win a majority in the Assembly of the Republic; the Social Democrats (PSD); and the Christian Democrats (CDS). During this period, the annual growth rate was low (l-2 percent), and the nationalized sector of the economy stagnated.Enhanced economic growth, greater political stability, and more effective central government as of 1985, and especially 1987, were due to several developments. In 1977, Portugal applied for membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU) since 1993. In January 1986, with Spain, Portugal was granted membership, and economic and financial progress in the intervening years has been significantly influenced by the comparatively large investment, loans, technology, advice, and other assistance from the EEC. Low unemployment, high annual growth rates (5 percent), and moderate inflation have also been induced by the new political and administrative stability in Lisbon. Led by Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, an economist who was trained abroad, the PSD's strong organization, management, and electoral support since 1985 have assisted in encouraging economic recovery and development. In 1985, the PSD turned the PS out of office and won the general election, although they did not have an absolute majority of assembly seats. In 1986, Mário Soares was elected president of the republic, the first civilian to hold that office since the First Republic. In the elections of 1987 and 1991, however, the PSD was returned to power with clear majorities of over 50 percent of the vote.Although the PSD received 50.4 percent of the vote in the 1991 parliamentary elections and held a 42-seat majority in the Assembly of the Republic, the party began to lose public support following media revelations regarding corruption and complaints about Prime Minister Cavaco Silva's perceived arrogant leadership style. President Mário Soares voiced criticism of the PSD's seemingly untouchable majority and described a "tyranny of the majority." Economic growth slowed down. In the parliamentary elections of 1995 and the presidential election of 1996, the PSD's dominance ended for the time being. Prime Minister Antônio Guterres came to office when the PS won the October 1995 elections, and in the subsequent presidential contest, in January 1996, socialist Jorge Sampaio, the former mayor of Lisbon, was elected president of the republic, thus defeating Cavaco Silva's bid. Young and popular, Guterres moved the PS toward the center of the political spectrum. Under Guterres, the PS won the October 1999 parliamentary elections. The PS defeated the PSD but did not manage to win a clear, working majority of seats, and this made the PS dependent upon alliances with smaller parties, including the PCP.In the local elections in December 2001, the PSD's criticism of PS's heavy public spending allowed the PSD to take control of the key cities of Lisbon, Oporto, and Coimbra. Guterres resigned, and parliamentary elections were brought forward from 2004 to March 2002. The PSD won a narrow victory with 40 percent of the votes, and Jose Durão Barroso became prime minister. Having failed to win a majority of the seats in parliament forced the PSD to govern in coalition with the right-wing Popular Party (PP) led by Paulo Portas. Durão Barroso set about reducing government spending by cutting the budgets of local authorities, freezing civil service hiring, and reviving the economy by accelerating privatization of state-owned enterprises. These measures provoked a 24-hour strike by public-sector workers. Durão Barroso reacted with vows to press ahead with budget-cutting measures and imposed a wage freeze on all employees earning more than €1,000, which affected more than one-half of Portugal's work force.In June 2004, Durão Barroso was invited by Romano Prodi to succeed him as president of the European Commission. Durão Barroso accepted and resigned the prime ministership in July. Pedro Santana Lopes, the leader of the PSD, became prime minister. Already unpopular at the time of Durão Barroso's resignation, the PSD-led government became increasingly unpopular under Santana Lopes. A month-long delay in the start of the school year and confusion over his plan to cut taxes and raise public-sector salaries, eroded confidence even more. By November, Santana Lopes's government was so unpopular that President Jorge Sampaio was obliged to dissolve parliament and hold new elections, two years ahead of schedule.Parliamentary elections were held on 20 February 2005. The PS, which had promised the electorate disciplined and transparent governance, educational reform, the alleviation of poverty, and a boost in employment, won 45 percent of the vote and the majority of the seats in parliament. The leader of the PS, José Sôcrates became prime minister on 12 March 2005. In the regularly scheduled presidential elections held on 6 January 2006, the former leader of the PSD and prime minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, won a narrow victory and became president on 9 March 2006. With a mass protest, public teachers' strike, and street demonstrations in March 2008, Portugal's media, educational, and social systems experienced more severe pressures. With the spreading global recession beginning in September 2008, Portugal's economic and financial systems became more troubled.Owing to its geographic location on the southwestern most edge of continental Europe, Portugal has been historically in but not of Europe. Almost from the beginning of its existence in the 12th century as an independent monarchy, Portugal turned its back on Europe and oriented itself toward the Atlantic Ocean. After carving out a Christian kingdom on the western portion of the Iberian peninsula, Portuguese kings gradually built and maintained a vast seaborne global empire that became central to the way Portugal understood its individuality as a nation-state. While the creation of this empire allows Portugal to claim an unusual number of "firsts" or distinctions in world and Western history, it also retarded Portugal's economic, social, and political development. It can be reasonably argued that the Revolution of 25 April 1974 was the most decisive event in Portugal's long history because it finally ended Portugal's oceanic mission and view of itself as an imperial power. After the 1974 Revolution, Portugal turned away from its global mission and vigorously reoriented itself toward Europe. Contemporary Portugal is now both in and of Europe.The turn toward Europe began immediately after 25 April 1974. Portugal granted independence to its African colonies in 1975. It was admitted to the European Council and took the first steps toward accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1976. On 28 March 1977, the Portuguese government officially applied for EEC membership. Because of Portugal's economic and social backwardness, which would require vast sums of EEC money to overcome, negotiations for membership were long and difficult. Finally, a treaty of accession was signed on 12 June 1985. Portugal officially joined the EEC (the European Union [EU] since 1993) on 1 January 1986. Since becoming a full-fledged member of the EU, Portugal has been steadily overcoming the economic and social underdevelopment caused by its imperial past and is becoming more like the rest of Europe.Membership in the EU has speeded up the structural transformation of Portugal's economy, which actually began during the Estado Novo. Investments made by the Estado Novo in Portugal's economy began to shift employment out of the agricultural sector, which, in 1950, accounted for 50 percent of Portugal's economically active population. Today, only 10 percent of the economically active population is employed in the agricultural sector (the highest among EU member states); 30 percent in the industrial sector (also the highest among EU member states); and 60 percent in the service sector (the lowest among EU member states). The economically active population numbers about 5,000,000 employed, 56 percent of whom are women. Women workers are the majority of the workforce in the agricultural and service sectors (the highest among the EU member states). The expansion of the service sector has been primarily in health care and education. Portugal has had the lowest unemployment rates among EU member states, with the overall rate never being more than 10 percent of the active population. Since joining the EU, the number of employers increased from 2.6 percent to 5.8 percent of the active population; self-employed from 16 to 19 percent; and employees from 65 to 70 percent. Twenty-six percent of the employers are women. Unemployment tends to hit younger workers in industry and transportation, women employed in domestic service, workers on short-term contracts, and poorly educated workers. Salaried workers earn only 63 percent of the EU average, and hourly workers only one-third to one-half of that earned by their EU counterparts. Despite having had the second highest growth of gross national product (GNP) per inhabitant (after Ireland) among EU member states, the above data suggest that while much has been accomplished in terms of modernizing the Portuguese economy, much remains to be done to bring Portugal's economy up to the level of the "average" EU member state.Membership in the EU has also speeded up changes in Portuguese society. Over the last 30 years, coastalization and urbanization have intensified. Fully 50 percent of Portuguese live in the coastal urban conurbations of Lisbon, Oporto, Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra, Viseu, Évora, and Faro. The Portuguese population is one of the oldest among EU member states (17.3 percent are 65 years of age or older) thanks to a considerable increase in life expectancy at birth (77.87 years for the total population, 74.6 years for men, 81.36 years for women) and one of the lowest birthrates (10.59 births/1,000) in Europe. Family size averages 2.8 persons per household, with the strict nuclear family (one or two generations) in which both parents work being typical. Common law marriages, cohabitating couples, and single-parent households are more and more common. The divorce rate has also increased. "Youth Culture" has developed. The young have their own meeting places, leisure-time activities, and nightlife (bars, clubs, and discos).All Portuguese citizens, whether they have contributed or not, have a right to an old-age pension, invalidity benefits, widowed persons' pension, as well as payments for disabilities, children, unemployment, and large families. There is a national minimum wage (€385 per month), which is low by EU standards. The rapid aging of Portugal's population has changed the ratio of contributors to pensioners to 1.7, the lowest in the EU. This has created deficits in Portugal's social security fund.The adult literacy rate is about 92 percent. Illiteracy is still found among the elderly. Although universal compulsory education up to grade 9 was achieved in 1980, only 21.2 percent of the population aged 25-64 had undergone secondary education, compared to an EU average of 65.7 percent. Portugal's higher education system currently consists of 14 state universities and 14 private universities, 15 state polytechnic institutions, one Catholic university, and one military academy. All in all, Portugal spends a greater percentage of its state budget on education than most EU member states. Despite this high level of expenditure, the troubled Portuguese education system does not perform well. Early leaving and repetition rates are among the highest among EU member states.After the Revolution of 25 April 1974, Portugal created a National Health Service, which today consists of 221 hospitals and 512 medical centers employing 33,751 doctors and 41,799 nurses. Like its education system, Portugal's medical system is inefficient. There are long waiting lists for appointments with specialists and for surgical procedures.Structural changes in Portugal's economy and society mean that social life in Portugal is not too different from that in other EU member states. A mass consumption society has been created. Televisions, telephones, refrigerators, cars, music equipment, mobile phones, and personal computers are commonplace. Sixty percent of Portuguese households possess at least one automobile, and 65 percent of Portuguese own their own home. Portuguese citizens are more aware of their legal rights than ever before. This has resulted in a trebling of the number of legal proceeding since 1960 and an eight-fold increase in the number of lawyers. In general, Portuguese society has become more permissive and secular; the Catholic Church and the armed forces are much less influential than in the past. Portugal's population is also much more culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse, a consequence of the coming to Portugal of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly from former African colonies.Portuguese are becoming more cosmopolitan and sophisticated through the impact of world media, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. A prime case in point came in the summer and early fall of 1999, with the extraordinary events in East Timor and the massive Portuguese popular responses. An internationally monitored referendum in East Timor, Portugal's former colony in the Indonesian archipelago and under Indonesian occupation from late 1975 to summer 1999, resulted in a vote of 78.5 percent for rejecting integration with Indonesia and for independence. When Indonesian prointegration gangs, aided by the Indonesian military, responded to the referendum with widespread brutality and threatened to reverse the verdict of the referendum, there was a spontaneous popular outpouring of protest in the cities and towns of Portugal. An avalanche of Portuguese e-mail fell on leaders and groups in the UN and in certain countries around the world as Portugal's diplomats, perhaps to compensate for the weak initial response to Indonesian armed aggression in 1975, called for the protection of East Timor as an independent state and for UN intervention to thwart Indonesian action. Using global communications networks, the Portuguese were able to mobilize UN and world public opinion against Indonesian actions and aided the eventual independence of East Timor on 20 May 2002.From the Revolution of 25 April 1974 until the 1990s, Portugal had a large number of political parties, one of the largest Communist parties in western Europe, frequent elections, and endemic cabinet instability. Since the 1990s, the number of political parties has been dramatically reduced and cabinet stability increased. Gradually, the Portuguese electorate has concentrated around two larger parties, the right-of-center Social Democrats (PSD) and the left-of-center Socialist (PS). In the 1980s, these two parties together garnered 65 percent of the vote and 70 percent of the seats in parliament. In 2005, these percentages had risen to 74 percent and 85 percent, respectively. In effect, Portugal is currently a two-party dominant system in which the two largest parties — PS and PSD—alternate in and out of power, not unlike the rotation of the two main political parties (the Regenerators and the Historicals) during the last decades (1850s to 1880s) of the liberal constitutional monarchy. As Portugal's democracy has consolidated, turnout rates for the eligible electorate have declined. In the 1970s, turnout was 85 percent. In Portugal's most recent parliamentary election (2005), turnout had fallen to 65 percent of the eligible electorate.Portugal has benefited greatly from membership in the EU, and whatever doubts remain about the price paid for membership, no Portuguese government in the near future can afford to sever this connection. The vast majority of Portuguese citizens see membership in the EU as a "good thing" and strongly believe that Portugal has benefited from membership. Only the Communist Party opposed membership because it reduces national sovereignty, serves the interests of capitalists not workers, and suffers from a democratic deficit. Despite the high level of support for the EU, Portuguese voters are increasingly not voting in elections for the European Parliament, however. Turnout for European Parliament elections fell from 40 percent of the eligible electorate in the 1999 elections to 38 percent in the 2004 elections.In sum, Portugal's turn toward Europe has done much to overcome its backwardness. However, despite the economic, social, and political progress made since 1986, Portugal has a long way to go before it can claim to be on a par with the level found even in Spain, much less the rest of western Europe. As Portugal struggles to move from underde-velopment, especially in the rural areas away from the coast, it must keep in mind the perils of too rapid modern development, which could damage two of its most precious assets: its scenery and environment. The growth and future prosperity of the economy will depend on the degree to which the government and the private sector will remain stewards of clean air, soil, water, and other finite resources on which the tourism industry depends and on which Portugal's world image as a unique place to visit rests. Currently, Portugal is investing heavily in renewable energy from solar, wind, and wave power in order to account for about 50 percent of its electricity needs by 2010. Portugal opened the world's largest solar power plant and the world's first commercial wave power farm in 2006.An American documentary film on Portugal produced in the 1970s described this little country as having "a Past in Search of a Future." In the years after the Revolution of 25 April 1974, it could be said that Portugal is now living in "a Present in Search of a Future." Increasingly, that future lies in Europe as an active and productive member of the EU. -
4 bien
bien [bjɛ̃]━━━━━━━━━1. adverb4. compounds━━━━━━━━━1. <a. ( = de façon satisfaisante) well• comment vas-tu ? -- très bien merci how are you? -- fine, thanksb. ( = selon la morale, la raison) [se conduire, agir] well• vous faites bien de me le dire ! you did well to tell me!• ça commence à bien faire ! (inf) this is getting beyond a joke!c. ( = sans difficulté) [supporter, se rappeler] welle. ( = effectivement) definitely• je trouve bien que c'est un peu cher mais tant pis yes, it is rather expensive but never mind• c'est bien à ton frère que je pensais yes, it was your brother I was thinking of• c'est bien mon manteau ? this is my coat, isn't it?• il s'agit bien de ça ! as if that's the point!• voilà bien les femmes ! that's women for you!f. ( = correctement) écoute-moi bien listen to me carefully• dis-lui bien que... make sure you tell him that...• c'est bien compris ? is that quite clear?• j'espère bien ! I should hope so!• où peut-il bien être ? where on earth can he be?g. ( = malgré tout) il fallait bien que ça se fasse it just had to be done• il pourrait bien venir nous voir de temps en temps ! he could at least come and see us now and then!h. ( = volontiers) (après un verbe au conditionnel) je mangerais bien un morceau I'd like a bite to eat• je voudrais bien t'y voir ! I'd like to see you try!i. ( = au moins) at leastj. (locutions)• je connais bien des gens qui auraient protesté I know a lot of people who would have protested► bien que although• bien sûr qu'il viendra ! of course he'll come!2. <a. ( = satisfaisant) goodc. ( = en bonne forme) well• tu n'es pas bien ? are you feeling OK?• il est bien, ce nouveau canapé the new sofa's nicee. ( = à l'aise) on est bien à l'ombre it's nice in the shade• laisse-le, il est bien où il est ! leave him alone - he's fine where he is!• vous voilà bien ! now you've done it!g. ( = en bons termes) être bien avec qn to get on well with sb3. <a. ( = ce qui est bon) good• c'est pour ton bien ! it's for your own good!4. <* * *bjɛ̃
1.
adjectif invariable1) ( convenable)ça fait bien d'aller à l'opéra — (colloq) it's the done thing to go to the opera
2) ( en bonne santé) wellt'es pas bien! — (colloq) you're out of your mind! (colloq)
3) ( à l'aise)nous voilà bien! — iron we' re in a fine mess!
4) (colloq) ( de qualité)
2.
1) ( correctement) gén well; [fonctionner] properly; [interpréter] correctlybien joué! — fig well done!
aller bien — [personne] to be well; [affaires] to go well
il travaille bien — ( élève) his work is good; ( artisan) he does a good job
il est bien remis — ( malade) he's made a good recovery
2) ( complètement) [arroser, décongeler, laver, mélanger, propre, cuit] thoroughly; [remplir, sécher, sec, fondu] completely; [lire, écouter, regarder] carefully3) ( agréablement) [présenté, situé] well; [s'habiller] well, smartly; [décoré, meublé] tastefully; [logé, installé, vivre] comfortablyaller bien à quelqu'un — [couleur, style] to suit somebody
4) ( hautement) [aimable, triste] very; [apprécier, craindre] very much; [simple, vrai, certain, évident] quitec'est bien joli tout ça, mais — that's all very well, but
bien mieux/moins/pire — much ou far better/less/worse
bien trop laid/tard — much too ugly/late
bien plus riche/cher — much ou far richer/more expensive
bien plus, il la vole! — not only that, he also takes her money
bien entendu or évidemment — naturally
5) ( volontiers)6) ( malgré tout)7) ( pour souligner)ça prouve/montre bien que — it just goes to prove/show that
je sais/crois bien que — I know/think that
on verra bien — well, we'll see
il le fait bien lui, pourquoi pas moi? — if he can do it, why can't I?
8) ( réellement) definitelyc'est bien lui/mon sac — it's definitely him/my bag, it's him/my bag all right (colloq)
il ne s'agit pas d'une erreur, mais bien de fraude — it's not a mistake, it's fraud
c'est bien ici qu'on vend les billets? — this is where you get tickets, isn't it?
c'est bien le moment! — iron great timing!
c'est bien le moment de partir! — iron what a time to leave!
9) ( au moins) at leastelle a bien 40 ans — she's at least 40, she's a good 40 years old
10) ( beaucoup)bien des fois — often, many a time
il s'est donné bien du mal — he's gone to a lot or a great deal of trouble
je te souhaite bien du plaisir! — iron I wish you joy!
3.
nom masculin1) ( avantage) goodgrand bien vous fasse! — iron much good may it do you!
parler en bien de quelqu'un — to speak favourably [BrE] of somebody
2) ( possession) possession
4.
5.
bien que locution conjonctive althoughPhrasal Verbs:••tout est bien qui finit bien — Proverbe all's well that ends well Proverbe
* * *bjɛ̃1. nm1) (= avantage)Ses vacances lui ont fait beaucoup de bien. — His holiday has done him a lot of good.
Jean m'a dit beaucoup de bien de toi. — Jean told me a lot of good things about you., Jean spoke very highly of you to me.
vouloir du bien à qn (= vouloir aider) — to have sb's best interests at heart
2) (= possession) possession, property, (= patrimoine) property3) (moral)2. biens nmpl3. adv1) (= de façon satisfaisante) wellElle travaille bien. — She works well.
aller bien; se porter bien — to be well
croyant bien faire, je... — thinking I was doing the right thing, I...
faire bien de... — to do well to...
Tu ferais bien de faire attention. — You'd do well to pay attention.
2) (concession)vouloir bien; Je veux bien le faire. — I'm quite willing to do it.
Il semble bien que... — It really seems that...
Paul est bien venu, n'est-ce pas? — Paul HAS come, hasn't he?
3) (valeur intensive) quiteJ'espère bien y aller. — I very much hope to go.
bien fait!; C'est bien fait pour toi! — It serves you right!
bien sûr!; bien entendu! — certainly!, of course!
4. exclright!, OK!, fine!5. adj inv1) (= en bonne forme)je me sens bien — I feel fine, I feel well
2) (= à l'aise)On est bien dans ce fauteuil. — This chair is very comfortable.
3) (= à son avantage)Tu es bien dans cette robe. — You look nice in that dress.
4) (= satisfaisant) goodCe restaurant est vraiment bien. — This restaurant is really good.
Elle est bien, cette maison. — It's a nice house.
Elle est bien, cette secrétaire. — She's a good secretary.
Ce n'est pas si bien que ça. — It's not as good as all that., It's not all that great.
5) (moralement)ce n'est pas bien de... — it's not right to...
Ce n'est pas bien de dire du mal des gens. — It's not right to say nasty things about people.
Elle est bien, cette femme. — She's a nice woman.
6) (= en bons termes)* * *A adj inv1 ( convenable) être bien dans un rôle to be good in a part; être bien de sa personne to be good-looking; il n'y a rien de bien ici there's nothing of interest here; voilà qui est bien that's good; ce n'est pas bien de mentir it's not nice to lie; ce serait bien si on pouvait nager it would be nice if we could swim; ça fait bien d'aller à l'opéra○ it's the done thing to go to the opera; les roses font bien sur la terrasse the roses look nice ou good on the terrace; tout est bien qui finit bien all's well that ends well;2 ( en bonne santé) well; ne pas se sentir bien not to feel well; non, mais, t'es pas bien○! you're out of your mind○!;3 ( à l'aise) comfortable; je suis bien dans ces bottes these boots are comfortable; on est bien sur cette chaise! what a comfortable chair!; on est bien au soleil! isn't it nice in the sun!; je me trouve bien ici I like it here; suis mes conseils, tu t'en trouveras bien take my advice, it'll serve you in good stead; nous voilà bien! iron we're in a fine mess!;4 ○( de qualité) un quartier bien a nice district; des gens bien respectable people; un type bien a gentleman; un film bien a good film.B adv1 ( correctement) [équipé, fait, géré, s'exprimer, dormir, choisir, se souvenir, danser] well; [fonctionner] properly; [libeller, diagnostiquer, interpréter] correctly; bien payé well paid; bien joué! lit well played!; fig well done!; aller bien [personne] to be well; [affaires] to go well; ça s'est bien passé it went well; la voiture ne marche pas bien the car isn't running properly ou right; ni bien ni mal so-so; parler (très) bien le chinois to speak (very) good Chinese, to speak Chinese (very) well; il travaille bien ( élève) his work is good; ( artisan) he does a good job; un travail bien fait a good job; il est bien remis ( malade) he's made a good recovery; bien se tenir à table to have good table manners; bien employer son temps to make good use of one's time; j'ai cru bien faire I thought I was doing the right thing; il fait bien de partir he's right to leave; c'est bien fait pour elle! it serves her right!; tu ferais bien d'y aller it would be a good idea for you to go there; pour bien faire, il faudrait acheter une lampe the thing to do would be to buy a lamp; bien m'en a pris de refuser it's a good thing I refused;2 ( complètement) [arroser, décongeler, laver, mélanger, propre, cuit] thoroughly; [remplir, sécher, sec, fondu] completely; [lire, examiner, écouter, regarder] carefully; marche bien à droite keep well over to the right; mets-toi bien dans le coin/devant stand right in the corner/at the front; bien profiter d'une situation to exploit a situation to the full;3 ( agréablement) [présenté, situé] well; [s'habiller] well, smartly; [décoré, meublé] tastefully; [logé, installé, vivre] comfortably; femme bien faite shapely woman; aller bien ensemble to go well together; aller bien à qn [couleur, style] to suit sb; se mettre bien avec qn to get on good terms with sb; bien prendre une remarque to take a remark in good part;4 ( hautement) [aimable, triste] very; [apprécier, craindre] very much; [simple, vrai, certain, évident] quite; il s'est bien mal comporté he behaved very ou really badly; il y a bien longtemps de ça that was a very long time ago; c'est bien loin pour nous it's rather far for us; merci bien thank you very much; tu as bien raison you're quite ou absolutely right; c'est bien dommage it's a great ou real pity; bien rire/s'amuser/se reposer to have a good laugh/time/rest; tu as l'air bien pensif you're looking very pensive; c'est bien promis? is that a promise?; c'est bien compris? is that clear?; bien au contraire on the contrary; c'est bien beau ou joli tout ça, mais that's all very well, but; bien mieux/ moins/pire much ou far better/less/worse; bien trop laid/tard much too ugly/late; bien plus riche/cher much ou far richer/more expensive; bien plus, il la vole! not only that, he also takes her money; bien sûr of course; bien entendu or évidemment naturally; bien souvent quite often;5 ( volontiers) j'irais bien à Bali I wouldn't mind going to Bali; j'en prendrais bien un autre I wouldn't mind another; je veux bien t'aider I don't mind helping you; j'aimerais bien essayer I would love to try; je te dirais bien de rester/venir, mais I would ask you to stay/come but; je verrais bien un arbre sur la pelouse I think a tree would look nice on the lawn; je le vois bien habiter à Paris I can just imagine him living in Paris;6 ( malgré tout) il faut bien le faire/que ça finisse it has to be done/to come to an end; il faudra bien s'y habituer we'll just have to get used to it; elle sera bien obligée de payer she'll just have to pay; tu aurais bien pu me le dire you could at least have told me; il finira bien par se calmer he'll calm down eventually;7 ( pour souligner) ça prouve/montre bien que it just goes to prove/show that; j'espère bien que I do hope that; je vois/comprends bien I do see/understand; je sais/crois bien que I know/think that; insiste bien make sure you insist; dis-le lui bien make sure you tell him/her; on verra bien well, we'll see; sache bien que je n'accepterai jamais let me tell you that I will never accept; crois bien que je n'hésiterais pas! you can be sure ou I can assure you that I would not hesitate!; je m'en doutais bien! I thought as much!; je t'avais bien dit de ne pas le manger! I told you not to eat it!; il le fait bien lui, pourquoi pas moi? if he can do it, why can't I?; veux-tu bien faire ce que je te dis! will you do as I tell you!; tu peux très bien le faire toi-même you can easily do it yourself; il se pourrait bien qu'il pleuve it might well rain; que peut-il bien faire à Paris? what on earth can he be doing in Paris?;8 ( réellement) definitely; c'est bien lui/mon sac it's definitely him/my bag, it's him/my bag all right○; j'ai vérifié: il est bien parti I checked, he's definitely gone ou he's gone all right○; c'est bien ce qu'il a dit/vu that's definitely ou exactly what he said/saw; et c'est bien lui qui conduisait? and it was definitely him driving?; il ne s'agit pas d'une erreur, mais bien de fraude it's not a mistake, it's fraud; c'est bien mardi aujourd'hui? today is Tuesday, isn't it?; c'est bien ici qu'on vend les billets? this is where you get tickets, isn't it?; tu as bien pris les clés? are you sure you've got the keys?; est-ce bien nécessaire? is it really necessary?; s'agit-il bien d'un suicide? was it really suicide?; c'est bien de lui! it's just like him!; voilà bien la politique! that's politics for you!; c'est bien le moment! iron great timing!; c'est bien le moment de partir! iron what a time to leave!;9 ( au moins) at least; elle a bien 40 ans she's at least 40, she's a good 40 years old; ça pèse bien dix kilos it weighs at least ten kilos, it weighs a good ten kilos; ça vaut bien le double it's worth at least twice as much;10 ( beaucoup) c'était il y a bien des années that was a good many years ago; bien des fois often, many a time; bien des gens lots of people; il s'est donné bien du mal he's gone to a lot or a great deal of trouble; il s'en faut bien! far from it!; mon fils me donne bien du souci my son is a great worry to me; avoir bien de la chance to be very lucky; je te souhaite bien du plaisir! iron I wish you joy!C nm1 ( avantage) good; pour le bien du pays for the good of the country; pour le bien de tous for the general good; c'est pour ton bien it's for your own good; ce serait un bien it would be a good thing; sacrifier son propre bien à celui d'autrui to put others first; le bien et le mal good and evil; faire le bien to do good; il a fait beaucoup de bien autour de lui he has done a lot of good; ça fait du bien aux enfants/plantes it's good for the children /plants; ça fait/ça leur fait du bien it does you/them good; mon repos m'a fait le plus grand bien my rest did me a world of good; grand bien vous fasse! iron much good may it do you!; vouloir le bien de qn to have sb's best interests at heart; vouloir du bien à qn to wish sb well; ‘un ami qui vous veut du bien’ ( dans une lettre anonyme) ‘from a well-wisher’, ‘one who has your best interests at heart’; dire du bien de qn to speak well of sb; on dit le plus grand bien du maire/musée people speak very highly of the mayor/museum; on a dit le plus grand bien de toi a lot of nice things were said about you; parler en bien de qn to speak favourablyGB of sb; ⇒ ennemi, honneur;2 ( possession) possession; (maison, terres) property; ( domaine) bien(s) estate; ( ensemble des possessions) bien(s) property ¢; ( patrimoine) bien(s) fortune; ( avoirs) biens assets; perdre tous ses bien s dans un incendie to lose all one's possessions in a fire; ce livre est mon bien le plus précieux this book is my most precious possession; les biens de ce monde material possessions; un petit bien en Corse a small property in Corsica; hériter des biens paternels to inherit one's father's property ou estate; dilapider son bien to squander one's fortune; avoir du bien (maisons, terres) to own property; ( argent) to be wealthy; des biens considérables substantial assets; la santé/liberté est le plus précieux des biens you can't put a price on good health/freedom; ⇒ abondance, acquis.D excl1 ( approbatif) bien! voyons le reste good! let's see the rest;E bien que loc conj although, though; bien qu'il le sache although he knows; bien qu'elle vive maintenant en Floride, je la vois régulièrement although she lives in Florida, I see her regularly; il est venu travailler bien qu'il soit grippé he came in to work, although he had flu; bien que très différentes en apparence, les deux œuvres ont des points communs although very different in appearance, the two works have common features; il joue un rôle important bien que discret he plays an important role, albeit a discreet one; ⇒ aussi, ou, si.biens de consommation consumer goods; biens durables consumer durables; biens d'équipement capital goods; biens d'équipement ménager household goods; biens fonciers land ¢; biens immeubles immovables; biens immeubles par destination fixtures; biens immobiliers real estate ¢; biens mobiliers personal property ¢; biens personnels private property ¢; biens propres separate estate (sg); détenir qch en bien s propres to hold sth as separate estate; biens publics public property ¢; biens sociaux corporate assets.[bjɛ̃] adverbe1. [de façon satisfaisante] wellla vis tient bien the screw is secure ou is in tighta. [à la rambarde] hold on tight!b. [sur la chaise] sit properly!c. [à table] behave yourself!2. [du point de vue de la santé]aller ou se porter bien to feel well ou finebien agir envers quelqu'un to do the proper ou right ou correct thing by somebodytu as bien fait you did the right thing, you did righttu fais bien de me le rappeler thank you for reminding me, it's a good thing you reminded me (of it)pour bien faire, nous devrions partir avant 9 h ideally, we should leave before 95. [avec soin]fais bien ce que l'on te dit do exactly ou just as you're toldc'est bien agréable it's really ou very nicetu es bien sûr? are you quite certain ou sure?bien avant/après well before/afterbien trop tôt far ou much too early7. (suivi d'un verbe) [beaucoup]on a bien ri we had a good laugh, we laughed a lot8. [véritablement]j'ai bien cru que... I really thought that...sans bien se rendre compte de ce qu'il faisait without being fully aware of ou without fully realizing what he was doing9. [pour renforcer, insister]ce n'est pas lui, mais bien son associé que j'ai eu au téléphone it wasn't him, but rather his partner I spoke to on the phonec'est bien ça that's it ou rightc'est bien ce que je disais/pensais that's just what I was saying/thinkingje vais me plaindre — je comprends ou pense bien! I'm going to complain — I should think so too!il ne m'aidera pas, tu penses bien! he won't help me, you can be sure of that!c'est bien de lui, ça! that's typical of him!, that's just like him!10. [volontiers]je te dirais bien quelque chose, mais je suis poli I could say something rude but I won'tje boirais bien quelque chose I could do with ou I wouldn't mind a drink11. [au moins] at least12. [exprimant la supposition, l'éventualité]13. [pourtant]14. [suivi d'un nom]bien de, bien des quite a lot ofelle a bien du courage! isn't she brave!, she's got a great deal of courage!bien des fois... more than once...bien des gens lots of ou quite a lot of ou quite a few people15. [dans la correspondance]————————[bjɛ̃] adjectif invariable1. [qui donne satisfaction] goodc'est bien de s'amuser mais il faut aussi travailler it's all right to have fun but you have to work tooje recule? — non, vous êtes bien là (familier) shall I move back? — no, you're all right ou OK ou fine like thatqu'est-ce qu'il est bien dans son dernier film! (familier) he's great ou really good in his new film!a. [cela te sied] you look very nice in a skirtb. [c'est acceptable pour l'occasion] a skirt is perfectly all rightc'est bien [conduite, action]: ce serait bien de lui envoyer un peu d'argent it'd be a good idea to send her some moneyce n'est pas bien de tirer la langue it's naughty ou it's not nice to stick out your tongue4. [en forme] wellb. [mentalement] are you crazy?me/te/nous voilà bien! NOW I'm/you're/we're in a fine mess!5. [à l'aise]6. [en bons termes]se mettre bien avec quelqu'un to get in with somebody, to get into somebody's good books————————[bjɛ̃] nom masculin1. PHILOSOPHIE & RELIGION2. [ce qui est agréable, avantageux]le bien commun ou général the common goodc'est pour le bien de tous/de l'entreprise it's for the common good/the good of the firmdire/penser du bien de to speak/to think well offaire du bien ou le plus grand bien à quelqu'un [médicament, repos] to do somebody good, to benefit somebodyla séparation leur fera le plus grand bien being apart will do them a lot ou a world of goodcette décision a été un bien pour tout le monde the decision was a good thing for all ou everyone concerned[argent] fortunetous mes biens all my worldly goods, all I'm worth5. DROIT & ÉCONOMIEbiens d'équipement capital equipment ou goodsbiens privés/publics private/public property————————[bjɛ̃] interjection2. [marquant l'approbation]je n'irai pas! — bien, n'en parlons plus! I won't go! — very well ou all right (then), let's drop the subject!bien, bien, on y va all right, all right ou OK, OK, let's gobien entendu locution adverbialebien entendu que locution conjonctive————————bien que locution conjonctivebien que malade, il a tenu à y aller although he was ill, he insisted on going————————bien sûr locution adverbiale————————bien sûr que locution conjonctive -
5 bodaj
Ⅰ part. 1. (chyba) maybe, perhaps- widziałem go bodaj trzy tygodnie temu I saw him maybe three weeks ago- to bodaj najlepszy jego film I think it’s probably a. I think perhaps it’s his best film- spotkali się bodaj w Paryżu they met in Paris, I think a. believe- miał bodaj(że) jakieś kłopoty it seems he had some problems- był wtedy bodaj(że) nauczycielem I think he was a teacher at the time2. (przynajmniej) at least- czy ona bodaj wyszła za bogatego? did she at least marry someone wealthy?- pożycz mi trochę, bodaj sto złotych lend me some money, will you? – even if it’s only a hundred zlotys3. pot. (żeby) bodajby wszyscy byli tacy if only we were all like that- bodaj go cholera wzięła! damn him! pot.- bodajby to piorun strzelił! blast and bugger it! GB pot.- bodajby/bodajbyście zdechli! I wish they’d/you’d just drop dead! pot.- bodajbyś kark skręcił! obraźl. I hope you break your neck! obraźl.- bodaj go tam nikt nie skrzywdził! as long as a. just so long as no one there harms him!- bodajby odpocząć choć przez tydzień! I wish I could have a rest, even for just a week! a. even if only for a week!Ⅱ conj. (chociażby) say- odwiedź mnie kiedyś, bodajby w przyszłym tygodniu come and see me some time, next week say a. say next week- masz coś do czytania, bodaj gazetę have you got anything to read, a newspaper say? a. like a newspaper?* * *bodaj; partto było bodaj w sobotę — it was on Saturday, I think
* * *int.przest. ( wzmacnia życzenie) (I) would that...; bodajś tu nigdy więcej nie wrócił would that you never returned; bodajby każdy urzędnik był tak miły jak pan would that every official was as nice as you; bodajbym się nigdy nie urodził! would that I had never been born.adv.( osłabia treść) I think; było to bodaj w maju it was in May, I think; miała bodaj jakieś kłopoty ze zdrowiem I think she had some health problems; daj mi czas bodaj do jutra at least give me until tomorrow; to bodaj dobra książka it's a good book, I think.The New English-Polish, Polish-English Kościuszko foundation dictionary > bodaj
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