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1 used
1. adjectivea. ( = not fresh) [cup] sale ; [tissue, needle, condom] usagéb. ( = second-hand) [car, equipment] d'occasiond. ( = accustomed)► used to• to get used to sb/sth s'habituer à qn/qch2. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━✦ La fin de used, sed, se prononce zd: ju:zd, sauf dans l'expression used to, où sed se prononce st: ju:st.* * *Note: To translate used to do, use the imperfect tense in French: he used to live in York = il habitait York. To stress that something was done repeatedly, you can use avoir l'habitude de faire: she used to go out for a walk in the afternoon = elle avait l'habitude de sortir se promener l'après-midiTo emphasize a contrast between past and present, you can use avant: I used to love sport = j'adorais le sport avantFor more examples and particular usages, see the entry belowI 1. [juːst]modal auxiliaryhe didn't used to ou he used not to smoke — il ne fumait pas avant
didn't she used to smoke? — est-ce qu'elle ne fumait pas, avant?
2. [juːzt]she used to smoke, didn't she? — elle fumait avant, non?
II [juːzd]to be used to something — avoir l'habitude de quelque chose, être habitué à quelque chose
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2 used
I.II.❢ To translate used to do, use the imperfect tense in French: he used to live in York = il habitait York. To stress that something was done repeatedly, you can use avoir l'habitude de faire: she used to go out for a walk in the afternoon = elle avait l'habitude de sortir se promener l'après-midi.To emphasize a contrast between past and present, you can use avant: I used to love sport = j'adorais le sport avant.For more examples and particular usages, see the entry below.A modal aux I used to do je faisais ; what did he used to ou what used he to look like then? comment était-il à cette époque? ; he didn't used to ou he used not to smoke il ne fumait pas avant ; didn't she used to smoke? est-ce qu'elle ne fumait pas, avant? ; she used to smoke, didn't she? elle fumait avant, non? ; she doesn't smoke now, but she used to elle ne fume plus maintenant, mais elle fumait avant ; it used to be thought that avant on pensait que ; there used to be a pub here il y avait un pub ici (dans le temps) ; didn't there used to be ou used there not to be a pub here? est-ce qu'il n'y avait pas un pub ici?B adj ( accustomed) to be used to sth avoir l'habitude de qch, être habitué à qch ; I'm not used to this sort of treatment je n'ai pas l'habitude qu'on me traite ( subj) ainsi ; to be used to sb être habitué à qn ; to get used to [person, eyes, stomach] s'habituer à ; to be used to doing avoir l'habitude de faire ; to get used to doing s'habituer à faire ; she's been used to having her own office jusqu'à maintenant, elle avait l'habitude d'avoir son propre bureau ; to be used to sb doing être habitué à ce que qn fasse ; I'm not used to it je n'ai pas l'habitude ; you'll get used to it tu t'y habitueras ; it takes a bit/a lot of getting used to ça prend du temps/beaucoup de temps pour s'y habituer. -
3 used to
['ju:stu]- negative short forms usedn't to, usen't to ['ju:sntu] (I, he etc) was in the habit of (doing something); (I, he etc) was (usually) in a particular position, state etc: I used to swim every day; She used not to be so forgetful; They used to play golf, didn't they?; Didn't you use(d) to live near me?; There used to be a butcher's shop there, didn't there?) avoir l'habitude de; il y avait -
4 not to mention
(used to emphasize something important or to excuse oneself for mentioning something relatively unimportant: He is rich and clever, not to mention handsome.) sans compter -
5 used
Ⅰ.used1 [ju:zd](book, car) d'occasion; (clothing) d'occasion, usagé; (glass, linen) sale, qui a déjà servi; (stamp) oblitéré, qui a déjà servi;∎ hardly used presque neufⅡ.used2 [ju:st]∎ (accustomed) to be used to (doing) sth avoir l'habitude de ou être habitué à (faire) qch;∎ I'm used to working alone j'ai l'habitude de ou je suis habitué à travailler tout seul;∎ they're not used to it ils n'y sont pas habitués, ils n'en ont pas l'habitude;∎ to be used to sb être habitué à qn;∎ to get used to sth s'habituer à qch;∎ he can't get used to it il n'arrive pas à s'y habituer;∎ I'm not used to being spoken to like that! je n'ai pas l'habitude qu'on me parle comme ça!;∎ you'll soon get used to the idea tu te feras à l'idée -
6 not
[not]1) ((often abbreviated to n't) a word used for denying, forbidding, refusing, or expressing the opposite of something: I did not see him; I didn't see him; He isn't here; Isn't he coming?; They told me not to go; Not a single person came to the party; We're going to London, not Paris; That's not true!) ne...pas2) (used with certain verbs such as hope, seem, believe, expect and also with be afraid: `Have you got much money?' `I'm afraid not'; `Is he going to fail his exam?' `I hope not'.) non• -
7 used
1) (employed or put to a purpose: This road is not used any more.) utilisé2) (not new: used cars.) d'occasion -
8 Usage note : not
When not is used without a verb before an adjective, an adverb, a verb or a noun, it is translated by pas:it’s a cat not a dog= c’est un chat pas un chiennot at all= pas du toutnot bad= pas malFor examples and particular usages see the entry not.When not is used to make the verb be negative (it’s not a cat) it is translated by ne…pas in French ; ne comes before the verb or the auxiliary in compound tenses and pas comes after the verb or auxiliary: ce n’est pas un chat ;she hasn’t been ill= elle n’a pas été malade.When not is used with the auxiliary do to make a verb negative (he doesn’t like oranges) do + not is translated by ne…pas in French: il n’aime pas les oranges.When not is used in the present perfect tense (I haven’ t seen him, she hasn’t arrived yet), ne…pas is again used in French on either side of the appropriate auxiliary ( avoir or être): je ne l’ai pas vu, elle n’est pas encore arrivée.When not is used with will to make a verb negative (will not, won’t), ne…pas is used with the future tense in French:she won’t come by car= elle ne viendra pas en voitureWhen used with a verb in the infinitive, ne…pas are placed together before the verb:he decided not to go= il a décidé de ne pas y alleryou were wrong not to tell her= tu as eu tort de ne pas le lui direWhen not is used in question tags, the whole tag can usually be translated by the French n’est-ce pas, e.g.she bought it, didn’t she?= elle l’a acheté, n’est-ce pas?For usages not covered in this note see the entry not. -
9 use
utilisation ⇒ 1 (a), 1 (b) emploi ⇒ 1 (a), 1 (c) consommation ⇒ 1 (a) usage ⇒ 1 (a)-(d), 1 (f), 1 (g) besoin ⇒ 1 (d) se servir de ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (b) utiliser ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (c) employer ⇒ 2 (a) prendre ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (e) profiter de ⇒ 2 (b) consommer ⇒ 2 (c) finir ⇒ 2 (c)(a) (utilization → of materials) utilisation f, emploi m; (consumption → of water, resources etc) consommation f; (being used, worn etc) usage m;∎ the use of brick in building l'emploi ou l'utilisation de la brique dans la construction;∎ to stretch (out) with use se détendre à l'usage;∎ to wear out with use s'user;∎ the dishes are for everyday use c'est la vaisselle de tous les jours;∎ ready for use prêt à l'emploi;∎ directions or instructions for use (on packaging) mode d'emploi;∎ for your personal use (on packaging) pour votre usage personnel;∎ for customer use only (sign) réservé à notre clientèle;∎ Medicine for external/internal use only (on packaging) à usage externe/interne;∎ for use in case of emergency (sign) à utiliser en cas d'urgence;∎ the film is for use in teaching le film est destiné à l'enseignement;∎ in general use d'emploi courant, d'utilisation courante;∎ not in use, out of use (machine, system) hors d'usage; (lift, cash point) hors service;∎ the phrase is no longer in use l'expression est inusitée ou ne s'utilise plus;∎ to come into use entrer en service;∎ to go out of use (machine) être mis au rebut;∎ steam engines went out of use in 1950 on a cessé d'utiliser ou d'employer les machines à vapeur en 1950;∎ to make use of sth se servir de ou utiliser qch;∎ schools are making increasing use of audio-visual aids les écoles se servent de plus en plus de supports audiovisuels;∎ to make good use of, to put to good use (machine, money) faire bon usage de; (opportunity, experience) tirer profit de(b) (ability or right to use) usage m, utilisation f;∎ we gave them the use of our car nous leur avons laissé l'usage de notre voiture;∎ he only has the use of one arm il n'a l'usage que d'un bras;∎ she lost the use of her legs elle a perdu l'usage de ses jambes;∎ the old man still has the full use of his faculties le vieil homme jouit encore de toutes ses facultés(c) (practical application) usage m, emploi m;∎ this tool has many uses cet outil a de nombreux usages ou emplois;∎ we found a use for the old fridge nous avons trouvé un emploi pour le vieux frigo;∎ humorous I have my uses il m'arrive de servir à quelque chose∎ do you have any use for this book? avez-vous besoin de ce livre?;∎ to have no use for sth ne pas avoir besoin de qch; figurative n'avoir que faire de qch;∎ I have no use for idle gossip je n'ai que faire des cancans;∎ this department has no use for slackers il n'y a pas de place pour les fainéants dans ce service∎ to be of use (to sb) être utile (à qn), servir (à qn);∎ this dictionary might be of use to you ce dictionnaire pourrait vous être utile ou vous servir;∎ were the instructions (of) any use? est-ce que le mode d'emploi a servi à quelque chose?;∎ I found his advice to be of little use, his advice was of little use to me je n'ai pas trouvé ses conseils très utiles;∎ the book would be of more use if it had illustrations le livre serait plus utile s'il contenait des illustrations;∎ it's not much use cela ne sert pas à grand-chose;∎ he's not much use as a secretary il n'est pas brillant comme secrétaire;∎ they were no use at all during the move ils n'ont rien fait pendant le déménagement;∎ you're no use! tu n'es bon à rien!;∎ it's or there's no use complaining inutile de ou ça ne sert à rien de se plaindre;∎ there's no use shouting ça ne sert à rien de crier, (c'est) inutile de crier;∎ it's no use, we might as well give up c'est inutile ou ça ne sert à rien, autant abandonner;∎ I tried to convince her but it was no use j'ai essayé de la convaincre mais il n'y avait rien à faire;∎ is it any use calling her? est-ce que ça servira à quelque chose de l'appeler?;∎ what's the use of waiting? à quoi bon attendre?, à quoi ça sert d'attendre?;∎ oh, what's the use? à quoi bon?;(f) Linguistics usage m;∎ that's an old-fashioned use c'est un usage vieilli(a) (put into action → service, tool, skills) se servir de, utiliser; (→ product, name) utiliser; (→ method, phrase, word) employer; (→ vehicle, form of transport) prendre;∎ these are the notebooks he used ce sont les cahiers dont il s'est servi ou qu'il a utilisés;∎ is anyone using this book? est-ce que quelqu'un se sert de ou a besoin de ce livre?;∎ it's very easy to use c'est très facile à utiliser;∎ am I using the term correctly? est-ce comme ça qu'on utilise le terme?;∎ I'd like to use my language skills more j'aimerais utiliser davantage mes connaissances en langues;∎ I always use public transport je prends toujours les transports en commun;∎ we use this room as an office nous nous servons de cette pièce comme bureau, cette pièce nous sert de bureau;∎ what is this used for or as? à quoi cela sert-il?;∎ it's used for identifying the blood type cela sert à identifier le groupe sanguin;∎ I use it for opening or to open letters je m'en sers ou je l'utilise pour ouvrir les lettres;∎ I used the money to rebuild my garage j'ai utilisé ou employé l'argent pour reconstruire mon garage;∎ what battery does this radio use? quelle pile faut-il pour cette radio?;∎ my car uses unleaded petrol ma voiture marche à l'essence sans plomb;∎ may I use the phone? puis-je téléphoner?;∎ to use force/violence avoir recours à la force/violence;∎ the police often use tear gas la police a souvent recours au gaz lacrymogène;∎ to use one's intelligence/intuition faire marcher son intelligence/intuition;∎ to use diplomacy user de diplomatie;∎ to use discretion agir avec discrétion;∎ to use one's influence user de son influence;∎ use your imagination! utilise ton imagination!;∎ use your initiative! fais preuve d'initiative!;∎ use your head or your brains! réfléchis un peu!;∎ use your eyes! ouvrez l'œil!;∎ familiar he could certainly use some help un peu d'aide ne lui ferait pas de mal;∎ familiar we could all use a holiday! nous aurions tous bien besoin de vacances!□∎ use it to your advantage! profitez-en!;∎ he's only using you to get ahead il ne fait que se servir de toi pour avancer;∎ I feel used j'ai l'impression qu'on s'est servi de moi∎ the car's using a lot of oil la voiture consomme beaucoup d'huile;∎ have you used all the shampoo? as-tu utilisé tout le shampooing?∎ they used the workers well ils ont bien traité les ouvriers, ils ont bien agi envers les ouvriers;∎ I consider I was ill used je considère qu'on ne m'a pas traité comme il faut;∎ how's the world been using you? comment ça va?[ju:z] (only in past tense) they used to live here (avant) ils habitaient ici;∎ he used to drink a lot il buvait beaucoup avant;∎ it used to be true c'était vrai autrefois;∎ it used to be a pleasant town to live in autrefois c'était une ville agréable;∎ things aren't what they used to be les choses ne sont plus ce qu'elles étaient;∎ she can't get about the way she used to elle ne peut plus se déplacer comme avant;∎ she never used to smoke elle ne fumait pas avant;∎ we used not or we didn't use to eat meat avant, nous ne mangions pas de viande;∎ did he use to visit her? venait-il la voir avant?;∎ do you travel much? - I used to vous voyagez beaucoup? - autrefois, oui(consume) consommer, prendre; (exhaust → paper, soap) finir; (→ patience, energy, supplies) épuiser;∎ she used up the leftovers to make the soup elle a utilisé les restes pour faire un potage;∎ did you use up all your money? as-tu dépensé tout ton argent?;∎ the paper was all used up il ne restait plus de papier -
10 usen't
usen't GB = used not. -
11 Colours
Not all English colour terms have a single exact equivalent in French: for instance, in some circumstances brown is marron, in others brun. If in doubt, look the word up in the dictionary.Colour termswhat colour is it?= c’est de quelle couleur? or (more formally) de quelle couleur est-il?it’s green= il est vert or elle est verteto paint sth green= peindre qch en vertto dye sth green= teindre qch en vertto wear green= porter du vertdressed in green= habillé de vertColour nouns are all masculine in French:I like green= j’aime le vertI prefer blue= je préfère le bleured suits her= le rouge lui va bienit’s a pretty yellow!= c’est un joli jaune!have you got it in white?= est-ce que vous l’avez en blanc?a pretty shade of blue= un joli ton de bleuit was a dreadful green= c’était un vert affreuxa range of greens= une gamme de vertsMost adjectives of colour agree with the noun they modify:a blue coat= un manteau bleua blue dress= une robe bleueblue clothes= des vêtements bleusSome that don’t agree are explained below.Words that are not true adjectivesSome words that translate English adjectives are really nouns in French, and so don’t show agreement:a brown shoe= une chaussure marronorange tablecloths= des nappes fpl orangehazel eyes= des yeux mpl noisetteOther French words like this include: cerise ( cherry-red), chocolat ( chocolate-brown) and émeraude ( emerald-green).Shades of colourExpressions like pale blue, dark green or light yellow are also invariable in French and show no agreement:a pale blue shirt= une chemise bleu pâledark green blankets= des couvertures fpl vert foncéa light yellow tie= une cravate jaune clairbright yellow socks= des chaussettes fpl jaune vifFrench can also use the colour nouns here: instead of une chemise bleu pâle you could say une chemise d’un bleu pâle ; and similarly des couvertures d’un vert foncé (etc). The nouns in French are normally used to translate English adjectives of this type ending in -er and -est:a darker blue= un bleu plus foncéthe dress was a darker blue= la robe était d’un bleu plus foncéSimilarly:a lighter blue= un bleu plus clair (etc.)In the following examples, blue stands for most basic colour terms:pale blue= bleu pâlelight blue= bleu clairbright blue= bleu vifdark blue= bleu foncédeep blue= bleu profondstrong blue= bleu soutenuOther types of compound in French are also invariable, and do not agree with their nouns:a navy-blue jacket= une veste bleu marineThese compounds include: bleu ciel ( sky-blue), vert pomme ( apple-green), bleu nuit ( midnight-blue), rouge sang ( blood-red) etc. However, all English compounds do not translate directly into French. If in doubt, check in the dictionary.French compounds consisting of two colour terms linked with a hyphen are also invariable:a blue-black material= une étoffe bleu-noira greenish-blue cup= une tasse bleu-verta greeny-yellow dress= une robe vert-jauneEnglish uses the ending -ish, or sometimes -y, to show that something is approximately a certain colour, e.g. a reddish hat or a greenish paint. The French equivalent is -âtre:blue-ish= bleuâtregreenish or greeny= verdâtregreyish= grisâtrereddish= rougeâtreyellowish or yellowy= jaunâtreetc.Other similar French words are rosâtre, noirâtre and blanchâtre. Note however that these words are often rather negative in French. It is better not to use them if you want to be complimentary about something. Use instead tirant sur le rouge/jaune etc.To describe a special colour, English can add -coloured to a noun such as raspberry (framboise) or flesh (chair). Note how this is said in French, where the two-word compound with couleur is invariable, and, unlike English, never has a hyphen:a chocolate-coloured skirt= une jupe couleur chocolatraspberry-coloured fabric= du tissu couleur framboiseflesh-coloured tights= un collant couleur chairColour verbsEnglish makes some colour verbs by adding -en (e.g. blacken). Similarly French has some verbs in -ir made from colour terms:to blacken= noircirto redden= rougirto whiten= blanchirThe other French colour terms that behave like this are: bleu (bleuir), jaune (jaunir), rose (rosir) and vert (verdir). It is always safe, however, to use devenir, thus:to turn purple= devenir violetDescribing peopleNote the use of the definite article in the following:to have black hair= avoir les cheveux noirsto have blue eyes= avoir les yeux bleusNote the use of à in the following:a girl with blue eyes= une jeune fille aux yeux bleusthe man with black hair= l’homme aux cheveux noirsNot all colours have direct equivalents in French. The following words are used for describing the colour of someone’s hair (note that les cheveux is plural in French):fair= blonddark= brunblonde or blond= blondbrown= châtain invred= rouxblack= noirgrey= griswhite= blancCheck other terms such as yellow, ginger, auburn, mousey etc. in the dictionary.Note these nouns in French:a fair-haired man= un blonda fair-haired woman= une blondea dark-haired man= un bruna dark-haired woman= une bruneThe following words are useful for describing the colour of someone’s eyes:blue= bleulight blue= bleu clair invlight brown= marron clair invbrown= marron invhazel= noisette invgreen= vertgrey= grisgreyish-green= gris-vert invdark= noir -
12 left over
(not used; extra: When everyone took a partner there was one person left over; We divided out the left-over food.) de trop, de reste -
13 might as well
(used to suggest that there is no good reason for not doing something: I might as well do it all at once.) faire aussi bien de -
14 no longer
(not now as in the past: This cinema is no longer used.) (ne) plus -
15 what of it?
(used in replying, to suggest that what has been done, said etc is not important: `You've offended him.' `What of it?') et aprè? -
16 Usage note : be
I am tired= je suis fatiguéCaroline is French= Caroline est françaisethe children are in the garden= les enfants sont dans le jardinIt functions in very much the same way as to be does in English and it is safe to assume it will work as a translation in the great majority of cases.Note, however, that when you are specifying a person’s profession or trade, a/an is not translated:she’s a doctor= elle est médecinClaudie is still a student= Claudie est toujours étudianteThis is true of any noun used in apposition when the subject is a person:he’s a widower= il est veufButLyons is a beautiful city= Lyon est une belle villeFor more information or expressions involving professions and trades consult the usage note Shops, Trades and Professions.For the conjugation of the verb être see the French verb tables.Grammatical functionsThe passiveêtre is used to form the passive in French just as to be is used in English. Note, however, that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject:the rabbit was killed by a fox= le lapin a été tué par un renardthe window had been broken= la fenêtre avait été casséetheir books will be sold= leurs livres seront vendusour doors have been repainted red= nos portes ont été repeintes en rougeIn spoken language, French native speakers find the passive cumbersome and will avoid it where possible by using the impersonal on where a person or people are clearly involved : on a repeint nos portes en rouge.Progressive tensesIn French the idea of something happening over a period of time cannot be expressed using the verb être in the way that to be is used as an auxiliary verb in English.The presentFrench uses simply the present tense where English uses the progressive form with to be:I am working= je travailleBen is reading a book= Ben lit un livreIn order to accentuate duration être en train de is used: je suis en train de travailler ; Ben est en train de lire un livre.The futureFrench also uses the present tense where English uses the progressive form with to be:we are going to London tomorrow= nous allons à Londres demainI’m (just) coming!= j’arrive!I’m (just) going!= j’y vais!The pastTo express the distinction between she read a newspaper and she was reading a newspaper French uses the perfect and the imperfect tenses: elle a lu un journal/elle lisait un journal:he wrote to his mother= il a écrit à sa mèrehe was writing to his mother= il écrivait à sa mèreHowever, in order to accentuate the notion of describing an activity which went on over a period of time, the phrase être en train de (= to be in the process of) is often used:‘what was he doing when you arrived?’‘he was cooking the dinner’= ‘qu’est-ce qu’il faisait quand tu es arrivé?’ ‘il était en train de préparer le dîner’she was just finishing her essay when …= elle était juste en train de finir sa dissertation quand …The compound pastCompound past tenses in the progressive form in English are generally translated by the imperfect in French:I’ve been looking for you= je te cherchaisFor progressive forms + for and since (I’ve been waiting for an hour, I had been waiting for an hour, I’ve been waiting since Monday etc.) see the entries for and since.ObligationWhen to be is used as an auxiliary verb with another verb in the infinitive ( to be to do) expressing obligation, a fixed arrangement or destiny, devoir is used:she’s to do it at once= elle doit le faire tout de suitewhat am I to do?= qu’est-ce que je dois faire?he was to arrive last Monday= il devait arriver lundi derniershe was never to see him again= elle ne devait plus le revoir.In tag questionsFrench has no direct equivalent of tag questions like isn’t he? or wasn’t it? There is a general tag question n’est-ce pas? (literally isn’t it so?) which will work in many cases:their house is lovely, isn’t it?= leur maison est très belle, n’est-ce pas?he’s a doctor, isn’t he?= il est médecin, n’est-ce pas?it was a very good meal, wasn’t it?= c’était un très bon repas, n’est-ce pas?However, n’est-ce pas can very rarely be used for positive tag questions and some other way will be found to express the extra meaning contained in the tag: par hasard ( by any chance) can be very useful as a translation:‘I can’t find my glasses’ ‘they’re not in the kitchen, are they?’= ‘je ne trouve pas mes lunettes’ ‘elles ne sont pas dans la cuisine, par hasard?’you haven’t seen Gaby, have you?= tu n’as pas vu Gaby, par hasard?In cases where an opinion is being sought, si? meaning more or less or is it? or was it? etc. can be useful:it’s not broken, is it?= ce n’est pas cassé, si?he wasn’t serious, was he?= il n’était pas sérieux, si?In many other cases the tag question is simply not translated at all and the speaker’s intonation will convey the implied question.In short answersAgain, there is no direct equivalent for short answers like yes I am, no he’s not etc. Where the answer yes is given to contradict a negative question or statement, the most useful translation is si:‘you’re not going out tonight’ ‘yes I am’= ‘tu ne sors pas ce soir’ ‘si’In reply to a standard enquiry the tag will not be translated:‘are you a doctor?’ ‘yes I am’= ‘êtes-vous médecin?’ ‘oui’‘was it raining?’ ‘yes it was’= ‘est-ce qu’il pleuvait?’ ‘oui’ProbabilityFor expressions of probability and supposition ( if I were you etc.) see the entry be.Other functionsExpressing sensations and feelingsIn expressing physical and mental sensations, the verb used in French is avoir:to be cold= avoir froidto be hot= avoir chaudI’m cold= j’ai froidto be thirsty= avoir soifto be hungry= avoir faimto be ashamed= avoir hontemy hands are cold= j’ai froid aux mainsIf, however, you are in doubt as to which verb to use in such expressions, you should consult the entry for the appropriate adjective.Discussing health and how people areIn expressions of health and polite enquiries about how people are, aller is used:how are you?= comment allez-vous?( more informally) comment vas-tu?( very informally as a greeting) ça va?are you well?= vous allez bien?how is your daughter?= comment va votre fille?my father is better today= mon père va mieux aujourd’huiDiscussing weather and temperatureIn expressions of weather and temperature faire is generally used:it’s cold= il fait froidit’s windy= il fait du ventIf in doubt, consult the appropriate adjective entry.Visiting somewhereWhen to be is used in the present perfect tense to mean go, visit etc., French will generally use the verbs venir, aller etc. rather than être:I’ve never been to Sweden= je ne suis jamais allé en Suèdehave you been to the Louvre?= est-ce que tu es déjà allé au Louvre?or est-ce que tu as déjà visité le Louvre?Paul has been to see us three times= Paul est venu nous voir trois foisNote too:has the postman been?= est-ce que le facteur est passé?The translation for an expression or idiom containing the verb to be will be found in the dictionary at the entry for another word in the expression: for to be in danger see danger, for it would be best to … see best etc.This dictionary contains usage notes on topics such as the clock, time units, age, weight measurement, days of the week, and shops, trades and professions, many of which include translations of particular uses of to be. -
17 much
much [mʌt∫]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. pronoun2. adjective3. adverb━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. pronoun• does it cost much? est-ce que ça coûte cher ?• is it worth much? est-ce que ça a de la valeur ?► much of ( = a large part of) une bonne partie de• much of what you say une bonne partie de ce que vous dites► to make much of sth attacher beaucoup d'importance à qch► not/nothing... much ( = a small amount) pas beaucoup• what was stolen? -- nothing much qu'est-ce qui a été volé ? -- pas grand-chose━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Constructions with valoir are often used when assessing value or merit.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• there isn't much in it (in choice, competition) ça se vaut2. adjective• it's a bit much! (inf) c'est un peu fort !3. adverba. ( = to a great degree) beaucoup• I very much hope that... j'espère de tout cœur que...b. ( = more or less) it's much the same c'est quasiment la même chose► as much• I thought as much! c'est bien ce que je pensais !• as much time as... autant de temps que...• twice as much money as... deux fois plus d'argent que...• you could pay as much as $200 for that ça peut te coûter jusqu'à 200 dollars► however much• however much you like him... quelle que soit votre affection pour lui,...► how much? combien ?• how much does it cost? combien ça coûte ?► much as• much as I dislike doing this,... bien que je n'aime pas du tout faire cela,...► much less ( = and even less)he couldn't understand the question, much less answer it il ne pouvait pas comprendre la question et encore moins y répondre► not much of a (inf) ( = not a great)• he'd drunk so much that... il avait tellement bu que...• so much so that... à tel point que...• so much for his help! c'est ça qu'il appelle aider !• so much for that! tant pis !• so much the better! tant mieux !► not so much... as• I think of her not so much as a doctor but as a friend je la considère plus comme une amie que comme un médecin► this/that much• this much? (ça ira) comme ça ?• I know this much... ce que je sais, c'est que...• this much is certain... un point est acquis...* * *Note: When much is used as an adverb, it is translated by beaucoup: it's much longer = c'est beaucoup plus long; she doesn't talk much = elle ne parle pas beaucoupFor particular usages, see I belowWhen much is used as a pronoun, it is usually translated by beaucoup: there is much to learn = il y a beaucoup à apprendre. However, in negative sentences grand-chose is also used: I didn't learn much = je n'ai pas beaucoup appris or je n'ai pas appris grand-choseWhen much is used as a quantifier, it is translated by beaucoup de: they don't have much money = ils n'ont pas beaucoup d'argent[mʌtʃ] 1.1) ( to a considerable degree) beaucoup2) ( often) beaucoup, souvent3) ( nearly) plus ou moins, à peu prèsvery much — ( a lot) beaucoup; ( absolutely) tout à fait
I thought as much — ça ne m'étonne pas, je m'en doutais
you'll have to accept the decision however much you disagree — il va falloir que tu acceptes la décision même si tu n'es pas d'accord
5) (emphatic: setting up a contrast)2.the discovery wasn't so much shocking as depressing — la découverte était moins choquante que déprimante
1) ( a great deal) beaucoup; ( in negative sentences) grand-chosemuch of the difficulty lies in... — une grande partie de la difficulté réside dans...
to make much of something — ( focus on) insister sur quelque chose; ( understand) comprendre quelque chose
2) (expressing a relative amount, degree)so much — tellement, tant
so much of the time, it's a question of patience — la plupart du temps c'est une question de patience
it's too much! — lit c'est trop!; ( in protest) c'en est trop!
I'll say this much for him, he's honest — il a au moins ça pour lui, il est honnête
this much is certain, we'll have no choice — une chose est certaine, nous n'aurons pas le choix
it can cost as much as £50 — ça peut coûter jusqu'à 50 livres sterling
as much as to say... — d'un air de dire...
do you know how much this means to me? — est-ce que tu sais à quel point or combien c'est important pour moi?
3) (focusing on limitations, inadequacy)it's not ou nothing much — ce n'est pas grand-chose
it's not up to much — GB ça ne vaut pas grand-chose
3.I'm not much of a one for cooking — (colloq) la cuisine ce n'est pas mon fort (colloq)
quantifier beaucoup de4.much+ combining form5.much-loved/-respected — très apprécié/respecté
much as conjunctional phrase bien que (+ subj)6.much as we regret our decision we have no choice — bien que nous regrettions or nous avons beau regretter notre décision, nous n'avons pas le choix
much less conjunctional phrase encore moins7.I've never seen him much less spoken to him — je n'ai jamais eu l'occasion de le voir encore moins de lui parler
so much as adverbial phrasewithout so much as saying goodbye/as an apology — sans même dire au revoir/s'excuser
••there isn't much in GB ou to US it — (in contest, competition) ils se suivent de près
there isn't much in it for us — ( to our advantage) ça ne va pas nous apporter grand-chose
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18 be
be [bi:]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verb3. modal verb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verba. être• who is that? -- it's me! qui est-ce ? -- c'est moi !• if I were you I would refuse si j'étais vous, je refuserais━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The following translations use ce + être because they contain an article or possessive in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► No article is used in French, unless the noun is qualified by an adjective.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• how are you? comment allez-vous ?d. ( = cost) coûter• how much is it? combien ça coûte ?e. ( = equal) fairef.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• to be cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/ashamed/right/wrong avoir froid/chaud/faim/soif/honte/raison/tort━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how French makes the person, not the part of the body, the subject of the sentence in the following.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━g. (with age) avoir• how old is he? quel âge a-t-il ?► to be + -ing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French does not distinguish between simple and continuous actions as much as English does.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'm coming! j'arrive !• what have you been doing this week? qu'est-ce que tu as fait cette semaine ?• will you be seeing her tomorrow? est-ce que vous allez la voir demain ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être en train de + infinitive emphasizes that one is in the middle of the action.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I haven't got time, I'm cooking the dinner je n'ai pas le temps, je suis en train de préparer le repas━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The imperfect tense is used for continuous action in the past.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► have/had been +... for/since━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'd been at university for six weeks when my father got ill j'étais à l'université depuis six semaines quand mon père est tombé malade• he's a friend of yours, isn't he? c'est un ami à toi, n'est-ce pas ?• she wasn't happy, was she? elle n'était pas heureuse, n'est-ce pas ?• so it's all done, is it? tout est fait, alors ?• you're not ill, are you? tu n'es pas malade j'espère ?c. (in tag responses) they're getting married -- oh are they? ils vont se marier -- ah bon ?• he's going to complain about you -- oh is he? il va porter plainte contre toi -- ah vraiment ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• he's always late, isn't he? -- yes, he is il est toujours en retard, n'est-ce pas ? -- oui• is it what you expected? -- no it isn't est-ce que tu t'attendais à ça ? -- non━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The past participle in French passive constructions agrees with the subject.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The passive is used less in French than in English. It is often expressed by on + active verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• it is said that... on dit que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The reflexive can be used to describe how something is usually done.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━3. modal verb► am/are/is to + infinitivea. ( = will)• now the old lady has died, her house is to be sold maintenant que la vieille dame est décédée, sa maison va être mise en venteb. ( = must) you are to follow these instructions exactly tu dois suivre ces instructions scrupuleusementc. ( = should) he is to be pitied il est à plaindre• not to be confused with... à ne pas confondre avec...d. ( = be destined to) this was to have serious repercussions cela devait avoir de graves répercussionse. ( = can) these birds are to be found all over the world on trouve ces oiseaux dans le monde entiera. être ; ( = take place) avoir lieu• he is there at the moment, but he won't be there much longer il est là en ce moment mais il ne va pas rester très longtemps► there is/are ( = there exist(s)) il y a• here you are at last! te voilà enfin !• here you are! ( = take this) tiens (or tenez) !b. ► to have been (to a place)• where have you been? où étais-tu passé ?a. (weather, temperature) faire• it's fine/cold/dark il fait beau/froid/nuit• it's windy/foggy il y a du vent/du brouillard• it was then we realized that... c'est alors que nous nous sommes rendu compte que...• it was they who suggested that... ce sont eux qui ont suggéré que...• why is it that she is so popular? pourquoi a-t-elle tant de succès ?6. compounds* * *[biː, bɪ]1) gen êtreit's me —
2) ( in probability)were it not that... — si ce n'était que...
had it not been for Frank, I'd have missed the train — sans Frank j'aurais raté le train
3) ( phrases)let ou leave him be — laisse-le tranquille
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19 BE
be [bi:]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verb3. modal verb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verba. être• who is that? -- it's me! qui est-ce ? -- c'est moi !• if I were you I would refuse si j'étais vous, je refuserais━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The following translations use ce + être because they contain an article or possessive in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► No article is used in French, unless the noun is qualified by an adjective.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• how are you? comment allez-vous ?d. ( = cost) coûter• how much is it? combien ça coûte ?e. ( = equal) fairef.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• to be cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/ashamed/right/wrong avoir froid/chaud/faim/soif/honte/raison/tort━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how French makes the person, not the part of the body, the subject of the sentence in the following.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━g. (with age) avoir• how old is he? quel âge a-t-il ?► to be + -ing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French does not distinguish between simple and continuous actions as much as English does.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'm coming! j'arrive !• what have you been doing this week? qu'est-ce que tu as fait cette semaine ?• will you be seeing her tomorrow? est-ce que vous allez la voir demain ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être en train de + infinitive emphasizes that one is in the middle of the action.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I haven't got time, I'm cooking the dinner je n'ai pas le temps, je suis en train de préparer le repas━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The imperfect tense is used for continuous action in the past.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► have/had been +... for/since━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'd been at university for six weeks when my father got ill j'étais à l'université depuis six semaines quand mon père est tombé malade• he's a friend of yours, isn't he? c'est un ami à toi, n'est-ce pas ?• she wasn't happy, was she? elle n'était pas heureuse, n'est-ce pas ?• so it's all done, is it? tout est fait, alors ?• you're not ill, are you? tu n'es pas malade j'espère ?c. (in tag responses) they're getting married -- oh are they? ils vont se marier -- ah bon ?• he's going to complain about you -- oh is he? il va porter plainte contre toi -- ah vraiment ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• he's always late, isn't he? -- yes, he is il est toujours en retard, n'est-ce pas ? -- oui• is it what you expected? -- no it isn't est-ce que tu t'attendais à ça ? -- non━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The past participle in French passive constructions agrees with the subject.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The passive is used less in French than in English. It is often expressed by on + active verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• it is said that... on dit que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The reflexive can be used to describe how something is usually done.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━3. modal verb► am/are/is to + infinitivea. ( = will)• now the old lady has died, her house is to be sold maintenant que la vieille dame est décédée, sa maison va être mise en venteb. ( = must) you are to follow these instructions exactly tu dois suivre ces instructions scrupuleusementc. ( = should) he is to be pitied il est à plaindre• not to be confused with... à ne pas confondre avec...d. ( = be destined to) this was to have serious repercussions cela devait avoir de graves répercussionse. ( = can) these birds are to be found all over the world on trouve ces oiseaux dans le monde entiera. être ; ( = take place) avoir lieu• he is there at the moment, but he won't be there much longer il est là en ce moment mais il ne va pas rester très longtemps► there is/are ( = there exist(s)) il y a• here you are at last! te voilà enfin !• here you are! ( = take this) tiens (or tenez) !b. ► to have been (to a place)• where have you been? où étais-tu passé ?a. (weather, temperature) faire• it's fine/cold/dark il fait beau/froid/nuit• it's windy/foggy il y a du vent/du brouillard• it was then we realized that... c'est alors que nous nous sommes rendu compte que...• it was they who suggested that... ce sont eux qui ont suggéré que...• why is it that she is so popular? pourquoi a-t-elle tant de succès ?6. compounds* * *noun: abrév bill of exchange -
20 much
❢ When much is used as an adverb, it is translated by beaucoup: it's much longer = c'est beaucoup plus long ; she doesn't talk much = elle ne parle pas beaucoup.For particular usages, see A below. When much is used as a pronoun, it is usually translated by beaucoup: there is much to learn = il y a beaucoup à apprendre. However, in negative sentences grand-chose is also used: I didn't learn much = je n'ai pas beaucoup appris or je n'ai pas appris grand-chose.When much is used as a quantifier, it is translated by beaucoup de: they don't have much money = ils n'ont pas beaucoup d'argent.For particular usages see C below.A adv1 ( to a considerable degree) beaucoup ; much smaller/happier beaucoup plus petit/ content (than que) ; they're not much cheaper than the originals ils ne sont pas beaucoup moins chers que les originaux ; much more interesting beaucoup or bien plus intéressant ; the film was much better than expected le film était bien meilleur que prévu ; it's much better organized c'est beaucoup mieux organisé ; they're getting much less demanding ils deviennent beaucoup moins exigeants ; the shoes are much too expensive les chaussures sont beaucoup trop chères ; it's much too dangerous c'est beaucoup trop dangereux ; he doesn't much care for them il ne les aime pas beaucoup ; I didn't much like what I saw je n'ai pas beaucoup aimé ce que j'ai vu ; she doesn't worry much about it ça ne l'inquiète pas beaucoup ; we'd much rather stay here nous préférerions de beaucoup rester ici ; the meeting has been much criticized on a beaucoup critiqué la réunion ; they are much to be pitied ils méritent qu'on ait pitié d'eux ; much loved by her friends très aimée de ses amis ; your comments would be much appreciated tous vos commentaires seront les bienvenus ; he's not much good at Latin/at tennis il n'est pas très bon en latin/au tennis ; he's not much good at doing il n'est pas très doué pour faire ; does it hurt much? est-ce que ça fait très mal? ; it's much the more interesting of the two studies c'est de loin la plus intéressante des deux études ; she's much the best teacher here elle est de loin le meilleur professeur ici ; much to our annoyance, they didn't phone back ils n'ont pas rappelé, ce qui nous a beaucoup vexés ; much to my surprise à ma grande surprise ;2 ( often) beaucoup, souvent ; we don't go out much nous ne sortons pas beaucoup ; they didn't see each other much ils ne se voyaient pas beaucoup ; she doesn't talk much about the past elle ne parle pas beaucoup du passé ; do you go to concerts much? est-ce que tu vas souvent au concert? ; a much married film star une vedette de cinéma qui s'est remariée plusieurs fois ;3 (approximately, nearly) plus ou moins, à peu près ; to be much the same être à peu près pareil (as que) ; his condition is much the same as yesterday son état est plus ou moins or à peu près le même qu'hier ; it's pretty much like driving a car c'est plus ou moins la même chose que de conduire une voiture ; he behaved much the way the others did il s'est comporté plus ou moins comme les autres ; in much the same way à peu près de la même façon (as que) ; much the same is true of China la situation est à peu près la même en Chine ;4 ( specifying degree to which something is true) too much trop ; you worry/talk too much tu t'inquiètes/parles trop ; very much ( a lot) beaucoup ; ( absolutely) tout à fait ; he misses you very much tu lui manques beaucoup ; I'd appreciate it very much if j'apprécierais beaucoup que (+ subj) ; thanks very much merci beaucoup ; we enjoyed ourselves very much nous nous sommes beaucoup amusés ; she's very much like her mother elle ressemble beaucoup à sa mère ; it's very much the norm c'est tout à fait la norme ; I felt very much the foreigner je me sentais tout à fait étranger ; so much tellement ; I wanted so much to meet you j'avais tellement envie de vous rencontrer ; it hurts so much ça fait tellement mal ; it's so much better c'est tellement mieux ; he hates flying so much that he prefers to take the boat il déteste tellement l'avion qu'il préfère prendre le bateau ; thanks so much for merci beaucoup pour ; as much autant (as que) ; I like them as much as you (do) je les aime autant que toi ; she doesn't worry as much as before elle ne s'inquiète pas autant qu'avant ; they hated each other as much as ever ils se détestaient toujours autant ; she is as much entitled to a visa as you elle a autant droit à un visa que toi ; they were as much a part of village life as the farmers ils faisaient autant partie de la vie du village que les fermiers ; he wasn't sure and said as much il n'était pas sûr et il l'a dit ; I thought as much c'est bien ce qui me semblait ; however much même si ; you'll have to accept the decision however much you disagree il va falloir que tu acceptes la décision même si tu n'es pas d'accord ; I couldn't cry out however much it hurt je ne pouvais pas crier même si ça me faisait très mal ;5 (emphatic: setting up a contrast) not so much X as Y moins X que Y, plus Y que X ; it wasn't so much a warning as a threat c'était moins un avertissement qu'une menace, c'était plus une menace qu'un avertissement ; the discovery wasn't so much shocking as depressing la découverte était moins choquante que déprimante ; it doesn't annoy me so much as make me wonder ça m'agace moins que ça ne me surprend.B pron1 ( a great deal) beaucoup ; ( in negative sentences) grand-chose ; do you have much left? est-ce qu'il vous en reste beaucoup? ; did he earn much? est-ce qu'il a gagné beaucoup? ; we have much to learn nous avons beaucoup à apprendre (from de) ; we didn't eat much nous n'avons pas mangé grand-chose ; there isn't much to do il n'y a pas grand-chose à faire ; he doesn't have much to say il n'a pas grand-chose à dire ; there isn't much one can do to prevent it il n'y a pas grand-chose à faire pour empêcher ça ; he doesn't have much to complain about il n'a pas à se plaindre ; it leaves much to be desired ça laisse (vraiment) à désirer ; there's much to be said for beaucoup de choses plaident en faveur de [plan, country life, job-sharing] ; much of une grande partie de ; much of the difficulty lies in… une grande partie de la difficulté réside dans… ; much of the meeting was spent discussing… une grande partie de la réunion a été consacrée à discuter… ; much of their work involves… une grande partie de leur travail consiste à… ; much of what remains is useless une grande partie de ce qui reste est inutile ; much of the resentment is due to le ressentiment vient en grande partie de ; I don't see much of them now je ne les vois plus beaucoup maintenant ; to make much of sth ( focus on) insister sur qch ; ( understand) comprendre qch ; the report made much of the scandal le rapport insistait sur le scandale or faisait grand cas du scandale ; I couldn't make much of her last book je n'ai pas compris grand-chose à son dernier livre ;2 (expressing a relative amount, degree) so much tant ; they are willing to pay so much per vehicle ils sont prêts à payer tant par véhicule ; we'd eaten so much that nous avions tant mangé que ; she spends so much of her life abroad elle passe une très grande partie de sa vie à l'étranger ; she spends so much of her life abroad that elle passe une si grande partie de sa vie à l'étranger que ; so much of her work is gloomy il y a une grande partie de son œuvre qui est sombre ; so much of the earth is polluted la terre est tellement polluée ; so much of the time, it's a question of patience la plupart du temps c'est une question de patience ; too much trop ; it costs too much c'est trop cher ; you eat too much tu manges trop ; it's too much! lit c'est trop! ; ( in protest) c'en est trop! ; it's too much of a strain c'est trop éprouvant ; she was too much of an egotist to do elle était trop égoïste pour faire ; I couldn't eat all that, it's too much for me! je ne pourrais jamais manger tout ça, c'est trop pour moi! ; the heat/the work was too much for them ils n'ont pas pu supporter la chaleur/le travail ; the measures proved too much for them ils n'ont pas pu tolérer les mesures ; he was too much for his opponent il était trop fort pour son adversaire ; I bought about this much j'en ai acheté à peu près ça ; he's read this much already il a déjà lu tout ça ; I'll say this much for him, he's honest il a au moins ça pour lui, il est honnête ; this much is certain, we'll have no choice une chose est certaine, nous n'aurons pas le choix ; twice as much deux fois autant or plus ; if we had half as much as you si nous avions la moitié de ce que tu as ; I'll need half as much again il me faudra encore la moitié de ça ; as much as possible autant que possible ; they paid as much as we did ils ont payé autant que nous ; is it as much as that? est-ce que ça fait autant que ça? ; I enjoy nature as much as the next person j'apprécie la nature autant que n'importe qui ; it can cost as much as £50 ça peut coûter jusqu'à 50 livres sterling ; it was as much as I could do not to laugh il a fallu que je me retienne pour ne pas rire ; as much as to say… d'un air de dire… ; how much? combien? ; how much did you pay for it? combien est-ce que tu l'as payé? ; tell them how much you won dis-leur combien tu as gagné ; how much do they know? qu'est-ce qu'ils savent au juste? ; he never knew how much we missed him il n'a jamais su à quel point or combien il nous a manqué ; do you know how much this means to me? est-ce que tu sais à quel point or combien c'est important pour moi? ;3 (focusing on limitations, inadequacy) it's not ou nothing much ce n'est pas grand-chose ; it's not up to much GB ça ne vaut pas grand-chose ; he 's not much to look at il n'est pas très beau ; she doesn't think much of him elle n'a pas très bonne opinion de lui ; she doesn't think much of it elle n'en pense pas beaucoup de bien ; I'm not much of a letter-writer/reader je n'aime pas beaucoup écrire des lettres/lire ; it's not much of a film ce n'est pas un bon film ; it wasn't much of a life ce n'était pas une vie ; it wasn't much of a holiday for us ce n'était vraiment pas des vacances pour nous ; that's not much of a consolation! ça ne me console pas tellement! ; I'm not much of a one for cooking ○ la cuisine ce n'est pas mon fort ○.C quantif beaucoup de ; have you got much money/work? est-ce que tu as beaucoup d'argent/de travail? ; I haven't got (very) much time je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps ; we didn't get much support nous n'avons pas eu beaucoup de soutien ; it doesn't make much sense ça n'a pas beaucoup de sens ; there isn't much wine left il ne reste pas beaucoup de vin ; does he watch much TV? est-ce qu'il regarde beaucoup la télé ○ ? ; she didn't speak much English elle parlait peu anglais ; too much energy trop d'énergie ; to spend too much money dépenser trop d'argent ; we don't have too much time nous n'avons pas beaucoup de temps ; don't use so much salt ne mets pas tant de sel ; why does he make so much noise? pourquoi fait-il tant de bruit? ; I spent so much time doing j'ai passé tant de temps à faire ; she gets so much enjoyment out of the radio elle a tant de plaisir à écouter la radio ; we paid twice as much money nous avons payé deux fois plus d'argent ; how much time have we got left? combien de temps nous reste-t-il? ; how much liquid does it contain? combien de liquide est-ce que ça contient?D much+ (dans composés) much-loved/-respected très apprécié/respecté ; much-maligned tant décrié ; much-needed indispensable.E much as conj phr bien que (+ subj) ; much as he needed the money, he wouldn't beg for it il avait vraiment besoin de cet argent et pourtant il ne pouvait se résoudre à mendier ; much as we regret our decision we have no choice bien que nous regrettions or nous avons beau regretter notre décision, nous n'avons pas le choix.F much less conj phr encore moins ; I've never seen him much less spoken to him je n'ai jamais eu l'occasion de le voir encore moins de lui parler.G so much as adv phr without so much as saying goodbye/as an apology sans même dire au revoir/s'excuser ; if you so much as move/sigh si tu fais le moindre mouvement/pousses le moindre soupir ; they can be imprisoned for so much as criticizing the regime ils peuvent être emprisonnés ne serait-ce que pour avoir critiqué le régime.much wants more plus on en a plus on en veut ; there isn't much in GB ou to US it (in contest, competition) ils se suivent de près ; there isn't much in it for us ( to our advantage) ça ne va pas nous apporter grand-chose ; she's late again? that's a bit much! elle est encore en retard? elle exagère! ; ⇒ so.
См. также в других словарях:
used to — W2S1 [ˈju:st tu:] modal v 1.) if something used to happen, it happened regularly or all the time in the past, but does not happen now ▪ He used to go to our school. ▪ We re eating out more often than we used to. did not use to do sth ▪ You didn t … Dictionary of contemporary English
used to — used to1 [ just tu ] modal verb *** Used to is usually followed by an infinitive: We used to swim in the river. But sometimes the following infinitive is left out: I don t play golf now, but I used to. Used to only exists as a past tense.… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
used to — adjective in the habit (Freq. 13) I am used to hitchhiking you ll get used to the idea ...was wont to complain that this is a cold world Henry David Thoreau • Syn: ↑wont to • Similar to: ↑accustomed … Useful english dictionary
used — I MODAL USES AND PHRASES ♦♦ (Pronounced [[t]ju͟ːst[/t]] in used 1, and [[t]ju͟ːzd[/t]] in used 2.) 1) PHR MODAL If something used to be done or used to be the case, it was done regularly in the past or was the case in the past. People used to… … English dictionary
used to */*/*/ — I UK [ˈjuːst tuː] / US [ˈjust tu] modal verb Summary: Used to is usually followed by an infinitive: We used to swim in the river. But sometimes the following infinitive is left out: I don t play golf now, but I used to. Used to only exists as a… … English dictionary
used — I. /juzd / (say yoohzd) adjective 1. that has been made use of, especially as showing signs of wear. 2. → second hand. –phrase 3. used up, completely consumed or exhausted. {past participle of use} II. /just / (say yoohst) …
not — [ nat ] adverb *** 1. ) used for making negatives a ) used for making a sentence, expression, or word negative: He would not listen to anything she said. Barbara s not coming to the party. I don t feel sorry for her. Do not forget your promise.… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
not — W1S1 [nɔt US na:t] adv [Date: 1300 1400; Origin: nought] 1.) used to make a word, statement, or question negative ▪ Most of the stores do not open until 10am. ▪ She s not a very nice person. ▪ You were wrong not to inform the police. ▪ Can we go… … Dictionary of contemporary English
not only — not only/just/merely/simply phrase used for emphasizing that, although something is true, something else is also true or is more important Our apartment is not only centrally located, it’s near a park too. We need to talk about these problems … Useful english dictionary
Not just for profit — (NJFP) is a concept that captures an expanded set of values for defining and evaluating for profit private sector organizations, not only by their ability to generate profit as is done traditionally, but also by their determination and success in … Wikipedia
Not safe for work — Not suitable/safe for work (NSFW), not work suitable/safe (NWS), or not school suitable (NSS) is Internet slang or shorthand. Typically, the NSFW tag is used in e mail, videos, and on interactive discussion areas (such as Internet forums, blogs,… … Wikipedia