How French works
French has various ways of expressing approximate values.
Through the addition of the suffix -aine to various numbers. The resultant nouns are all feminine :
| French | English |
|---|---|
| une dizaine | ten or so |
| une douzaine | a dozen or so |
| une vingtaine | twenty or so |
| une trentaine | thirty or so |
| une quarantaine | forty or so |
| une cinquantaine | fifty or so |
| une soixantaine | sixty or so |
| une centaine | a hundred or so |
In the case of mille, un millier is used.
When modifying nouns , they always take the preposition de:
une centaine de personnes
about / around a hundred people, a hundred or so people
des milliers de francs
thousands of francs
When approximating other values, a range of expressions are available, such as près de, autour de or quelque:
Le projet a coûté près de dix millions de francs
The project cost around ten million francs
On a reçu autour de deux cents candidatures
We received about two hundred applications
Il y avait quelque 150 personnes présentes
There were about 150 people present
Note that quelque used in this sense is an adverb and therefore does not take an -s.
When expressing distance or time, the expressions environ and vers are preferred:
Manchester est à environ 250 kilomètres / à 250 kilomètres environ
Manchester is about 250 kilometres away
Le projet sera fini vers l’an 2002
The project will be finished around the year 2002
Other ways of expressing approximation include the expressions dans les and de l’ordre de:
Il a dans les soixante ans
He's about sixty
Cela coûte dans les mille francs
It costs about a thousand francs
La compagnie a subi des pertes de l’ordre de 2 millions de francs
The company incurred losses in the region of 2 million francs
Approximation can also be expressed by the verb avoisiner:
La compagnie a subi des pertes avoisinant 2 millions de francs
The company incurred losses of around 2 million francs
To express a range between two values one can use entre or de...à:
Cela coûte entre 1000 et 2000 francs / de 1000 à 2000 francs
It costs between 1000 and 2000 francs
La compagnie a subi des pertes de 2 à 3 millions de francs
The company incurred losses of between 2 and 3 million francs
Note also the construction à [ ... ] près is used to express various notions of proximity. In addition to à peu près meaning about, there is:
au kilomètre / à 10 kilomètres près
to the nearest kilometre / 10 kilometres
En tout cela a coûté 100 francs, à quelques centimes près
It all came to 100 francs, give or take a few centimes
Il l’a calculé au centime près
He calculated it down to the last penny
C'est précis à un milligramme près
It's accurate to within one milligram
à une exception près
with only one exception
à peu de chose près
as near as makes no difference
When characterizing numerical values or trends as high, French has a variety of adjectives : the most common are haut, élevé, fort and important:
Le taux de chômage est très élevé / haut en ce moment
Unemployment is very high at the moment
Il y a un fort taux de chômage en ce moment
There are high levels of unemployment at the moment
La société a affiché des bénéfices importants
The company showed high profits
When characterizing numerical values or trends as low, bas and faible are most common:
En l’Extrême-Orient les salaires sont nettement plus bas qu’en Europe
In the Far East salaries are significantly lower than in Europe
Leur faible rentabilité s’est traduite par de mauvais résultats
Their low profitability resulted in poor results
When expressing these notions as a comparative , French uses plus de and moins de when the values are not introduced by être or another intensive verb :
L’inflation a baissé de plus de 2% depuis les dernières élections
Inflation has fallen by 2% since the last election
When the comparative comes after a value, plus de and moins de are introduced by de:
L’inflation est à 1% de moins de la moyenne européenne
Inflation is 1% below the European average
When the values are introduced by être or another intensive verb , French prefers supérieur à and inférieur à:
L’inflation est nettement inférieure à la moyenne européenne
Inflation is significantly lower than the European average
French has a variety of ways of avoiding the comparative :
Le governement a promis une réduction des impôts
The government promised lower taxes
Les bénéfices ont largement dépassé ceux de l’année dernière
Profits are much higher than they were last year
To express the idea of a value increasing by a specific amount, the most common verbs are augmenter de, progresser de, and s’accroître de. Note that the preposition by is translated by de and not par:
La production a augmenté / a progressé / s’est accrue de 3% depuis mai
Production has increased by 3% since May
To express the idea of a value decreasing by a specific amount, the most common verbs are diminuer de, baisser de or chuter de (to describe a sharp fall):
La production a diminué / a baissé de 3% depuis mai
Production has fallen by 3% since May
La production a chuté de 20% depuis mai
Production has plummeted by 20% since May
To express the idea of increasing or decreasing from one value to another, passer is used:
L’inflation est passée de 2 à 3% / de 3 à 2% depuis mai
Inflation has risen from 2 to 3% / fallen from 3 to 2% since May
Note that the other constructions listed cannot be used in this context as the de which follows them has the meaning of by and not from. If they were used they would indicate a range between the two figures, and not a change from one to the other:
L’inflation a augmenté
/ a baissé de 2 à 3%
Inflation has risen
/ fallen by between 2 to 3%
With the exception of passer, all the above expressions can be used to express the idea of increasing or decreasing without the inclusion of a specific value:
L’inflation baisse tandis que la production augmente
Inflation is falling whilst production is rising
However, when refering to a general state rather than to changes in value, it is often preferable to use a construction such as être en hausse / baisse, être à la hausse / baisse.
L’inflation est en hausse / en baisse depuis mai
Inflation has been rising / falling since May
The construction être en hausse / baisse can also be used to express a degree of increase:
L’inflation est en légère / forte hausse / baisse depuis mai
Inflation has been rising / falling slightly / significantly since May
The most common nouns for an increase are une augmentation and une hausse, whilst for a fall are une réduction, une baisse and une chute. These can be used in conjunction with verbs such as connaître and subir to translate verbal constructions in English:
In the 1980s inflation went up sharply / there was sharp rise in inflation
Dans les années 80 l’inflation a connu / subi une forte hausse
Note that when the preposition in follows the noun in English, this is followed by de in French:
The fall in the level of unemployment
La chute du niveau du chômage
To express the process of increasing in the sense of bringing up a numerical value or rate, augmenter and accroître can be used in most contexts:
La société a pu augmenter / accroître ses bénéfices / sa rentabilité
The company has increased its profits / profitability
Relever means to raise a numerical indicator rather than to cause an economic or social trend:
Le gouvernement a relevé l’impôt sur le revenu
The government raised income tax
To express the process of decreasing in the sense of bringing down a numerical value or rate, réduire and baisser can be used in most contexts, whilst ramener and abaisser are used when indicating a specific value to which the reduction has led:
Le gouvernement a réduit / baissé l’impôt sur le revenu
The government reduced income tax
Le gouvernement a ramené / abaissé l’impôt sur le revenu à 25%
The government reduced income tax to 25%
In general when presenting individual figures, use être à when indicating a level, and être de when simply presenting a figure:
En 1984 le chômage / l'inflation était à 12%
In 1984 unemployment / inflation was 2% [i.e. at 2%]
L'investissement initial était de 50 000 francs
Initial investment was 50 000 francs [i.e. one of 50 000 francs]
Alternatives to using être are s’élever à and atteindre:
Le défécit du budget s’élève à / atteint 10 milliards
The budget defecit is 10 billion
Représenter and constituer are used to express proportion:
Le défécit du budget représente / constitue plus de 3% du produit national brut
The budget deficit accounts for more than 3% of the gross national product