Few, little in French 🇫🇷

Useful opposites

A little A lot
Un peu Beaucoup

9 months ago

peu info.

To remember the French word “peu,” it can be helpful to link it to the English cognates “petite” or “petty,” which share the sense of smallness or limited quantity. The word “peu” in French means “little” (for uncountable nouns) or “few” (for countable nouns), similar to how these terms are used in English to describe a small quantity.

Other words in French that have similar meanings include:
– “un petit peu” (a tiny bit)
– “quelque peu” (somewhat, to some extent)
– “guère” (hardly, scarcely)

In slang or informal contexts, “peu” doesn’t typically change; however, the expression it’s used in might be informal, such as “pas grand-chose” which means not much.

Here are examples of sentences that use “peu”:

1. J’ai peu d’amis dans cette ville. (I have few friends in this city.)
2. Il reste peu de lait dans le frigo. (There’s little milk left in the fridge.)
3. Elle a réussi sans avoir étudié, ce qui est peu commun. (She succeeded without studying, which is uncommon.)
4. Nous avons peu parlé lors de la réunion. (We spoke little during the meeting.)
5. J’ai peu de temps pour terminer ce projet. (I have little time to finish this project.)
6. Il a peu de patience avec ses élèves. (He has little patience with his students.)
7. Elle a peu à peu appris à le connaître. (She gradually got to know him.)

Remember that “peu” can additionally be used as an adverb to modify the extent of an action, meaning “not much” or “barely.”

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