Welcome back to our readers! Every Monday, we select and explain a word for our French blog. In this edition, we’re going to take a look at but.
When you first see this word, you might believe you already know how to pronounce it… but it’s not quite what you think. We highly recommend listening to the audio clip below:
As we do often, we’ve just introduced you to yet another a false friend. In this case, your first instinct would be to translate it in the exact same way as English, the preposition ‘but’. However, this is nowhere near the French meaning of but – and by the way, the French word for ‘but’ is mais).
There are multiple translations for but in English, with a similar theme running through them all. But can translate as ‘goal’, ‘aim’, ‘purpose’ or ‘target’. As a masculine noun, you might see it alongside the articles un or le. It’s quite an interesting and common word, as it can be used both literally and metaphorically.
By looking at examples of but in context, you’ll hopefully understand enough to feel comfortable using it:
- dans le but de with the intention of
- atteindre / toucher au but to achieve one’s goal
- avoir pour but defaire quelque chose to aim to / to have the intention to do something
- aller droit au but to get straight to the point
- Je n’avais jamais de but dans la vie. I never used to have any aim in life.
- Pouvez-vous expliquer le but de votre idée ? Can you explain the objective of your idea?
- marquer un but to score a goal (like in football for example)
- tir au but penalty shootout
- gardien(ne) de but goalkeeper
- Notre équipe a gagné par quatre buts à deux. Our team won four-two / four goals to two.
It’s also worth knowing that there’s a specific verb conjugation spelled in the exact same way:
- boire to drink
- but drank
This is the 3rd person singular of the passé simple, also known as the ‘past historic’ tense. It’s mainly used in literature and formal writing like journalism.
- Le roi but trois verres de vin. The king drank three glasses of wine.
You’ll need to be aware of this, even though it’s not too common, because it might seem like the noun is in the wrong place in the sentence… that’s because it’s a verb!
Thanks for joining us this week. We hope that you might set yourself a goal to come back every week to aim to learn a new word – see you here next time.
Written by Holly Tarbet, freelance copywriter and editor.
All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.
