On the last page, a blank page, I wrote this list in v. faint pencil ...
tantôt this afternoon
d'ailleurs anyway
quoique although
desormais from now on
quant as far
cependant meanwhile
autant as much
toutfois yet, nevertheless,however
puisque since, seeing that
pourtant nevertheless, however, yet, still ..
surtout above all, especially
tout a l'heure just now, a few minutes ago
plutôt rather, sooner
lorsque (at the time) when
But why those ?
A while ago I encouraged all us struggling in the French language to put a lot of our time into learning these little, but vital, words.
And it ain't easy, mainly because they don't actually give you many clues as to what they might mean .... so they are hard to memorise.
Here's an "interesting" list of the 100 most frequently used French words .... I've put it on here before, but its well worth looking at again ....
Here's a few questions for you .......
[A] How far down do you have to go to find a noun ?
[B] How far down do you need to go to find an adjective ?
[C] How far down to you have to go to find a 5-letter word ?
[D] How many nouns are there in that whole list ?
[E] How many adjectives are in the whole list ?
100 Most Common List of French Words.
1. le (det.) the; (pron.) him, her, it, them
2. de (det.) some, any; (prep.) of, from
3. un (det.) a, an; (adj., pron.) one
4. à (prep.) to, at, in
5. être (verb) to be; (noun [m.]) being
6. et (conj.) and
7. en (prep.) in, by; (adv., pron.)
8. avoir (verb) to have; (noun [m.]) assets
9. que (adv., pron., conj.) that, which, who, whom
10. pour (prep.) for, in order to
11. dans (prep.) in, into, from
12. ce (det., pron.) this, that
13. il (pron.) he, it
14. qui (pron.) who, whom
15. ne (adv.) not
16. sur (prep.) on, upon; (adj.) sour
17. se (pron.) oneself, himself, herself, itself, themselves
18. pas (adv.) not; (noun [m.]) footstep
19. plus (adv.) more, no more
20. pouvoir (verb) to be able to, can; (noun [m.]) power
21. par (prep.) by
22. je (pron.) I
23. avec (prep.) with
24. tout (adj., adv., pron., det.) all, very
25. faire (verb) to do, make
26. son (det.) his, her its; (noun [m.]) sound; bran
27. mettre (verb) to put, place
28. autre (det., pron.) other
29. on (pron.) one, we
30. mais (conj., adv.) but
31. nous (pron.) we, us
32. comme (conj., adv.) like, as
33. ou (conj.) or
34. si (conj.) if, whether; (adv.) so
35. leur (det., pron.) their, theirs, them
36. y (adv.) there; (pron.) it
37. dire (verb) to say; (noun [m.]) saying
38. elle (pron.) she, her
39. devoir (verb) to have to, owe; (noun [m.]) duty
40. avant (prep., adv.) before; (noun [m.]) front
41. deux (det., noun [m.]) two
42. même (adj., pron.) same; (adv.) even
43. prendre (verb) to take
44. aussi (adv.) to, also; (conj.) as
45. celui (pron.) that, the one, he, him
46. donner (verb) to give
47. bien (adv.) well; (noun [m.]) good
48. où (adv., pron.) where
49. fois (noun [f.]) time(s)
50. vous (pron.) you
51. encore (adv.) again, yet
52. nouveau (adj.) new; (noun [m.]) new (thing)
53. aller (verb) to go
54. cela (pron.) that, it
55. entre (prep.) between
56. premier (det., adj.) first
57. vouloir (verb) to want; (noun [m.]) will, desire
58. déjà (adv.) already
59. grand (adj., adv.) great, big, tall
60. mon (det.) my
61. me (pron.) me, to me, myself
62. moins (adv.) less; (prep., noun [m.]) minus
63. aucun (det., adj., pron.) none, either, neither, not any
64. lui (pron.) him, her
65. temps (noun [m.]) time
66. très (adv.) very
67. savoir (verb) to know; (noun [m.]) learning, knowledge
68. falloir (verb) to take, require, need
69. voir (verb) to see
70. quelque (det., adj., adv.) some
71. sans (prep.) without
72. raison (noun [f.]) reason
73. notre (det.) our
74. dont (pron.) whose, of which
75. non (adv.) no, not
76. an (noun [m.]) year
77. monde (noun [m.]) world, people
78. jour (noun [m.]) day
79. monsieur (noun [m.]) mister, sir, gentleman
80. demander (verb) to ask for
81. alors (adv.) then, so
82. après (adv., prep.) after
83. trouver (verb) to find
84. personne (noun [f.]) person; (pron.) anyone, nobody
85. rendre (verb) to render, return, yield, give up
86. part (noun [f.]) share
87. dernier (adj). last
88. venir (verb) to come
89. pendant (adj.) during; (prep.) for; (noun [m.]) pendant
90. passer (verb) to pass
91. peu (adv.) little
92. lequel (pron.) who, whom, which
93. suite (noun [f.]) result, follow-up, rest
94. bon (adj., adv.) good; (noun [m.]) coupon, voucher
95. comprendre (verb) to understand
96. depuis (prep., adv.) since
97. point (adv.) at all; (noun [m.]) point
98. ainsi (adv.) thus
99. heure (noun [f.]) hour
100. rester (verb) to stay
What that all tells you is ..... "in-between words", are the life-blood, the thread that binds words into sentences , are the true heart of language.