6 Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers

6.1 Cardinal numbers

Numbers like un, deux, trois, etc., are called cardinal numbers:

0 zéro
1 un un (masculine) is used in contexts like the following: il porte le numéro 'un', 'He is wearing the number "one"'; à la page un, 'on page one'; la partie un, 'part one'. It is also used as a masculine pronoun: As-tu un stylo? Pierre en a un 'Have you got a pen? Pierre has one'. une (feminine) is used as a feminine pronoun: Il ne m'en reste qu'une (carte postale), 'I've only got one left (postcard)'. NB: à la une 'on the front page'.
2 deux
3 trois
4 quatre quatre is invariable and never takes a plural -s: les quatre chats 'the four cats'.
5 cinq The final q of cinq is always pronounced [k], except when it precedes cent, where it is not pronounced: cinq cents.
6 six six is pronounced with a fi nal [s] when it is at the end of a phrase: j'en ai vu six 'I saw six'; it is pronounced with a final [z] when it precedes a noun beginning with a vowel: six hommes 'six men'. When it precedes a noun beginning with a consonant the x is not pronounced: six joueurs 'six players'.
7 sept
8 huit huit is pronounced with a fi nal [t] when it is at the end of a phrase: j'en ai vu huit 'I saw eight', and when it precedes a noun beginning with a vowel: huit entreprises ont fermé 'eight firms have closed'. When it precedes a noun beginning with a consonant the t is not pronounced: huit semaines plus tard 'eight weeks later'.
9 neuf The final f of neuf is always pronounced [f], except in neuf ans 'nine years' and neuf heures 'nine hours, nine o'clock' where it is pronounced [v].
10 dix The pronunciation of dix is the same as for six.
11 onze Forms of le and de do not shorten before onze: le onze janvier 'the eleventh of January', (NOT *l'onze janvier), le train de onze heures 'the eleven o'clock train'. In plural expressions like les onze membres d'une équipe de football 'the eleven members of a football team', the final s of les or des is not pronounced.
12 douze douze is invariable, and never takes a plural -s: douze hommes 'twelve men'.
13 treize
14 quatorze
15 quinze
16 seize
17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit The pronunciation of dix-huit is the same as for huit.
19 dix-neuf The pronunciation of dix-neuf is the same as for neuf.
20 vingt vingt is pronounced like vin, with the following exceptions: it is pronounced with a final [t] when it precedes a noun beginning with a vowel: vingt exercices 'twenty exercises', and also in the numbers 21-29 inclusive.
21 vingt et un vingt et un(e), trente et un(e), quarante et un(e), etc. are used in similar ways to un(e); un(e) agrees with the gender of a following noun: vingt et un joueurs 'twenty-one players', vingt et une voitures 'twenty-one cars'.
22 vingt-deux
23 vingt-trois
. . .
29 vingt-neuf
30 trente
31 trente et un
32 trente-deux
. . .
39 trente-neuf
40 quarante
41 quarante et un
42 quarante-deux
. . .
49 quarante-neuf
50 cinquante
51 cinquante et un
52 cinquante-deux
. . .
59 cinquante-neuf
60 soixante
61 soixante et un
62 soixante-deux
. . .
69 soixante-neuf
70 soixante-dix In Belgian and Swiss French the word septante is used instead of soixante-dix: septante et un, septantedeux, etc.
71 soixante et onze
72 soixante-douze
73 soixante-treize
. . .
79 soixante-dix-neuf
80 quatre-vingts
81 quatre-vingt-un The [t] of vingt is NOT pronounced.
82 quatre-vingt-deux
. . .
89 quatre-vingt-neuf
90 quatre-vingt-dix In Belgian and Swiss French the word nonante is used instead of quatre-vingt-dix: nonante-un, nonante-deux, etc.
91 quatre-vingt-onze The [t] of vingt is NOT pronounced.
92 quatre-vingt-douze
93 quatre-vingt-treize
. . .
99 quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
100 cent 'one hundred, a hundred' is simply cent: 'a hundred times' cent fois
101 cent un cent une réponses 'a hundred and one answers'. The [t] of cent is NOT pronounced.
102 cent deux
. . .
111 cent onze The [t] of cent is NOT pronounced in cent un, cent huit, cent onze, but it is pronounced when followed by a non-numeral noun beginning with a vowel: cent ans 'a hundred years'.
200 deux cents
201 deux cent un
202 deux cent deux
. . .
1 000 mille 'one thousand, a thousand' is simply mille: 'a thousand times' mille fois
1 001 mille un You will hear the idiom (j'ai) mille et une choses à faire '(I've) a thousand and one things to do'. This is not meant as a precise figure.
. . .
1 100 onze cents or mille cent There are two ways of describing numbers between 1 100 and 1 999: onze cents or mille cent (1 100); dixhuit cent soixante or mille huit cent soixante (1 860); dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf or mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (1 999), etc.
1 101 onze cent un or mille cent un
. . .
1 200 douze cents or mille deux cents
1 201 douze cent un or mille deux cent un
. . .
1 500 quinze cents or mille cinq cents
. . .
2 000 deux mille
2 001 deux mille un
2 101 deux mille cent un
1 000 000 un million
1 201 101 un million deux un cent mille cent un
1 000 000 000 un milliard

6.1.1 et in cardinal numbers

et is used for cardinal numbers ending in -1 between 21 and 71 inclusive (note the absence of hyphens):

21 vingt et un
31 trente et un
41 quarante et un
51 cinquante et un
61 soixante et un
71 soixante et onze

et is NOT used in numbers ending in -1 between 81 and 101 inclusive (note the use of hyphens in the case of 81 and 91), nor in 1 001, 1 000 001 and 1 000 000 001:

81 quatre-vingt-un
91 quatre-vingt-onze
101 cent un
1 001 mille un
1 000 001 un million un
1 000 000 001 un milliard un

6.1.2 Hyphens in written cardinal numbers

Compound cardinal numbers less than 100 are linked by hyphen (other than those ending in - 1 between 21 and 71 inclusive):

17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit
19 dix-neuf
22 vingt-deux
23 vingt-trois
. . .
32 trente-deux
33 trente-trois
72 soixante-douze
80 quatre-vingts
. . .
81 quatre-vingt-un

But cardinal numbers of 100 and above are not linked to other numbers by hyphen, in compound numbers:

101 cent un
102 cent deux
. . .
192 cent quatre-vingt-douze
. . .
520 cinq cent vingt
. . .
522 cinq cent vingt-deux
. . .
10 340 dix mille trois cent quarante
. . .

6.1.3 Plurals in cardinal numbers

The numbers quatre-vingts and deux cents, trois cents, quatre cents, etc., take a plural -s in the written language when they are used in isolation or phrase- final position:

J'en ai vu quatre-vingts I saw eighty
La capacité de la salle est de huit cents The room can hold eight hundred

and when they precede non- numeral nouns:

trois cents visiteurs three hundred visitors
quatre-vingts candidats eighty applicants

However, when these numbers precede other numerals, there is generally no plural -s:

unless those numerals are millions or milliards:

deux cents millions d'habitants two hundred million inhabitants
cinq cents milliards de francs five hundred billion francs

mille never takes a plural -s:

mille personnes a thousand people
dix mille gagnants ten thousand winners
deux mille vingt lecteurs two thousand and twenty readers

When quatre-vingt or cent are used in phrases such as à la page quatre-vingt ‘on page 80’, à la page trois cent ‘on page 300’ they are generally written without a final -s .

6.1.4 When to use figures and when to use words

Numbers are usually written in words, except in the following cases:

6.1.5 Conventions for writing cardinal numbers in figures

Where English uses a comma to separate hundreds from thousands, and thousands from millions, French normally uses spaces; and where English uses a full stop to separate whole numbers from decimals, French normally uses a comma:

English French
1,200 1 200
63,321 63 321
412,633,221 412 633 221
4.25 4,25
0.25 0,25
£4.50 4,50 EUR/4,50€

In speech, the English ‘four point five’ is quatre virgule cinq.

(For money, see 6.8.)

6.1.6 nombre, chiffre and numéro

nombre refers to a number as a concept:

Pensez à un nombre Think of a number
nombres entiers whole numbers
un nombre cardinal a cardinal number

chiffre refers to the figures or digits which make up a number; it can also be used to mean ‘statistics’:

numéro refers to a numbered entity:

un numéro de téléphone a telephone number
le numéro d'une maison a house number
Il porte le numéro un He's wearing the number one
un numéro d'immatriculation a car number plate

6.1.7 Necessity to use en when numbers are direct objects

The pronoun en must be inserted before the verb when a number on its own (or followed by an adjective, e.g. deux grands) is a direct object:

This is not the case, however, when a number alone (or followed by an adjec tive) is a subject:

Deux (grands) ont disparu Two (big ones) have disappeared
Une douzaine me suffira A dozen will be enough for me

en must be similarly inserted before the verb when quantifiers like quelques-uns, plusieurs and certains stand alone as direct objects:

J'en ai encore quelques-uns I still have a few
J'en ai encore plusieurs I still have several
J'en ai encore certains I still have some

(For quantifiers, see 6.9.)

6.1.8 Non-agreement of direct object numerals with coûter, peser, mesurer

Although past participles normally agree with preceding direct objects (see Chapter 9.3.1), including direct objects involving numerals:

with the verbs coûter ‘cost’, peser ‘weigh’, mesurer ‘measure’, and other measure verbs, numerals are normally adverbs rather than direct objects, so there is no agreement when the numeral precedes the past participle:

(See Chapter 9.3.5.)

6.1.9 Simple arithmetic (le calcul)

trois et quatre font sept 3 + 4 = 7
(trois plus quatre égale sept)
trois moins un égale deux 3 - 1 = 2
(trois ôtez un reste deux)
deux fois cinq font dix 2 × 5 = 10
(cinq multiplié par deux égale dix)
dix divisé par deux égale cinq 10 ÷ 2 = 5

NB: As in English, the verbs can vary between singular and plural: trois et quatre fait/font sept ‘three plus four makes/make seven’.

6.2 Ordinal numbers

Numbers like premier, deuxième, troisième, etc., are called ordinal numbers:

English French
1st 1er/1ère premier, première
2nd 2e deuxième or second, seconde. (deuxième and second are interchangeable except in en seconde 'in second class'; 'in the fifth form'/Year 11' (UK))
3rd 3e troisième
4th 4e quatrième
5th 5e cinquième
6th 6e sixième
7th 7e septième
8th 8e huitième
9th 9e neuvième
10th 10e dixième
11th 11e onzième
12th 12e douzième
13th 13e treizième
14th 14e quatorzième
15th 15e quinzième
16th 16e seizième
17th 17e dix-septième
18th 18e dix-huitième
19th 19e dix-neuvième
20th 20e vingtième
21st 21e vingt et unième
22nd 22e vingt-deuxième
. . .
40th 40e quarantième
41st 41e quarante et unième
. . .
70th 70e soixante-dixième
71st 71e soixante et onzième
. . .
80th 80e quatre-vingtième
81st 81e quatre-vingt-unième
. . .
90th 90e quatre-vingt-dixième
91th 91e quatre-vingt-onzième
. . .
100th 100e centième
. . .
1000th 1000e millième

6.3 Fractions

6.3.1 Ordinal numbers as fractions

The majority of fractions can be constructed from the ordinal numbers, and are masculine in gender. They are usually introduced by the definite article (as opposed to the indefinite article or absence of article in English):

Another way of expressing these figures is: Un sur cinq des élèves a échoué ‘One in five pupils has failed’; Sept sur dix personnes de la population du monde sont pauvres ‘Seven out of ten people in the world are poor’.

6.3.2 'half', 'third', 'quarter'

‘Half’, ‘third’, ‘quarter’ have their own names. ‘Half’ is translated by la moitié (de) when it is a noun (i.e. is followed by de or stands alone):

However, ‘half’ is translated by demi when it is part of a hyphenated compound noun (and is invariable):

un demi-verre de cognac a half-glass of brandy
une demi-heure a half an hour
la demi-finale the semi-final

It is also translated by demi in compounds involving et, but here it agrees with the preceding noun in gender:

deux heures et demie two and a half hours
un litre et demi one and a half litres
deux kilos et demi two and a half kilos

Some compounds are constructed with invariable mi-:

la mi-trimestre half-term
à mi-chemin half-way
mi-clos half-closed

‘Third’ is translated by tiers:

NB: le tiers monde ‘the Third World’.

‘Quarter’ is translated by quart:

NB: Il est deux heures et quart or Il est deux heures un quart
It’s quarter past two
Il est deux heures moins le quart
It’s quarter to two
cinq kilos et quart or cinq kilos un quart
five and a quarter kilos

(See 6.7 for time.)

6.3.3 Verb agreement with fractions

Verbs are usually plural when fractions are subjects and refer to plural entities:

Verbs are singular when fractions are subjects and refer to singular entities:

6.4 Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English

6.4.1 Dates

While English uses ordinal numbers in dates French uses cardinal numbers, with the exception of ‘first’, which is premier:

le premier janvier the first of January
le deux février the second of February
le trois mars the third of March

In letter headings the normal way of writing dates is:

or where the day is included:

le lundi 1er janvier 2015 or lundi, le 1er janvier 2015
le vendredi 2 février 2015 or vendredi, le 2 février 2015

NB: Months and days are written with a lower case initial letter in French, but with a capital letter in English.

6.4.2 Kings, queens and popes

As with dates, where English uses ordinal numbers, French uses cardinal numbers, with the exception of ‘first’ premier:

François I François premier Francis the First
Elizabeth I Elizabeth première Elizabeth the First
Henri II Henri deux Henry the Second
Louis XIV Louis quatorze Louis the Fourteenth
Jean XXIII Jean vingt-trois (Pope) John the Twenty-third

6.4.3 Ordinal number abbreviations

The abbreviated forms of premier, première are:

1er, 1ére 1st

whereer andère are superscripts. The abbreviation for all other ordinal numbers is an e which can either be a superscript or a simple lower case letter:

2e 2e 2nd
3e 3e 3rd
4e 4e 4th etc.

6.4.4 Order of cardinal numbers and adjectives

In English, cardinal numbers follow adjectives:

In French they precede adjectives:

(See also Chapter 4.1.5.)

6.4.5 Page numbers, bus numbers, etc.

As in English, French page numbers, bus numbers and so on are cardinal num bers which follow the noun; un is invariable in this usage. Quatre-vingt and cent are written without an -s. A definite article always accompanies the noun in French:

à la page un on page one
Prenez le trente-deux Catch the number 32
Suivez le quatre-vingt Follow the number 80
Le train part du quai vingt The train leaves from platform twenty

6.4.6 Addresses

Like English, address numbers are cardinal numbers in French. But the French for ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ is bis, ter, quater:

NB: In addresses, rue, avenue, boulevard, etc., usually begin with lower case letters.

6.4.7 'hundreds', 'thousands', 'millions' and 'billions'

The numeral nouns centaine, millier, million, milliard are always followed by de when they are followed by other nouns:

des centaines de personnes hundreds of people
des milliers de personnes thousands of people
un million de dollars a million dollars
des millions de personnes millions of people
cinq milliards de dollars five billion dollars
des milliards de personnes billions of people
des centaines de milliers de personnes hundreds of thousands of people
des centaines de millions de personnes hundreds of millions of people

6.4.8 mille, milliers, milliards

These numbers are often confused by English speakers:

6.4.9 'once', 'twice', 'three times', etc.; 'both', 'all three', 'all four', etc.

Whereas English has the forms ‘once’, ‘twice’, then a regular pattern from ‘three’ onwards: ‘three times’, ‘four times’ etc., French has a fully regular pat tern from ‘one’ on:

une fois once
deux fois twice
trois fois three times
quatre fois four times
. . .

French has alternative forms for ‘both’, ‘all three’, ‘all four’, one with a definite article and one without (found only in formal written French); but from ‘all five’ onwards the definite article must be used:

tous/toutes les deux tous/toutes deux both
tous/toutes les trois tous/toutes trois all three
tous/toutes les quatre tous/toutes quatre all four
tous/toutes les cinq NOT *tous/toutes cinq all five
tous/toutes les six NOT *tous/toutes six all six
. . .
Tous les deux sont arrivés Both have arrived
Je les ai invitées toutes les six I invited all six

NB: These expressions cannot precede a noun directly. To translate phrases like ‘both players’, ‘all six singers’, either use the definite article and a numeral alone: les deux joueurs, les six chanteuses:

or, when the phrase is in subject position, move the tous/toutes (les) X to a position after the verb marked for tense:

(See also 6.9.5.)

6.5 Measurements and comparisons

6.5.1 Numbers with length, height, depth etc.

With the verb être, numbers specifying length, height, depth, width, distance, thickness and so on, are preceded by de:

For long, haut, large there is another way of expressing the same idea using the verbs faire and avoir; in this case de precedes long, haut, large, which remain invariable in form:

However, this structure can NOT be used with profond or épais.

With faire and avoir it is also possible to say La piscine fait (or a) 50 mètres de longueur, Cette tour fait (or a) 20 mètres de hauteur, Le fleuve fait (or a) 2 kilomètres de largeur, although the construction with the adjectives long, haut, large is probably more natural.

Profondeur and épaisseur are also possible in this construction: La piscine fait (or a) 2 mètres de profondeur, Le mur fait (or a) 89 centimètres d’épaisseur.

In talking about how tall people are, the verbs mesurer, faire are usually used:

Je mesure 1,97 mètres I am 1.97 metres tall
Elle fait 1,80 mètres She is 1.80 metres tall

The verbs mesurer, faire are the equivalent of English ‘is’ in describing dimensions:

6.5.2 Numbers in comparisons

When numbers figure in comparisons with the verb être, they are often preceded by de:

In some of these cases alternative expressions with avoir are possible:

Translating ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ into French often causes English speak ers some difficulty, because there are two possibilities:

plus de plus que
moins de moins que

plus de, moins de imply that there is a specific benchmark against which something is measured as being ‘more than’ or ‘less than’, and this is often a number:

plus que, moins que imply a comparison between one person or thing and another, without a specific benchmark being mentioned:

The difference between the two can be illustrated in the following pair of sentences:

NB: The following expressions compare one measurement with another:

quatre mètres sur trois four metres by three
un Français sur sept one French person in seven
une chose à la fois one thing at a time
20% par an 20% a year
deux heures par jour two hours a day

‘miles per gallon’ is measured in French by the number of litres consumed per hundred kilometres: dix litres aux cent (kilomètres) (roughly 30 miles per gallon).

6.5.3 Numeral nouns and approximations

The following numeral nouns describe approximate, rather than specific, numbers:

une dizaine ten or so
une quinzaine fifteen 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

une douzaine (une demi- douzaine), however, means ‘a dozen (a half- dozen)’ exactly: une douzaine d’œufs ‘a dozen eggs’.

A variety of other expressions, when used with numbers, also express approx imations:

Il a cinquante ans et quelques He is over fifty
Il a autour de cinquante ans He is around fifty
Elle va sur ses vingt-six ans She is going on twenty-six
Je l'ai rencontrée il y a quelque trente ans I met her about thirty years ago

NB: ans is always present when describing a person’s age.

6.6 Dates, days, years

6.6.1 Dates

Dates always begin with le (which does not contract to l’ even before numbers beginning with a vowel: le huit mars, le onze septembre):

NB: When writing dates, months always begin with lower case letters. When referring to events in a particular month use either au mois de janvier, février, etc., or en janvier, février, etc. (See also 6.4.1 for dates.)

Significant national dates in the French calendar include:

Le jour de l'an New Year's Day
L'Épiphanie Twelfth Night
Le vendredi saint Good Friday
Pâques Easter Sunday
La Toussaint All Saints Day
Le onze novembre Armistice Day
Noël Christmas Day

6.6.2 Days

When days of the week are used without a determiner, they usually refer to a specific day:

Je viendrai vous voir lundi I'll come and see you on Monday

(But in dates, days of the week are preceded by le: le lundi 8 août.)

When days of the week are preceded by a definite article they usually describe what habitually happens:

le matin, l’après- midi, le soir, la nuit are used in the same way:

(versus Elle s’est levée tôt lundi matin ‘She got up early on Monday morning’.)

Seasons can be used in a similar way:

faire du ski l'hiver (also en hiver) to go skiing in winter
jouer au tennis l'été (also en été) to play tennis in summer

But the definite article may be used to stress that an event occurred on a particular day:

Note the following expressions:

dimanche en huit a week on Sunday
vendredi en quinze a fortnight on Friday
tous les deux jours every other day

6.6.3 Years

In referring to years in a date, cent is obligatory (while ‘hundred’ is often omitted in English):

1945 dix-neuf or mille neuf cent quarante-cinq
nineteen (hundred and) forty-five
le 2 mai 1993 le deux mai dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-treize
the second of May nineteen (hundred and) ninety-three

‘BC’ is av. J- C (avant Jésus-Christ) and ‘AD’ is ap. J- C (après Jésus- Christ):

50 av. J-C 50 BC
500 ap. J-C 500 AD

If mille is used in AD dates, it can be written optionally mille or (very rarely) mil:

an is used in l’an 2000 (l’an deux mille) ‘the year 2000’, en l’an 2010 (en l’an deux mille dix) ‘in the year 2010’, etc.; but année is used in les années 60 (les années soixante) ‘the 60s’, les années 30 (les années trente) ‘the 30s’, etc. (See Chapter 1.5 for an/année.)

6.7 Clock time

In telling time, ‘it is’ is always il est, never *c’est:

heures is obligatory:

et links quart and demi to the hour in times past the hour – demi agrees in gender with the noun:

onze heures et quart a quarter past eleven
midi et quart a quarter past midday
minuit et quart a quarter past midnight
onze heures et demie half past eleven
midi et demi half past midday
minuit et demi half past midnight

‘a quarter to’ the hour is moins le quart (or moins un quart):

onze heures moins le quart a quarter to eleven

As in English, one can equally say onze heures quinze ‘eleven fifteen’, midi trente ‘thirty minutes past midday’, etc.

In French timetables, times are usually written as 21h35 or 21:35.

NB: à l'heure on time
à temps in time
à deux heures précises at two o'clock precisely (official report)
justes sonnantesa tapantes exactly two o'clock (looking at watch) bang on two o'clock (for effect) spot on two (for effect, more informal)
vers deux heures/vers les deux heures/autour de deux heures/ à deux heures environ/dans les environs de deux heures about two o'clock
Je peux faire mes comptes dans une heure I can do my accounts in an hour's time
Je peux faire mes comptes en une heure I can do my accounts within an hour

(See Chapters 13.14.4 and 13.26.3.)

6.8 Money

euro is always present in quoting prices, but centime is optional:

Foreign currencies are described in the same way:

Prices can be written in different ways:

Paying for things in French does not involve a preposition equivalent to ‘for’:

6.9 Quantifiers

6.9.1 Common quantifiers

Quantifiers, like numbers, determine ‘how much’ there is of something, but are less specific than numbers:

assez de client(s) enough customer(s)
autant de as many
beaucoup de many
bien des many
certains particular
chaque every
chacun des each one of the
une majorité de a majority of
une minorité de a minority of
moins de client(s) fewer customer(s)
nombre de a lot of
une partie des a portion of
peu de few
pas mal de (informal French) quite a lot of
la plupart des most
plus de more
plusieurs several
quantité de a lot of
quelques some, a few
le reste des the rest of the
tous les all the

6.9.2 Direct object quantifiers and en

When a quantifier on its own is a direct object, en must be inserted in front of the verb, as in the case of numbers (see 6.1.7):

J'en ai encore certains I still have some
Ils n'en consomment qu'une partie They only consume a portion
Il en a vendu la plupart He has sold most of it

NB: When quelques ‘some, a few’ stands alone, it becomes quelques-un(e)s:

Il y avait quelques clients dans le magasin There were a few customers in the shop
Il y en avait quelques-uns dans le magasin There were a few in the shop

6.9.3 de or du, de la, des after quantifiers

The indefinite article des and the partitive articles du, de la, des (see Chapter 2.3.1 and 2.4) are omitted when a noun phrase follows one of the quantifiers listed with de in 6.9.1:

assez de + des clients → assez de clients
enough customers → enough customers
autant de + de l'argent → autant d'argent
as much money → as much money
peu de + du travail → peu de travail
not much work → not much work

Quantifiers listed in 6.9.1 with des, however, are those which are followed by des, du or de la:

When the quantifiers listed with de in 6.9.1 are followed by a noun with a definite article, this is not omitted. Compare:

See also Chapter 2.3.2 and 2.4.

6.9.4 Quantifiers and personal pronouns

certains d'entre some of
beaucoup eux many them
peu elles few them
plusieurs nous several us
la plupart vous most you
chacun each

The preposition d’entre is used with quantifiers which precede stressed pronouns (for stressed pronouns see Chapter 3.3):

One can also find certains parmi eux ‘some of them’, chacun de nous ‘each of us’.

6.9.5 tout and chaque

tous/toutes, like other quantifiers, can appear with the nouns they quantify or on their own:

When tous/toutes quantifies a subject, it can be optionally moved to a position after the verb:

When tous/toutes is used alone as a direct object, it can be optionally moved to a position after the verb marked for tense:

Je les ai tous vus Je les ai vus tous I saw them all

chaque means ‘each, every’:

chaque cannot stand alone: it becomes chacun(e):

(For adverbial use of tout, as in toute blanche, tout blanc, see Chapter 5.6.7.)

6.9.6 Subject-verb agreement when subject quantifiers are present

With some quantifiers, the verb agrees not with the quantifier but with the noun:

Similar quantifiers are:

With other quantifiers, however, the verb may agree with the noun or with the quantifier:

Similar quantifiers are: une minorité de, le reste de, la moitié de, un tiers de, and numeral nouns such as une dizaine de, une vingtaine, etc. (See Chapter 9.1.5.)