{"id":21927,"date":"2015-04-22T13:47:58","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T11:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=21927"},"modified":"2017-10-23T14:57:59","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T12:57:59","slug":"21927","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/21927\/","title":{"rendered":"French Punctuation: How Different Could It Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something as basic as how to use a period, a comma, and a colon doesn\u2019t seem like the kind of thing you\u2019d need to learn how to use en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>. A period goes at the end of the sentence, a comma separates clauses or lists, and a colon introduces a title or a list or many other things.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

En anglais<\/strong>, there\u2019s a space after each of these punctuation marks. Cependant<\/strong> (However), en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> the rules for these spaces are not the same! En r\u00e8gle g\u00e9n\u00e9rale<\/strong> (as a general rule of thumb), any punctuation that is made up of two different points or a line and a point ( ! ? ; : etc) has a space before and after it in French (except in Canadian French<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Voici un exemple d\u2019une question en anglais :<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you want?<\/p>\n

Mais en fran\u00e7ais c\u2019est :<\/strong><\/p>\n

Qu\u2019est-ce que vous voulez ?<\/em><\/p>\n

Remarquez l\u2019espace !<\/strong> (Notice the space!)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another tricky punctuation point that can cause a lot of confusion between French and English. French numbers<\/a> are pretty easy at first, but there’s a small detail that can be un vrai casse-t\u00eate <\/strong>(a real headache).<\/p>\n

En anglais<\/strong>, the decimal point is written with un point<\/strong> (a period or full stop) and thousands are marked with une virgule<\/strong> (a comma), but in French thousands are marked with un point<\/strong> (or sometimes just a space) and une virgule<\/strong> is used for decimal points!<\/p>\n

Voici un exemple simple :<\/strong>
\nAnglais :<\/strong> 1.5
\n\u201cOne point five\u201d<\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ais :<\/strong> 1,5
\n\u201cUn virgule cinq\u201d
\nOne comma five<\/em><\/p>\n

It can become confusing with larger numbers and more decimal places:
\nAnglais :<\/strong> 1,500.005
\n\u201cOne thousand five hundred point zero zero five\u201d<\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ais :<\/strong> 1.500,005 ou<\/strong> 1 500,005
\n\u201cMille cinq cents virgule z\u00e9ro z\u00e9ro cinq\u201d
\nOne thousand five hundred comma zero zero five<\/em><\/p>\n

Next time you see des num\u00e9ros fran\u00e7ais<\/strong><\/a>, double check la ponctuation<\/strong>! You don\u2019t want to confuse mille cinq (1.005) <\/strong>and un virgule z\u00e9ro z\u00e9ro cinq (1,005) !<\/strong> Surtout<\/strong> (especially) if you’re trying to get a vingt sur vingt<\/a> !<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Something as basic as how to use a period, a comma, and a colon doesn\u2019t seem like the kind of thing you\u2019d need to learn how to use en fran\u00e7ais. A period goes at the end of the sentence, a comma separates clauses or lists, and a colon introduces a title or a list or…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":28722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21927","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t