{"id":25754,"date":"2017-01-04T18:03:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T17:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=25754"},"modified":"2018-03-23T14:29:34","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T13:29:34","slug":"french-question-why-is-it-le-novel-an-and-not-le-nouveau-an","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-question-why-is-it-le-novel-an-and-not-le-nouveau-an\/","title":{"rendered":"French Question: Why is it “Le Nouvel An” and not “Le Nouveau An”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonne ann\u00e9e<\/em>! Happy New Year! I wish all of our Transparent French readers a happy and healthy 2017.<\/p>\n

Talking about the new year in French can be especially difficult. This is because there are two words that mean “year”–an <\/em>(m)\u00a0and\u00a0ann\u00e9e\u00a0<\/em>(f)–and because both of these words start with a vowel, which can change the word that comes before it.<\/p>\n

What’s the difference between\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0ann\u00e9e<\/em>? \u00a0Besides the fact that\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>is masculine and\u00a0ann\u00e9e\u00a0<\/em>is feminine,\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>describes a particular moment during the year while\u00a0ann\u00e9e\u00a0<\/em>describes a span of time (this is similar to the pairs\u00a0soir\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0soir\u00e9e<\/em>).\u00a0<\/i>Thus, you would say:\u00a0C’est le jour du nouvel an<\/em> (It’s New Year’s Day) using\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>instead of\u00a0ann\u00e9e\u00a0<\/em>because you are referencing a particular moment of time during the year (New Year’s Day). If, however, you would like to wish someone a happy new year, this is over a span of time, which lasts for the entire year. That’s why you use ann\u00e9e\u00a0<\/em>in the expression “Happy New Year” or\u00a0bonne\u00a0<\/em>ann\u00e9e<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But there’s another trick when referencing the new year, or\u00a0le nouvel an<\/em>, in French. Because\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>is masculine, the adjective typically used with it should be\u00a0nouveau.\u00a0<\/em>However, in French, an adjective cannot end with a vowel if the following noun also begins with a vowel (for reason of pronunciation or liaison). Thus, there is always a masculine form of a word that can be used only in front of masculine nouns that start with vowels. In this case, that would be\u00a0nouvel<\/em>.\u00a0Nouvel<\/em> is pronounced just like the feminine form\u00a0nouvelle,<\/em>\u00a0so don’t get confused if you hear someone say\u00a0le nouvel an<\/em>–this doesn’t mean that\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>is feminine. (You can also think about the difference between the demonstrative adjectives\u00a0ce\u00a0<\/em>(masculine),\u00a0cette\u00a0<\/em>(feminine), and\u00a0cet\u00a0<\/em>(masculine before a masculine noun that begins with a vowel).<\/p>\n

Alors, je vous souhaite tous une bonne ann\u00e9e et j’esp\u00e8re que vous avez pass\u00e9 un bon nouvel an avec votre famille!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bonne ann\u00e9e! Happy New Year! I wish all of our Transparent French readers a happy and healthy 2017. Talking about the new year in French can be especially difficult. This is because there are two words that mean “year”–an (m)\u00a0and\u00a0ann\u00e9e\u00a0(f)–and because both of these words start with a vowel, which can change the word that…<\/p>\n

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