In a nutshell | Similar or similar, not identical

The French language is evolving at breakneck speed. Each week, our language advisor dissects the words and expressions that make the headlines or give us trouble.


It may be difficult to distinguish adjectives similar And similar, very close in meaning. Above all, we must remember that they are not used in the same way.

In writing, we must still avoid the faulty construction “similar to”, even if it is very widespread. This adjective is not used with the preposition To.

We write “Our two cases are similar” and not “Your case is similar to mine”. Or we can also write, rather: “Your case is similar to mine”. Instead of writing: “What would the opposition do in a situation similar to this?” we will write: “What would the opposition do in a similar situation? or “in such a case” or “in a similar situation”.

The two adjectives are doublets, that is to say words “of the same etymology, but of different form and of differently specialized use”. Similar is the popular doublet and similarthe clever doublet.

TERMIUM Plus explains that it is the degree of resemblance that distinguishes (somewhat) the two terms: like houses are almost alike and like houses are almost alike. Really similar houses are identical.

THE Dictionary of the difficulties and pitfalls of the French language points out that similar is used more in the commercial field or in the technical field. The company did not use the same process as usual, but a similar process.

You can also use the adjective similar in this sense. The construction with the preposition To is correct. Their situations are not analogous. A discovery similar to his.

You can also use comparablewhich is built with To Or with, according to the sentence. This racing car is comparable to an airplane. THE Multidictionary of the French language explains that in a negative sentence, we use with for different things and To for similar things. Vegetables are not comparable with minerals. These results are not comparable to those of last year. His current situation is comparable to mine. This event has nothing to compare with what happened yesterday.

How to pronounce verbe shovel ?

Should we say I shovel Or I peel ?

Answer

The custom is not to pronounce the second syllable. It is therefore I “peel”, [pɛlt].

” The verb shovel is very common in Quebec, while it is rarely used in France. Its pronunciation is so rooted in Quebec usage that it does not seem possible to replace it today with another, more in line with standard pronunciation rules, indicates the Quebec Office of the French Language (OQLF).

“Furthermore, Quebec reference works admit this pronunciation. The pronunciation [pɛlt] (pelt) is therefore endorsed by the Office québécois de la langue française, even in a careful register.

“This trait is not unique to Quebec,” explains the OQLF. This is a well-attested trend in French, which consists of standardizing the conjugation of verbs that have a stem that changes when spoken. Thus, most of the other forms of the conjugation are pronounced as the infinitive is pronounced. »


source site-56