Did you know that there are beaucoup (many) ways of saying "many" in French? In fact, French offers an abundance of terms to suit various styles, from common, conversational, colloquial to more formal and literary. In this lesson we will explore alternatives to the ubiquitous beaucoup.
But first, let's take a quick look at beaucoup (many, a lot). In Yabla videos, you will often come across the construction beaucoup de (a lot of/a great deal of). Here is one example:
Ben, on te souhaite, ben, beaucoup de réussite
Well, we wish you, well, a great deal of success
Caption 106, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano Médaillon de Homard - Part 3
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As an adverb, beaucoup can also stand on its own. You are probably familiar with the polite expression merci beaucoup (thank you very much):
Ben merci beaucoup, hein. C'était un plaisir.
Well thank you very much, you know. It's been a pleasure.
Caption 108, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano Médaillon de Homard - Part 3
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A close cousin to beaucoup de is plein de (plenty of), which is slightly more casual. In this cheerful video, the weather forecaster wishes her viewers a Happy Halloween, which, of course, involves eating plein, plein de bonbons:
Alors je vous souhaite une super fête et mangez plein, plein, plein de bonbons. Tchao-tchao.
So I wish you a great holiday and eat lots and lots and lots of candies. Ciao-ciao.
Caption 18, Alsace 20 Météo des Maquilleurs
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Slightly more colloquial than plein de (plenty of) is un tas de or des tas de, literally "a load of" or "heaps of." Take a look at the two examples below:
Mais on peut lui demander des tas d'autres choses
But we can request loads of other things from it
Caption 20, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 7
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Si vous êtes végétarienne, y a des tas d'autres choses
If you're vegetarian, there're heaps of other things
Caption 28, Mon Lieu Préféré Rue des Rosiers - Part 2
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Un tas de can also be translated as “plenty of”:
Ah, c'est bien simple. Il peut y avoir des tas de raisons
Ah, it's quite simple. There could be plenty of reasons for that
Caption 39, Il était une fois: la vie 6. Les petites plaquettes - Part 1
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There's also the expression pas mal de (a great deal of), which we've explored before. In the video below, the person interviewed has pas mal de problèmes de santé (quite a few health problems):
J'ai un pacemaker et pas mal de choses.
I have a pacemaker and quite a few things.
Caption 20, Actu Vingtième Le Repas des anciens
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Moving up a rung on the formality ladder, we have the idiomatic expression bien d’autres (many others), which has a more neutral tone (note that bien in this case no longer means “well," but “many”):
...telle cette espèce de saladier que vous voyez là à l'image, et bien d'autres.
...such as this sort of salad bowl that you see here in the picture, and many others.
Caption 13, David La calebasse
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Similarly, énormément de (an emormous amount of) followed by a noun is used to emphasize quantity:
énormément de musique
an enormous amount of music
Caption 32, Alex Terrier Le musicien et son jazz
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Depending on context, it's sometimes better to translate énormément de as “(so) many” or “a great deal of”:
Donc ce sera une ligne très intéressante parce qu'il y a énormément de personnes qui vont travailler en dehors de Paris
So it will be a very interesting line because there are so many people who go to work outside of Paris
Captions 46-48, Adrien Le métro parisien
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Vous allez découvrir d'autres petits secrets de cette rue parce qu'il y en a énormément.
You're going to discover other little secrets of this street because there are a great deal of them.
Captions 63-64, Adrien Rue des Martyrs
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On a more formal register, you may come across the adjective maint, which is etymologically related to the English "many." Interestingly, maint does not need to be followed by de (of), unlike other adverbs of quantity. Maintes (the feminine plural of maint) is often combined with fois to form the expression maintes fois (many times):
Elles ont d'ailleurs été maintes fois représentées par des célèbres peintres
Incidentally, they've been depicted many times by famous painters
Caption 10, Voyage en France La Normandie: Honfleur
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There is also a more obscure equivalent to maint: the archaic adjective moult, dating back to the 16th century. It's no longer in use, but it might be a good word to know if you want to impress your professors with your knowledge! To quote French writer Gustave Flaubert, you could derive moult satisfaction (much satisfaction) from their reaction:
J'embrasserai ta vieille trombine avec moult satisfaction.
I will kiss your old face with much satisfaction.
While people seldom use the word moult other than for effect, young people especially might like to use a little slang and say pas des masses (not many/not much). Interestingly, the expression is always in the negative form:
Il n’y en a pas des masses.
There are not many.
As you can see, there are beaucoup de façons (many ways) to say beaucoup, and if you wish to know even more, see this Larousse entry. You now have plenty to choose from, as there are different options for all contexts, from casual settings to more formal ones. Just be aware of the tone you wish to use. Save des tas de for friends, and moult for literary buffs.
Wishing you beaucoup de satisfaction in your French learning, and merci beaucoup or moult remerciements (many thanks) for reading!
Let’s talk garbage! While it’s not something on everyone’s mind around the dinner table, it bears thinking about. France’s environmental concerns are real, and responsible citizens are looking for ways to safely and responsibly dispose of their garbage and unwanted goods. So, let’s embark on this dirty subject and look at some interesting vocabulary surrounding garbage and its disposal.
Let’s start with les ordures (garbage/trash/rubbish) and les détritus (scraps). In the video below, the speaker explains that seagulls are avid consumers of both:
Bah, c'est des oiseaux basiques qui volent au-dessus de l'eau et qui souvent uivent ne serait-ce que les détritus et les ordures.
Anyway, they're just regular birds that fly above the water and that often go after anything, even if it's just scraps and garbage.
Captions 24-25, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 1
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Détritus can sometimes mean “litter,” as there is no specific term for that type of waste:
On peut voir sur cette plage qui est très propre, elle est équipée comme il faut pour tout ce qui est détritus.
We can see on this beach, which is very clean, it's set up the way it should be for everything concerning litter.
Captions 26-27, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 2
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Though it mainly refers to garbage, ordure can also be used as an insult:
T'es vraiment la dernière des ordures.
You're really the worst scumbag ever.
Caption 59, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 3
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The best way to deal with détritus and (non-human) ordures is to dispose of it in poubelles (garbage cans):
On a des belles poubelles qui sont vertes, une très bonne initiative d'ailleurs.
We have some nice green garbage cans, a very good initiative by the way.
Caption 28, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 2
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The contents of the poubelles will end up in a déchetterie/déchèterie (waste collection center):
On dispose des objets dans une déchetterie.
Items are disposed of in a waste collection center.
Responsible citizens showing genuine concern for the planet may wonder what to do with their organic waste, such as old Christmas trees, which les ordures ménagères (household waste collection) won’t accept:
Nombreux sont ceux qui ne savent jamais quoi faire de leur sapin après Noël puisque les ordures ménagères n'en veulent pas toujours.
There are many who never know what to do with their fir trees after Christmas since household waste collections don't always want them.
Captions 14-15, TV Tours Une seconde vie pour vos sapins de Noël?
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Unfortunately, many Christmas trees end up being dumped illegally in des décharges sauvages (illegal dumps):
Un petit peu partout, euh... des décharges un petit peu sauvages.
A little bit all over, uh... dumping that is somewhat uncontrolled.
Caption 18, TV Tours Une seconde vie pour vos sapins de Noël?
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In Brittany, some people turn their déchets (waste) into “gold” by starting une filière de compostage (a composting stream):
Certaines tentent même de valoriser ces déchets dans une filière de compostage.
Some are even trying to capitalize on this waste in a composting stream.
Caption 33, Le Journal Marée verte en Bretagne
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In addition, French people are becoming more and more creative at finding ingenious solutions to reduce mounting waste by setting up des ressourceries (upcycling centers):
Aujourd'hui, c'est l'inauguration de la ressourcerie du vingtième arrondissement
Today is the inauguration of the upcycling center of the twentieth arrondissement
Captions 2-3, Actu Vingtième Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville
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Others try to extend the life of their devices by repairing them:
On est censé faire réparer des objets qui ont quelques problèmes.
We're supposed to bring items that have some problems for repair.
Caption 2, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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Repairing objects instead of les jeter (throwing them away) prevents faire du gâchis (creating waste):
C'est important d'essayer de conserver les objets le plus longtemps possible au lieu de faire du gâchis.
It's important to try to keep objects for as long as possible instead of creating waste.
Captions 6-7, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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C'est d'inciter les gens à dépanner eux-mêmes, à chercher avant de jeter.
It's to incite people to fix things themselves, to try before throwing away.
Captions 47-48, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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Not only is it best to avoid throwing away manufactured goods, it’s also important to avoid gaspillage (squandering/wasting) natural resources such as water:
On va construire et opérer des usines de nourriture partout à travers le monde, et cela sans utiliser aucun produit de pesticide et aucun gaspillage d'eau.
We're going to build and operate food factories all over the world, and this without using any pesticide product or any wasting of water.
Captions 20-21, Agriculture verticale TerraSphere
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And what should we do with les eaux usées (waste water)? Clean it of course!
Mais on peut lui demander des tas d'autres choses, comme nettoyer les eaux usées, manger les déchets.
But we can request loads of other things from it, such as cleaning waste water, eating waste.
Captions 20-22, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 7
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So il n’y a pas de temps à perdre (there is no time to waste)! Now that you have expanded your vocabulary surrounding waste—déchets, gaspillage, ordures, eaux usées, gâchis—and are more aware of solutions such as déchetteries, ressourceries, and compostage, you will be better equipped to follow our Yabla videos on the subject, and maybe…help save the planet.
When you put the words rien (nothing) and que (that) together, you get the expression rien que, which does not mean "nothing that," but "nothing but":
Je jure de dire la vérité, toute la vérité et rien que la vérité.
I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
ll utilise rien que pour cela dix-huit kilos de beurre.
For that, he uses nothing but [no less than] eighteen kilos of butter.
Captions 4-5, France 3 - Les conséquences de la crise du beurre
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Like "nothing but," rien que is a more emphatic way of saying "only" (seulement or ne... que) or "just" (juste):
C'est rien que des cochonneries, non? [C'est seulement des conneries, non? / Ce n'est que des conneries, non?]
It's nothing but trash, isn't it? [It's only trash, isn't it?]
Caption 36, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 9. Les écosystèmes - Part 3
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Aujourd'hui rien que pour vous
Today, just for you,
j'ai décidé d'enquêter sur le titre "Maître Restaurateur".
I decided to investigate the title "Maître Restaurateur" [Master Restaurant Owner].
Captions 2-3, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le titre de Maître Restaurateur, c'est quoi?
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Voici la ferme verticale, un gratte-ciel rien que pour cultiver des fruits et des légumes.
Here is the vertical farm, a skyscraper solely for growing fruits and vegetables.
Caption 27, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 25. Technologies - Part 7
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It can also mean "alone," again in an emphatic sense:
Je trouve que rien que le titre du recueil, il est vraiment sublime.
I think that the title of the collection alone is really sublime.
Captions 76-77, Le saviez-vous? - Karine Rougier présente son art
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Ça me rend malade rien que d'y penser.
The thought of it alone/The very thought of it/Just thinking about it makes me sick.
Rien que pour ça je devrais quitter mon emploi.
For that reason alone I should quit my job.
Don't confuse rien que pour ça with rien que ça, which means "that's all" or "no less," often used ironically to emphasize something enormous or extravagant:
C'est un grand cinéma avec une énorme salle
It's a big movie theater with a huge auditorium
qui peut comporter deux mille sept cents spectateurs. Rien que ça!
that can accommodate two thousand seven hundred viewers. That's all!
Captions 3-5, Paris Tour - Visite guidée de Paris
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Il n'a plus d'argent mais il veut quand même acheter une nouvelle voiture. Une Porsche, rien que ça!
He has no money left but he still wants to buy a new car. A Porsche, no less!
But sometimes a rien next to a que does indeed mean "nothing that":
Et c'est pas pour rien que les derniers polars français par exemple...
And it's not for nothing that the latest French thrillers, for example...
Caption 21, Télé Lyon Métropole - Un café librairie spécialisé dans le polar
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The rien in this example is part of the expression ce n'est pas pour rien (it's not for nothing). "Nothing but" wouldn't make sense here.
Rien que ça pour "rien que"!
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