In our last lesson, we discussed the word tout (all) as an adjective in the constructions tout + noun versus tout + determiner + noun, and we learned that tout, like all adjectives, agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. In this lesson, we'll explore tout as an adverb. And in the process, we'll discover how this strange adverb sometimes goes rogue and starts behaving like an adjective! So, buckle up!
Before we examine the quirks and tricks of adverbial tout, let's look at tout as a regular adverb, a word that is typically invariable (never changes form). Indeed, tout always stays the same in front of another adverb. The construction tout + adverb is equivalent to très (very) + adverb:
Et voilà. Allez, mélange tout doucement.
And there we are. Go on, mix very slowly.
Caption 40, Delphine et Automne Le gâteau au yaourt - Part 1
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Delphine could have said this instead:
Voilà. Allez, mélange très doucement.
And there we are. Go on, mix very slowly.
Tout also combines well with adverbs like simplement: tout simplement (quite simply).
Alors tout simplement parce que ça fait maintenant dix ans qu'on travaille à notre compte.
So quite simply because it has now been ten years since we've been self-employed.
Caption 22, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: le titre de Maître Restaurateur, c'est quoi?
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The adverb tout can also modify an adjective to mean "all" or "very," as in "to the full extent." Again, tout behaves like a typical adverb and does not change. In his song "Cha Cha du Marin," singer Cré Tonnerre describes a sailor in a happy mood, using the construction tout + singular masculine adjectives:
Tout heureux, tout amoureux, tout bleu comme le ciel bleu
All happy, all in love, all blue as the blue sky
Caption 26, Cré Tonnerre Cha Cha du Marin
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Did you notice that all the t’s are sounded except the last one? That's because it's necessary to employ liaison in constructions like tout heureux (all happy) and tout amoureux (all/totally in love).
But when the adverb tout appears before a feminine adjective, the liaison becomes a bit more dangerous (or at least trickier). If the feminine adjective (singular or plural) starts with a vowel, as in excitée (excited), tout does not change:
J'étais tout excitée d'avoir ce privilège.
I was all excited to have that privilege.
Caption 16, Melissa Mars From Paris with Love
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Tout also stays the same before a feminine adjective starting with a mute h (since a word beginning with a mute h behaves like a word beginning with a vowel, in the sense that it allows a liaison to occur):
Elle est tout heureuse.
She is very happy.
Elles sont tout heureuses.
They are very happy.
But wait, there is another type of h in French! Unlike the mute h, the aspirated h acts like a consonant. Therefore, no liaison is possible, which would make the second t in tout silent. Tout agrees in number and gender before a feminine adjective beginning with an aspirated h. In the example below, toute agrees with the feminine adjective honteuse (ashamed):
Elle est toute honteuse.
She is very ashamed.
In the same sentence in the plural form, toutes takes -es just like the feminine plural adjective it modifies:
Elles sont toutes honteuses.
They are very ashamed.
Just as adverbial tout agrees with a feminine adjective starting with an aspirated h, tout also agrees with a feminine adjective starting with a consonant:
Et puis après, je me retrouve toute seule...
and then after, I find myself all alone...
Caption 29, Amal et Caroline Pourquoi tu n'es pas venue à mon anniversaire ?
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Elles peuvent fonctionner toutes seules.
They can operate on their own.
Caption 66, Lionel & Lahlou La grève
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However, there is sometimes ambiguity in the feminine plural form. In some cases, you will need context to determine whether toutes is acting as an adverb (meaning "very," modifying the adjective) or as an adjective (meaning "all," modifying the subject):
Elles sont toutes tristes.
They are very sad./All of them are sad.
Elles sont toutes honteuses.
They are very ashamed./All of them are ashamed.
On the other hand, there is no ambiguity with the construction tout + plural feminine noun beginning with a vowel or mute h (e.g. tout heureuses). This tout can only act as an adverb, meaning "very":
Elles sont tout heureuses.
They are very happy.
Likewise, toutes heureuses can only mean "(they are) all happy." Rather than an adverb, toutes in this case is an adjective of quantity that modifies the subject elles:
Elles sont toutes heureuses.
All of them are happy.
Now let's recap the rules of the construction tout + feminine adjective (singular and plural):
Agreement
When tout is before a feminine adjective starting with a consonant:
When tout is before a feminine adjective starting with an aspirated h:
No Agreement
When tout is before a feminine adjective starting with a vowel:
When tout is before a feminine adjective starting with a mute h:
(And don’t forget that adverbial tout does not take agreement before ANY masculine adjective.)
Toute la leçon est terminée! (The whole lesson is over!) This may be a lot to take in, but keep in mind that exceptions are few. Tout only changes before feminine adjectives and only in limited situations. And don’t forget: L’équipe de Yabla est tout heureuse de vous aider! (The Yabla team is very happy to help you!)
You may already know that the verb savoir means “to know.” But did you know that, when followed by an infinitive, it can also mean “to be able to” or “to manage to" (synonymous with pouvoir)?
L'Observatoire Paris-Meudon...
The Paris-Meudon Observatory...
a su garder sa spécificité d'astrophysique
was able to keep its astrophysical specificity
Captions 18-20, Voyage en France - Meudon
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L’article a su le convaincre à recycler.
The article managed to convince him to recycle.
It’s easy to see that “know” wouldn’t really work in either of these examples, since their subjects aren’t human. You wouldn’t say that the Paris-Meudon Observatory “knew” how to keep its astrophysical specificity, nor that an article “knew” how to convince someone.
On the other hand, there are plenty of cases where savoir plus an infinitive can go either way:
Pour quelqu'un qui sait faire la cuisine.
For someone who knows how to cook.
Caption 63, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le titre de Maître Restaurateur, c'est quoi?
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Bref, Jean de La Fontaine fait partie pour moi de ces auteurs intemporels
In a word, Jean de La Fontaine is for me one of those timeless authors
qui à travers une forme littéraire intéressante
who, through an interesting literary form,
a su toucher le fond de la nature humaine.
was able to reach the depth of human nature.
Captions 38-40, Le saviez-vous? - Jean de La Fontaine
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We could just as well switch the translations here: “someone who can cook”; “Jean de La Fontaine… knew how to reach the depth of human nature.” "To be able to" and "to know how to" are more or less synonymous, so it makes sense that they overlap in the same French verb.
Just note that the other verb for "to know," connaître, doesn't have this extra connotation. While savoir means "to know how to" or "to be aware of," connaître means "to know someone" or "to be acquainted/familiar with."
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"!
The phrase pas mal literally means "not bad," and like its English counterpart, it's often used to express an assessment of something:
La nourriture à ce restaurant n'est pas mal.
The food at that restaurant isn't bad.
C'est pas mal déjà!
That's not bad at all! [or: That's pretty good!]
Caption 21, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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But just as often, pas mal is used not as a qualitative assessment, but a quantitative one. Take a look at this example from our video on Paris's Rue des Martyrs:
Y a pas mal de bars dans la rue.
There are quite a few bars on the street.
Caption 42, Adrien - Rue des Martyrs
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Adrien isn't saying that the bars on the street "aren't bad." If he were, he might have said something like, Les bars dans la rue ne sont pas mal. Instead, he uses pas mal to indicate that there are "quite a few" bars on the street. When followed by de (of) plus a noun, pas mal can mean anything along the lines of "quite a few," "quite a bit," or "quite a lot":
C'est quelque chose qui est très important
This is something that has been very important
pour nous depuis pas mal de temps.
to us for quite a bit of time.
Caption 18, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le titre de Maître Restaurateur, c'est quoi?
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When pas mal comes before an adjective, it means "a lot" or "pretty":
Ben c'est sûr que... c'est pas mal plus naturel.
Well, for sure... that's a lot more natural.
Caption 46, Bateau sport 100% électrique - Le Nautique 196 E
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Ce livre est pas mal intéressant.
This book is pretty interesting.
And when referring to a verb, it means "really" or, again, "quite a bit/a lot":
J'essaie de rechercher pas mal le son.
I'm trying to really research the sound [or: I'm trying to research the sound quite a bit].
Caption 12, Phil Cambron - Ses révélations
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Here's an example sentence that contains both senses of pas mal:
Pas mal de nuages mais quand même des éclaircies,
Quite a few clouds but still some sunny spells,
et au niveau des températures, c'est pas mal non plus.
and as far as temperatures go, that's not bad either.
Captions 9-10, Alsace 20 - Météo des Maquilleurs
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But be careful: just because you see the words pas and mal next to each other doesn't necessarily mean you're dealing with the expression pas mal. Namely, when a verb phrase with mal (such as faire mal [to hurt] or le prendre mal [to take it the wrong way]) is negated, the pas mal portion doesn't mean "not bad" or "quite a bit"—it's just part of the negation:
Ça fait pas mal? -Non, non.
It doesn't hurt? -No, no.
Caption 16, Cap 24 - Rasage et Epilation du Visage : Alessandro Di Sarno teste!
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Ne le prends pas mal.
Don't take it the wrong way.
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