French for English speakers House · Lesson 9

Too much, less, a little

Quantifiers in French — trop de chocolat (too much chocolate), moins de chocolat (less chocolate) — for adjusting quantities.

Conversation

  1. Yennifer Yennifer

    Hé, arrête. Tu ajoutes trop de chocolat.

    Hey, no no. You are putting too much chocolate.

    Tip: <trop de> means "too much of "

  2. Yaya Yaya

    Tu préfères en avoir moins ?

    Would you rather have less chocolate?

  3. Yennifer Yennifer

    Oui, j'aimerais en avoir qu'un peu.

    Yes, I'd would prefer only a little bit of chocolate.

  4. Yaya Yaya

    Bien. Je prends celui-ci.

    Fine. I'll have this one

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

Trop de vs beaucoup de?

Trop de = too much/many (excess). Beaucoup de = a lot of (positive). Both followed by de + noun: trop de chocolat, beaucoup de chocolat.

How do you say 'less'?

Moins or moins de. Moins de chocolat = less chocolate. For comparison: A est moins grand que B = A is smaller than B.

Un peu vs un peu de?

Un peu = 'a little' (alone). Un peu de + noun = 'a little of': un peu de chocolat. Specifies the noun.