How To Say ‘Now’ in French

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Should you’d prefer to say “now” in French, you’d normally say maintenant—It’s the primary phrase you’ll see whenever you search the definition of “now” in any French dictionary. Whereas “now” is a brief phrase in English, you’ll should get used to utilizing longer phrases and even multi-word phrases to specific “now” when talking French. Dive into the completely different choices for the best way to say “now” in French. 

The most typical option to say ‘now’ in French: maintenant

In French, the phrase maintenant is an adverb, which suggests it could modify or qualify a verb, an adjective, or one other adverb. In line with FrenchDictionary.com, maintenant can imply: 

• these days (proper now)
• these days
• then (in accounts of the previous)

So, when you’re speaking about one thing taking place proper now, you would possibly say, Qu’est-ce que tu fais maintenant ? (What are you doing now?) And when you’re speaking about “now” when it comes to one thing trendy, you would possibly say one thing like, Maintenant la plupart des écoliers ont des calculatrices. (Most schoolchildren now personal calculators.)

To pronounce maintenant, you say “man-teh-nahn” with very comfortable “n” sounds on the finish of syllables. 

Utilizing maintenant as a conjunction

The phrase maintenant may also be used as a conjunction, which connects clauses or sentences. When used as this French a part of speech, you’d say maintenant que (as a result of or since one thing has occurred; now that).

For instance: 

• Maintenant qu’il se despatched mieux, il peut reprendre le travail. = Now that he’s feeling higher, he can return to work. 
• Maintenant que j’ai vu le movie, je vois ce que tu veux dire. = Now that I’ve seen the film, I see what you imply.
• Maintenant que j’y pense, c’est une bonne idée. = Now that I give it some thought, it’s a good suggestion.