Determiners
tout
‘tout’ as an adjective
Tout means ‘all’ or ‘every’ when it modifies a noun. It agrees in number and gender with the noun that follows.
| Masculine singular |
Masculine plural |
Feminine singular |
Feminine plural |
| tout | tous | toute | toutes |
These forms of tout are most often used with the definite articles le, les, la, l’, but they may also be used with a possessive determiner: tous mes poèmes (all my poems), toute sa vie (all his/her life) etc. Listen as Tex recites one of his poems:
| Malgré toutes les filles que j’ai connues, | In spite of all the girls (or all of the girls) that I have known, | |
| je pense à toi … | I think of you … | |
| tout le temps, | all the time, | |
| toute la journée, | all day long, | |
| tous* les soirs, | every evening, | |
| toutes les nuits. | every night. |
*Note that the final s of tous is not pronounced when it is used as an adjective.
Tout or toute may also be used without an article to mean ‘every.’
| Tex: Tout tatou est poète! | Every armadillo is a poet! |
‘tout’ as a pronoun
Tout is invariable when it functions as the indefinite pronoun meaning ‘everything’ or ‘all’, as in the first sentence below.
The plural pronouns tous and toutes agree with the nouns they replace. Compare the examples below.
| Indefinite singular ‘everything’ | Tammy: Tex, tu as vu ton éditeur? Tout s’est bien passé? | Tammy: Tex, did you see your publisher? Did everything go well? |
| To replace a plural noun | Tex: Les éditeurs sont des idiots, je les déteste tous!* Les maisons d’éditions ne comprennent pas mon art. Toutes refusent mes poèmes érotiques! | Tex: Publishers are fools, I hate them all! Publishing houses don’t understand my art. All refuse my erotic poems! |
*Note that the final s in the pronoun tous is pronounced, in contrast to the unpronounced s in tous as an adjective.
‘tout’ as an adverb
Tout may also be an adverb meaning ‘all,’ ‘completely,’ or ‘quite’ when it modifies another adverb, a preposition, or an adjective. Although tout is invariable before an adverb, a preposition or a masculine adjective, the feminine forms toute and toutes are used before feminine adjectives beginning with a consonant.
| Invariable | Tex: Les éditeurs ne comprennent rien. Mes thèmes sont tout nouveaux. | Tex: Editors don’t understand anything. My themes are completely new. |
| Before a feminine adjective beginning with a consonant | Tex: Et ma poésie est toute moderne. | Tex: And my poetry is very modern. |
tout in common idiomatic phrases
Here is a list of common idiomatic phrases with tout:
- pas du tout, not at all
- tout de suite, right away
- tout le monde, everyone
- tout le temps, all the time
- tous les jours, every day
- tous (toutes) les deux, both
- tous les deux jours, every other day
- tous les trois jours … , every three days
- toutes les deux semaines, every other week
- en tout cas, in any case
- malgré tout, in spite of everything
- tout à l’heure, in a little while
- tout à coup, all of a sudden
- tout à fait, completely
- tout droit, straight ahead
- tout de même, just the same
- tout en + participe présent, all the while …
Listen to the dialogue:
| Tammy: Alors Tex, tu as bientôt fini ton recueil de poèmes? | Tammy: So Tex, have you almost finished writing your collection of poems? | |
| Tex: Oh ne m’en parle pas! J’ai perdu tout mon enthousiasme! J’ai toutes sortes de problèmes avec mon éditeur. Il refuse tous mes poèmes récents. | Tex: Oh don’t ask! I have lost all my enthusiasm! I have all sorts of problems with my publisher. He refuses to publish all my recent poems. | |
| Tammy: Ne t’inquiète pas! Tous les grands poètes sont incompris! | Tammy: Don’t worry! All great poets are misunderstood! |
