Kilo Lingo

/boku/

Line drawing of beaucoup
Coloured illustration of beaucoup
#150 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

a lot, much, many

Word origin

A compound of Old French beau ('fine, fair', from Latin bellus) and coup ('blow, stroke', from Latin colpus). Literally 'a fine blow', it came to mean 'much, many'.

Origin
Latin
Root
bellus + colpus

Examples

'.

He reads a lot of crime novels during his summer holidays.

.

Thank you very much for your help on this difficult case.

au ' .

She plays the piano much better since she started lessons.

.

There is a lot left to do before the end of the project.

' .

Many of us think the same thing.

est un adverbe de quantité invariable. Devant un nom, il se construit avec de sans article : beaucoup de gens, beaucoup d'eau. Après un verbe, il se place après l'auxiliaire dans les temps composés : j'ai beaucoup travaillé. Il ne s'accorde jamais.

De beaucoup renforce un comparatif ou un superlatif : il est de beaucoup le meilleur (by far the best). Pas beaucoup (not much, not many) est la négation courante. Beaucoup ne peut pas qualifier directement un adjectif ou un adverbe - on utilise très : très fatigué (not beaucoup fatigué).

Where this fits

Used in

Grammar articles

(14)

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

French · Free printables

beaucoup: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the French word "beaucoup" (a lot, much, many): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 3.