Language/French/Grammar/ensuite-VS-puis
"Ensuite" VS "Puis" in French[edit | edit source]
Rule[edit | edit source]
"Ensuite" and "Puis" both mean 'afterwards, then'.
However, "Ensuite" is a time adverb which can occur in the middle of a clause (for the position of adverbs), while "Puis" is a coordinating conjunction which can occur only at the beginning of a clause.
Therefore "Ensuite" and "Puis" are not always interchangeable.
In grammatical terms, "Ensuite" is an adverb whereas "Puis" is a conjunction. As a conjunction, "Puis" joins sentences together. That means it cannot simply be added at the end of a sentence, which "Ensuite" can.
"Puis" is also often used for more logical (i.e. not strictly temporal) sequences.
See the examples below:
Examples[edit | edit source]
- Il a payé l'addition, et il est ensuite parti
He paid the bill, and afterwards left
- Qu’est-ce qu’il a fait ensuite ? works, NOT Qu’est-ce qu’il a fait
puis ?
What did he do next?
- Il a payé l'addition, puis il est parti
He paid the bill, then he left
- Il y a beaucoup de musées à Paris, puis il y a les parcs
There are a lot of museums in Paris, then there are the parks
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Problems with passive different direct objects
- Easy way of generating the Future and Conditional
- Stressed pronouns with même, aussi, seul, autres, tous and numerals
- Conjugation group 2 — verbs whose infinitive ends in —ir
- Definite and indefinite articles
- Comparatives and Superlatives
- Easy way of generating the imperative mood
- Use of en
- The plural indefinite article des
- Reflexive use of me, te, se, nous, vous
- How to use Have
- Order of multiple pronouns with imperatives
- Adjectives agreeing with just one noun
- Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
- Indefinite article