Difference between revisions of "Language/French/Grammar/ensuite-VS-puis"
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He paid the bill, and afterwards left | 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 | *'''Qu’est-ce qu’il a fait ensuite ?''' works, NOT ''Qu’est-ce qu’il a fait <s>puis ?</s>'' | ||
What did he do next? | What did he do next? | ||
Revision as of 23:02, 30 October 2021
Rule
"ensuite" and "puis" both mean 'afterwards, then', but 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.
"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.
Examples
- 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
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