aux
aux is the French translation of the English phrase aux.
What does it mean word for word?
aux is a contraction of the preposition à and the plural definite article les.
Which one should you use?
Unlike the English 'to the', which is the same for singular and plural, the French form must change from au/à la/à l' to aux to reflect plurality.
How does it change in a sentence?
aux means to the / at the / in the (plural).
Did you know?
- In Old French, the word was written as als, showing that the contraction originally used an 'l' and an 's' before evolving into the modern aux.
- While aux is used for the plural, it is phonetically identical to au, the singular masculine form. This means a listener cannot distinguish if the speaker is referring to one thing or many based on the sound alone.
- When used in a sentence, aux is often the site of a 'liaison', where the final 'x' is pronounced as a 'z' sound if the following word starts with a vowel.
Examples in context
- Le nouveau film de Veber, « Le Dîner de Cons », comme son film célèbre « La Cage aux Folles », est très amusant.Veber's new movie, "Le Dîner de Cons", like his famous film "La Cage aux Folles", is very amusing.This sentence illustrates how aux is used within a film title.Tatoeba #3258453 by nimfeo, translation #3258454 by nimfeo
- Il donne de la nourriture aux oiseaux.He gives food to the birds.
- Elle parle aux enfants dans le parc.She is talking to the children in the park.
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are deciding where to eat dinner.
- HugoOn va aux restaurants du centre-ville ?Shall we go to the downtown restaurants?
- ManonOui, c'est une excellente idée, Hugo.Yes, that is an excellent idea, Hugo.
- HugoJe connais un endroit très sympa.I know a very nice place.
- ManonParfait, allons-y maintenant.Perfect, let's go now.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries aux, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
