Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| au-dessous de | |
| sous | /su/ |
Both au-dessous de and sous are used to describe a position that is lower in space than something else. au-dessous de emphasizes a relative position on a vertical scale or within a hierarchy, while en bas is used to describe being in a lower part of a building or at the bottom of a structure. For written documents, such as when referring to a table or text further down the page, use the adverb ci-dessous.
Which one should you use?
The choice between the two main forms depends on the physical relationship and grammar. Use sous when something is directly underneath or covered by another object. Use au-dessous de to emphasize a relative position in a vertical scale. In terms of grammar, sous is a preposition that must be followed directly by a noun, while au-dessous de is a prepositional phrase that requires the particle de before a noun. Additionally, ci-dessous is an adverb used specifically in written documents to mean 'below' (for example, 'see below'), whereas au-dessous de is used for physical spatial relationships.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
sous is a preposition that must be followed directly by a noun. In contrast, au-dessous de is a prepositional phrase that requires the word de before a noun.
Did you know?
- The term sous is also a colloquial French word for a 'penny' or money in general, though it is spelled the same as the preposition for 'below'.
- While sous means 'below', the phrase sous-entendre means to 'imply' or 'insinuate' something that is not explicitly stated.
- The preposition sous can be used to indicate a period of time during a specific reign or administration, such as sous Napoléon.
Examples in context
- Le soleil plongea sous les nuages.The sun sunk below the clouds.This sentence shows the use of sous.Tatoeba #1741933 by sacredceltic, translation #518642 by blay_paul
- Le soleil disparut lentement sous l'horizon.The sun sank slowly below the horizon.Tatoeba #465693 by sacredceltic, translation #275117 by CK
- Le sous-marin se trouve à quarante mètres sous la surface.The submarine is forty meters below the surface.Tatoeba #12112231 by Rovo, translation #11514183 by Amastan
- Le paragraphe ci-dessous contient des informations importantes.The paragraph below contains important information.
- Le graphique montre les résultats de l'enquête ci-dessous.The graph shows the results of the survey below.
- Regardez en bas pour trouver les informations dont vous avez besoin.Look below to find the information you need.
- Les réponses que vous cherchez sont plus bas dans le texte.The answers you're looking for are further down in the text.
- 10 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Hugo are organizing a bookshelf.
- ChloéOù est le livre bleu, Hugo ?Where is the blue book, Hugo?
- HugoIl est juste au-dessous de celui-ci.It is just below this one.
- ChloéJe ne le vois pas encore.I don't see it yet.
- HugoRegarde bien au-dessous de la pile.Look carefully below the pile.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “below” translations and entries sous, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
