maintenant
/mɛ̃t.nɑ̃/
The English word 'now' is translated to French as maintenant.
maintenant is an adverb used to indicate something happening at the present time. You can also use the conjunction maintenant que to mean 'now that', which is used to introduce a reason or a new circumstance.
Meaning: at the present time (adv)
Which one should you use?
While maintenant refers to the present time, the phrase tout de suite is used when you want to emphasize immediacy, meaning 'right now' or 'immediately'.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 2 syllables and is pronounced /mɛ̃t.nɑ̃/.
Did you know?
- While maintenant means 'now', the phrase tout à l'heure can mean both 'a moment ago' and 'in a moment' depending on the context.
- When a French speaker says maintenant ! as a command, it functions as an imperative meaning 'do it this instant', often accompanied by a sharp hand gesture.
- In certain regions of Quebec, you might hear 'là' used at the end of sentences to act as a temporal marker similar to 'now' in English.
Examples in context
- Lis ça maintenant !Read this now.Tatoeba #1845919 by sacredceltic, translation #1841179 by CK
- Qui rit maintenant ?Who's laughing now?Tatoeba #8690130 by Micsmithel, translation #1886558 by CK
- Ça suffit maintenant !That's enough now!Tatoeba #6579748 by felix63, translation #6581018 by Eccles17
- Il est déjà 8 heures, nous devons partir maintenant.It's already 8 o'clock, we must leave now.
- Vous êtes priés de nous communiquer les documents requis à présent.You are kindly requested to provide us with the required documents now.
- 2379 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Emma are deciding when to leave for the cinema.
- NathanOn part maintenant ?Are we leaving now?
- EmmaOui, on peut y aller.Yes, we can go.
- NathanJe prends mes clés maintenant.I'll take my keys now.
- EmmaC'est parti !Let's go!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “now” translations and entries maintenant, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
