un million
The English phrase "one million" is translated into French as un million.
un million refers to the number that is one thousand thousands. When you want to specify the type of units being counted, you can add de followed by the unit, such as un million de dollars for one million dollars.
How does it change in a sentence?
In French, million is a noun rather than an adjective, which means it does not change its form to agree with the noun it quantifies. When you use un million as a quantifier for a noun, it must be followed by de before that noun.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often forget to include de after un million when it is followed by a noun. Instead of saying something like "un million dollars", you should say un million de dollars.
Did you know?
- In French financial contexts, the symbol 'M' is often used for million, but in some older systems or specific accounting styles, 'M' could stand for mille (thousand) due to Latin influence.
- While the word mille for thousand is invariable, million follows standard noun rules and becomes plural as millions when there are two or more.
- The word million is not native to the French language but was borrowed from the Italian word milione.
Examples in context
- Un million est un nombre à sept chiffres.One million is a seven digit number.This sentence demonstrates that un million is a seven-digit number.Tatoeba #4470966 by Petrus, translation #4463341 by Jesse
- Leurs pertes ont atteint un million de yens.Their losses reached one million yen.This sentence shows how to express a specific amount of currency using un million.Tatoeba #658080 by U2FS, translation #305251 by CK
- La perte s'élève à plus d'un million de dollars.The loss adds up to more than one million dollars.This sentence illustrates the use of un million to describe a loss of more than a certain amount of dollars.Tatoeba #1184332 by sacredceltic, translation #1184307 by xtofu80
- Le coût total du projet s'élève à un million d'euros.The total cost of the project amounts to one million euros.
- Elle a économisé un p'tit million pour acheter une maison.She saved up a small fortune to buy a house.
- 17 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are discussing the budget for a project.
- GabrielIl nous faut un million d'euros.We need one million euros.
- LéaC'est vraiment un million ?Is it really one million?
- GabrielOui, le budget est un million.Yes, the budget is one million.
- LéaC'est beaucoup d'argent pour nous.That is a lot of money for us.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries million, un, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
