classe grammaticale
The English phrase 'part of speech' is translated into French as classe grammaticale.
The term classe grammaticale is the standard technical term used in linguistics and education to refer to a part of speech. For example, when identifying parts of speech, you may encounter the following terms: le nom (noun), le verbe (verb), l'adjectif (adjective), le pronom (pronoun), la préposition (preposition), la conjonction (conjunction) and l'interjection (interjection).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase translates literally to 'grammatical class'.
Which one should you use?
In many French grammar exercises, you may see the word nature used as a synonym for classe grammaticale when asking to identify a word's part of speech.
Did you know?
- The term classe in classe grammaticale is a learned borrowing from the Latin classis, which originally described a fleet of ships or a division of citizens.
- In French schools, students are often asked to distinguish between a word's nature and its fonction. While nature refers to the classe grammaticale, fonction refers to the role the word plays in a specific sentence.
- French grammar identifies le nom as a mot variable, meaning it can change form. This distinguishes it from mots invariables like prepositions, which never change regardless of the sentence structure.
Examples in context
- la chaiseChair
- mangerTo eat
- dormirTo sleep
- courirTo run
- rougeRed
- soigneusementCarefully
- ilHe
- elleShe
- avecWith
- etAnd
- maisBut
- aïe !Ouch!
- waouh !Wow!
- Quelle est la classe grammaticale de ce mot ?What is the part of speech for this word?
- Il faut identifier la classe grammaticale de chaque verbe.You must identify the part of speech for each verb.
Example conversation
Two students are studying for a French linguistics exam.
- EmmaHugo, quelle est la classe grammaticale de ce nom ?Hugo, what is the part of speech of this noun?
- HugoC'est un nom propre, Emma.It is a proper noun, Emma.
- EmmaTu connais bien chaque classe grammaticale ?Do you know every part of speech well?
- HugoPas encore, mais j'étudie beaucoup.Not yet, but I am studying a lot.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries classe, CC BY-SA 4.0.
