Nul vs. inutile

Derek J.C1Kwiziq community member

Nul vs. inutile

I notice that 'nul' is used in the response for 'useless' in the passages yet 'inutile' is accepted as the preferred translation in the explanatory paragraph at the end. Why is this so?

This question relates to:French writing exercise "My sense of direction"

Freeform Writing Exercise B2

Asked 3 years ago

Like0Answer2

CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Max,

Both 'nul' and 'inutile' are perfectly acceptable in this context. As Chris mentioned, 'nul' is very common and can be seen as derogatory whilst 'inutile' is more "polite". Another possibility has now been added too: 'bon à rien'.

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Like23 years ago

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

"Nul" is a very common way to say something is useless in a derogatory way. "Inutile" doesn't have this connotation.

Like23 years ago

Derek J. asked:

Nul vs. inutile

I notice that 'nul' is used in the response for 'useless' in the passages yet 'inutile' is accepted as the preferred translation in the explanatory paragraph at the end. Why is this so?

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