Pounds are not used in any French-speaking countries - are they?

David S.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Pounds are not used in any French-speaking countries - are they?

Why does Kwiziq (and some other apps that teach French) make use of "livre" (meaning "pound") in their examples. I have seen it used for both weight and money. France and Canada use it for neither. The US use it for weight but are there any countries that use it for money any longer.

Is it just so we can read historical novels set in English-speaking countries? If so I would not expect to see it used so often when there must be many more useful vocab words that we could be encouraged to memorize.

Asked 6 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi David, 

The word 'livre' is just an example of a word with different meanings whether it is feminine or masculin. i.e.

'Une livre' can be a pound sterling or a pound (500g).

'Un livre' is a book .

It is up to you to decide whether a word in a vast vocabulary is useful to you or not.

It might be to someone else as Alan points out...

 

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

"... are there any countries that use it for money any longer."

Well, there's the United Kingdom. If I go to France and want to change some money it's useful to know this word.

David S.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Yes, I am sorry I must have had a mental block to forget that the UK unit of currency is still the pound.
Linda W.C1Kwiziq community member
Actually I've heard livre used used by an 87 year old woman meaning 500gm when she was explaining a recipe to me!

Pounds are not used in any French-speaking countries - are they?

Why does Kwiziq (and some other apps that teach French) make use of "livre" (meaning "pound") in their examples. I have seen it used for both weight and money. France and Canada use it for neither. The US use it for weight but are there any countries that use it for money any longer.

Is it just so we can read historical novels set in English-speaking countries? If so I would not expect to see it used so often when there must be many more useful vocab words that we could be encouraged to memorize.

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