The position of "prochain/prochaine", relative to nouns.
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Cheryl N.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
The position of "prochain/prochaine", relative to nouns.
In the following sentence from a quizz:
Aujourd'hui, les fantômes ________(choisissent) leur prochaine victime.
- Why is "prochaine" positioned before the noun, please? Yet, if we say "next week", we say: "la semaine prochaine".
Cheryl
Asked 8 years ago
Bonjour Cheryl !
That's a very good question, well spotted!
I would say the difference is between using "next" with an article or not in English :)
- With durations (days, weeks...)for example, in English you won't say "THE next week, I..." but "NEXT week, I..." -> in those cases, "prochain(e)" will come AFTER the noun.
- However, you will say "THEIR next victim", "THE next train"... -> in those cases, "prochain(e)" will come BEFORE the noun.
Most of the time durations won't be used with the article, that's why they mostly belong to the first rule, BUT if you needed to say for example "YOUR next week of holiday", then it would be "votre PROCHAINE semaine de vacances" :)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
That's a very good question, well spotted!
I would say the difference is between using "next" with an article or not in English :)
- With durations (days, weeks...)for example, in English you won't say "THE next week, I..." but "NEXT week, I..." -> in those cases, "prochain(e)" will come AFTER the noun.
- However, you will say "THEIR next victim", "THE next train"... -> in those cases, "prochain(e)" will come BEFORE the noun.
Most of the time durations won't be used with the article, that's why they mostly belong to the first rule, BUT if you needed to say for example "YOUR next week of holiday", then it would be "votre PROCHAINE semaine de vacances" :)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Cheryl N.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thank you once again Aurélie.
I've actually been wondering about this point for a while, but hadn't got around to sorting it out before. Now it's clear, as you explained it well.
Cheryl
Cheryl N. asked:
The position of "prochain/prochaine", relative to nouns.
In the following sentence from a quizz:
Aujourd'hui, les fantômes ________(choisissent) leur prochaine victime.
- Why is "prochaine" positioned before the noun, please? Yet, if we say "next week", we say: "la semaine prochaine".
Cheryl
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