Forms of Tout
As an adjective, tout precedes and agrees with the noun.
| masc. sing. | tout le train | the whole train |
| fem. sing. | toute la journée | the whole day |
| masc. pl. | tous les enfants | all the kids |
| fem. pl. | toutes les mères | all the moms |
As a pronoun, tout can be used alone; it then means everything and is
invariable.
Tout va bien. Everything's fine.
Je ne peux pas tout faire. I can't do everything.
It can also reinforce the subject as in: Ils sont tous là.
They are all here.
Tout can also be used with direct object pronouns. The forms of tout
follow the verb in a simple tense and go between the auxiliary and past
participle in a compound tense.
Je les ai toutes. I have them all.
Je ne les ai pas tous eu. I didn't have them all.
Note: The s of tous is pronounced when tous is a pronoun.
Idiomatic Expressions with Tout
| en tout cas | in any case |
| tout le monde | everyone |
| tout de suite | right away |
| de toute façon | anyway |
| tout à fait | completely |
| toutes sortes de | all kinds of |
| pas du tout | not at all |
| malgré tout | in spite of it all |
| tout à l'heure | in a little while |
This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages
