Tout - French Adverb

Tout as an adverb is nearly always invariable* and can be used with adverbs, adjectives, and the prepositions à and de.

Adverbs

   tout doucement     very quietly
   tout droit     straight ahead
   tout haut     very loudly
   tout loin d'ici     very far from here
   tout près     very near


Adjectives

Normally French adverbs are invariable, but tout is a special case. It sometimes requires agreement, depending on the gender and first letter of the adjective it modifies.

1) With all masculine adjectives, singular and plural, tout is invariable:

   Il est tout seul.     He's all alone.
   Ils sont tout seuls.     They are all alone.
   Nous sommes tout étonnés.     We are very surprised.


2) With feminine adjectives, singular and plural, that begin with h muet or a vowel, tout is invariable:

   J'ai mangé la tarte tout entière.     I ate the whole pie.
   J'ai mangé les tartes tout entières.     I ate the whole pies.
   Elle est tout heureuse.     She is very happy.
   Elles sont tout heureuses.     They are very happy.
   C'est une tout autre histoire.     That's a whole other story.


3) *With feminine adjectives that begin with h aspiré or consonant, tout needs agreement: it must be feminine as well as singular or plural, depending on the number of the adjective:

   Elle est toute petite.     She is very small.
   Elles sont toutes petites.     They are very small.
   Elle est toute honteuse.     She is very ashamed.
   Elles sont toutes honteuses.     They are very ashamed.
   Les toutes premières années.     The very first years.


Prepositions: à and de

   tout à coup     all of a sudden
   tout à fait     absolutely
   tout à l'heure     shortly, right away
   tout au contraire     on the contrary
   tout de suite     immediately
   tout de même     all the same, anyway
   tout d'un coup     all at once

Pronunciation

The different adverbs are pronounced as follows:

   tout - [tu]
   toute - [tut]
   toutes - [tut]


All about Tout: Introduction | Adjective | Adverb | Noun | Pronoun | Test

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