Petit à petit

	Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Gradual French Expression

Meaning	little by little, bit by bit, gradually
Literally	little to little
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[peu tee tah peu tee]
IPA		[pə ti ta pə ti]

Usage notes: The adverbial expression petit à petit describes an ongoing process, a series of distinct steps that lead to a final product or resolution.

Par exemple…

Il faut remplir tous ces formulaires, petit à petit.		We have to fill out all these forms, little by little.
Le nouveau gérant réduit nos avantages, petit à petit.		The new manager is chipping away at our perks.

Proverb: Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid.

• literally, "Bit by bit, the bird makes its nest."
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
• Slow and steady wins the race.

 Petit à petit in action

Example of petit à petit in real-life videos from Lawless French Immersion:

En fait ça se fait petit à petit.		Actually, it’s done little by little.
Video: Women’s sports: French media launch promotion campaign

Synonymous expressions

• par morceaux
• par petites touches
• progressivement

 Petit à petit vs Peu à peu

In contrast to petit à petit, the expression peu à peu is used when the evolution occurs without clearly distinguishable steps or phases.

 Related lesson

• Adverbs of quantity

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!