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French preposition
The preposition par generally means "by," "through," or "per."
1) Location / Direction |
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| par ici ou par là ? | this way or that way? (lit: by here or by there?) | ||
| sortir par la fenêtre | to leave through the window | ||
2) Amount per unit of measurement |
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| gagner 15 euros par heure | to earn 15 euros an / per hour | ||
| coûter 3 euros par kilo | to cost 3 euros a / per kilo | ||
3) Manner or means |
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| découvrir par hasard | to discover by accident | ||
| réussir par le travail | to succeed through (hard) work | ||
4) Reason |
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| par habitude | through / out of habit | ||
| faire par pitié | to do out of pity | ||
5) Passive voice |
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| la fenêtre a été cassée par l’orage | the window was broken by the storm | ||
| un film réalisé par Luc Besson | a movie directed by Luc Besson | ||
6) After verbs |
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| Some verbs must be followed by par in front of a noun or infinitive. | |||
7) Expressions with par |
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Par + noun is often equivalent to an English adverb ending in -ly: par conséquent = consequently.
Par is usually followed directly by a noun, with no article in between. Learn more: Prepositions with nouns
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Learn how to translate French infinitives, imperatives, and participles into English.
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