Tout – Noun

Le tout - French noun
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Le tout, les touts

The French word tout can be used as a singular or plural noun, though the latter is very rare. Either way, the pronunciation [tu] remains the same (other than the article):

    singular   plural
definite article   le tout   les touts
indefinite article   un tout   des touts

[IPA pronunciation]

As a noun, le tout means "all" or "the whole."

Par exemple…

Il faut vendre le tout.   We have to sell it all.
Je vais prendre le tout.   I’ll take the whole lot.
Ces textes forment un tout.   These texts form a whole.

 With être, tout means "the main / most important thing":

Le tout est de finir à l’heure.   The main thing is to finish on time.
Gagner n’est pas tout.   Winning isn’t everything.

Expressions with le tout

du tout au tout   completely, entirely
le grand Tout   the Great Whole (the universe)
pas du tout   not at all
rien du tout   nothing at all
jouer le tout pour le tout
risquer le tout pour le tout
tenter le tout pour le tout
  to risk everything

 Tout can also be an adjective, adverb, or pronoun.

 Related lessons

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Tout as a noun

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