Meo Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Why is it la semaine PROCHAINE (ie with "prochaine" following the noun) but la PROCHAINE fois (where it precedes the noun)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicfille Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Strictly speaking, the "prochaine" can go after "fois" as well as before, ie "la fois prochaine" is the same as "la prochaine fois", but tends to be less well used.Prochain(e) is one of those adjectives that can go before or after the noun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 It's because of 'euphony' - that is, it just sounds better to have the shorter word at the end. Or so my French friends tell me!Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 I have fallen foul of "prochain", but in a different way...A friend's daughter called on a Tuesday and asked for a bed at my UK home for "jeudi prochain". I jotted it down on my calendar for 9 days' time.Quelle horreur, while I was out at the cinema a couple of days later, the girl apparently arrived at my house! The (new) neighbours didn't know me by then, and were of course unaware of my whereabouts, so they weren't very helpful to her. Eventually she managed to contact a friend who had a job in London, and went off to sleep on his floor for the night. I was unaware of any of this until the girl's mother rang from France a day or two later!So be very careful about "prochain", and always make sure you have understood whether it refers to "this Thursday" (i.e. of this week), or "next Thursday"... Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryansmith Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 It is not only the French language which can cause confusion. In this house 'next' has two distinct meanings. I think that next Thursday is the first Thursday (the next one in the calander). My wife insists that next Thursday is the Thursday of next week ignoring the fact that a Thursday occurs before that one. Obviously the same thing can apply with 'prochaine' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 But she's right, Bryan, kesstuveux? Today is Tuesday 12th. If I say "I'm going to Montpellier this Thursday, and Nimes next Thursday", it means I'm going to Mtp on Thursday 14th, and Nimes on Thursday 21st.This Thursday is this week, next Thursday is next week. Kein Problem! Then there are odd expressions like "Thursday week", which sounds completely alien to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les cigales Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 la semaine prochaine = next weekla prochaine fois = the next time = till next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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