Most of you have already learnt the word quand. It is the French equivalent to ‘when’.
Hence, quand is always about a moment in time:
- Quand partirez-vous? (When are you leaving?
- Je te prévendrai quand je partirai. (I’ll warn you when I leave)
But have you ever heard of the word quant, spellt with a t?
It is pronounced exactly in the same way as quand because neither the d nor the t are pronounced.
Quant is always used with the preposition à, so depending on what follows, you can get quant à, quant au (= quant à + le), quant aux (= quant à + les).
Quant à means ‘as regards’, ‘as for’.
- Quant à cette mission, je crois qu’elle est un peu dangereuse. (As regards this task, I think it’s a bit dangerous.)
- Quant à toi, tu peux faire comme tu veux. (As for you, do as you like.)
- Quant au journal, tu peux le lire demain si tu préfères (As regards the paper, you can read it tomorrow if you prefer)
- Quant aux enfants, ils iront se coucher plus tard que d’habitude. (As for the kids, they’ll go to bed later than usual.)
It’s that simple! So now you are aware that quand and quant are two different words and that the ending gives each word a different meaning.
You will be one of the few learners of the French language who knows how to use quant, congratulations! 🙂
