At first glance, everything seems normal.
No spelling mistakes in sight.
What's the problem then?
When we write, or when we say: "we are going to consult together", "he is survived by", "I support the best candidate"... we are not speaking quite French.
You just have to prick up your ears to see that these phrases abound in corporate jargon.
Let's be reassured.
By having the explanation in mind, there is no more reason to make mistakes.
The editorial staff offers you an overview of these abstruse sentences, which affect the quality of a conversation.
” READ ALSO – Five words whose spelling we (constantly) flay
● My first priority
Of course, the two joined words serve a desire to insist on the priority in question.
Be careful though.
An ugly pleonasm has crept in.
Quality is “what comes, comes first in time”, recalls Le Robert.
Adding it to “first”, which designates “this comes before the others, in an order”, is redundant, and unnecessarily weighs down the subject.
● Concert together
The verb “to concert” has the meaning: “to plan together, while discussing”.
It is thus said: "concerting a project, a decision".
It also means: "to decide after reflection".
"To concert" is borrowed from the Latin
concertare
, "to act together, to act for a common purpose", and "to struggle, to compete".
“We are going to consult together on the future” is a pleonastic sentence, since the verb contains in itself the idea of the collective.
If you want to be picky, you can say: “we are going to consult on this subject”.
● Me personally I think
This sentence contains not one, nor two, but three pleonasms.
In certain situations, for example in a job interview, the desire to show how convinced one is of what one thinks is legitimate.
Be careful though.
Sobriety is always a good adviser.
Saying: “I think that”, coupled with an adverb if desired (“I really think that”) will be just as effective.
● After I am
The subjunctive is charming.
But he is a traitor.
It leads us too often into the depths of French mistakes.
“Après que” is always followed by the indicative.
It is often confused with "before", which implies a notion of eventuality.
This is not the case with “after that”, which marks a fait accompli.
We say like this: "I will come back after nightfall", "he left after we all greeted him", and "he sang after I left".
● An alternative solution
"Alternative" has become "a pompous-looking synonym of the adjective 'other'", underlines the French Academy in its section "Say, don't say".
It is also often used in place of "replacement".
“The alternative” does not designate the key to a problem, but “the succession of two different states returning in turn”.
We thus speak of “cooling and heating alternatives”.
We prefer to speak more soberly of an “alternative solution” or an “alternative solution”.
