toujours
See also: toûjours
French
Alternative forms
- toûjours (obsolete)
- tousjours (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle French tousjours, from Old French toz jorz, tuzjurz (“without ceasing”, literally “all days”), equivalent to tous + jours (compare Dutch altijd (“always”), Danish altid (“always”)). Replaced Old French sempres (“always”), from Latin semper.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tu.ʒuʁ/
- As with most words in -rs, there is no liaison with that which follows, e.g. toujours ici will be pronounced as [tu.ʒu.ʁ‿i.si].
audio (file) - Rhymes: -uʁ
Adverb
toujours
- always
- Antonym: jamais
- Il est toujours en retard. ― He is always late.
- Parfois, peut-être même souvent, mais certainement pas toujours
- Sometimes, maybe even often, but certainly not always
- still
- Synonym: encore
- 2010, Björn Larsson, translated from Swedish by Philippe Bouquet, Les poètes morts n'écrivent pas de romans policiers
- Un homme que l'on pourrait croire sorti tout droit de la Renaissance, et qui a été assassiné en 1975, pour des raisons qui n'ont toujours pas été élucidées.
- A man who you might think came straight out of the Renaissance, and who was assassinated in 1975, for reasons which still haven't been elucidated.
- Je suis toujours là. ― I'm still here.
- Elle n'est toujours pas revenue. ― She still hasn't come back.
Usage notes
- In negative constructions, the position of the negating element pas is different in each sense:
- pas toujours ― not always
- toujours pas ― still not
Derived terms
- cause toujours
- de toujours
- depuis toujours
- encore et toujours
- toujours est-il que
Further reading
- “toujours”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Swedish
Etymology
From French "toujours (aimable)". Attested since 1840.
Adjective
toujours
- (rare, only used predicatively) sociable and nice
References
- toujours in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- toujours in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)