Three ways to name an activity
In English you turn almost any verb into a noun with -ing: smoking, reading, swimming. French has no such all-purpose form. Only a small, fixed group of infinitives works as nouns with an article. For everything else there are two other routes: the bare infinitive without an article, or a derived noun.
Which route when
| Route | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| infinitive without article | the activity itself | Lire m'aide à dormir. |
| derived noun | the activity as a thing, with article | La lecture m'aide à dormir. |
| infinitive as noun | fixed words only | Le savoir ne suffit pas. |
Infinitives that have long been nouns
Some infinitives have become ordinary nouns. They are masculine, take a plural in -s and often have a meaning of their own.
Common examples
| Noun | Meaning |
|---|---|
| le devoir · les devoirs | duty · homework |
| le pouvoir | power |
| le savoir | knowledge |
| le sourire · le rire | smile · laughter |
| le déjeuner · le dîner | lunch · dinner |
| le lever · le coucher du soleil | sunrise · sunset |
| un être · les êtres chers | a being · loved ones |
| le souvenir | memory |
Il est au pouvoir depuis dix ans.
He has been in power for ten years.
Merci pour tous ces sourires.
Thank you for all those smiles.
On s'est levés tôt pour voir le lever du soleil.
We got up early to watch the sunrise.
Le savoir-vivre, le vivre-ensemble
A second group are compounds built on an infinitive. The older ones are everyday vocabulary. Newer ones such as le vivre-ensemble or le bien-manger come from politics, the press and advertising. They name an ideal and sound abstract, sometimes like jargon. They are usually hyphenated, though le vivre ensemble without a hyphen also occurs. They have no plural.
Cette entreprise a un vrai savoir-faire.
This company has real expertise.
Skill.
Arriver les mains vides, ça manque de savoir-vivre.
Turning up empty-handed is a bit lacking in manners.
Good manners.
Le maire veut renforcer le vivre-ensemble dans le quartier.
The mayor wants to strengthen community cohesion in the neighbourhood.
Politics.
English borrowed savoir-faire and uses it for social polish. In French le savoir-faire means practical expertise; social polish is le savoir-vivre.
Le boire et le manger
Le manger and le boire live on mainly in one set phrase: en perdre le boire et le manger, to be so taken up with something that you forget to eat and drink. On its own, le manger for food is colloquial or regional. The neutral words are la nourriture or le repas.
Depuis qu'elle a ce projet, elle en perd le boire et le manger.
Since she started this project, she forgets to eat and drink.
