Kevin C.B1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Ambiguity in "Mes amis sont venus et ils étaient tous contents"?

Is there some ambiguity in this example? Mes amis sont venus et ils étaient tous contents. The post translates that as "My friends came and they were all happy." However, in addition to (or maybe rather than--I don't know) "all of them," that could also mean something like "they were completely happy," couldn't it? That's my understanding of tout + a predicative adjective.

This question relates to:French lesson "Tout/tous/toute/toutes = Everything/all (of them)/whole/completely in French"

Asked 8 years ago

Like0Answer1

Kevin C.B1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

That's very helpful, Aurélie--thank you!

Like18 years ago

Kevin C. asked:

Ambiguity in "Mes amis sont venus et ils étaient tous contents"?

Is there some ambiguity in this example? Mes amis sont venus et ils étaient tous contents. The post translates that as "My friends came and they were all happy." However, in addition to (or maybe rather than--I don't know) "all of them," that could also mean something like "they were completely happy," couldn't it? That's my understanding of tout + a predicative adjective.

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