pareils vs les mêmes

Question

Hi, in this sentence "the basic principles remain the same.", why I can't translate it as "les principes de base restent pareils?

Accepted Answer

Hi Lucy,
My first reaction was that it would be less elegant and with some research it appears that "in less formal French" you could use the adverb 'pareil' to say  - do the same / likewise (or remain, in this example).
Bonne Continuation !

Answer

A difference between le même and pareil is that le même talks about two things that are identical, whereas pareil means "similar but not quite identical". That said, this distinction is often blurry and depends on the aspect the speaker wants to emphasize.