Chaque/Tous les + [durée] = Each/every + [duration] (French Indefinite Adjectives)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2023-02-28

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In French, there are two ways to express every/each + [duration].

How to say "every/each" with a duration in French

Je vais à la gym tous les jours.I go to the gym every day.

Je vais à la gym chaque jour.I go to the gym each day.

Chaque samedi, je fais de la natation.Each Saturday, I go swimming.

Tous les dimanches, on va à la pêche.Every Sunday, we go fishing.

Note that in French, you tend to use the following structures interchangeably, to express every/each + [duration]:

- chaque + [singular noun] (each): this is the closest to English in terms of construction, it considers each individual thing included in the total.

- tous les / toutes les + [plural noun] (every): meaning literally all the, this expression considers the total as a whole group.

Note that tous les (masculine and mixed) and toutes les (feminine) agree with the thing they refer to.

Toutes les fins de semaine, nous allons nager.Every weekend, we go swimming.

Chaque fin de semaine, nous allons nager.Each weekend, we go swimming.

ATTENTION:

chaque année (each year) becomes tous les ans (every year):

Alain va en France tous les ans.Alain goes to France every year.

Ils vont en Angleterre chaque année.They go to England each year.

To express every/each time, you will use à chaque fois :

Il se trompe à chaque fois.He gets it wrong every time.

À chaque fois qu'il la voit, son cœur bat la chamade.Every time he sees her, his heart starts beating faster.

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Adjectif indéfini

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