par rapport à

“Par rapport à” is a French prepositional phrase that is widely used. It means three different things: “compared with/in comparison with/against,” “in relation to,” and “with regard to/towards.”

Compared with/against

  • il est généreux/petit par rapport à son frère (he is generous compared with his brother)
  • le chômage a augmenté par rapport à l’an dernier (unemployed increased compared with last year)
  • par rapport au dollar (against the dollar)

In relation to

  •  le nombre de voitures par rapport au nombre d’habitants (the number of cars in relation to the number of inhabitants)
  • un angle de 40° par rapport à la verticale (an angle of 40º to the vertical)
  • un changement par rapport à la position habituelle du parti (a change from the usual party line)

With regard to/towards

  • notre position par rapport à ce problème (our position with regard to this problem)
  • l’attitude de la population par rapport à l’immigration (people’s attitude towards immigration)

Don’t miss new articles!

Get 1 email a week with new articles about French

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy

Similar Posts

  • mettre les pouces

    “Mettre les pouces” is a French idiom that literally means “to put the thumbs.” What it really means is to stop resisting, to give in, to admit defeat or to abandon something. It dates from the end of the 18th century. In that same era, a similar expression “coucher les pouces” (to put the thumbs to…

  • la mode, le mode

    “Mode” is a French noun that can either be masculine or feminine. Its meaning changes depending on whether it is the masculine version of the noun or the feminine version. In its masculine form, it means “mode” or “way.” In the feminine, it means “fashion.” So you can remember the difference by remembering that women…

  • d’accord vs être d’accord

    In French, the expressions “d’accord” and “être d’accord” are both used to show agreement, but they have subtle differences in usage and grammatical construction that can be challenging for language learners. D’accord “D’accord” is an invariable interjection that typically means “okay” or “alright.” It’s a quick, informal way to express consent or agreement in conversation….

  • Irregular verbs for beginners

    Here are the 19 most frequently used irregular verbs in French. Since these 19 verbs are irregular, the way they are conjugated doesn’t follow the rules of regular verbs. (Conjugation: using the appropriate spellings of the verb to match I, you, he/she/it/one/etc, we, you and they). If you’re wondering why such frequently used verbs are…

  • to bump into, to come across

    Sometimes you meet a friend, an acquaintance or a coworker by pure chance, rather than because you had arranged to meet them in advance. There are a few different ways to translate the English phrases “to bump into” or “to come across” in French. rencontrer The French verb “rencontrer” mainly means “to meet” or “to…