Gap-fill
À mesure que: follow gradual change in a French gap-fill
Complete a short text about revising a translation, practise indicative forms after à mesure que and compare gradual change with dès que.
- B2
- 6 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the B2 notebook →
In short
À mesure que means “as” when something develops gradually: À mesure que je relis, je comprends mieux. It takes the indicative. The longer au fur et à mesure que also links progress through one process with another.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
| Time | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Now or regularly | À mesure que je relis, je comprends mieux. | As I reread, I understand better. |
| A developing past scene | À mesure que je relisais, je comprenais mieux. | As I reread, I understood better. |
| A process still ahead | À mesure que vous avancerez, vous comprendrez mieux. | As you progress, you will understand better. |
English uses a present form in “as you progress”. French can use the future in both clauses: vous avancerez and vous comprendrez. For a past process, the imperfect often gives the right viewpoint: relisait, comprenait, devenait.
à mesure queas a process develops
Focus: gradual progress
À mesure que Lina relit le passage, le sens devient plus clair.
As Lina rereads the passage, the meaning becomes clearer.
dès queas soon as
Focus: the moment that triggers the next action
Dès que Lina comprend le passage, elle commence à le traduire.
As soon as Lina understands the passage, she starts translating it.
A translation takes shape
Complete the verbs in the imperfect. Lina is gradually improving her understanding; nous refers to Lina and her colleague. The hints give the infinitive, so check both the subject and the ending.
Une traduction qui se précise
Lina préparait la traduction d’un court récit. Au début, elle hésitait sur le ton. À mesure qu’elle (relire) le premier paragraphe, elle (comprendre) mieux l’humour de la narratrice. Certaines phrases semblaient très sérieuses ; la dernière changeait pourtant le sens de l’ensemble.
Son collègue lui proposait plusieurs versions. « Au fur et à mesure que nous (comparer) leurs nuances, les différences (devenir) plus nettes, raconte Lina. Nous ne cherchions plus un mot isolé, mais une voix cohérente. »
À mesure que le travail (avancer), Lina supprimait des explications trop longues. Elle voulait garder le rythme du récit. Son collègue notait les passages à reprendre au fur et à mesure qu’il les (repérer). À la fin, ils ont relu la traduction à voix haute. Cette fois, l’humour était bien là.
Read it in English
Lina was preparing the translation of a short story. At first, she was unsure about the tone. As she reread the first paragraph, she understood the narrator’s humour better. Some sentences seemed very serious; yet the last one changed the meaning of the whole passage.
Her colleague suggested several versions. As we compared their nuances, the differences became clearer, Lina explains. We were no longer looking for an isolated word, but for a consistent voice.
As the work progressed, Lina removed explanations that were too long. She wanted to keep the rhythm of the story. Her colleague noted passages to revisit as he spotted them. At the end, they read the translation aloud. This time, the humour came through.
Can au fur et à mesure stand alone?
Nous corrigerons les erreurs au fur et à mesure.
We’ll correct the errors as we go.
Here the task is already clear, so au fur et à mesure stands alone. Add que when you name a complete developing event: Nous corrigerons les erreurs au fur et à mesure que nous les repérerons.