Eu égard à or au regard de? Two ways to frame a formal judgement

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Compare eu égard à and au regard de in short reports. Learn their à/de contractions, noun complements and everyday alternatives, then try four questions.

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In short

Eu égard à means “taking account of” or “in view of”; au regard de means “in relation to” or “judged against”. Both introduce a noun phrase. Their meanings overlap, but a practical starting point is a circumstance with eu égard à and an assessment criterion with au regard de.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Two colleagues select a few material samples for a presentation.
A shorter presentation takes account of constraints with eu égard à. Illustration: Atelier

What is the difference between eu égard à and au regard de?

eu égard àin view of

Focus: a circumstance that shapes a decision

eu égard à + noun phrase

Eu égard au temps disponible, nous limiterons la présentation à trois exemples.
In view of the time available, we will limit the presentation to three examples.

au regard dejudged against

Focus: a reference point for assessing something

au regard de + noun phrase

Au regard des objectifs annoncés, ce résultat reste partiel.
Judged against the stated objectives, this result remains partial.

The first sentence explains why the presentation will be short. The second measures a result against its objectives. You can also find au regard de meaning “in view of”: these are useful tendencies, with room for overlap.

Study first: follow the expression’s preposition

The same noun, two preposition patterns
Noun phraseIn view ofJudged against
le budgeteu égard au budgetau regard du budget
la situationeu égard à la situationau regard de la situation
les contrainteseu égard aux contraintesau regard des contraintes
l’objectifeu égard à l’objectifau regard de l’objectif

Eu égard à keeps its opening words unchanged: eu stays eu, even with a feminine or plural noun. The contraction comes afterwards. The expression contains à, so à + les gives aux. In au regard de, the final de gives du or des.

Is au regard de formal French?

Eu égard aux délais, nous proposons une version plus courte.

In view of the deadlines, we propose a shorter version.

A report or formal email.

Vu les délais, on propose une version plus courte.

Given the deadlines, we’re proposing a shorter version.

An everyday message to colleagues.

  • Eu égard à que nous avons peu de temps, nous simplifierons le programme.Eu égard au peu de temps disponible, nous simplifierons le programme.

    Use a noun phrase after eu égard à. For a full clause, use étant donné que nous avons peu de temps.

Question 1No account needed
Complete the expression before a plural noun.Eu égard ___ contraintes, ce calendrier paraît réaliste.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

aux. Eu égard à contains à: à + les contraintes becomes aux contraintes.

Question 2No account needed
Keep the final preposition of au regard de.Au regard ___ budget prévu, cette dépense est élevée.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

du. The final de combines with le budget to give du budget.

Question 3No account needed
What supplies the assessment criterion?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The stated objectives.. In au regard des objectifs annoncés, the objectives are the reference point for judging the result.

Question 4No account needed
Choose the phrase that can directly follow eu égard à.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

la brièveté du délai. La brièveté du délai is a noun phrase; the other options are conjugated clauses.

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