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Très, beaucoup or trop: a French quantity cheat sheet

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

A quick reference for très, beaucoup and trop with descriptions, actions and noun quantities. Practise de and d?, word order and the meaning of “too”.

In short

Très means “very” before a description: très chaud. Beaucoup means “a lot”: je lis beaucoup, beaucoup de livres. Trop usually means “too” or “too much”: trop chaud, trop de travail.

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A reader surrounded by many plain books at a small French apartment table, one open book in hand.
A full reading table gives context to beaucoup de livres. Illustration: Atelier

Very · a lot · too much

1 · Très + adjective or adverb

Increase the degree of a description. The adjective still agrees with its noun.

très bon / très bonnevery good
très vitevery quickly

La soupe est très chaude.The soup is very hot.

Elle parle très lentement.She speaks very slowly.

2 · Verb + beaucoup

Say how much an action happens. In the past with avoir, it commonly goes before the past participle.

Je travaille beaucoup.I work a lot.

J’ai beaucoup travaillé hier.I worked a lot yesterday.

3 · Beaucoup de + noun

Use de for a large amount or number; use d’ before a vowel sound.

Il y a beaucoup de pain.There is a lot of bread.

Nous avons beaucoup d’amis.We have a lot of friends.

4 · Trop: a limit has been passed

Use trop with a description or action; add de or d’ before a noun quantity.

La soupe est trop chaude pour moi.The soup is too hot for me.

Tu travailles trop.You work too much.

Il y a trop de sel.There is too much salt.

Large amount or a problem?
FrenchMeaning
Il y a beaucoup de monde.There are a lot of people.
Il y a trop de monde.There are too many people.
Ce café est très chaud.This coffee is very hot.
Ce café est trop chaud pour être bu maintenant.This coffee is too hot to drink now.

Très and beaucoup can describe something welcome. Trop normally adds a problem: more than someone wants, needs or can manage. In friendly conversation, C’est trop bien ! can also be enthusiastic praise: “That’s so good!” For a neutral description, use très bien.

  • Je suis beaucoup fatiguée.Je suis très fatiguée.

    Fatiguée is an adjective, so use très for “very”.

  • Il y a beaucoup des questions.Il y a beaucoup de questions.

    For a general quantity, use beaucoup de. “Many of the questions” is a separate pattern: beaucoup des questions que tu as posées.

  • Je lis très.Je lis beaucoup.

    To say that you read a lot, use beaucoup after the verb.

J’ai très faim et très soif.

I’m very hungry and very thirsty.

Learn avoir très faim, avoir très soif and avoir très peur as useful expressions.

Question 1No account needed
Say “very interesting”.Cette histoire est ___.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

très intéressante. Très goes before the adjective intéressante. It means “very”.

Question 2No account needed
Choose the quantity phrase.Je bois ___.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

beaucoup d’eau. Before the vowel sound in eau, de becomes d’: beaucoup d’eau.

Question 3No account needed
The amount of salt spoils the soup. Choose “too much”.Il y a ___ sel dans la soupe.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

trop de. Trop de sel says the amount is excessive, which explains the problem.

Question 4No account needed
Complete “I read a lot”.Je lis ___.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

beaucoup. Beaucoup follows the verb to describe the amount of reading.

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