Ancien meaning before and after the noun

Ashby M.B2Kwiziq community member

Ancien meaning before and after the noun

Bonjour / Bonsoir.

Ancien is one of those adjectives that changes meaning whether before or after the noun - former when before and ancient when after. However I came across the sentence in a French magazine - "l'un des plus anciens sites du pays", which obviously means one of the most ancient sites in the country. Presumably the inclusion of the 'plus' shifts the 'anciens' to in front of the noun and it retains its meaning of ancient. So "l'un des sites plus anciens du pays" would be wrong ?

Asked 1 year ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Ashby, 

You could say -

Un des sites les plus anciens du pays

Bonne Continuation !

Ancien meaning before and after the noun

Bonjour / Bonsoir.

Ancien is one of those adjectives that changes meaning whether before or after the noun - former when before and ancient when after. However I came across the sentence in a French magazine - "l'un des plus anciens sites du pays", which obviously means one of the most ancient sites in the country. Presumably the inclusion of the 'plus' shifts the 'anciens' to in front of the noun and it retains its meaning of ancient. So "l'un des sites plus anciens du pays" would be wrong ?

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