Joakim asked : why one says "tiers monde" rather than "troisième monde" ?
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AurélieKwiziq Head of French, Native French Teacher
Joakim asked : why one says "tiers monde" rather than "troisième monde" ?
This question relates to:French lesson "Ordinal numbers - 1st/2nd/10th/etc - in French"
Asked 8 years ago
AurélieKwiziq Head of French, Native French Teacher
Bonjour Joakim !
The expression "le Tiers Monde" to say "the Third World" is fixed as it is in English: this is the only way to say this in French.
"Le Troisième Monde" would feel like there are more than one world, i.e. one planet, when here it's more of a division of the world into three "parts", hence the use of the fraction here.
À bientôt !
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