pareils vs les mêmes

Lily L.C1Kwiziq community member

pareils vs les mêmes

Hi, in this sentence "the basic principles remain the same.", why I can't translate it as "les principes de base restent pareils?

This question relates to:French writing exercise "A nice table "à la française""

Freeform Writing Exercise B2

Asked 1 year ago

Like1Answer2

CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Lucy,

My first reaction was that it would be less elegant and with some research it appears that "in less formal French" you could use the adverb 'pareil' to say - do the same / likewise (or remain, in this example).

Bonne Continuation !

Like11 year ago

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

A difference between le même and pareil is that le même talks about two things that are identical, whereas pareil means "similar but not quite identical". That said, this distinction is often blurry and depends on the aspect the speaker wants to emphasize.

Like11 year ago

Lily L. asked:

pareils vs les mêmes

Hi, in this sentence "the basic principles remain the same.", why I can't translate it as "les principes de base restent pareils?

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