Which sentence is correct?
Il est riche, tout du moins, il a de l'argent.
Or
Il est riche, à tout le moins, il a de l'argent.
In general people say "tout du moins", but in books I read "à tout le moins". What is the correct expression?
-
I would correct the second sentence into « Il est riche, il a de l'argent, à tout le moins » though. (And then I would think both to be correct.)– Nikana ReklawyksOct 13, 2012 at 10:24
-
Have you consulted any dictionaries? A tout le moins and tout du moins cnrtl.fr/definition/moins You should check first and then post.– LambieFeb 20, 2017 at 23:30
Add a comment
|
6 Answers
Both are correct but à tout le moins sounds old-fashioned now (wiktionnaire).
There's also pour le moins which has the same meaning.
answered Jul 26, 2012 at 17:12
Tout du moins is not a correct expression as far as I know. In any case, I have never heard it. À tout le moins, on the other hand, is correct.
There are also these other similar expressions with moins:
- Du moins
- Au moins
- Tout au moins
-
1My informal impression is that tout du moins is more common than tout au moins in spoken French in France. Jul 26, 2012 at 22:14
-
-
"Tout du moins" seems to me a less common variant of "tout au moins". For the rest, both expressions mean pretty much the same same thing, roughly "Well, at least, nevertheless, anyway", though quite more formally than several of these expressions.
À tout le moins est en effet plus soigné et littéraire que tout du moins.
Il est vrai que l'expression est un peu recherchée, mais elle est compréhensible sans effort par une oreille francophone
Absolutely, "tout du moins" is incorrect. You can also use "pour le moins". I think "du moins" corresponds to a more relaxed language, which is not the case of "à tout le moins".
"Tout du moins" is absolutely correct, like "du moins". "Pour le moins" is perfectly correct too, but sounds very literary & a bit old-fashioned as mentioned earlier.
