Quelle est la différence entre les mots « dessous » et « sous » ? Je dirais « sous la table » et « en dessous du texte il y a un dessin », mais je ne suis pas sûre. Est-ce que ce sont des synonymes ?
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1Question très similaire: http://french.stackexchange.com/questions/3139/diff%C3%A9rence-entre-sur-et-au-dessus?rq=1 – jlliagre Mar 17 '17 at 11:05
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1@Laure I wouldn't say the difference maps that well to "under" and "below", or to any pair of words in English, as prepositions rarely do. (Incidentally, one dictionary gives "under, underneath, below, beneath" for "sous" alone!) I think the comparison with jlliagre's link is pretty apt, but as native speakers please confirm: A "sous" B is more likely to be in contact with B than if A is "en dessous de" B. Also, as with other one-word prepositions, I think "sous" has a more active figurative sense (sous la pluie, sous les yeux...). – Luke Sawczak Mar 18 '17 at 01:10
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If anything, this question is but a mirror image of the one concerning “sur” & “au-dessus,” but it's certainly not a duplicate, no more than a question about the difference between red & orange would be a duplicate of one about the difference between indigo & violet on a physics forum. (1) Neither “sous” nor “dessous” are mentioned at all in the other question; (2) the word “sous” is not mentioned at all in either of that question’s two answers; & (3) the only mention of the word “dessous” is a passing and parenthetical one found in an answer. – Papa Poule Mar 18 '17 at 23:50
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“Sous was not mentioned at all & “dessous” only once parenthetically because the other question didn’t concern, as this one does, those two words. – Papa Poule Mar 18 '17 at 23:51
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At the same time, I've noticed that even in my short two months here, the excitement of answering a given type of question the first time is less when you recognize that what you have to say in response to another will be very similar. In any case, this is probably a discussion for meta... – Luke Sawczak Mar 19 '17 at 01:26
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@PapaPoule You are only commenting about closure as a duplicate, at least one other reason was given. When additional information is asked the least OPs can do is to edit their questions accordingly. Comments are meant to help OPs improve their question and help improve French Language altogether. – None Mar 20 '17 at 06:55
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1@PapaPoule I hesitated and decided not to vote to close that question as a duplicate. However, I understand why other decided to close it and think equating this comparison with the red/orange vs indigo/violet one is excessive. Sous is exactly to sur what en dessous is to au dessus. – jlliagre Mar 20 '17 at 14:17
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@Laure Not being privy to what, if any, other reasons for its closure were given, I can only formulate and express my opinion regarding the fairness of the action taken against this question based on the only published reason, i.e., “marked as duplicate by” you and 3 others. (1 of 2) ... – Papa Poule Mar 20 '17 at 17:43
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@Laure (2 of 2) Does the fact that you have now twice informed me that “at least one other reason was given” mean that you are starting to question your decision to give “duplicate” as your personal reason for closure? Or does it mean: “For one reason or another this question was destined to be closed anyway, so what difference does it make if we picked & published a bogus reason?” If the former, shouldn’t you consider changing your vote or at least the reason for it? And if the latter, shame on all those who agree with that “throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks” brand of justice. – Papa Poule Mar 20 '17 at 17:45
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@PapaPoule Sorry I'm not considering changing my reason for closure which was not duplicate but asking for additional information ("Please look up the meaning of words or expressions in a dictionary first. If you did so and found nothing satisfactory, mention that in your question. Do give context for where you heard or saw the word" - ticked but rephrased it in comment). I would have considered changing my vote if OP had considered editing their question to say what they had found in the dictionary and what they did not understand after reading the examples in the dictionary. – None Mar 20 '17 at 18:23
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@PapaPoule I hope my memory isn't failing me on what I ticked, but anyway my comment (at the top) is still there. When several reasons for closure are given the bot picks the most often given, so all we can say is that 2 out of 4 for said "duplicate". – None Mar 20 '17 at 18:35
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@Laure I was just going by how all four of you are listed under "duplicate" above and I guess I was assuming that you did tick that reason and that you, as a user with high enough rep, were privy to another reason given a 5th, unmentioned, voter. In fact I'm very relieved that you were actually informing me that you were the voter who gave (or at least intended to give) that other, non-duplicate-related reason. Furthermore, I totally agree with your reason (although it might have been a bit premature for I think OP's first reappearance on the site was after the question was closed). – Papa Poule Mar 20 '17 at 18:55
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@jlliagre Your early noting that the 2 Qs are very similar was astute & your decision not to vote duplicate very admirable, but I don’t share your understanding of how others could see them as duplicates. "Sous” isn't mentioned at all in the other question or any of its answers & “dessous” only once parenthetically in 1 answer. Requiring OPs to know all the possible mirror relationships that exist out there between 2 words that they're not even asking about before being permitted, w/out fear of closure, to ask about words causing issues is asking too much of OPs & their search for duplicates. – Papa Poule Mar 20 '17 at 18:56
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@jlliagre At worst these 2 questions & their answers should have been merged/fused by a moderator, w/the original title of this question added to that of the earlier one, but instead this question’s title was edited immediately preceding its closure, presumptuously changing the title to match the “true” question & curiously changing it to match perfectly the form of the other title, which made it easier for those bent on closing it to justify this dodgy duplicate closure. – Papa Poule Mar 20 '17 at 18:57
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1@PapaPoule Correcting the title to match the actual question wasn't presumptuous. En dessous (de) is different than dessous. Merging the questions might have been wise but they are already linked anyway. In any case, I guess Mme Bleu is now well aware of the parallel usage of both pairs of words. – jlliagre Mar 20 '17 at 23:16
2 Answers
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sous : est une préposition, qui doit être suivie d'un complément: groupe nominal, etc. :
sous la table, sous les arbres, sous Jacques, ...
dessous : est un adverbe, qui signifie: sous quelque chose qui a déjà été mentionné:
je dois marcher sur le pont ?
non, dessous .
On emploie quelquefois "dessous la table", c'est plus rare, et renforce la notion de dessous.
Il existe également la forme prépositionnelle:
en-dessous de la table
et l'adverbe:
en-dessous (équivalent de dessous)
et
au dessous
à noter que dessous est également un substantif: le dessous.
guillaume girod-vitouchkina
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i.e., the most definite thing one might be able to say about the difference is not semantic at all but purely an observation of their syntactic structure — I would tend to agree. ;) – Luke Sawczak Mar 18 '17 at 16:09
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2@Luke: Sous and en dessous de are syntactically similar, the semantic difference exists but it's rather subtle. – Stéphane Gimenez Mar 18 '17 at 19:09
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1@StéphaneGimenez The smallest of syntactic differences is significant to some people. :) As for the semantic difference, as noted above, I suspect it's something like "more likely to be in contact with" / "less likely to be in contact with", as with "sur" vs. "au-dessus de" (as opposed to translating to two different English words with any regularity), and I think the answer could be improved by speculating on those or any more apt lines that exist. – Luke Sawczak Mar 19 '17 at 01:24
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The basic difference is that “en dessous de” compares levels (for example altitude, ranking, aptitude, authority, etc.), while “sous” is used for (vertically aligned) positioning or for something belonging to the inner side.
Les oiseaux volent en dessous des nuages.
Aujourd'hui il est en dessous de ses performances habituelles.
Il s'est classé en dessous de ses camarades.
Le chat dort sous la table.
Le moteur est sous le capot.
Les sous-vêtements se portent sous les vêtements.
Il y a de la rouille sous la peinture.
This difference is rather similar to the one between “au dessus de” and “sur”.
Of course usage often has its own ways. For example:
Sous le soleil (in the sunshine)
Sous can also be used to introduce constraints:
Sous pression
Sous vide
Sous serment
Sous peine de …
Sous peu (soon)
Sous l'action de …
etc.
Stéphane Gimenez
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