Recently, some newspapers have written that the accent circonflexe: the " ^ " will disappear. Many French language learners cheered, because it's the source of many learning difficulties that only exist in French. However, it's not going to disappear. But what's really the issue? And what really happened?
First, the
Académie française - that's the institute that makes the rules for French - announced the
new spelling rules. Indeed, some words would lose their accent circonflexe - but that's just one of the changes. And it's only for the ones on the I and on the U, unless it changes the meaning of the word. For example, dû (past participle of devoir, to have to) and du (of, from, it's a combination of de + le). And even if we keep writing with an accent, it's still correct. So we have the
choice now.
When?
Students and teachers are supposed to apply the rules in the school year 2016-2017, so in
September 2016. Except from the accents circonflexes, some other words were simplified.
And, by the way, the Académie française also makes a
dictionary, you can find it via
their website. Funny thing: the website is not translated into any other language - chauvinism according to some, purism according to others.
More information on (it's a French site):
https://www.rtbf.be/info/societe/detail_non-l-accent-circonflexe-ne-disparait-pas-de-nos-dictionnaires?id=9205001
Don't forget to learn French using
these resources!
First, the Académie française - that's the institute that makes the rules for French - announced the new spelling rules. Indeed, some words would lose their accent circonflexe - but that's just one of the changes. And it's only for the ones on the I and on the U, unless it changes the meaning of the word. For example, dû (past participle of devoir, to have to) and du (of, from, it's a combination of de + le). And even if we keep writing with an accent, it's still correct. So we have the choice now.
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