The French preposition par means "through," "by," or "per" in English. It is used to indicate the manner in which something is done, the reason behind an event, the direction something moves, or the amount of something per some unit of measurement. In everyday conversation, you might use par when giving directions to someone or to describe how an event occurred.
Examples of Par
Je suis sortie par la porte.
I left through/by the door.
J'ai appris la verité par hasard.
I learned the truth by accident.
Il l'a obtenu par la force.
He obtained it by force.
Je l'ai envoyé par la poste.
I sent it through the mail.
Il a jeté les déchets par la fenêtre.
He threw the garbage though/out the window.
Il gagne 500 euros par semaine.
He earns 500 euros per week.
Par is often used to introduce the agent in the passive voice:
Ce livre, écrit par Voltaire...
This book, written by Voltaire...
La tasse a été cassée par un chien.
The cup was broken by a dog.
Verbs With Par
As with prepositions in English, there are some instances when a verb will also require using par in sentence construction. Some of the most common French verbs are:
- arriverparto succeed through/by
- commencerpar+infinitivetobegin by ___-ing
- fairepar(la pitié,l'amour)to do out of (pity, love)
- finirpar+ infinitiveto end up ___-ing / to finally do something
- habiterparicito live around here
- jurerparto swear by
- obtenirquelquechose parto obtain something by
- prendrequelqu'unpar(la main)to take someone by (the hand)
- ressemblerparto resemble due to
- sortirpar(la fenêtre)to leave by (the window)
- venirpar(la côte)to come along/by (the coast)
