Learn French: Chaque participant doit lire tout le programme d'abord. - Each participant must read the whole program first.

Chaque participant doit lire tout le programme d'abord.

Each participant must read the whole program first.

Breakdown of Chaque participant doit lire tout le programme d'abord.

him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)

tout

all, everything

Questions & Answers about Chaque participant doit lire tout le programme d'abord.

Why does this sentence use Chaque instead of Chacun, since both can mean 'each'?

Chaque is an adjective, so it must always be followed directly by a noun (like participant here). Chacun (or chacune) is a pronoun meaning 'each one', which replaces a noun and stands alone. To use the pronoun here, you would drop the noun and say Chacun doit lire... (Each one must read...).

Why is it tout le programme instead of just tout programme?

When tout is followed by a definite article like le or la, it means 'all of the' or 'the whole'. So tout le programme means 'the whole program'. Without the article, tout programme would mean 'every program' or 'any program'.

Why use d'/abord instead of premier to translate 'first'?

Premier is an adjective that describes a noun, as in le premier participant (the first participant). D'abord is an adverb meaning 'firstly' or 'first of all', used to describe the order of actions. Because it applies to the action of reading (lire), we use d'abord.