Breakdown of Le patient tousse souvent, voire tout le temps.
souvent
often
tousser
to cough
tout le temps
all the time
voire
and even / if not
le patient
the patient
Questions & Answers about Le patient tousse souvent, voire tout le temps.
How exactly does voire work here, and can I just use même instead?
Voire implies an escalation or a stronger alternative, translating best to 'and even' or 'if not'. In this sentence, it escalates the symptom from coughing souvent (often) to tout le temps (all the time). You cannot simply swap it for même. Voire specifically connects two related ideas where the second is more intense, whereas même (even) is a general adverb of emphasis.
Is the word voire related to the verb voir (to see)?
No, they are completely unrelated despite being pronounced exactly the same. Voire is a conjunction derived from a Latin word meaning 'truly', while voir means 'to see'. When writing this sentence, be careful not to forget the final 'e' on voire, which is a very common spelling mistake even among native speakers.
I have sometimes heard native speakers say voire même. Could we use that in this sentence?
Yes, in everyday spoken French, you might hear voire même tout le temps for extra emphasis. However, strict French grammarians consider voire même to be a redundancy (saying the same thing twice) because both words express the idea of addition. For B2 exams or formal writing, it is best to stick to just voire as shown in this sentence.
Why does the sentence use the singular tout le temps instead of the plural tous les temps for 'all the time'?
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