Learn French: Beaucoup d'entre vous sont avides.

Beaucoup d'entre vous sont avides.

Many of you are greedy.

Breakdown of Beaucoup d'entre vous sont avides.

of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)

beaucoup

a lot, much

Questions & Answers about Beaucoup d'entre vous sont avides.

Why is it d'entre vous instead of just de vous?

When expressing a quantity of people using words like beaucoup, plusieurs, or certains followed by a pronoun, French requires the construction d'entre + a stressed pronoun (nous, vous, eux, elles). Saying beaucoup de vous is incorrect. It literally translates to 'many from among you'.

Since vous is right next to the verb, why is it sont instead of êtes?

The true subject of the sentence is the quantity word beaucoup (many), not vous. Because beaucoup acts as a third-person plural subject here, it takes the third-person plural verb sont. Think of it like saying 'Many individuals (among you) are greedy'.

What does the adjective avides agree with here?

It agrees with the subject beaucoup. Since beaucoup represents a plural quantity of people, the adjective must be plural, hence the s at the end. Because avide already ends in an e in its masculine singular form, its masculine and feminine plural forms are identical.

Does avides mean greedy for food, or greedy for things like money and power?