Word
Autrement dit, nous devons tout recommencer.
Meaning
In other words, we have to start everything again.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Autrement dit, nous devons tout recommencer.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
devoir
to have to / must
tout
all, everything
recommencer
to start again
Questions & Answers about Autrement dit, nous devons tout recommencer.
The current lesson teaches argumentation markers like d'une part... d'autre part. How does autrement dit complement those?
While d'une part... d'autre part is used to lay out contrasting points, autrement dit is a transition used to rephrase or simplify an argument you just made. Both are vital discourse markers that help structure your thoughts logically and guide your listener through a complex explanation.
Why is tout placed before recommencer instead of after it?
In French, when the pronoun tout acts as the direct object of a verb in the infinitive, it must be placed directly before that infinitive. B2 learners often default to English word order, but the correct grammatical structure is always tout recommencer rather than recommencer tout.
Is autrement dit a fixed expression?
Yes, it is a set phrase. On its own, the adverb autrement means differently or otherwise. Combined with dit (the past participle of dire), it literally translates to otherwise said, which functions exactly like the English phrase in other words.