En général, Paul parle autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux.

In general, Paul talks as much as Marie, but today he is quieter.

Breakdown of En général, Paul parle autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux.

• être: to be
• Paul: Paul
• Marie: Marie
• il: he
• aujourd'hui: today
• mais: but
• parler: to talk
• plus: more
• silencieux: quiet
• que: as
• autant: as much
• en général: in general

Questions & Answers about En général, Paul parle autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux.

What does En général mean, and is it different from Généralement?

En général means in general / generally / usually. It introduces a statement that is true most of the time, but not always.

En général and Généralement are very close in meaning and often interchangeable:

• En général, Paul parle autant que Marie.
• Généralement, Paul parle autant que Marie.

Both are correct. En général is a fixed expression (preposition en + noun général), while Généralement is an adverb. In everyday speech, they feel almost the same, with maybe a slightly more neutral tone for en général.

Why is there a comma after En général?

En général is an introductory phrase giving the general context. In French, when you start a sentence with such an adverbial expression, you normally separate it with a comma:

• En général, ...
• Aujourd’hui, ...
• En été, ...

So the comma after En général is just normal punctuation to show that this part sets up the situation for what follows.

How does parle autant que Marie work? What exactly does autant que mean here?

Autant que is a comparative of equality meaning as much as.

Structure with a verb:

• verbe + autant que + nom/pronom

In this sentence:

• Paul parle autant que Marie
  → Paul speaks as much as Marie (does).

So it does not mean “so much that” or “too much”; it simply compares quantity/degree, putting Paul and Marie at the same level in terms of how much they talk, in general.

What is the difference between autant que and aussi que?

Both are used for comparisons of equality, but:

• Autant que is used with verbs, nouns, and adverbs (amount, quantity, intensity).
• Aussi que is used with adjectives (quality).

Examples:

• With a verb:
  Paul parle autant que Marie.
  Paul talks as much as Marie.

• With a noun:
  Paul a autant de travail que Marie.
  Paul has as much work as Marie.

• With an adverb:
  Paul parle aussi vite que Marie.
  Paul speaks as quickly as Marie.

• With an adjective:
  Paul est aussi bavard que Marie.
  Paul is as talkative as Marie.

So in your sentence, you need autant because it is modifying the verb parle (how much he speaks), not an adjective.

Why is it que Marie and not comme Marie?

Both que and comme can translate as as / like, but in comparisons of equality, French uses … autant que …, … plus que …, … moins que ….

So:

• Paul parle autant que Marie. ✅
• Paul parle autant comme Marie. ❌

Comme often means like / in the same way as:

• Paul parle comme Marie.
  → Paul speaks like Marie (same style/accent/manner).

Your sentence is about the amount of speaking, so autant que is the right structure.

Why is there mais in the middle with a comma: ..., mais aujourd’hui ...? Is the comma necessary?

Mais means but, introducing a contrast.

• First part: En général, Paul parle autant que Marie
  → what normally happens.
• Second part: mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux
  → what is different today.

In French, you normally put a comma before coordinating conjunctions like mais, et, ou when they join two full clauses:

• ..., mais il est plus silencieux.

So the comma before mais is standard written French. Removing it would usually be considered incorrect or at least poor style.

What does aujourd’hui literally mean, and why is there an apostrophe?

Aujourd’hui means today.

Historically, it comes from:

• au jour d’hui → on the day of today

Over time, it fused into one word and kept the apostrophe:

• aujourd’hui

So:

• It is written as one single word.
• The apostrophe marks the contraction similar to d’ in other phrases (like d’accord).

In modern usage, just remember: aujourd’hui = today, one word, with an apostrophe before hui.

Why is it il est plus silencieux and not something like il est plus en silence?

In French, silencieux is an adjective meaning silent / quiet.

• il est silencieux → he is quiet / a quiet person right now or in general.

To say more quiet / quieter, French uses the regular comparative with plus:

• il est plus silencieux → he is more quiet / quieter.

En silence is different: it is a prepositional phrase meaning in silence / silently and usually describes how an action is done:

• Il écoute en silence.
  He listens in silence.

But you don’t say il est en silence to mean he is quiet; you describe his state with an adjective:

• Il est silencieux.
  Il est plus silencieux.

Why is silencieux in the masculine form? What would it look like for a woman?

Silencieux agrees with the subject il (Paul), who is grammatically masculine.

• Masculine singular: silencieux
• Feminine singular: silencieuse

So:

• Aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux.
• Aujourd’hui elle est plus silencieuse.

If the sentence were about Marie, you would say:

• En général, Marie parle autant que Paul, mais aujourd’hui elle est plus silencieuse.

Could we also say Aujourd’hui, il parle moins instead of il est plus silencieux? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say:

• En général, Paul parle autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il parle moins.

Both are correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

• il parle moins
  → focuses directly on the amount of speaking: he is speaking less.

• il est plus silencieux
  → focuses more on his state/attitude: he is quieter than usual, more silent; it suggests a noticeable change in mood or behavior, not just a small reduction in words.

In context, il est plus silencieux sounds a bit more descriptive or expressive.

Why is the verb parle (present tense) used with En général? Shouldn’t we use something like a habitual tense?

French uses the present tense for:

• General truths
• Habits
• Things that happen regularly

So:

• En général, Paul parle autant que Marie.
  → In general / usually, Paul talks as much as Marie.

This is the normal, correct way to express a habitual action. There is no separate “habitual tense” in French like in some other languages; the simple present does the job, often helped by time markers like en général, d’habitude, souvent, toujours.

Can we change the word order, like Paul, en général, parle autant que Marie or Aujourd’hui, il est plus silencieux at the beginning?

Yes, French allows some flexibility in placing adverbial expressions:

All of these are correct (with slightly different emphasis):

• En général, Paul parle autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux.
• Paul, en général, parle autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux.
• Paul parle, en général, autant que Marie, mais aujourd’hui il est plus silencieux. (a bit heavier, more spoken-style)
• Aujourd’hui, il est plus silencieux, mais en général Paul parle autant que Marie.

Placing En général or Aujourd’hui at the start is very common and sounds natural, especially in written French. The meaning stays essentially the same; you just shift what you want to highlight first (the usual situation vs today’s exception).