# a priori



## SoupleCommeLeVent

*Moderation Note: Several threads have been merged to create this one. 

*Ok, I realise it's Latin, and Fr-En dictionaries helpfully translate it into English as "a priori". But in English we seldom use it. In French it's frequently used, I've seen it in advertising and heard it on the radio.

Can anyone shed any light on its use in French and give examples of when a native speaker might use it.

Can't give much of a context other than what I just heard on europe1 which was "Donc, ce n'etait pas a priori, hein". (not sure what went before it)!

Thanks in anticipation of your input


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## aurayfrance

"A priori" used as an adverb may be translated by "in principle".

But are you sure the sentence wasn't:

Donc, ce n'était pas UN à priori. As a noun, it means "une idée préconçue", "un préjugé".


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## SoupleCommeLeVent

aurayfrance said:
			
		

> "A priori" used as an adverb may be translated by "in principle".
> 
> But are you sure the sentence wasn't:
> 
> Donc, ce n'était pas UN à priori. As a noun, it means "une idée préconçue", "un préjugé".


 
Yes you're right, I must have heard "ce n'etait pas un a priori" (just as quatre-vingt sounds like quatre-vingt-un to my ears), so meaning "it wasn't something that had been planned" or similar.

Please could you give an example of "a priori" as an adverb?

Thank you


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## Katrina8888

Bonjour, SoupleCommeLeVent!

I propose "A priori, cette étape ne devrait pas poser de problème particulier"

Katrina


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## leonestdebil

hey!
i'm not quite sure that "it wasn't something that had been planned" works for "donc, ce nétait pas un a priori"... i guess i'd rather say something like "after all you weren't prejudiced about this ..."
*sigh* but i'm not even sure mine works either...
L.


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## SoupleCommeLeVent

Je viens de trouver ce que donne le site de l’ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE.

A PRIORI loc. adv. XVIIe siècle. Emprunté du latin scolastique, proprement « en partant de ce qui est avant ». 1. LOGIQUE. D'après des données antérieures à l'expérience, en s'appuyant sur les principes de la raison, par opposition à A posteriori. Argumenter a priori. Adjt. Raisonnement a priori. 2. Par ext. Préalablement à l'examen, au premier abord, ou, péj., en fonction d'une idée préconçue, d'un principe, d'un préjugé, etc. A priori, j'accepte votre proposition. Ils sont hostiles a priori à ce projet. Subst. inv. Un a priori. Poser, formuler un a priori, des a priori.

A POSTERIORI (e se prononce é) loc. adv. XVIIe siècle. Emprunté du latin scolastique, « en partant de ce qui vient après ». 1. LOGIQUE. En partant des données de l'expérience, en remontant des effets aux causes, par opposition à A priori. Formuler une loi physique a posteriori. Adjt. Un raisonnement a posteriori. 2. Par ext. Après coup, expérience faite. J'ai reconnu a posteriori qu'on ne pouvait pas faire confiance à cet homme.

Auray a proposé “en principle” comme équivalent, ce qui correspond à des exemples que j’ai vu.  Donc, il parait que le sens a changé un peu par rapport au latin.

Puis-je dire, par exemple, “Pour améliorer la sécurité routière, les radars me semble a priori une bonne solution, bien que moi-meme j’aie du mal parfois à respecter les limites de vitesse”?

Merci


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## OlivierG

SoupleCommeLeVent said:
			
		

> Puis-je dire, par exemple, "Pour améliorer la sécurité routière, les radars me semble*nt* a priori une bonne solution, bien que moi-m*ê*me j'aie *parfois du mal * à respecter les limit*ations* de vitesse�?



Absolument.
"A priori" est utilisé en Français dans le sens "En me basant sur le peu (ou l'absence) de renseignements que j'ai" (From what I know?).
Cela sous-entend que cette opinion peut changer si d'autres données sont apportées par la suite.


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## SoupleCommeLeVent

Oh, so it's almost like a mini-disclaimer..


So
"Pour améliorer la sécurité routière, les radars me semblent a priori une bonne solution, bien que moi-même j'aie parfois du mal à respecter les limitations de vitesse"

= It seems from what I've heard that speed cameras are a good solution to improving road safety, even though I myself have trouble sticking to speed limits"

rather than 
= In principle, I am broadly in agreement with speed cameras, although I myself have trouble sticking to speed limits


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## SoupleCommeLeVent

Katrina8888 said:
			
		

> Bonjour, SoupleCommeLeVent!
> 
> I propose "A priori, cette étape ne devrait pas poser de problème particulier"
> 
> Katrina


 
Thank you for this.

I understand something like:
"In theory, that stage should not cause any particular problem"


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## Paul-Goodwin

I hear it most days in the office!

For me the English phrase "on the face of it" fits the bill because it implies a superficiality / lack of evidence..


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## LV4-26

The meaning of _a priori_ (adverb) is "prior to any further examination".

If you say _a priori_ it means this is my opinion now but it could change if I looked more deeply into the matter.

As has been already suggested, _*un* a priori_ (noun) is a preconceived idea.

EDIT : here's an example
_A priori, la situation devrait s'améliorer_
At first sight/presumably the situtation should improve. (= unless some unforeseen elements should prove me wrong)


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## Thomas Tompion

I enjoyed this old thread.

I have long found it strange that the French should use the expression _a priori_ in contrast to something like a_près y avoir pensé,_ in other words to mean _at first sight,_ or what philosophers - and remember the use in philosophy already pointed out - call _prima facie._

In English the opposite of _a priori_ is _a posteriori._ 

We know_ a priori_ that 13 + 27 = 40, but_ a posteriori_ that today is Wednesday. There's nothing in the word _today _to indicate that it means Wednesday, but if we find out other things about today, such as that it follows Tuesday, we can determine that it happens to be Wednesday.


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## Angela-S

I agree.  I have always found it odd that In French a priori is used to mean at first sight - prima facie.  It is quite confusing to we English speakers and I think it would be to native Latin speakers - were there any left.


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## white_ray

“a priori: from the former. If you think something a priori, you are conceiving it before seeing the facts. Presupposing.”

Well, «à priori» sounds very natural in French and it is commonly used.
Thanks to you all I found its equivalent in English. 

[...]


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## Gerard Samuel

I would say that, when it is used as a noun, it means "preconceived notions."


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## brunoed1

Est-ce qu'l'expression "à priori" a vraiment un sens qui ajoute valeur à une phrase?  Je le vois partout où il est impossible de voir un sens consistent où un sens qui ajoute au sens géneral de la phrase.  Voici un example dans un mail où il n'y a plus d'autre contexte: 
 "J'aurai juste besoin d'un vidéoprojecteur a rpiori." 

Merci


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## Guerric

Hi,

In your case, you may translate it as "(From what I read/saw/heard/...,) *It would seem that*..."


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## JeanDeSponde

C'est vrai qu'on emploie parfois _à priori_ dans le sens de _à première vue__._


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## ascoltate

It does have a meaning of something like "from the outset" or "My initial impression is that..."


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## Keith Bradford

On the other hand, it's often used in French in a way we English-speakers don't: as a noun.  _Il a des à-priori à ce sujet = he has *preconceptions *on this._


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## Mauricet

[ ... ]

Dans la phrase "J'aurai juste besoin d'un vidéoprojecteur a priori" il manque une virgule avant "a priori" (que je comprends comme "en attendant que je me souvienne que j'aurai besoin d'autre chose" ...).


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## Novanas

G'day, Folks!  I often have problems with the French use of "a priori" (which may possibly be spelled "à priori" these days).  There are a number of threads concerning the term on this forum, so I'm not the only English speaker that has difficulties with it.  The specific use of it that concerns me here occurs in _Un Smoking à la mer_, by Louis-Henri de la Rochefoucauld (a descendant of the famous de la Rochefoucauld).

A woman is on a cruise and is in the ship's dining-room.  There she spots a man that she thinks she might know:

_. . . j'étais sûre de l'avoir déjà croisé dans une autre vie.  Il habitait désormais une nouvelle peau, plus rembourrée, mais derrière son double menton, il était assurément de ma connaissance._

She asks the waiter who the man is, and he tells her that he's "Monsieur Bergamott", who's in insurance.  So the woman goes on,

_Bergamott, ça ne me disait rien.  Et dans les assurances, en plus. . . Non, *a priori*, jamais de ma vie je n'avais sorti un crayon de papier pour écrire _Bergamott_ dans mon carnet d'adresses en alligator._

"A priori" normally translates variously as "at first glance", "on the face of it", "in principle", etc., none of which fits the context here.  I gather that the term means something you believe "at first glance" without thinking too much about it, or without looking for evidence to back up what you think.

So if we take it to mean roughly "at first glance", it might mean something like "I haven't really thought about it, but . . ."  So perhaps we might construe it as "Unless I'm mistaken. . ."

But I'm not sure that fits the context.  It seems to me the woman has now changed her mind.  Though at first she thought she knew the man, now she's certain that she doesn't.  So "a priori" might imply, "I don't need to think about it, I'm quite certain. . ."  So perhaps we might construe it as "There's no doubt that. . ."

In other words, I don't really know how to interpret the term in this context.  If anyone can help out, many thanks.


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## atcheque

Bonjour,



> "Unless I'm mistaken. . ."



That 's it, she is still thinking at this man, with this new information of his name.



> "I don't need to think about it





> I'm *quite *certain. . ."  So perhaps we might construe it as "There's no doubt that. . ."


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## phenren

Hi, 

"a priori" is and term that works in concert with "a posteriori". So if there is an "a priori" somewhere it means that an "a posteriori" can occurs later. 

In your sentence i think that it is a way to express a very quick relfexion about the question "ai-je déja écris le nom de Bergamott....". It also means that considering the nature (quick) of that reflexion, error is not impossible. It is like saying "i'm pretty sure of "smting" but not as an absolute truth.


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## RasJulien

Hello,

In this context, I am tempted to interpret it as ''Off the top of my head''. Your ''Unless I'm mistaken'' would work pretty well too.

Also, writing it *à* priori is definitely a mistake. It is a latin locution I think.


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## Novanas

Thanks to all of you for your quick replies.  Your explanations are very helpful.  I think "off the top of my head" would probably work in a lot of cases.  I'm not quite sure about this one.  I think I myself might say, "Unless I'm mistaken. . ."  That indicates that I could be wrong, and if I thought about it some more I might decide that I was.  As regards the spelling (a priori/à priori), this is what I found in the Wiktionnaire:*

à priori* /a.pʁi.jɔ.ʁi/  (orthographe utilisée initialement en français, puis abandonnée, puis  recommandée à nouveau par les rectifications orthographiques de 1990).

_Variante orthographique de_ a priori


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## phenren

"a priori" comes from the latin, this is why you can find it whith a simple "a".  But if you want to learn more about that point : http://www.langue-fr.net/spip.php?article128   there is a full topic here.


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## RasJulien

> As regards the spelling (a priori/à priori), this is what I found in the Wiktionnaire:*
> 
> à priori* /a.pʁi.jɔ.ʁi/  (orthographe utilisée initialement en français, puis abandonnée, puis  recommandée à nouveau par les rectifications orthographiques de 1990).
> 
> _Variante orthographique de_ a priori



Thanks for the link. I always thought ''a priori'' was invariable...


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## Lorne

Récemment, j'ai lu "a priori" dans des contextes différents qui me rendent perplexe. En anglais, je le sais en logique, "basé sur hypothèse plutôt qu'expérience". En français il semble signifier aussi, ou plutôt, "at first, initially, from the beginning" et d'autres choses comme "je pense, il m'apparaît". Comment est-il vraiment utilisé s.v.p?


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## jetset

You are right, at the beginning of a phrase it often means "Apparently".


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## carolineR

_a priori_ veut dire " sans l'apport que constitue l'expérience", par opposition à _a posteriori_ qui signifie, "avec les connaissances qu'apporte l'expérience"-> en langage courant , on utilise souvent _a priori_ comme un synonyme de "à première vue"


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## Lorne

Thank you both. That clears up several puzzling sentences.


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## wildan1

_Based on what I know, ... _(when it isn't much information)
_It looks like…
It seems that..._

(NB The use of _a priori_ in English is generally limited to legal or very academic contexts; it is not used in everyday speech.)


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## Kelly B

I sometimes choose _at first glance (_like carolineR's _à première vue.)_


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## Thomas Tompion

wildan1 said:


> _Based on what I know, ... _(when it isn't much information)
> _It looks like…
> It seems that..._
> 
> (NB The use of _a priori_ in English is generally limited to legal or very academic contexts; it is not used in everyday speech.)


I think this depends a little on who is participating in this 'everyday speech'.

Researching this, I've been interested to discover that where it is used in non-technical (non-philosophical) writing and speech in English, _a priori _is often used in a 'French' sense, eg.:

Why, then, were only half-a-dozen of these new towns properly laid out on a predetermined plan, and the vast majority left to grow haphazard with narrow, irregular, winding streets, odd little lanes everywhere, and all the other attributes of the picturesque today? There were two principal reasons for this: one was that medieval men had no *a* *priori* love of symmetry..._ The making of the British landscape_. W. Hoskins. 

Meanwhile, assisted and deliberately encouraged by various tax remissions, an increasing number of people are covered, to an increasing extent, by non-state pension schemes, many of which provide benefits well above subsistence. *A* *priori* it might have seemed logical that as these increase and spread, they would render the state pension superfluous and enable the system of compulsory redistribution which finances it to be discontinued progressively. _Reflections of a statesman: the writings and speeches of Enoch Powell._ Enoch Powell.


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## wildan1

Thomas Tompion said:


> I think this depends a little on who is participating in this 'everyday speech'.
> 
> Researching this, I've been interested to discover that where it is used in non-technical (non-philosophical) writing and speech in English, _a priori _is often used in a 'French' sense, eg.:


I would not call either of those quotations examples of everyday speech, Thomas, or in any way similar to how the term _a priori _is heard in very casual conversation in French. Those are fairly high-register examples of professionals speaking or writing about their technical specialties.


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## Thomas Tompion

wildan1 said:


> I would not call either of those quotations examples of everyday speech, Thomas, or in any way similar to how the term _a priori _is heard in very casual conversation in French. Those are fairly high-register examples of professionals speaking or writing about their technical specialties.


The first is a pretty standard book about how the way the country looks has developed; the second is a political speech, I think.

What particularly interested me is that  neither is close to the formal philosophical use of the expression to mean something close to 'provable without reference to experience'.

I'm surprised that you don't think that in the second the meaning is close to 'at first glance', which is the way my French neighbour seems casually to use the word.

The first seems closer to meaning_ basic,_ _fundamental,_ which is not, I agree, similar to the casual French use of the term.


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