# FR: le cas échéant



## letitsnow

Bonjour,

juste une petite question, je suis en train d'analyser quelques textes et je voudrais vérifier si échéant dans la phrase "le cas échéant" est une participe présent ou un adjectif?  Je suis désolé si c'est un peu simple!

Merci en avance


----------



## cemuria

échéant est le participe présent du verbe échoir


----------



## franglophile

It doesn't really matter, because the entire saying is independent, it is always written as "le cas échéant", no matter what comes before, no matter what comes after.

If you would like a technical response, échéant is the present participle of the verb échoir, but at the same time, it is an adjective.

I'm not sure that there is a single correct answer to your question


----------



## letitsnow

thanks to both of you.
i suppose it is a present participle being used as an adjective? like when a noun is used as an adj. eg "development goals".  Although how would you describe that? I know un "substantif adjectivé", I guess I can just explain what it is and how it's used.


----------



## franglophile

Someone who is great at grammar could give you the technical definitions of what is happening.

What I can tell you that word roots are commonly transformed into verbs, participles, adverbs and adjectives, just like in English!  It's like having four different flavors of one word.

"le cas échéant"  could be described a couple of ways.

First, "échéant" is an adjective modifying "cas" ( even though it is a present participle!).

Or, "échéant" is part of a compound noun

meaning

"cas échéant", because it is so common in usage, has stopped being a noun-adjective combination, and has transformed into a compound noun.

Whichever way you like, that's what it is.

Purists and strict grammatarians will of course have strict definitions for you, but you yourself can already see how the thing developed, and you can already see why there is more than one answer to the question, in practical terms!

That's all I have to say dans le cas échéant.


----------



## Markus

If, hypothetically, _cas_ was feminine, would it be _la cas échéante_ or _la cas échéant_ ? If it's a present participle then it would be the latter, not agreeing with the noun it modifies, and if it's an adjective it would be the former.


----------



## franglophile

Markus your question is a good one and a logical one, but there is no answer to it, because 'cas' is not feminine, and so the entire ball of wax developed in the masculine way rather than the feminine way.  It's like asking "if the Pope were Jewish, what kind of little hat would he wear?"

However, I suspect that if you researched around a bit, you could find a feminine noun stuck to one adjective so often that it became a "feminine compound noun".

I guess I'm saying that rather than supposing in hypotheticals, we would be better off to just figure out if we can find some feminine compound nouns.

Maybe there's a francophone in the group who can offer up an example of a femine compound noun?

p.s.  If the adjective part of the feminine compound noun is also a present participle, all the better!


----------



## Fred-Fred

"Séance tenante" (= immediately) would fit in your discussion... ;-)

This one is even better: "Toutes affaires cessantes"


----------



## franglophile

Voilà donc   Words that are adjectives and at the same time present participles and at the same time co-nouns in the feminine compound noun.

Language is so beautiful!


----------



## Markus

Thanks Fred-Fred, I find that quite interesting, since present participles don't agree with their nouns.


----------



## franglophile

If they are being used as adjectives, they do   That's the interesting part.
(Or you could say that once the participle begins to agree with the noun, it ceases being a participle and begins being an adjective)


----------



## Fred-Fred

Jamais deux sans trois: "Monnaie sonnante et trébuchante".


----------



## franglophile

Unless you are taking a test and you need to recite someone else's answer in order to pass the test, don't let anyone tell you what parts of speech these words are.

Your own understanding of how a verb contains participles that transform into adjectives that join with nouns to form compound adjectives, that's all you need to know.   You are now the teacher to those who are stuck in rigid modes of defining things, enjoy it.

Goodnight.


----------



## Fred-Fred

Un participe présent utilisé comme adjectif (comme ci-dessus) s'appelle un "adjectif verbal".  Il s'accorde en genre et en nombre avec le "nom" auquel il se rapporte.

Out.


----------

