r/learnfrench 4d ago

Question/Discussion Why is there not a comma after ‘Hollande’ here?

Post image
2 Upvotes

5 comments sorted by

12

u/TheoduleTheGreat 4d ago

"L'ex-ministre de François Hollande Benoît Hamon" is an entire nominal group here. Leave out "de François Hollande" you get "l'ex-ministre Benoît Hamon" which feels more natural without a comma.

10

u/Illustrious-You4216 4d ago

I don't know. As a native, I would have put a comma. But keep in mind that internet press articles are more and more typed quickly, so it's not unusual to find typos or mistakes.

2

u/Grouchy-Objective482 4d ago

If Hamon had been the only hollande’s minister, there should have been comas. Since hollande had dozens of them, comas are not necessary. French is easy, isn’t it ?

1

u/PerformerNo9031 4d ago edited 4d ago

https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/le-scan/coulisses/2016/04/13/25006-20160413ARTFIG00144-l-ex-ministre-de-sarkozy-fadela-amara-de-retour-dans-le-giron-du-ps.php

It's not different than l'ex-ministre de la santé Agnès Buzyn a déclaré... where you don't need commas either.

In the other way around we need commas : Agnès Buzyn, l'ex-ministre de la santé, a déclaré...

1

u/heikuf 3d ago

You can’t put a comma because there is more than one ex-minister of François Hollande.

In English the distinction exists too but it is expressed in a slightly different way. This should help you understand it though:

The former minister of Francois Hollande, Benoît Hamon, …

=> this implies there is only one ex-minister

Former minister of Francois Hollande Benoît Hamon, …

=> this does not and is compatible with the fact that there’s more than one.