MĂȘme expresses first the identity or total similarity: it means that two beings, two objects or two facts are identical. As an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the noun, according to the rules of adjective agreement, and its form can vary between le mĂȘme, la mĂȘme and les mĂȘmes. This sense is close to the uses of identification illustrated also by certain demonstrative adjectives, but mĂȘme emphasizes the exact equivalence.
As an adjective, mĂȘme accompanies a noun and agrees with it; as a pronoun, it replaces a noun already mentioned and often takes a definite article, as in le mĂȘme. As an adverb, it means also or further and is placed before the verb or in front of the group it nuances. As an emphatic element, it attaches to a reflexive pronoun in forms like toi-mĂȘme or elle-mĂȘme, with a strengthening value.
RĂšgleRule.
ExempleExample.
Comme adjectif, mĂȘme sâaccorde avec le nom quâil qualifie.As an adjective, the same agrees with the noun it qualifies.
Il a choisi le mĂȘme chemin.He took the same path.
The position of mĂȘme often changes its grammatical function and sometimes its nuance. Placed before a noun, it functions as an adjective; placed after a pronoun, it often serves as emphatic support; placed before the verb, it takes an adverbial value. The order is therefore important, because moving it can modify the meaning or create a ambiguous reading.
RĂšgleRule.
ExempleExample.
Avant un nom, mĂȘme est adjectif.Before a noun, the same is an adjective.
Jâai vu la mĂȘme scĂšne deux fois.I saw the same scene twice.
MĂȘme enters into several very common expressions that are used as lexical chunks. MĂȘme si introduces a concession and is equivalent to bien que or dans le cas oĂč. MĂȘme pas strengthens the negation and expresses total absence, whereas au mĂȘme titre, pour le mĂȘme prix and et mĂȘme serve to compare, add or intensify a statement. These uses are useful to recognize the versatility of the word in MĂȘme vs Aussi.
In everyday French, mĂȘme belongs to a very productive usage and remains neutral in most contexts. In informal French, certain constructions such as mĂȘme que can appear, especially in Quebec, but they should be avoided in standard French. For careful usage, it is better to privilege the word's classical values, its agreements and its regular positions.