Connecting words and phrases are essential for discussion, clarity and fluency in any language. French is particularly reliant on connecting language: also and in fact have around 15 equivalent words and expressions in French. This is the first French-English dictionary to focus on this fascinating and crucial part of the language. The dictionary presents nearly 200 full entries in alphabetical order, including: de plus; et ce; or; c'est dire que; en fait; au total; voila. Entries define, discuss and exemplify the whole range of connecting language in French. 2000 examples add further clarity and are chosen from a wide range of registers and mainly contemporary prose.

This book offers a corpus-based comparative study of an almost entirely unexplored set of multi-word lexical items serving pragmatic or text-structuring functions. Part One provides a descriptive account of multi-word discourse markers in written English, French and German, focussing on dicussion of interlingual equivalence. Part Two examines the use of multi-word markers by non-native speakers of English and discusses lexicographical and pedagogical implications.