Au lieu de
Example: Au lieu de regarder la télé, lis un livre ce soir.
Definition
"Au lieu de" is a French expression used to indicate an alternative action or choice, meaning 'instead of'. It suggests doing one thing rather than another, as in 'Au lieu de regarder la télé, lis un livre ce soir' which means 'Instead of watching TV, read a book tonight.'
Etymology
The expression "Au lieu de" comes from French, where 'au' is a contraction of 'à le' meaning 'at the', 'lieu' means 'place', and 'de' means 'of'. Together, it literally translates to 'at the place of', which evolved to mean 'instead of' in everyday use. Did you know this phrase neatly combines spatial and substitution concepts?
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"Au lieu de" appears in the Vocaplus list "", containing 105 commonly used expressions.
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