Neuf or Nouveau and Nine

Salut,

I am working through Section 2.7 and came across Quoi de neuf?  In my mind I thought "What's Nine" but clearly that doesn't make sense.  In looking at the translation it's "What's New"?  Why isn't it "Quoi Nouveau".  Or more specifically how would you know the person is saying New and not Nine other than the sentence context?

Any ideas?

Thank you!

As native speakers of English, we learned to use context from the beginning and use it naturally.  For example, when we encounter the word "lead," we know from context whether it is a metal or a verb.  As you noted, Dan, French also has such words; unfortunately, the example in Lesson 2.7, has very little context.  With practice we evenutally know the difference.

Here are more examples of neuf meaning new (all gleaned from the dictionary):
. . il y a du neuf . . . something new has happened
. . flambant neuf . . .  brand new
. . quelque chose/rien de neuf . . . something/nothing new

Hopefully this helps.

 

My apologies for not responding earlier, but Diana thank you!