"gré"

[alan gould]

I've seen the word before, probably in the expression "bon gré mal gré" ("like it or not") but i never learned it.  I just came across it used differently and looked it up.  The usage was to express gratitude and the dictionary had "Je vous saurais gré de bien vouloir ..." ("i wuld b grateful if you wuld...").  I'm familiar with "reconnaissant" and would use it instead.  Is the new expression with "gré" more formal and if so, are there times when I will hear it?  

Looking at other entries for "gré" I saw "gré-à-gré" ("over-the-counter") and a few others that might be useful.  I'd appreciate knowing expressions with "gré" that would be useful. 

merci d'avance

 

      

 

[Chantal Savignat]

Hello Alan.

All the expressions with "gré" are not frequently used, but they are not unknown. It's not a surprise to hear one of them.

I think that the more used is "de (son) plein gré"  : used instead of "volontairement" (more used because all these polar and criminal tv series we have ...)

and some years ago, a "new" expression appeared  : "à l'insu de son plein gré". You could probably hear this more often than the others. It appeared in a show tv to caricature a french sportsman who took drugs (this sportsman saying that he didn't know injections was drugs). And now this expression was used to make fun of someone who does something bad and says(with a guilty face)  that he didn't know it was bad.

Je vous saurais gré ... Je vous serais reconnaissant.

This one is used too. More used in administrative or formal language. But it's not a surprise.

"Reconnaissant" is more warm. If you know the people, it's a friend or you are close then "reconnaissant" is better (but you can use "gré" too). But if it's someone who owes you something, then "gré" is a more appropriate and polite answer, more reserved.

"au gré des évènements" : can be heard too. I think it's "at the mercy of ..."

"bon gré, mal gré" yes it could be heard but not every days.

gré-à-gré : never used in informal language. But it's used in some business or professional languages (I heard it in a bank, but I think in a notary office too)