davantage versus plus

[alan gould]

i saw this discussed in a forum.  someone thought the former is more formal and preferable in writing.  is that true?  

someone gave the following as an example of how to distinguish them: 

 

un problème qui touche plus de 5 million de femmes = ...that affects more than 5 million women 

un problème qui touche davantage l'homme que la femme = that affects men more than women

in the 1st sentence i can see that "davantage" wouldn't work.  in the 2nd, i think i could say "...qui touche l'homme plus que la femme"

merci d'avance

[George Hunt]

My on the hoof theory is that very common  words like plus can be used in many  different  ways (as an  adverb,adjective,expression of quantity..) whereas davantage seems more like it is used  more or less one way only.

So ,with it there is less scope for confusion or misuse. It is ,as it were designed  for a narrow range of uses.

Make any sense?

[alan gould]

looking at examples, i'm surprised to see this: 

more people - davantage de gens

[George Hunt]

Yes I have seen that too.

Also ,as  "davantage" is physically  a longer word than plus it seems to carry more "weight" in a sentence  whilst "plus"  you use without paying so much attention.

[Stevo]

Hi Alan and George.

“someone thought the former is more formal and preferable in writing.  is that true?”  

Each thinks differently even sharing a same language. As for me, I think that “plus” and “davantage” are really common words. If they are used correctly, none are more precious or formal than another.

“in the 1st sentence i can see that "davantage" wouldn't work.”

It's true. “Davantage” has the sense of “in priority to the comparison of...” Consequently, it must absolutely a comparison and, in this sentence justly, it's impossible to make any comparison. This sentence means indeed literaly in English : “this issue concerns a women quantity greater than 5 millions of women.”

“in the 2nd, i think i could say "...qui touche l'homme plus que la femme"”

Your translation is absolutely correct. It's useless to add something.

COMPLEMENT 1 :

In complement, for other French learners coming here to read this topic :

Concerning “plus” : this word has a twin homonym with an antagonist sense. Both are written exactly with the same spelling ! So, be aware!

The first : “plus” with sense of “more”

“Sur le parking, il y a plus de voitures.” ( On the carpack, there are more cars. )

The second : “plus” with the sense of “not anymore”

“Sur le parking, il n'y a plus de voiture.” ( On the carpack, there are not cars anymore. )

How to do easier the difference ?

Concerning the first : French people always pronounce the final “s” of “plus”. It's like this we understand the sense of “more” in French. Of course, it's impossible to retranslate over writing this one on this topic because it's an oral process.

Concerning the second : it's more complicated for learners, however, here a simple mnemonic mean :

1 - The negative shape “ne pas” is always used : “il n'y a plus” So, it's possible to understand “il n'y a pas” because “pas” takes the place of “plus” as they have exactly the same sense in the french negative shape. ( In addition and just for memory : when “ne” meets another word beginning by a vowel, it loses his vowel. Consequently, “il ne y a pas” becomes “il n'y a pas”. )

2 - As there is not object anymore, consequently, none object exists. That is why “voiture” is written with the singular shape.

3 - Through the oral usage, the final “s” is never pronounced. So, this word is written “plus” but is pronunced “plu” Finally, the good pronounciation is : “il n'y a plu de voiture.”

https://translate.google.fr/?hl=fr&tab=wT#fr/en/il%20n%27y%20a%...

To listen to it correctly. You must click on the audio button only on the french side! ( as it's a language tip, the English translation is funny but completely false, because a cars rain is very dangerous! lol. Indeed “il a plu” also means “it rained”... ^^ )

4 - Of course, this “plus” has never the sense of “davantage” as it means “less” than “more”.

COMPLEMENT 2 :

“davantage” and “d'avantage” are two different words with for each an autonomous sense.

Here two examples to understand :

“Cet homme a davantage de charisme que cet autre.”

( This man has more charism than this other. )

“Selon cette situation, il y a autant d'avantages que d'inconvénients.”

( According to this situation, there are as much as advantages than disadvantages. )

- “d'avantages” can be understandable like “des avantages” as it's an association of two words.