Semi-fixed MWEs in French and English. The French adverb à terme (‘in the end’) can be modified by a small set of adjectives, and in turn some of these adjectives can be modified by an adverb such as très (‘very’). Similar restrictions appear in English.
| French . | English . | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| à | terme | in the | near | term | |||
| à | court | terme | in the | short | term | ||
| à | très | court | terme | in the | very | short | term |
| à | moyen | terme | in the | medium | term | ||
| à | long | terme | in the | long | term | ||
| à | très | long | terme | in the | very | long | term |
| French . | English . | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| à | terme | in the | near | term | |||
| à | court | terme | in the | short | term | ||
| à | très | court | terme | in the | very | short | term |
| à | moyen | terme | in the | medium | term | ||
| à | long | terme | in the | long | term | ||
| à | très | long | terme | in the | very | long | term |