In France, sometimes three’s a crowd – linguistically speaking.
Why do I need to know second?
Because knowing how to accurately use this expression will earn you language points even some French people lack.
What does it mean?
Second is French for ‘second’ (roughly pronounced sek-uhnd), though slightly different than deuxième (roughly pronounced duh-zyem), which also means ‘second’.
The subtle difference between second and deuxième is found in whether there were more than two of something, or whether the second thing was also the last thing.
For example, you would say je suis arrivé deuxième à la fête (I arrived second at the party), indicating that more people came after you.
However, if something is the second out of two things, then you would use second.
The rule is not obligatory, according to the language guardian Académie Française, so don’t worry if you forget and get deuxième and second mixed up.
But if you do want to be completely accurate, use second (masculine) or seconde (feminine, roughly pronounced suh-gond) anytime there are only two of something: seconde main (second hand) or seconde nature (second nature).
There is also the habit of saying la Seconde Guerre mondiale (the Second World War), because there has not been a third (and we hope there won’t be one), although Deuxième Guerre mondiale is also common.
Use it like this
Elle est la seconde femme intronisée au Panthéon. – She is the second woman laid to rest inside the Pantheon.
Louis était son second et dernier mari. Elle ne s’est jamais remariée depuis sa mort. – Louis was her second and last husband. She never remarried after his death.
