chaque

Chaque is a French determiner meaning "each" or "every." It introduces a singular noun and signals that every member of a set is considered individually. It is invariable, showing no gender or number agreement, and is used before both masculine and feminine nouns: chaque jour, chaque femme, chaque outil.

In use, chaque normally appears directly before the noun it modifies and does not take a plural form. It can be combined with a variety of nouns to express distribution across a group, for example: chaque participant, chaque élément, chaque jour. Phrases like à chaque fois (every time) are common, and the expression à chaque occurrence emphasizes repetition or regularity.

Everyday distinctions: chaque is a determiner, while the pronoun chacun (and chacune for feminine) means "each one" in a standing position. One says “Chacun a ses préférences,” not “Chaque a ses préférences.” The nuance is that chaque points to the items collectively as individual instances, whereas chacun functions as a full noun phrase on its own.

Etymology traces chaque to Old French chascun, meaning “each one,” which in turn comes from a Latin root expressing distributive sense. The form chascun evolved into chacun and, in the determiner, into chaque, with the two sharing the same semantic origin.

Examples: Chaque jour apporte son lot de défis. Chaque livre sur cette étagère est différent. À chaque fois que je viens, il pleut. See also: chacun, chacune; tous les, tout.