Proust vs. Flaubert: What 1,450 Words Reveal About Two French Masters

Exactly the same. Both authors use 222 verbs at 15.3% of total words.

This is surprising. Proust is famous for long, winding sentences. Flaubert is known for sharp, precise prose.

Yet they describe the same amount of action.

The difference must be elsewhere.

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2. The Noun Divide: Flaubert Builds With Objects

Flaubert uses 13% more nouns.

His most common nouns:

• classe (classroom) - 7x
• professeur (professor) - 6x
• casquette (cap) - 6x

These are concrete, physical objects. Things you can see and touch.

Proust's most common nouns:

• temps (time) - 6x
• sommeil (sleep) - 6x
• yeux (eyes) - 5x
• pensée (thought) - 4x

These are abstract, internal experiences.

Flaubert describes the external world. Proust describes internal consciousness.

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3. The Conjunction Gap: The Real Difference

Proust uses 79% more subordinating conjunctions.

The Devil is in "Que"

Flaubert's subordinating conjunctions:

• que: 6x
• quand (when): 3x
• si (if): 2x

Proust's subordinating conjunctions:

• que: 15x
• comme (as/like): 4x
• quand (when): 3x

Proust uses "que" 2.5 times more than Flaubert.

What "Que" Does

In French, "que" creates subordinate clauses:

• "Je pense que..." (I think that...)
• "La chambre que j'habitais" (The room that I lived in)

Each "que" adds a layer:

• Layer 1: Main clause
• Layer 2: First "que" clause
• Layer 3: Second "que" clause
• Layer 4: Third "que" clause

Flaubert: 6 layers total across the entire passage

Proust: 15 layers total

This is why Proust feels like navigating a maze. You're holding multiple nested thoughts simultaneously.

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4. Adverbs: Qualifying Everything

Proust uses 23% more adverbs.

Top adverbs:

• Proust: plus (more), encore (still), autour (around)
• Flaubert: ne (not), plus (more), bien (well)

Adverbs qualify and modify. They add nuance and uncertainty.

Proust doesn't just say "I slept." He says "I had still slept, perhaps too deeply."

Every statement gets qualified, layered, made ambiguous.

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5. What They Write About

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6. The Most Important Words

1. L'Étude (the study hall)
2. Le Proviseur (the headmaster)
3. Le maître d'études (study master)
4. Le nouveau (the new boy)
5. La classe (the classroom)
6. La casquette (the cap)
7. Le professeur (the professor)
8. Le banc de paresse (the dunce bench)
9. Le dictionnaire (the dictionary)
10. La campagne (the countryside)

All concrete. All nameable. All visible.

Proust's Top 10:

1. bougie (candle)
2. volume (book volume)
3. ouvrage (work/book)
4. métempsycose (metempsychosis - transmigration of souls)
5. bougeoir (candlestick)
6. obscurité (darkness)
7. sifflement (whistling/hissing)
8. campagne (countryside)
9. oreiller (pillow)
10. allumette (match)

Half are abstract or philosophical. The concrete objects (candle, pillow) exist in darkness and uncertainty.

Note: Proust uses "métempsycose" - the philosophical concept of souls transmigrating between bodies. Flaubert uses "casquette" - a cap.

This tells you everything.

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7. Key Phrases

Flaubert:

1. Habillé en bourgeois (dressed as a bourgeois)
2. Air raisonnable et fort embarrassé (reasonable air and very embarrassed)
3. Coiffures d'ordre composite (hairstyles of composite order)
4. Banc de paresse (dunce bench)
5. Travaillait en conscience (worked conscientiously)

Descriptive. Social observation. External judgment.

Proust:

1. chercher le sommeil (seeking sleep)
2. tournant particulier (particular turn/moment)
3. pesait comme des écailles (weighed like scales)
4. devenir inintelligible (becoming unintelligible)
5. chose sans cause (thing without cause)
6. instant où le malade (moment when the sick person)
7. souffrir sans remède (suffer without remedy)
8. âge à jamais révolu (age forever past)

Introspective. Temporal. Existential.

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8. The Data Summary

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What This Means

The Pattern is Clear:

Flaubert:

• More nouns → builds with objects
• More adjectives → describes precisely
• Fewer conjunctions → simpler structures
• Topic: Social world, external reality

Proust:

• Fewer nouns → less concrete
• More adverbs → qualifies everything
• More conjunctions → nested thoughts
• Topic: Consciousness, internal reality

For Language Learners:

Start with Flaubert:

• Higher noun density (23.6%) = easier to visualize
• Lower conjunction rate (1.0%) = simpler sentences
• Concrete vocabulary
• Linear narrative

Progress to Proust when:

• You can handle subordinate clauses
• You're comfortable with ambiguity
• You can hold multiple thoughts simultaneously

For Literature Students:

Don't just say "Proust is complex."

Say: "Proust uses 79% more subordinating conjunctions, particularly 'que' (15x vs 6x), creating nested clause structures that mirror the associative nature of memory."

Data gives you evidence.

For Writers:

Want clarity?

• Follow Flaubert: High nouns (23.6%), low conjunctions (1.0%)

Want psychological depth?

• Follow Proust: More conjunctions (+79%), more adverbs (+23%)

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  Conclusion

Same verb count. Same passage length.

But:

• Flaubert uses 342 nouns to build a classroom
• Proust uses 15 "que"s to build a consciousness

Flaubert draws the world in HD.

Proust dissolves it into thought.

Both are measurable. Both are masterful.

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Analyze Your Own Texts

Want to see these patterns in other authors? Or in your own writing?

Text2Voca analyzes:

• POS distribution
• Word frequency
• Thematic structure
• Key phrases

Languages: English, German, Spanish, French

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