We've touched on grammatical agreement in previous lessons, but in this one we're focusing on the word "agreement" itself. The French word for "agreement" is un accord, and its verbal form, accorder, means "to agree" or "to make an agreement":
Et les accords, également. Savoir comment on accorde un adjectif à son sujet, par exemple.
And agreements too. Knowing how you make an adjective agree with its subject, for example.
Captions 11-12, Le saviez-vous? - Les bénéfices de la dictée
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Un accord is "an agreement" in all senses, not just a grammatical one. It can refer to an official agreement, something you might sign or seal:
Eh bien, scellons cet accord!
Well then, let's seal this agreement!
Caption 16, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès
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Or it can refer to a verbal agreement, to permission or consent:
Il me fallait aussi l'accord de ses parents.
I also needed the consent of her parents.
Caption 30, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion
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It's pretty obvious that this is where the English word "accord" comes from. But did you know that accord is also the root of the word "chord"?
Ce morceau se joue sur trois accords.
This piece is played with three chords.
Caption 7, Leçons de guitare - Leçon 3
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(It's not, however, the root of the word "cord." That would be une corde—a cord, rope, or string.)
On another musical note, accord is also the word for "harmony" in a figurative sense, referring to a match, fit, rapport, or understanding:
Le riesling ça reste quand même sur les huîtres un accord parfait.
Riesling still remains in perfect harmony with oysters.
Caption 71, Alsace 20 - 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Alors c'est quoi le bon accord mets et vins?
So what is the good pairing of food and wine?
Caption 8, Alsace 20 - 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Nous sommes en parfait accord.
We are in complete agreement/harmony.
But you're most likely to encounter accord in the expression d'accord, the French equivalent of "OK" or "all right":
D'accord, ça marche pour moi.
OK, that works for me.
D'accord is an abbreviated form of the phrase être d'accord, "to agree" or "to be in agreement":
On s'est quitté d'un commun accord, mais elle était plus d'accord que moi
We left each other with a mutual agreement, but she was more in agreement than I
Caption 51, Grand Corps Malade - Les Voyages en train
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Certaines personnes sont pas d'accord avec l'enfermement des animaux.
Some people don't agree with the confinement of animals.
Caption 21, Actus Quartier - Bêtes de scène ?
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D'accord, c'est tout pour cette leçon!
In Les endives au jambon - Part 1, Sophie gives Patrice's recipe for endive with ham a rave review. She uses the word limite twice:
J'ai limite léché l'assiette, quoi!
I almost licked the plate, you know!
Caption 64, Sophie et Patrice - Les endives au jambon - Part 1
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Et limite... limite... limite, tu pourrais mettre un tout petit peu de miel, hein?
And almost... almost... you could almost put in a tiny little bit of honey, right?
Captions 106-107, Sophie et Patrice - Les endives au jambon - Part 1
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Une limite is "a limit," but limite can also be an adverb or adjective. As an adverb (which is how Sophie uses it here), limite is a more informal synonym of presque (almost, nearly). So Sophie could also have said:
J'ai presque léché l'assiette, quoi!
I almost licked the plate, you know!
Tu pourrais presque mettre un tout petit peu de miel, hein?
You could almost put in a tiny little bit of honey, right?
In the first example, she could also have used the expression "avoir failli + infinitive" (to almost do something):
J'ai failli lécher l'assiette, quoi!
I almost licked the plate, you know!
But let's get back to limite. As an adjective, it usually means "maximum," as in la vitesse limite (maximum speed) or le prix limite (maximum price, upper price limit). You'll also see it in phrases like la date limite (deadline) or la date limite de vente (sell-by date).
More colloquially, limite can describe a close call, something you just barely succeeded in doing:
J'ai réussi mon permis de conduire, mais c'était limite.
I passed my driver's test, but just barely.
You might also say j'ai limite raté mon permis de conduire, j'ai presque raté mon permis de conduire, or j'ai failli rater mon permis de conduire (I almost failed my driver's test).
Finally, limite is also the word for "edgy" or "borderline," as in something that's risqué or just shy of being offensive:
Ton ami est sympa mais ses blagues sont un peu limites.
Your friend is nice but his jokes are borderline offensive.
We've reached the limit for this lesson! Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
When it comes to writing numbers in French, there are a good number (bon nombre) of rules to remember. Luckily, Sophie and Patrice have broken down most of them in their latest video series. They pay particular attention to the rules concerning the numeral one (un), the eighties (quatre-vingts), and the hundreds (cents).
In French, there’s only one numeral that changes according to the gender of the noun it modifies: the numeral one!
Je n’ai acheté qu’une chemise et un pantalon.
I only bought one [feminine] shirt and one [masculine] pair of pants.
This rule applies to any number ending in “one,” such as vingt-et-un (“twenty-one,” masculine) or vingt-et-une (“twenty-one,” feminine):
J’ai acheté trop de vêtements: vingt-et-une chemises et vingt-et-un pantalons.
I bought too many clothes: twenty-one shirts and twenty-one pairs of pants.
However, there’s an exception to this: the numeral un never changes when it comes after a noun indicating a number. For example:
Tournez à la page un [not: une].
Turn to page one.
Pourriez-vous me passer la revue numéro vingt-et-un [not: vingt-et-une]?
Could you pass me the magazine issue number twenty-one?
Caption 25, Sophie et Patrice - Chiffres et nombres - Part 2
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Most other numbers—from deux (two) to quarante (forty) to deux mille quarante (two thousand forty)—never change in any situation. For those that do (besides those ending in un), it’s generally a question of knowing when to add an -s at the end. Take the number quatre-vingts (eighty) for example. Quatre-vingts literally means “four twenties” (4 x 20 = 80) and always takes an -s, except—once again—after a noun indicating a number. So we would write: la page quatre-vingt (page eighty) and les années quatre-vingt (the nineteen eighties), but quatre-vingts pages (eighty pages) and quatre-vingts années (eighty years).
The -s is also dropped whenever quatre-vingts is followed by a number—as in quatre-vingt-un (eighty-one) or quatre-vingt-cinq (eighty-five):
Quatre-vingt-cinq personnes sont attendues ce soir.
Eighty-five people are expected tonight.
Caption 79, Sophie et Patrice - Chiffres et nombres - Part 2
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Did you notice we wrote quatre-vingt-un (eighty-one), but vingt-et-un (twenty-one, or “twenty and one”) above? That’s another rule of eighties and ones: you say vingt-et-un (twenty-one), trente-et-un (thirty-one), quarante-et-un (forty-one), cinquante-et-un (fifty-one), soixante-et-un (sixty-one), and soixante-et-onze (seventy-one, or “sixty and eleven”), but quatre-vingt-un (eighty-one) and quatre-vingt-onze (ninety-one, or “four-twenty-eleven” [4 x 20 + 11 = 91]).
The rules for the hundreds (cents) are the same as those for the eighties:
À chaque fois qu'il y a un nombre qui suit le cent, même s'il y a un nombre qui précède le cent, on ne met pas de S.
Each time there's a number that follows the cent, even if there's a number that precedes the cent, we don't add an S.
Captions 43-45, Sophie et Patrice - Chiffres et nombres - Part 2
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So we would write: trois cents (three hundred), la page trois cent (page three hundred), trois cent un (three hundred one; not trois cent et un!). For more on cent, and numbers like mille (thousand) and million (million), see our lesson on big numbers in French.
If your head is spinning from all these number rules, don’t fret! It’s easier to just memorize numbers like soixante-quinze and quatre-vingt-onze rather than having to calculate 60 + 15 and 4 x 20 + 11 each time you want to say "seventy-five" and "ninety-one."
Since France has such a rich artistic history, from Gothic architecture to Surrealism and beyond, it's not too surprising that there are three different words for "painting" in French. You'll find one of them in our new video on the artist Karine Rougier:
Un travail à la fois de peintures, de sculptures... de pierres peintes.
Works of both paintings, of sculptures... of painted rocks.
Captions 9-10, Le saviez-vous? - Karine Rougier présente son art
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Une peinture shouldn't be too hard to remember, since it's a cognate of "painting." Its relatives also have direct English equivalents: peindre (to paint), peint/peinte (painted), peintre (painter).
Peinture is also the word for "paint," as in the substance:
Et la peinture, euh...
And the paint, uh...
on peut dire, se sépare pas comme une vinaigrette.
we can say, doesn't separate like a vinaigrette.
Caption 31, Salon Eco Habitat - La peinture à l'ocre
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So la peinture à l'huile, for example, can either mean "oil painting" or "oil paint."
In English, a "tableau" is an artistic grouping or arrangement, originally referring to a motionless group of people representing a scene or historical event, kind of like a living painting. As a matter of fact, "tableau" is short for tableau vivant, which means exactly that. Un tableau (literally, "little table") is another word for "painting" in French:
Actuellement, je prépare un grand tableau, "La naissance de Vénus".
At the moment, I'm preparing a great painting, "The Birth of Venus."
Caption 67, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci
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Finally, there's la toile, which technically means "canvas," but is just as often used for "painting":
Vous y découvrirez la reproduction d'une toile de Sisley.
There you'll find the reproduction of a Sisley painting.
Caption 10, Voyage en France - Saint-Mammès
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But that's not all! Une toile is also "a web," as in une toile d'araignée (spider's web). And just as you can say "the web" in English to refer to the internet, in French you can say la toile.
We hope this lesson has inspired you to get out your pinceaux (paintbrushes)!
The galette des rois (kings' cake) is a holiday treat prepared throughout the French-speaking world. Associated with the feast of Epiphany on January 6, the cake contains a small figurine (called la fève) representing the baby Jesus. Whoever finds la fève in their slice is crowned king or queen for the day.
Patricia explains the tradition of the galette des rois in her latest video. While doing so, she also happens to use the verb tirer in all three of its major senses:
En début d'année, au mois de janvier, nous tirons les rois.
At the beginning of the year, in the month of January, we draw kings.
Captions 4-5, Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la galette des rois - Part 1
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Non, il ne s'agit pas de tirer les moustaches du roi ou encore tirer des fléchettes sur le roi.
No, it's not about pulling the king's mustache or shooting darts at the king.
Captions 6-7, Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la galette des rois - Part 1
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Le roi et la reine qu'on a donc tirés, c'est-à-dire tirés au sort, choisis au hasard, portent leur couronne pour clôturer cette célébration.
So the king and the queen that were drawn, that is to say drawn at random, chosen at random, wear their crowns to close this celebration.
Captions 19-22, Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la galette des rois - Part 1
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"To pull" is the most basic meaning of tirer. You'll often come across it when approaching a door (tirez, "pull"), along with its opposite (poussez, "push"). And in the event of an emergency, you might tirer l'alarme incendie (pull the fire alarm).
Tirer means "to draw" not in the sense of "drawing" a picture (the verb for that is dessiner), but rather "drawing" something toward you or extracting something (such as la fève from a galette des rois). It's also "to draw" as in "to pick" or "select." For example, a French magician might say to you:
Tirez une carte.
Pick a card.
Tirer's more sinister meaning is "to shoot" or "to fire," referring to a weapon. This also has to do with pulling—you pull the trigger to fire a gun and pull the bow to shoot an arrow. Be careful with your prepositions here: we say "to shoot or fire at" in English, but in French it's not tirer à but tirer sur (tirer des fléchettes sur le roi).
Tirer has many, many other meanings. For instance, you can use it to describe skin irritation (which, if you think about it, kind of feels like your skin is being pulled):
J'ai la peau qui tire.
My skin is irritated.
On a totally different note, tirer can also refer to printing something, such as a book, a photo, or a poster. In this case it's synonymous with imprimer:
On a tiré [or imprimé] des affiches pour le concert.
We printed some posters for the concert.
Note that there are two noun forms of tirer: le tirage and le tir. Tir exclusively refers to "shooting" or "firing" a weapon, as in le tir à l'arc (archery). Tirage refers to "drawing" or "printing," as in le tirage au sort (drawing lots) or le tirage d'un livre (the printing of a book).
For even more usages of tirer, check out this page or do a search in our video library.
On se tire! (We're out of here!) Thanks for reading. Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Moins is a comparative word meaning "less" or "least" (its opposite, plus, means "more" or "most"). In this lesson, we'll focus on two common expressions with moins, au moins and du moins, both equivalent to "at least." How do we know when to use which?
If you think about it, "at least" has (at least!) three usages. It can specify the minimum amount of something ("I need at least two cups of coffee every day"), it can emphasize a positive aspect of an otherwise negative situation ("The car was totaled, but at least we're all OK"), and it can alter the connotation of a previous statement ("That restaurant is terrible. At least that's what I've heard"). In general, au moins corresponds to the first two usages, and du moins to the third.
We use au moins when referring to a minimum amount. It's often followed by a number:
On fait au moins sept ou huit groupes différents.
We have at least seven or eight different bands.
Caption 5, French Punk - Frustration
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Tu pourras leur parler de ce que tu voudras, pourvu que tu parles au moins deux heures.
You'll be able to talk to them about whatever you like, as long as you speak for at least two hours.
Captions 3-4, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 6. La révolte des robots - Part 5
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Au moins is synonymous with au minimum in this sense:
Pour jouer à la pétanque il faut au minimum deux joueurs.
To play pétanque, you need at the minimum two players.
Caption 5, Lionel - Les nombres
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But like "at least," au moins doesn't have to refer to a numerical minimum. It can also refer to the "bare minimum," as in the minimum you can do if you can't or don't want to do something else:
Bien entendu, il faut réapprendre ou tout au moins se remettre au niveau
Of course, it's necessary to relearn or at the very least get up to speed
Caption 24, Lionel - Le club de foot de Nancy - Part 2
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Au moins is a great expression to use when you're being optimistic or encouraging someone:
C'était pas comme t'imaginais, mais au moins tu essayes
It was not as you imagined, but at least you're trying
Captions 76-77, Watt’s In - Zaz : On Ira Interview Exclu
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Just don't confuse it with à moins (que), which means "unless":
Ne plus couper les forêts à moins que ce soit pour faire mes jolis calendriers
No longer cut down the forests unless it's to make my pretty calendars
Captions 3-5, Nouveaux Talents? - Adonis chante
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Du moins restricts the meaning of a previous statement. You can use it to modify or clarify what you just said:
Je suis le fou du village. Du moins, c'est ce que les gens disent.
I'm the village idiot. At least that's what people say.
Captions 68-69, Patrice Zana - L'artiste et ses inspirations - Part 2
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C'est parti pour quatre heures de réflexion. Du moins en théorie.
Time for four hours of recollection. At least in theory.
Captions 4-5, Le Journal - Le bac
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Du moins is more or less synonymous with en tout cas (in any event, anyway): en tout cas c'est ce que les gens disent (that's what people say, in any event); en tout cas en théorie (in theory, anyway).
To get an even better sense of how to use these two expressions, just do a search for au moins and du moins on the Yabla site.
In "Dimanche soir" (Sunday Night), the slam poet Grand Corps Malade declares his love for his wife in beautiful lines such as:
Je l'ai dans la tête comme une mélodie, alors mes envies dansent
I have her in my head like a melody, so my desires dance
Caption 17, Grand Corps Malade - Dimanche soir
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If you didn't see the translation, you might have guessed that envie means "envy." And you would have been right!
Vous ne connaissez que l'envie, la hâte, la rage de les tuer.
You knew only envy, haste, the urge to kill them.
Caption 60, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 3. La planète verte - Part 6
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However, besides désir, envie is also the word for "desire." While un désir is a more general desire, envie connotes yearning, longing, or craving:
Il peut rester une envie intellectuelle.
There can remain a mental craving.
Caption 129, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an - Part 1
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If you think about it, this double meaning of envie makes a lot of sense, since envy is bound up with desire: if you envy (envier) someone, you covet what they have.
J'envie les caresses
I envy the caresses
Caption 18, Oldelaf - interprète "Bérénice"
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Quitte à en crever de son histoire déçue, de son passé tant envié
Despite wanting to die from her disappointing history, her so envied past
Caption 12, Yaaz - La place des anges
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But envie isn't always so intense. The extremely common expression avoir envie de doesn't mean "to envy" or "yearn for," but simply "to want," "feel like," or "be in the mood for":
Vous avez pas envie de faire la sieste?
You don't feel like taking a nap?
Caption 29, Actu Vingtième - Le Repas des anciens
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J'ai envie d'une limonade.
I'm in the mood for a lemonade.
There's also the expression donner envie (literally, "to give desire"), which means "to make someone want something":
D'avoir des quantités de choses Qui donnent envie d'autres choses
To have things in large quantities That make you want other things
Captions 4-5, Fréro Delavega - Foule Sentimentale
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In English, we have the phrase "green with envy." But in French, one becomes "green with jealousy": vert(e) de jalousie. You can, however, make someone "pale with envy" (faire pâlir d'envie).
Finally, here's a bizarre quirk of the French language: envie is also the word for "birthmark" and "hangnail." What those have to do with envy and desire is an etymological mystery.
The verb plaire is most often used in the expressions s'il vous plaît (formal) and s'il te plaît (informal), which, as you probably know, both mean "please"––or more accurately, "if it pleases you." "To please" is the basic meaning of plaire:
Ça peut pas leur plaire.
That can't please them.
Caption 18, Le Journal - Yann Arthus Bertrand
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Another way of saying "to please" is faire plaisir (literally, "to make pleasure"):
Je sais que ça va pas te faire plaisir
I know this isn't going to please you
Caption 18, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion - Part 7
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If something pleases you, that means you like it. Indeed, plaire can also mean "to like" or "enjoy":
Une autre œuvre qui me plaît beaucoup
Another work that I like a lot
Caption 35, Patrice Zana - L'artiste et ses inspirations - Part 2
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OK, je te plais pas.
OK, you don't like me.
Caption 52, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À la recherche de mon père - Part 4
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Ce livre plaît à tout le monde.
Everyone enjoys that book.
We could certainly translate the above examples as "another work that pleases/appeals to me a lot," "OK, I'm not pleasing/appealing to you," and "that book is pleasing/appealing to everyone." But plaire is used a bit more generally than "to please," so you'll usually see it translated as "to like" or "enjoy" with the subject and object inverted (ce livre plaît à tout le monde = everyone enjoys that book). Note that plaire always takes an indirect object (plaire à quelqu'un, "to please/be pleasing to someone").
When plaire is reflexive (se plaire, literally "to please oneself"), it means "to be happy" or "to enjoy being somewhere":
Est-ce que tu t'y plais?
Are you enjoying yourself here?
Caption 24, Yabla à Nancy - Université Nancy 2
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Elles se plaisent à Lindre
They like Lindre
Caption 21, Lionel - à Lindre-Basse - Part 6
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Or, in the plural, it can mean "to like one another," "to enjoy each other's company":
Ils se sont plu immédiatement.
They liked each other instantly.
And for life's unpleasant moments, there's the verb déplaire (to dislike, displease, irritate, upset):
Ses plaisanteries déplaisent à ma mère.
My mother doesn't like his jokes. (His jokes irritate my mother.)
There's also the expression n'en déplaise à (with all due respect to, with apologies to, no offense to):
Pas de fiole de cyanure, n'en déplaise à Shakespeare
No vial of cyanide, no offense to Shakespeare
Caption 47, Grand Corps Malade - Roméo kiffe Juliette
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We hope you're pleased with this lesson on plaire!
In our latest Le saviez-vous? video, we visit La Maison de l'Olive, a store in Nice specializing in—you guessed it—olives. Like most of the Mediterranean region, the south of France is filled with olive trees, or oliviers:
Toute la cuisine méditerranéenne se fait avec l'huile d'olive. C'est la civilisation de l'olivier.
All Mediterranean cuisine is made with olive oil. It's the olive tree civilization.
Captions 27-28, Le saviez-vous? - La Maison de l'Olive à Nice - Part 1
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You might be familiar with the word olivier as a proper noun, Olivier, the French equivalent of "Oliver." But its basic meaning is "olive tree." In fact, like olivier, the names of most fruit and nut trees end in -ier in French. So, for example, an apple tree is un pommier (from une pomme), a cherry tree is un cerisier (from une cerise), a pear tree is un poirier (from une poire), and so on:
Je parle surtout du cacaoyer, du bananier
I am talking especially about the cacao tree, the banana tree
Caption 8, Grand Lille TV - Visite des serres de Tourcoing
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Ils connaissent le mot café, mais ils ne connaissent [sic] pas ce que c'est que le caféier...
They know the word "coffee," but they don't know what the coffee tree is...
Caption 12, Grand Lille TV - Visite des serres de Tourcoing
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Of course, there are some exceptions. A few of these tree names end in -yer, not -ier, such as cacaoyer above and noyer (walnut tree, from une noix). And a few just end in -er, namely oranger (orange tree) and pêcher (peach tree). Like most -er words, these trees are always masculine, even if the fruit or nut that grows on them is feminine. So you have un pêcher (a peach tree) but une pêche (a peach); un cerisier (a cherry tree) but une cerise (a cherry).
Incidentally, when someone asks if you know how to faire le poirier, they're not wondering whether you can "make the pear tree," but whether you can do a headstand! The origin of this expression probably has to do with the rough resemblance between a headstand and a pear tree. But why not un pommier or un citronnier (a lemon tree)? Who knows!
A group of fruit or nut trees is a grove (un bosquet) or an orchard (un verger). But the French word for "olive grove" is not un bosquet d'oliviers. It's une oliveraie:
En tout cas, en ce qui concerne les oliveraies qui sont sur les Alpes-Maritimes, elles ont été plantées par les Grecs.
In any case, with regard to the olive groves that are in the Alpes-Maritimes, they were planted by the Greeks.
Captions 32-34, Le saviez-vous? - La Maison de l'Olive à Nice - Part 1
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Here we have another pattern: the words for fruit/nut groves or orchards generally end in -eraie or -aie. These words are always feminine. For instance:
une pomme - un pommier - une pommeraie
une cerise - un cerisier - une cerisaie
une orange - un oranger - une orangeraie
une châtaigne (a chestnut) - un châtaignier - une châtaigneraie
une amande (an almond) - un amandier - une amandaie
Thanks for reading. Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
The word "decline" can mean "decrease," "deteriorate," "move downward," or "politely refuse." Its source, the French verb décliner, can have all of these meanings and more.
Most of these other meanings stem from a more specialized grammatical one. To "decline" a noun, pronoun, or adjective is to list all of its forms according to case, number, and gender. You don't have to worry about doing this in French—it only applies to certain languages, such as Latin and Ancient Greek. But décliner can refer to a similar activity of enumerating, presenting something in various forms, offering a range of something, laying out all its different facets.
Because décliner has such a wide variety of meanings, its translation is highly context-specific. For example, you can use it to talk about a fashion designer "presenting" all the styles of his latest collection on the runway:
Du blanc, du noir, presque exclusivement, tous les codes déclinés inlassablement,
Almost exclusively white and black, all the styles presented tirelessly,
Caption 5, Le Journal - Défilé de mode - Part 2
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Or you can use it in the sense of "depicting" several aspects of something:
...des travaux de couture d'une jeune femme qui décline un petit peu l'Alsace sur du tissu
...some sewing projects from a young woman who kind of depicts the various faces of Alsace on fabric
Captions 18-19, Alsace 20 - Mangez bien, mangez alsacien!
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Businesses often use décliner to advertise a product available in various forms. When Lionel visited a madeleine shop in Liverdun, the owner used it to refer to the different flavors she sells:
Nous l'avons déclinée à la mirabelle... -Oui. et à la bergamote.
We've adapted it with mirabelle plum... -Yes. and with bergamot orange.
Captions 32-33, Lionel - La boutique de madeleines de Liverdun - Part 2
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This restaurant owner in Nice uses décliner in a somewhat particular sense. He's not talking about the different forms of socca he offers, but rather all the times of day people order it:
Ça se décline comme ça, et on peut en manger vraiment à n'importe quelle heure.
It's available like that, and you can really eat it at any time.
Captions 34-35, Le saviez-vous? - La socca, spécialité niçoise
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If you see décliner on a form you're filling out, or hear it from an administrative official, you're being asked to provide information about yourself:
Déclinez votre nom et adresse.
State your name and address.
Don't forget that décliner also has all the senses of the English "decline": "decrease," "deteriorate," "move downward," "politely refuse."
We've now "declined" all the meanings of décliner!
In the latest segment of Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan, Alex uses a phrase whose meaning may surprise you:
Mais bon, c'était pour la bonne cause. Tu m'étonnes. Regarde.
But OK, it was for a good cause. You're not kidding. Look.
Captions 7-8, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 7
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The literal translation of tu m'étonnes is "you surprise me," but it's often used as a set phrase meaning "you're not kidding," "no kidding," or "tell me something I don't know." Used in this way, it has the opposite meaning of its literal translation—the person is not surprised by what they just heard. Tu m'étonnes is very similar to the English expression "surprise, surprise," which is also used ironically to convey a lack of surprise.
Sans blague is another phrase meaning "no kidding" or, more literally, "no joke." This one, however, can express surprise:
Je suis né le 3 novembre. -Sans blague! Moi aussi!
I was born on November 3. -No kidding! So was I!
The verb étonner has the same root as the English verb "to stun." It means "to surprise," "astonish," or "amaze":
Sur l'eau, il vit son reflet, totalement étonné
In the water, he saw his reflection, totally surprised
Caption 29, Contes de fées - Le vilain petit canard - Part 2
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Les héritiers de Jules Verne n'ont pas fini de nous étonner.
Jules Verne's heirs have never ceased to amaze us.
Caption 26, Le Journal - Le record du Tour de Monde!
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And the English "surprise" comes directly from the French surpris(e):
Je suis un peu surpris.
I'm a little surprised.
Caption 38, Lea & Lionel L - Le parc de Bercy - Part 1
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Unsurprisingly, the verb surprendre means "to surprise":
Tu vas mener l'attaque pour les surprendre.
You're going to lead the attack to surprise them.
Caption 28, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 15. Bruce et les sources du Nil - Part 2
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But it can also have the related meaning "to catch," "come upon," or "discover":
Louise surprend René et Edna en pleine conversation.
Louise catches René and Edna deep in conversation.
Caption 2, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 8
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Just as there are two words for "to surprise" (étonner and surprendre) and two words for "surprised" (étonné[e] and surpris[e]), there are two words for "surprising":
C'est pas étonnant que beaucoup de peintres soient venus s'installer ici sur Arles.
It's not surprising that many painters came to settle here in Arles.
Caption 12, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles - Part 3
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C'est un endroit vraiment surprenant en plein cœur de Paris.
It's a really surprising place right in the heart of Paris.
Caption 14, Voyage dans Paris - Les Secrets de Belleville
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Can you guess what la surprise and l'étonnement mean? Surprise, surprise!
In early 2018, a group of protesters gathered in front of the headquarters of the SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français [French National Railway Company]) to demand that the company convert its empty buildings into public housing:
Logement! -Pour qui? -Pour tous!
Housing! -For whom? -For everyone!
Captions 19-21, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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Logement is the word for "housing" or "lodging" in general, but it can also refer more specifically to an apartment, house, or home:
J'aurais pas pu avoir mon logement.
I wouldn't have been able to get my apartment.
Caption 58, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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Lorsque j'avais pas mon logement.
When I didn't have my home.
Caption 110, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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The verbal form of logement, loger, means "to house" or "to accommodate." It's synonymous with héberger:
ces beaux immeubles vides pour héberger, pour loger les personnes qui sont à la rue.
these beautiful empty buildings to house, to provide housing for people who are on the street.
Captions 17-18, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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On the flip side, loger can also mean "to be housed," "to stay," or "to live":
Je loge chez mon amie.
I'm staying at my friend's place.
If someone is mal logé, they're living in poor housing conditions:
La honte, la honte à ce pouvoir qui fait la guerre aux mal-logés.
Shame, shame on this authority that's waging war on the poorly housed.
Captions 28-29, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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And if someone is homeless, they're SDF—an acronym for sans domicile fixe (without a fixed abode):
Moi, je suis là parce que je suis SDF. Je suis sans domicile fixe.
Me, I'm here because I'm homeless. I'm without a fixed abode.
Caption 100, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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Another word for "homeless" is sans-abri (without shelter).
Many people lucky enough to have a fixed abode pay un loyer (rent) to un/une propriétaire (a landlord/landlady):
j'ai de quoi payer un... un loyer
I have enough to pay... rent
Caption 120, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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La propriétaire a vendu son appartement.
The landlady sold her apartment.
Caption 103, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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Propriétaire is also the word for "owner." Un propriétaire foncier is a property owner, such as the SNCF:
Faut quand même savoir que la SNCF, c'est le deuxième propriétaire foncier du pays après l'État.
You should know, however, that the SNCF is the second largest property owner in the country after the State.
Captions 43-45, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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You'll find two words for "building" in this video—immeuble and bâtiment:
Vous avez vu dimanche le bel immeuble vide
On Sunday you saw the beautiful empty building
Caption 10, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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Parce qu'ils ont des bâtiments vides, complètement vides
Because they have vacant buildings, completely vacant
Caption 30, Actus Quartier - Devant la SNCF
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While both are general terms for "building," un immeuble can also be an "apartment building" or "apartment block," which is what the protesters are hoping the SNCF will provide for those in need.
In this lesson, we're going to discuss a very common word that isn't very specific. It's un truc, an informal word for "thing" (une chose has the same meaning). You can use it when you're not quite sure what an object is called:
J'attends que le truc passe parce que ça fait un petit bruit...
I'm waiting for the thing to pass because it's making a little noise...
Caption 82, Lea - Cour Saint-Émilion
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Or when you're talking about something abstract:
On n'a plus de souvenirs. C'est ça, le truc aussi.
We don't have any more memories. That's the thing too.
Captions 25-26, Elisa et sa maman - La technologie
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When someone says "it's not my thing," they're saying they don't really like it (it's not their cup of tea) or they're not really good at it (it's not their forte). There's an exact cognate of this expression in French—ce n'est pas mon truc:
La baignade, c'est pas mon truc. -Oh, moi non plus!
Swimming isn't my thing. -Oh, me neither!
Caption 26, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 25. Technologies - Part 5
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Un truc means "a thing," but it often translates as "something." It's a more informal way of saying quelque chose (something):
Tu sais j'vais te dire un truc. Tu sais c'que c'est qu'une utopie?
You know, I'll tell you something. Do you know what a utopia is?
Caption 70, Actus Quartier - Manif anti-nucléaire à Bastille
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Manon, à toi de commencer. Dis-moi un petit truc en français.
Manon, your turn to start. Tell me a little something in French.
Caption 3, Manon et Clémentine - Virelangues
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Sometimes, un truc (or des trucs) is just "stuff" in general:
Je sais pas encore mais en tout cas je sais que je veux créer un truc.
I don't know yet, but in any case I know that I want to create stuff.
Caption 58, Watt’s In - Louane : Avenir Interview Exclu
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But there is one instance in which truc does have a specific meaning. It's also the word for "trick," as in a magic trick or a clever way of doing something:
Moi, j'ai un truc miraculeux
Me, I have a miraculous trick
Caption 2, Le Mans TV - Benjamin Perrot: "La rébellion du combiné"
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You'll find a synonym for truc in the next caption:
Une astuce qui ne coûte rien
A trick that costs nothing
Caption 3, Le Mans TV - Benjamin Perrot: "La rébellion du combiné"
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Besides ce n'est pas mon truc, there are two expressions with truc with close English cognates. The first is avoir le truc:
Je n'ai pas le truc pour ça.
I don't have the knack for it.
Tu commences à avoir le truc.
You're getting the hang of it.
The second is chacun son truc (literally, "each his/her thing"), synonymous with chacun ses goûts (there's no accounting for taste; literally, "each his/her tastes"):
J'aime les chats. Tu aimes les chiens. Chacun son truc! / Chacun ses goûts!
I like cats. You like dogs. To each his own!
Vous commencez à avoir le truc pour "truc"! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
The word rendez-vous is the second-person plural imperative form of the verb se rendre ("to go" or "to present oneself"). It literally means "go!" or "present yourself!" But rather than a command, you'll hear it most often used as a noun—un rendez-vous. In English, "a rendezvous" is another word for "a meeting." Un rendez-vous means that and much more, as you'll see in this lesson.
If you're a regular Yabla French user, you'll recognize this word from the final caption of nearly every video in our Voyage en France series:
Je vous donne rendez-vous très bientôt pour de nouvelles découvertes.
I will meet you very soon for some new discoveries.
Caption 50, Voyage en France - Mont-Valérien
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Donner rendez-vous à (literally, "to give meeting to") is to arrange to meet someone, to set up a date or an appointment with someone. Indeed, besides "a meeting," un rendez-vous can also be "a date" or "an appointment":
C'est au premier rendez-vous qu'ils franchissent le pas
It's on the first date that they take that step
Caption 5, Grand Corps Malade - Roméo kiffe Juliette
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J'ai rendez-vous chez le dentiste et je suis en retard!
I have an appointment at the dentist and I'm late!
Caption 10, Micro-Trottoirs - Art ou science?
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Note the discrepancy between the French and the English in that last example: when talking about having an appointment with someone, you don't have to say j'ai un rendez-vous. J'ai rendez-vous will suffice.
In French, you don't "make" an appointment with someone—you "take" (prendre) one:
Aujourd'hui, on va apprendre à prendre rendez-vous chez le médecin.
Today we're going to learn how to make an appointment at the doctor's.
Caption 1, Manon et Clémentine - Rendez-vous chez le médecin
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And if something is by appointment only, it's sur rendez-vous ("on appointment"):
au trente-neuf rue Saint-Pavin des Champs sur rendez-vous
at thirty-nine Saint-Pavin des Champs Street by appointment
Caption 38, Le Mans TV - Le Mans: Ouverture d'un nouvel atelier d'artistes
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Un rendez-vous can refer both to a meeting and a meeting place:
Ce château était un rendez-vous de chasse.
This castle was a rendezvous point for hunting.
Caption 26, Le Mans TV - Mon Village - Malicorne
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Here's an interesting example that uses rendez-vous in more of a metaphoric sense:
Le soleil est au rendez-vous pour ce nouveau numéro de la découverte de la ville de Provins.
The sun is present for this new episode of the discovery of the city of Provins.
Caption 2, Voyage en France - La ville de Provins
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The sun is "at the meeting" for this new episode—in other words, the sun is out. Être au rendez-vous means "to be present." The expression is used in the negative in Part 1 of Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan to describe an actress's lack of success in recent years:
Sophie est une comédienne célèbre, mais depuis quelques années le succès n'est plus au rendez-vous.
Sophie is a famous actress, but success has been hard to come by for several years.
Captions 1-2, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan
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Mais depuis deux ans, le succès n'est plus vraiment au rendez-vous.
But for the last two years, success has been somewhat elusive.
Caption 41, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 1
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That about does it for this lesson. Nous vous donnons rendez-vous très bientôt pour une nouvelle leçon (We'll meet you very soon for a new lesson)!
In the latest installment of Le Jour où tout a basculé, we find two very different uses of the verb passer. The first is a direct cognate of the English verb "to pass," referring to time passing:
Quatre mois ont passé.
Four months have passed.
Caption 30, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion - Part 6
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The second, referring to taking an exam, is a false cognate. You might assume that passer son bac means "to pass one's baccalaureate exam." But that's wrong! Passer in this context actually means "to take":
J'ai passé mon bac.
I took my baccalaureate.
Caption 41, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion - Part 6
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If you want to talk about passing an exam, use the verb réussir (to succeed):
Demain il réussira son examen.
Tomorrow he will pass his exam.
Caption 27, Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison des verbes du 2ème groupe au futur simple
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Passer's other meanings are more predictable. You can use it transitively (i.e., with an object) to to talk about passing something to someone:
Passe le micro.
Pass the mic.
Caption 54, Arles - Le marché d'Arles
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Or you can use it intransitively (without an object) to describe someone passing by or passing from one place to another:
Tous les ans, effectivement, nous demandons à Saint-Nicolas de passer.
Every year, in fact, we ask Saint Nicholas to pass by.
Caption 44, Grand Lille TV - Focus: la tradition de Saint-Nicolas
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Et maintenant on va passer en cuisine avec le chef.
And now we'll go into the kitchen with the chef.
Caption 33, Parigot - Le bistrot
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Just as you can "pass time" (or "spend time") in English, you can passer du temps in French:
Et puis ça permet de passer un bon petit moment ensemble.
And then it allows us to spend a good bit of time together.
Caption 47, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 2
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The expression passer pour means "to pass for," as in "to be taken for" or "seem like":
La maîtrise des synonymes vous permettra donc d'élargir votre vocabulaire, mais aussi, de ne pas passer pour un psychopathe.
Mastering synonyms will therefore allow you to broaden your vocabulary, but also to not be taken for a psychopath.
Captions 23-24, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes
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As passer is such a versatile verb, it's no surprise that it's used in many, many common expressions. We'll pass along a handful of them to you:
passer à autre chose - to move on to something else
passer à l'acte - to take action
passer à la caisse - to pay/checkout
passer à la télévision - to be on TV
passer à table - to sit down for a meal (also has the figurative meaning "to snitch" or "spill the beans")
passer un coup de fil - to make a phone call
passer de la musique - to put on some music
passer au bloc - to go under the knife/have surgery
passer au peigne fin - to go over with a fine-tooth comb
passer à côté de - to miss/miss out on
laisser passer sa chance - to miss one's chance
You can find even more expressions on this WordReference page.
And to learn about the reflexive form of passer, se passer, check out our lesson Se Passer: To Bypass and Pass By.
You may know that all French nouns are either masculine or feminine, but did you know that some nouns can be both? A word like après-midi (afternoon), for example, can be either masculine or feminine depending on the speaker's preference:
Vous deux, là, qu'est-ce que vous allez faire de beau cet après-midi?
You two, here, what are you going to do that's exciting this afternoon?
Caption 57, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 1
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On passe une super après-midi.
You spend a great afternoon.
Caption 90, LCM - Rétine argentique, le paradis des photographes
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Un après-midi (masculine) and une après-midi (feminine) both mean "an afternoon." But usually, when a word's gender changes, its meaning changes too. Take the word mode, for example. La mode (feminine) means "fashion," but le mode (masculine) means "mode" or "(grammatical) mood":
Le milieu de la mode est aussi touché hein, forcément.
The world of fashion is also affected, you know, necessarily.
Caption 36, Cap 24 Paris - Alessandro fait les Puces! - Part 1
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Le temps présent fait partie du mode indicatif.
The present tense is part of the indicative mood.
Caption 10, Le saviez-vous? - Le mode indicatif, c'est quoi?
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Like mode, a lot of dual-gender words end in -e. Another common one is poste. When masculine, it means "post" as in "position" or "job" (among other things), and when feminine, it means "post" as in "post office" or "mail":
J'ai trouvé mon premier poste de libraire
I found my first bookseller position
Caption 3, Gaëlle - Librairie "Livres in Room"
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Si je venais à gagner, vous m'enverrez mon chèque par la poste.
If I were to win, you'll send me my check in the mail.
Caption 27, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones - Part 2
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You'll most often find the word livre in its masculine form, meaning "book." When feminine, it means "pound," as in the unit of weight and currency:
L'extérieur d'un livre s'appelle la couverture.
The outside of a book is called the cover.
Caption 4, Manon et Clémentine - Vocabulaire du livre
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Une livre équivaut à environ quatre cent cinquante-quatre grammes.
One pound is equal to around four hundred fifty-four grams.
Voile has related meanings in both its masculine and feminine forms. Both refer to things made of fabric—a veil (un voile) and a sail (une voile):
Un niqab, c'est donc un voile intégral qui ne laisse, euh, voir que les yeux.
So a niqab is a full-length veil that only, uh, shows the eyes.
Caption 10, Cap Caen Normandie TV - Danse - Héla Fattoumi se dévoile
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Il a une seule voile.
It has a single sail.
Caption 11, Fred et Miami Catamarans - Les Bateaux
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This video takes you on a tour (un tour) of Paris, making a requisite stop at the Eiffel Tower (la Tour Eiffel):
La Tour Eiffel, qui est le symbole de la France.
The Eiffel Tower, which is the symbol of France.
Caption 20, Paris Tour - Visite guidée de Paris
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Gender can be tricky in French, doubly so when you're dealing with words that can be both masculine and feminine. Remembering them is just a matter of practice. You can find a comprehensive list of dual-gender words on this page.
If you have any worries, concerns, or problems in a French-speaking country, souci is the word to use to express your predicament. In the first two senses ("worry" and "concern"), it's synonymous with inquiétude:
Ne te fais pas de souci. Fais-moi confiance!
Don't worry. Trust me!
Caption 6, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès - Part 4
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Alors, le souci, quand elles en font deux, c'est que si elles sont pas très bonnes productrices de lait...
So the concern, when they have two, is that if they are not very good producers of milk...
Caption 4, Ferme de la Croix de Pierre - Les chèvres
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Pas d'inquiétude. De nos jours, le pont est protégé d'un grillage.
Not to worry. Nowadays, the bridge is protected by a wire fence.
Caption 29, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion - Le parc des Buttes Chaumont
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Souci and inquiétude both have verbal forms (se soucier, s'inquiéter) and adjectival forms (soucieux/soucieuse, inquiet/inquiète):
Sans se soucier [or: s'inquiéter] de dévoiler ses sentiments.
Without worrying about revealing her feelings.
Caption 7, Vous avez du talent Paulin - "Elle"
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Donc si vous êtes un petit peu soucieux [or: inquiet] de votre santé...
So if you're a little bit concerned about your health...
Caption 16, Voyage dans Paris - Cité Florale
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Un souci is also "a problem" or "an issue" you might have with something—for instance, if there's something wrong with a bike you've rented:
...si y a aucun souci avec les pédales.
...if there's any problem with the pedals.
Caption 34, Amal - Vélib
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Et si y a le moindre souci avec un vélo...
And if there's the slightest issue with a bike...
Caption 57, Amal - Vélib
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But un souci doesn't always involve a sense of frustration or anxiety. It can also mean "a concern," as in something you really care about and pay a lot of attention to.
Le souci du détail est un dogme.
Concern over detail [or: Attention to detail] is a dogma.
Caption 27, Le Journal Chocolats
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Nous avons un grand souci de l'environnement.
We have a great concern for [or: We really care about] the environment.
There are also the expressions par souci de and dans un souci de, both meaning "in the interest of" or "for the sake of":
Si une partie de Lyon a été retenue, c'est d'abord par souci de [or: dans un souci de] cohérence.
If a portion of Lyon has been contained, it is primarily for the sake of coherence.
Caption 11, Le Journal - La grippe aviaire - Part 2
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Finally, souci is also the word for "marigold." So while the informal expression pas de souci most often means "no worries," it can also mean "no marigolds"!
Did you know that in French, "a person" is always feminine, regardless of their gender? That is, the word personne is always feminine, even when it refers to a male person. Our friend Farmer François refers to himself as une personne (not un personne) when talking to us about his vegetable stand:
Moi, je suis une personne qui est né dans la banlieue.
Me, I'm someone who was born in the suburbs.
Caption 48, Farmer François - Le stand de légumes
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And in another video, a woman describes a male friend of hers as la seule personne (not le seul personne):
C'était un Français, bien sûr. C'est la seule personne que je connais à West Berlin.
It was a Frenchman, of course. He's the only person I knew in West Berlin.
Captions 18-19, Le Journal - Le mur de Berlin s'écroule
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On the flip side, "an individual" is always masculine:
Ce n'est pas Bérangère qui la regarde mais un individu pour le moins étrange.
It's not Bérangère who is watching her but a rather strange individual.
Caption 10, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble - Part 2
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Elle est un individu sain.
She is a healthy individual.
There's an interesting combination of personne and individu in this article about the recent evacuation of Mont-Saint-Michel. The subject of the article is a man who made threats against police at the popular French tourist destination. He's designated as both il (referring to individu) and elle (referring to personne):
Selon Ouest-France, l'individu aurait affirmé vouloir «tuer des policiers». Descendu de la navette, il se serait ensuite volatilisé avant l'arrivée des gendarmes.... Plusieurs témoins ont signalé cette personne alors qu'elle rentrait sur le site touristique, a annoncé la gendarmerie.
According to Ouest-France, the individual expressed a desire to "kill police officers." After getting off the shuttle, he reportedly disappeared before the officers arrived.... Several witnesses identified this person when he returned to the tourist site, the police reported.
Don't forget that personne can also be used as a pronoun in combination with ne, meaning "no one":
Maintenant on dit: "Il n'y a pas un chat", pour parler d'un endroit où il n'y a personne.
Now one says, "There's not one cat" [not a soul] to talk about a place where there isn't anyone.
Caption 13, Manon et Clémentine - Mots et animaux
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Personne ne peut vivre là-dedans!
No one could live in there!
Caption 16, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci - Part 4
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Stay tuned for Patricia's upcoming video on ne... personne and similar expressions, part of her series on negation.
Thanks to Michael H. for bringing this topic to our attention!
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