French Expressions Flashcards
24 hours a day
ex. you can rent a bike 24 hours a day
ex. this restaurant is open 24 hours a day
24 heures sur 24
• abbreviated: 24 h sur 24, 24h/24
ex. on peut louer un vélo 24 heures sur 24
ex. ce resto est ouvert 24 heures sur 24
7 days a week
7 jours sur 7
• abbreviated: 7 j sur 7, 7j/7
at a rough guess, using guesswork; at random
- literally: in the nose
ex. there are roughly ten books/i’d say there are about ten books
ex. i guess/i’d say he’s about 25
au pif
- pif is a familiar and somewhat rude word meaning “big nose,” and by extension just “nose”
- equivalents in american english and british english, respectively, are “schnoz” and “conk”
ex. il y a une dizaine de livres au pif
ex. au pif, je dirais qu’il a 25 ans
stark naked, in the nude
• literally: in hair
ex. there he was, stark naked
ex. take ’em off! strip!
à poil
• un poil is a hair, especially one on the body rather than the head
• so the familiar french expression à poil means “naked”: the person is wearing nothing but their own body hair
ex. Il était là, à poil
ex. à poil !
by the way, get to the point, informed
- literally: to the fact
ex. by the way, did you know that the restaurant is going bankrupt?
ex. hello christine. by the way, your brother invited me to have dinner tonight
ex. get to the point (already)
ex. he got straight to the point
ex. he informed me of the facts of the matter
au fait
- the expression au fait is most often an interjection meaning by the way
ex. au fait, tu savais que le resto fait faillite ?
ex. bonjour christine. au fait, ton frère m’a invité à dîner ce soir
- another meaning of au fait is “get to the point”
ex. au fait!
ex. il est allé droit au fait
- au fait de means “informed about” or “conversant with” though it’s less common than au courant de
ex. il m’a mis au fait de l’affaire
barely, hardly
• literally: to pain, to effort
ex. i’d barely finished when he arrived
ex. this puppy is barely two months old
ex. we barely know what happened
à peine
• à peine is a very common french expression, equivalent to the english adverbs “barely, hardly”
• peine has two meanings, both of which lend themselves to the idea of doing something with difficulty. peine meaning “pain” hints at a reluctance to do more than is absolutely necessary, since it’s painful, while the other meaning of peine highlights the effort required for the task
ex. j’avais à peine terminé quand il est arrivé
ex. ce chiot a à peine deux mois
ex. à peine savons-nous ce qui s’est passé
at first sight, in principle, should
• literally: from the earlier
ex. at first sight, yes (my initial response is yes)
ex. we start at 7pm normally
a priori
• in french, a priori is a common, everyday expression meaning “at first sight” or “in principle”
ex. a priori, oui
ex. on commence à 19h, a priori
really?, i see
ex. I’ve decided to take a trip around the world. really?
ex. i didn’t pay the electric bill in November. i see
ah bon
- literally: oh good
- ah bon is an interjection / filler used to ask for confirmation or even just to acknowledge what was just said. despite the word bon, it does not have any sort of positive connotation
ex. -j’ai décidé de faire le tour du monde.
-ah bon ?
ex. -je n’ai pas payé la facture d’électricité en novembre. -ah bon?
until/at/in the end
ex. i saw him at the end of november
ex. in the end, i managed to finish it
ex. i stayed until the end
à la fin
- the French expression à la fin has several similar english equivalents, thanks to the versatile preposition à (at, in, to) at the beginning
ex. je l’ai vu à la fin de novembre
ex. à la fin, j’ai réussi à le terminer
ex. je suis resté jusqu’à la fin
all of a sudden, suddenly
ex. all of a sudden, the lights went out
ex. suddenly she began to laugh
tout à coup
ex. tout à coup, les lumières se sont éteintes
ex. tout à coup, elle a commencé à rire
it doesn’t make you dream, it’s not very appealing
ça me fait pas rêver
immediately, right away
ex. I will do it right away
ex. he left right away after dinner
ex. answer me right away
ex. we have to leave right away
ex. she called right away
tout de suite
ex. je vais le faire tout de suite
ex. il est parti tout de suite après le dîner
ex. réponds-moi tout de suite
ex. nous devons partir tout de suite
ex. elle a appelé tout de suite
from time to time, occasionally
ex. we go to the cinema from time to time
ex. I eat chocolate from time to time
ex. they see each other from time to time
ex. she travels from time to time
ex. he plays golf from time to time
de temps en temps
ex. nous allons au cinéma de temps en temps
ex. je mange du chocolat de temps en temps
ex. ils se voient de temps en temps
ex. elle voyage de temps en temps
ex. il joue au golf de temps en temps
to take place
ex. the meeting is taking place tomorrow
ex. the concert is taking place at the stadium
ex. an accident occurred on the highway this morning
ex. the elections take place every five years
avoir lieu
• commonly used to indicate that an event, occurrence, or action is taking place or is scheduled to happen. it translates to “to take place,” “to occur,” or “to happen”
ex. la réunion a lieu demain
ex. la concert a lieu au stade
ex. un accident a eu lieu sur l’autoroute ce matin
ex. les élections ont lieu tous les cinq ans
casually, nonchalantly
ex. he solved the complex problem casually
ex. she gave an inspiring speech nonchalantly, without showing any nervousness
ex. il a résolu le problème complexe l’air de rien
ex. elle a donné un discours inspirant l’air de rien, sans montrer la moindre nervosité
all the way to the end
ex. he went all the way to the end of the street
tout au bout
ex. il est allé tout au bout de la rue
no one left, no one, nobody
ex. there is no one left in the room
plus personne
ex. il n’y a plus personne dans la salle
to go all out, to give it your all, to pull out all the stops
ex. for his wedding, he pulled out all the stops
ex. if we want to win this match, we have to give it our all
mettre le paquet
ex. pour son mariage, il a mis le paquet
ex. si on veut gagner ce match, il faut mettre le paquet
at the helm, at the controls, in charge
ex. he is at the helm of this company
ex.she has been in control of this project from the start
aux manette
ex. il est aux manettes de cette entreprise
ex. elle est aux manettes de ce projet depuis le début
big bucks, big money, big cash
ex. there’s big money to be made in this business
ex. they invested a lot of money in this company
gros sous
ex. il y a de gros sous à faire dans cette affaire
ex. ils ont investi de gros sous dans cette entreprise
absolutely, completely, exactly
ex. what you’re saying is absolutely logical
tout a fait
ex. ce que tu dis est tout à fait logique
