Getting Angry in French

We all know that when you're angry about something, it's better to talk about your emotions than to keep them pent up inside. If you ever need to vent in French, there are several constructions you can use to express your anger.

Two of these constructions employ the French word for anger, la colère (related to the English word "choleric," meaning "bad-tempered" or "irritable"). As in English, there's a distinction in French between being angry (être en colère) and getting angry (se mettre en colère, literally, "to put oneself in anger"):

J'étais très en colère contre Harold.

I was very angry at Harold.

Caption 28, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté
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Elle devenait nerveuse, elle se mettait en colère.

She became nervous, she got angry.

Caption 3, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père n'est pas mort
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Note the preposition contre in the example above. Whereas in English you can be angry "at" or "with" someone, in French you're angry "against" someone.

If you're really angry about something, you can use the construction fou/folle de (which we discussed in a previous lesson):

Elles sont folles de colère, folles de rage, horripilées.

They are wild with anger, raging mad, incensed.

Captions 52-54, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes
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Besides expressions with colère, the other main way of describing anger in French is with the adjective fâché(e) (angry) or the reflexive verb se fâcher (to get angry):

Tu es fâché contre Léon?

Are you angry with Leon?

Caption 2, Les zooriginaux - Léa jacta est
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Ça va, vieux, te fâche pas!

It's OK, old pal, don't get upset!

Caption 22, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 3. La planète verte
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Don't confuse the adjective fâché(e) with the adjective fâcheux/fâcheuse, which has a slightly more subdued meaning. It can mean anything along the lines of "annoying," "unfortunate," "regrettable," or "aggravating":

C'est fâcheux qu'il ne puisse pas venir.
It's unfortunate that he can't come.

We hope there was nothing in this lesson that made you angry! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

Topics Vocabulary