Honey, sweetie, darling, sweetheart are all terms of endearment that ring sweet on anyone’s ears in English. French speakers have their own terms of endearment, too. You might hear some of them in friendly and intimate conversations and wonder what they mean. For example, you might hear the words mon chou, mon amour, ma chérie, ma puce, mon cœur. They all mean something sweet to be sure, but what are their equivalents in English? Let’s find out!
In our series Mère & Fille, you are likely to come across a few of the pet names mentioned above. Isabelle likes to show affection toward her daughter using one of her favorite expressions, mon cœur ("sweetheart," literally “my heart"):
Tu perds ton temps, mon cœur.
You're wasting your time, sweetheart.
Caption 10, Mère & Fille Plan B
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In a different mother-daughter series, Elisa’s mom calls her daughter ma petite chérie, which can also translate as “sweetheart” ("my little sweetheart"):
Salut ma petite chérie. -Salut maman.
Hello my little sweetheart. -Hi Mom.
Caption 1, Elisa et sa maman Comment vas-tu?
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Most of the time, though, ma chérie means “my darling," which is what Isabelle calls her daughter Barbara frequently:
Alors là ma chérie
So then, my darling
Caption 36, Mère & Fille Danse pas si classique
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In another Mère & Fille episode, Barbara goes over the top and calls her mother mon chéri d’amour (my darling love) in hopes that she will allow her to get her hair dyed:
Ah chérie. -Ça va mon chéri d'amour que j'aime ?
Ah, darling. -How is my darling love that I love?
Caption 24, Mère & Fille Tout en couleur
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Note how Isabelle uses the feminine chérie to refer to her daughter, while Barbara uses the masculine mon chéri to agree with the masculine amour.
Similar to chéri/chérie is cher/chère (dear). In the following video, we have a conversation between two scientists where one addresses the other as mon cher (my dear friend). Since it is strictly a work friendship, “my dear friend” sounds more appropriate than “my dear":
Vous vous rendez compte, mon cher, qu'ils se trouvent des savants pour prétendre que la Terre n'est pas le centre de l'univers !
You realize, my dear friend, that there are scientists claiming that the earth is not the center of the universe!
Captions 22-23, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 9. Galilée - Part 4
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In more casual circumstances between good friends, you might come across this cute expression, mon chou, which does not have a direct translation, unless you want to call your friend “my cabbage” or “my cream puff” (referring to un chou à la crème). In the comedy series Extr@, this tight group of friends use cute pet names frequently but in different ways. In this episode, Sacha introduces some bad news to Sam (who lost his lottery ticket), so she calls him mon chou to soften the blow:
Sam, mon chou. Tu as un ticket, mais tu n'as pas le ticket...
Sam, my dear. You have a ticket, but you don't have the ticket...
Captions 25-27, Extr@ Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 5
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On the other hand, Sacha, who is in love with Nico, uses mon chou in a more affectionate way, which is reflected in the translation “my darling”:
Oh, Nico, mon chou
Oh, Nico, my darling
Caption 32, Extr@ Ep. 7 - La jumelle - Part 5
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And what affectionate term does Nico use? He calls Sacha ma biche (literally, "my doe"), but in a sarcastic way, as he is annoyed with her:
Ma biche, qu'est-ce que tu fais cet après-midi ?
My doe [my darling], what are you doing this afternoon?
Captions 44-45, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 2
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As for Annie, who has a soft spot for Sam, she likes to call him chouchou (sweetie pie). This is a cute colloquial term of endearment that is only used in very casual intimate settings or around children. In this video, it’s also used for humorous effect:
Chouchou.
Sweetie pie.
Caption 2, Extr@ Ep. 11 - Les vacances - Part 2
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Un chouchou (someone’s pet or favorite), however, is not always a complimentary term. In fact, quite the opposite. It refers to someone getting preferential treatment, often eliciting some jealousy on the part of the speaker. In the following video, the two tigers, who happen to be identical twins, don’t see eye to eye:
Ce voyou, cet infâme chouchou de maman
This rogue, this infamous mama's pet
Caption 12, Les zooriginaux 6. Tiger Minor - Part 1
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There's also the similar word choupinou, which is another way of saying “cute” or "too cute" in very casual language. In the following video, Barbara uses that term to express her admiration:
C'est choupinou ça !
That's too cute!
Caption 50, Mère & Fille Fête des mères
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When combined with a possessive adjective, mon choupinou means “my darling” or “my sweetie.” We can easily imagine Isabelle calling her daughter Barbara mon choupinou (sweetie):
Barbara, mon choupinou, viens ici !
Barbara, sweetie, come here!
Mon choupinou is reserved mainly for children. For adult romantic relationships, you will often hear the phrase mon amour (my love). In Serge Gainsbourg’s romantic song "La Javanaise," presented by Nelly, the term mon amour comes up several times:
J'avoue, j'en ai bavé, pas vous, mon amour
I confess, I had a hard time, didn't you, my love
Caption 75, Français avec Nelly 12 Songs to Improve Your French - Part 2
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Another romantic term is ma belle ("my beautiful" or "gorgeous"):
Près de moi, ma belle, tu viendras
Near me, my beautiful, you will come
Caption 16, Zaz Belle
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In another era, a man would call his beloved sa tendre (his sweetheart), a term which is rather old-fashioned today. In one of her videos, Patricia mentions this quaint word that hearkens back to the days of chivalry:
Il souhaitait épouser sa tendre.
He wanted to marry his sweetheart.
Caption 83, Le saviez-vous? Le dernier duel à l'épée pour l'honneur en France
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You're more likely to hear a more modern expression that applies to all genders: bien-aimé/bien-aimée (beloved). In her video on phrases expressing romantic love, Nelly mentions the terms votre bien-aimé and votre chéri (your darling) in her list of examples:
Je vais vous donner quelques phrases pour déclarer votre amour à votre bien-aimé, votre chéri.
I'm going to give you a few phrases to declare your love to your beloved, your darling.
Captions 41-43, Français avec Nelly Les expressions de l'amour
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There you have it! You now have many formal, casual, and endearing terms at your disposal to express love and affection in various settings. Look out for examples in our Yabla videos to guide you as to which expression is most appropriate for the circumstance, so you will know not to call your boss mon choupinou! For more endearing terms, click here. Thank you for reading!
Do you know what Parlez-vous céfran means? It’s Parlez-vous français? (Do you speak French?) in verlan, a form of slang in which a word’s syllables are inverted. In verlan, français (French) becomes céfran. The term verlan is itself an instance of verlan, standing for l’envers ("backward" or “back to front”), as Lionel puts it in his lesson:
"Verlan", c'est "l'envers" à l'envers.
"Verlan" is "l'envers" [backward] reversed.
Caption 5, Lionel L - Le verlan
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Although verlan is widely used among young people today, the practice of reversing syllables goes back a long way (and is not exclusive to the French language). French Enlightenment writer François-Marie Arouet, aka Voltaire, is said to have made up his pen name by reversing the syllables of his hometown of Airvault. More recently, singer/rapper/songwriter Stromae (né Paul Van Haver) built his stage name around the word maestro, which in verlan became Stromae! Verlan was even used as a coded language among prisoners during World War II.
But it was not until the seventies and eighties that verlan really started to take off and become a form of expression for the disenfranchised in the poorer suburbs of Paris. It became part of the language of immigrants, namely second-generation French North Africans straddling two cultures, who called themselves beurs (arabes in verlan). (Incidentally, the term rebeu, a variation of beur, has become so mainstream that it is now entered in Le Petit Robert dictionary!)
The term beur (Arab), featured in the video below, is part of the catchphrase black, blanc, beur (black, white, Arab), which has become a symbol of racial diversity:
La Marianne, c'est le symbole de la République avant tout. Je vous dirais qu'elle soit noire, beur, ou blanche, c'est pareil.
Above all, Marianne is the symbol of the Republic. I'm telling you, whether she's black, Arab, or white, it's all the same.
Captions 16-17, Le Journal - Marianne
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By the same token, immigrants don’t want to abandon their roots and compromise their values to fit in. According to filmmaker Alain Etoundi, minorities are misrepresented in French movies, such as the comedy Les Kaïra, in which black characters are stereotyped as funny, harmless rogues. The title of the movie Les Kaïra is based on caillera, the verlan term for racaille (riffraff, scum):
Vous aimez valider des films de pseudo "Kaïra" ["caillera", verlan "racaille"]
You like to endorse pseudo-"Kaïra" films [riffraff]
Caption 26, Alain Etoundi - Allez tous vous faire enfilmer! - Part 1
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In addition to movies, music, especially hip-hop, helped verlan spread beyond the suburbs from the nineties onwards. In 2013, Congolese-born hip-hop artist Maître Gims made liberal use of verlan in his song "Bella":
Les gens du coin ne voulaient pas la "cher-lâ" [lâcher]
The local people would not leave her alone
Caption 54, Maître Gims - Bella
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Turning two-syllable words into verlan is quite straightforward. In the example above, Maître Gims just switches the syllables of lâcher (to let go/to leave alone) around to make cher-lâ. But with one-syllable words, it’s a little trickier. For example, pieds (feet) becomes iep:
Rends-moi bête comme mes "iep" [pieds]
Make me stupid as my feet [thick as a brick]
Caption 59, Maître Gims - Bella
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And chien (dog) becomes iench:
Je suis l'ombre de ton "iench" [chien]
I am the shadow of your dog
Caption 61, Maître Gims - Bella
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Rapper Grand Corps Malade also uses verlan in his song "Roméo kiffe Juliette" (Romeo Likes Juliet):
Le père de Roméo est vénère [énervé], il a des soupçons
Romeo's father is irritated, he has suspicions
Caption 25, Grand Corps Malade - Roméo kiffe Juliette
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And in "Plan B", Grand Corps Malade refers to a girlfriend as a meuf:
Quand ta meuf c'est Kardashian et que tu rêves d'une vie planquée
When your chick is a Kardashian and you dream of a secluded life
Caption 21, Grand Corps Malade - Plan B
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The word femme (“woman” or “wife") becomes meuf in verlan, which can also mean “girlfriend” or, more slangily, "chick."
As singers have popularized the use of verlan, it's become part of everyday conversations among young people. In the video below, Elisa uses verlan in a conversation with her mother, whom she accuses of being relou (annoying):
Bah oui! T'es... t'es super relou ["lourd" en verlan], on le sait hein!
Well yes! You're... you're really annoying, we know that, right?
Caption 8, Elisa et sa maman - Comment vas-tu?
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It's not just people who can be relou. Activities like housework can be as well:
Et très vite j'allais comprendre qu'il y avait plus relou que le ménage.
And very quickly I was going to understand that there were more frustrating things than housework.
Captions 73-74, Mère & Fille Tâches ménagères
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As you can see, verlan words pepper conversations and songs all across the French-speaking world. If you want to try your hand at verlan, just switch some syllables around, and don’t forget check out the videos featured in this Blaya (Yabla) lesson!
The preposition dans can mean "in," "inside," or "into," depending on context. For example, elle est dans la maison could either be "she is in the house" or "she is inside the house," and elle va dans la maison could be "she goes inside the house" or "she goes into the house." In this lesson, we'll focus on "inside" (and its opposite, "outside"), which has a few other translations besides dans.
The first is dedans. Unlike dans, which is a preposition, dedans usually functions as an adverb. It can either mean "inside" or "indoors":
Là y'a nouveau jeu. Ils doivent deviner combien il y a de bonbons dedans.
There's a new game. They have to guess how many candies there are inside.
Caption 49, Actu Vingtième - Fête du quartier Python-Duvernois
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Je n'aime pas rester dedans toute la journée.
I don't like staying indoors all day.
Like "inside," dedans can also be used as a noun:
Le dedans de l'église est très sombre.
The inside of the church is very dark.
We could also say l'intérieur de l'église est très sombre (the interior of the church is very dark), or simply il fait très sombre dans l'église (it's very dark inside the church). In fact, l'intérieur is the other word for "inside" in French. You'll often see it in the phrase à l'intérieur (de), which can also mean "within":
Maintenant, on va la laisser reposer
Now we are going to let it rest
pour que les levures à l'intérieur puissent permettre à notre pâte d'être aérée.
so that the yeast inside can allow our dough to be airy.
Captions 32-33, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas
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Alors des maisons, c'est très rare d'en trouver, euh...
So [standalone] houses, it's very rare to find them, uh...
à l'intérieur de Paris, je vous le promets.
within Paris, I promise you.
Captions 19-20, Antoine - La Butte-aux-Cailles
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We could easily rewrite these two examples using dedans and dans: les levures dedans (the yeast inside), en trouver dans Paris (find them in Paris).
Now let's move "outside." Though French has a general word for "in" (dans), it doesn't have one for "out." However, dedans and à l'intérieur (de) do have direct opposites: dehors and à l'extérieur (de).
Dehors functions in the exact same way as dedans, as an adverb or noun:
Dois-je payer pour ce qu'ils font dehors?
Should I pay for what they do outside?
Caption 20, Alain Etoundi - Allez tous vous faire enfilmer!
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Le dehors de la maison est plus joli que le dedans.
The outside of the house is nicer than the inside.
There's also the phrase en dehors de, which means "outside of" in both a literal and figurative sense:
Parce qu'il y a énormément de personnes qui vont travailler en dehors de Paris.
Because there are so many people who go to work outside of Paris.
Captions 47-48, Adrien - Le métro parisien
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En dehors de ça, je ne vois aucune autre solution.
Outside of that, I don't see any other solution.
Sometimes you'll see hors de rather than dehors de:
J'aurais du mal à vivre hors de Paris maintenant.
I'd have trouble living outside of Paris now.
Captions 38-39, Elisa et sa maman - Comment vas-tu?
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But hors (de) usually means "outside" figuratively, along the lines of "beyond," "without," or "excluding":
C'est hors de question!
That's out of the question!
Le loyer est de 600 euros hors charges.
The rent is 600 euros excluding utilities.
Finally, there's à l'extérieur, the opposite of à l'intérieur:
Ce quartier-là, à l'extérieur, il a quand même une certaine réputation...
This neighborhood, on the outside, it has a certain reputation, nevertheless...
Caption 52, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
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Ça m'a permis d'aller travailler à l'extérieur de ce pays.
It's allowed me to work outside of this country.
Caption 24, Annie Chartrand - Grandir bilingue
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Il y a des gargouilles sur l'extérieur de la cathédrale.
There are gargoyles on the cathedral's exterior.
Now you know all the ways of saying "inside" and "outside" inside and out!
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