This lesson is brought to you by the letter x, an exaspérante (exasperating) letter that can morph into several different sounds. How do you extract a meaningful rule out of this unruly letter? Are you ready to explorer (explore) this exciting letter x? Fear not, the French pronunciation of the letter x is similar to English, at least at first glance. However, there are some notable differences that we will explore.
You may have noticed that some of the cognates mentioned in the previous paragraph share the same x sound in French and in English. Here is an example using the word explorer (to explore):
Il faut les explorer, les décrire, en faire une carte et en découvrir d'autres.
We have to explore them, describe them, map them, and discover some more.
Caption 12, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs 10. Amerigo Vespucci - Part 3
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Here is another example, with exacte (exact):
Du coup, c'est très compliqué d'avoir la date exacte.
As a result, it's very complicated to get the exact date.
Caption 37, Lionel Le musée de Jeanne d'Arc - Part 2
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In a few instances, an x at the end of a French word will render the same x sound as in English. The video below refers to l’Académie des Lynx, named after the wild animal le lynx (lynx), renowned for its sharp eyesight:
Le prince Federico Cesi, fondateur de l'Académie des Lynx
Prince Federico Cesi, the founder of the Academy of the Lynxes
Caption 33, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 9. Galilée - Part 7
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Likewise, words ending in -ex are usually pronounced as in English:
C'est-à-dire, vous faites un barré avec votre index
That is, you do a barre with your index finger
Caption 10, Leçons de guitare Leçon 3
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But words ending in -ex or -nx are not that common in French and tend to be of foreign origin. Instead, typical x endings come in the following combinations: -oux, -aux, -eaux, and -eux, which all call for a silent x. (We’ll explore exceptions further on.)
In the video below, the speaker, a British server, has never heard of a silent x… She tries to entice Sam and the gang with some “gâtox," which has everyone flummoxed. Fortunately, Sam saves the day and explains that she meant to say gâteaux (cakes), with a silent x. Listen carefully to learn how NOT to say gâteaux:
"Gâtox"... Je crois qu'elle veut dire "gâteaux".
"Gâtox"... I think she means "cakes."
Caption 45, Extr@ Ep. 11 - Les vacances - Part 6
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Here is an example with the correct pronunciation of nouveaux ("new," plural):
Les nouveaux livres qu'on a reçus.
The new books that we've received.
Caption 14, Gaëlle Librairie "Livres in Room"
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Since the x is silent, gâteaux and nouveaux are pronounced the same as singular gâteau (cake) and nouveau (new). But listen carefully to this sentence with the same word, nouveaux (new). Why does the x now sound like a z?
Afin de développer de nouveaux outils de pilotage...
In order to develop new steering tools...
Caption 10, Canal 32 Le futur de l’éolien se joue dans l'Aube
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This is not a mistake. The speaker formed what we call in French une liaison by joining two words together—the first one ending with a consonant, nouveaux, and the following one starting with a vowel, outils (tools)—rendering a z sound: nouveaux-Z-outils. (Notice how the speaker runs the two words together without pausing to make them sound like one word.) You will find more information on liaisons in the lesson Liaisons, Numerous and Dangerous.
So, look out for nouns (sometimes adjectives) starting with a vowel. It is a signal that you should sound the x like a z! Here's another example:
Les vieux époux ont décidé de mener leur vie
The old couple decided to lead their lives
Caption 4, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 9
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And here's one with a very short word, the determiner aux ("to the," plural):
Nemours a un passé particulièrement intéressant et très intimement lié aux États-Unis pour deux raisons.
Nemours has a past that is particularly interesting and very closely linked to the United States for two reasons.
Captions 5-6, Voyage en France Nemours - Part 2
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So we have: les vieux-Z-époux and aux-Z-États-Unis.
In short, when a word ends in x, the x is usually silent unless there is a liaison. If you are still unsure, don’t worry. Many liaisons are optional, and French people don’t apply the liaison rule to the letter, so to speak. Just remember, though, that in some situations, liaisons are de rigueur. The examples given above are very common and always call for a "liaiZon."
On the flip side, when a French word begins with x, it does not sound like a z, as it would in English. Instead, it's pronounced more like the x in exemple (example):
D'un symbole d'unité française, ce drapeau a été utilisé parfois comme symbole de xénophobie.
Once a symbol of French unity, this flag has sometimes been used as a xenophobic symbol.
Caption 41, Le saviez-vous? Histoire du drapeau français
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Stay tuned for another X-rated lesson on the numbers deux, dix, et six (two, ten, and six) and find out what is special about them. Thank you for reading!
Imitating the sound of an object or an animal is not easy to convey in writing, but it can be done! In fact, there is a special word derived from Greek for just that purpose, onomatopée (onomatopoeia), which is a close cousin to an interjection. (The distinction is open for debate as grammarians have conflicting views.)
Every language has its own version of onomatopoeia. For example, the sound of a rooster crowing will be rendered differently in various languages:
• In French: cocorico
• In English: cock-a-doodle-doo
• In German: kikeriki
• In Italian: chicchirichì
Animal sounds are a great source of onomatopée:
Le coq fait cocorico tous les matins.
The rooster goes cock-a-doodle-doo every morning.
However, you might be surprised to know that in French, some onomatopoeias can double as interjections, a type of exclamation where the emphasis is not on the sound so much as the sentiment behind it. Indeed, in the video below, cocorico is more of an interjection, a cry for victory, and an expression of national pride, as the Gallic rooster is the symbol of France:
Cocorico, bleu, blanc, rouge, pour nous les Nubians, pour la France
Cock-a-doodle-doo, blue, white, red, for us the Nubians, for France
Caption 33, Les Nubians Présentation
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Here is a more clear-cut example of onomatopoeia from the animal kingdom. A “French-speaking” dog goes ouaf! while its “English-speaking” counterpart goes "woof!" In the video below, "Ouaf!" is the name of a production involving dancing—and perhaps barking—dogs:
Des chiens dansants dans "Ouaf!"
Dancing dogs in "Woof!"
Caption 49, Extr@ Ep. 3 - Sam a un rendez-vous - Part 7
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Onomatopoeic words are not limited to representing animal noises. They can also mimic sounds of nature, such as plouf (splash), describing something falling into the water. Plouf is used as a noun in this video:
On fait un petit plouf et on se retrouve demain même heure
We're making a little splash and we're meeting again same time tomorrow
Caption 57, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 3
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Onomatopeoic words can also convey manmade sounds, such as loud explosions:
Et ça fait quoi le nucléaire pour les gens? -Ça fait boum!
And what does nuclear energy do to people? -It goes boom!
Caption 49, Manif du Mois Fukushima plus jamais ça
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The sound of gunfire, pan (bang), certainly qualifies as onomatopoeia:
Le fusil fait pan, pan, pan.
The gun goes bang, bang, bang.
However, in the example below, the focus is not so much on sound but instantaneity, making pan an interjection. The subject of this video is famous French photographer Cartier-Bresson, who knew when to click the shutter at just the right time:
Il y a une méditation. Dans la photo, il n'y en a pas. Pan!
It involves meditation. With photography, there is none. Snap!
Caption 21, Le Journal Le photographe Cartier-Bresson
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Like pan, the word paf will translate differently depending on whether we are talking about an onomatopoeia or an interjection. In the first instance, paf conveys the sound of something heavy hitting a hard surface:
Paf! Le livre est tombé par terre.
Thwack! The book fell on the floor.
In the second, paf is an interjection that conveys swift action. In this video, Sophie talks about quickly snipping cuttings in a public garden… without permission:
Paf! Tu coupes.
Bam! You cut.
Caption 44, Sophie et Patrice La maison verte
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Still with scissors in hand, Sophie uses tac instead of paf to imitate the snipping sound:
Tac! Je coupe et...
Snip! I cut and...
Caption 47, Sophie et Patrice La maison verte
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In another video, Sophie again uses tac to convey the sound of her homemade lamp turning on: Tac! (Click!)
Regarde, est-ce que ça marche? Tac!
Look, is it working? Click!
Caption 43, Sophie et Patrice Les lampes de Sophie - Part 2
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In yet another situation, Sophie says tac tac tac (tap tap tap) while making madeleines to imitate the sound of breaking eggs:
Tu prends tes trois œufs, tac tac tac.
You take your three eggs, tap tap tap.
Caption 40, Sophie et Patrice Les madeleines
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Fortunately, Sophie kept her fingers intact during all her ventures. If she hadn't, she might have used the interjections ouille! (ouch!) or aïe! (ow!)
Ouille là, c'est chaud, là!
Ouch, that's hot, there!
Caption 2, Il était une fois: Les Amériques 1. Les premiers Américains - Part 5
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Aïe! Mais pourquoi tu as fait ça?
Ow! Why did you do that?
Caption 11, Extr@ Ep. 10 - Annie proteste - Part 8
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Had she cut herself, she might have had to call on emergency services, with their distinctive sirens:
Pin-pon! Pin-pon!
Woo-woo! Woo-woo! [sound made by a two-tone siren]
Caption 2, Les zooriginaux Repos corsé - Part 2
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As this lesson draws to a close, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief—ouf! (phew!)—like the princess in the video below:
La princesse était très soulagée. -Ouf! Celle-là, je ne la reverrai pas de si tôt.
The princess was very relieved. -Phew! I won't be seeing that one again any time soon.
Captions 11-12, Contes de fées Le roi grenouille - Part 2
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For more examples of onomatopoeia, you may want to explore Yabla's animated series or simply browse through our video library. Ouf! La leçon est terminée!
Let’s talk garbage! While it’s not something on everyone’s mind around the dinner table, it bears thinking about. France’s environmental concerns are real, and responsible citizens are looking for ways to safely and responsibly dispose of their garbage and unwanted goods. So, let’s embark on this dirty subject and look at some interesting vocabulary surrounding garbage and its disposal.
Let’s start with les ordures (garbage/trash/rubbish) and les détritus (scraps). In the video below, the speaker explains that seagulls are avid consumers of both:
Bah, c'est des oiseaux basiques qui volent au-dessus de l'eau et qui souvent uivent ne serait-ce que les détritus et les ordures.
Anyway, they're just regular birds that fly above the water and that often go after anything, even if it's just scraps and garbage.
Captions 24-25, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 1
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Détritus can sometimes mean “litter,” as there is no specific term for that type of waste:
On peut voir sur cette plage qui est très propre, elle est équipée comme il faut pour tout ce qui est détritus.
We can see on this beach, which is very clean, it's set up the way it should be for everything concerning litter.
Captions 26-27, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 2
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Though it mainly refers to garbage, ordure can also be used as an insult:
T'es vraiment la dernière des ordures.
You're really the worst scumbag ever.
Caption 59, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 3
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The best way to deal with détritus and (non-human) ordures is to dispose of it in poubelles (garbage cans):
On a des belles poubelles qui sont vertes, une très bonne initiative d'ailleurs.
We have some nice green garbage cans, a very good initiative by the way.
Caption 28, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 2
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The contents of the poubelles will end up in a déchetterie/déchèterie (waste collection center):
On dispose des objets dans une déchetterie.
Items are disposed of in a waste collection center.
Responsible citizens showing genuine concern for the planet may wonder what to do with their organic waste, such as old Christmas trees, which les ordures ménagères (household waste collection) won’t accept:
Nombreux sont ceux qui ne savent jamais quoi faire de leur sapin après Noël puisque les ordures ménagères n'en veulent pas toujours.
There are many who never know what to do with their fir trees after Christmas since household waste collections don't always want them.
Captions 14-15, TV Tours Une seconde vie pour vos sapins de Noël?
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Unfortunately, many Christmas trees end up being dumped illegally in des décharges sauvages (illegal dumps):
Un petit peu partout, euh... des décharges un petit peu sauvages.
A little bit all over, uh... dumping that is somewhat uncontrolled.
Caption 18, TV Tours Une seconde vie pour vos sapins de Noël?
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In Brittany, some people turn their déchets (waste) into “gold” by starting une filière de compostage (a composting stream):
Certaines tentent même de valoriser ces déchets dans une filière de compostage.
Some are even trying to capitalize on this waste in a composting stream.
Caption 33, Le Journal Marée verte en Bretagne
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In addition, French people are becoming more and more creative at finding ingenious solutions to reduce mounting waste by setting up des ressourceries (upcycling centers):
Aujourd'hui, c'est l'inauguration de la ressourcerie du vingtième arrondissement
Today is the inauguration of the upcycling center of the twentieth arrondissement
Captions 2-3, Actu Vingtième Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville
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Others try to extend the life of their devices by repairing them:
On est censé faire réparer des objets qui ont quelques problèmes.
We're supposed to bring items that have some problems for repair.
Caption 2, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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Repairing objects instead of les jeter (throwing them away) prevents faire du gâchis (creating waste):
C'est important d'essayer de conserver les objets le plus longtemps possible au lieu de faire du gâchis.
It's important to try to keep objects for as long as possible instead of creating waste.
Captions 6-7, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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C'est d'inciter les gens à dépanner eux-mêmes, à chercher avant de jeter.
It's to incite people to fix things themselves, to try before throwing away.
Captions 47-48, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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Not only is it best to avoid throwing away manufactured goods, it’s also important to avoid gaspillage (squandering/wasting) natural resources such as water:
On va construire et opérer des usines de nourriture partout à travers le monde, et cela sans utiliser aucun produit de pesticide et aucun gaspillage d'eau.
We're going to build and operate food factories all over the world, and this without using any pesticide product or any wasting of water.
Captions 20-21, Agriculture verticale TerraSphere
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And what should we do with les eaux usées (waste water)? Clean it of course!
Mais on peut lui demander des tas d'autres choses, comme nettoyer les eaux usées, manger les déchets.
But we can request loads of other things from it, such as cleaning waste water, eating waste.
Captions 20-22, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 7
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So il n’y a pas de temps à perdre (there is no time to waste)! Now that you have expanded your vocabulary surrounding waste—déchets, gaspillage, ordures, eaux usées, gâchis—and are more aware of solutions such as déchetteries, ressourceries, and compostage, you will be better equipped to follow our Yabla videos on the subject, and maybe…help save the planet.
The ubiquitous verb faire is a very versatile word. Not only can you use faire to talk about what you “do” or “make," but you can also use it in a myriad of situations, including when talking about the weather, feelings, and past events. Let’s explore some of the most common idiomatic expressions involving faire beyond doing and making.
Before we start focusing on faire as a verb, note that its past participle, fait (done/made), also works as a noun: le fait (the fact, the event).
Et le fait historique que l'on retient principalement ici à Bitche, c'est le siège de dix-huit cent soixante-dix
And the historical event that we mainly remember here in Bitche is the eighteen seventy siege
Captions 33-35, Lionel à la Citadelle de Bitche - Part 1
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You can read more about le fait in our lesson Getting the Facts Straight. But let's get back to faire as a verb. Early on in your French learning, you may have come across the construction il fait + noun/adjective to describe the weather. In this context, faire is equivalent to “to be." In the following video, Sophie and Edmée are enjoying a nice day out. Sophie says:
Il fait super beau aujourd'hui.
It's super nice out today.
Caption 1, Sophie et Edmée Le beau temps
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Here is another instance where faire translates as “to be”: the expression faire partie de (to be part of).
Et il faut savoir que jusqu'en mille huit cent soixante, la Villette ne faisait pas partie de la ville de Paris.
And you should know that until eighteen sixty, La Villette wasn't part of the city of Paris.
Captions 23-24, Adrien Quai de la Seine
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Faire is also used to convey how much time has passed in the construction ça fait + expression of time:
Et ça fait longtemps que tu veux devenir professeur?
And have you been wanting to become a teacher for a long time?
Caption 92, Claire et Philippe Le boulot d'enseignant
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This construction is equivalent to il y a + expression of time (it's been, ago). In Sophie et Edmée - Le beau temps, Sophie might have said:
Ça fait plus d’une semaine qu’il fait super beau.
It's been super nice out for over a week.
Good weather is a perfect opportunity to faire un tour en vélo (go for a bike ride), as Amal suggests:
On va faire un petit tour
We're going to go for a little ride
Caption 28, Amal Vélib
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Note that you can use faire to talk about all kinds of sporting activities.
Sophie and Edmée agree that on a sunny day, ça fait du bien (it feels good) to get out and about. Indeed, you can use the construction faire + noun/adverb to express how something feels, either in a positive or negative way:
Ouais, ça fait du bien un peu de pouvoir sortir et se promener.
Yeah, it kind of feels good to be able to go out and take a walk.
Captions 3-4, Sophie et Edmée Le beau temps
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Conversely, something might faire du mal rather than faire du bien:
Mais la petite sirène était incapable de faire du mal à quiconque.
But the little mermaid was incapable of hurting anyone.
Caption 41, Contes de fées La petite sirène - Part 2
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You can also say faire de la peine instead of faire du mal:
Ça me fait de la peine.
It pains me.
Caption 17, Sophie et Patrice Après Noël
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Speaking of feelings, you can reassure someone with the expression, Ne t’en fais pas! (Don’t worry!) That's what Nico tells Sam, who is worried about getting a job:
Ben, ne t'en fais pas. Je vais t'apprendre.
Well, don't worry about it. I'm going to teach you.
Caption 43, Extr@ Ep. 4 - Sam trouve du travail - Part 2
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In any case, Sam would be wise to act responsibly and avoid faire l’enfant (acting like a child) if he wants a job. As Margaux and Manon explain in their video on this subject, you can use faire to describe many different types of behavior and activities:
Attention, petite subtilité! Faire un enfant, c'est avoir un bébé. Mais faire l'enfant, c'est se comporter comme un enfant.
Careful, a slight subtlety! "Faire un enfant" is to have a baby. But "faire l'enfant" is to behave like a child.
Captions 17-18, Margaux et Manon Emplois du verbe faire
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In conclusion, ne vous en faites pas (don’t worry) if you’re not familiar with all the many uses of faire yet. Help is at hand! Allez faire un tour de nos vidéos sur Yabla (take a tour of our Yabla videos) and explore many more ways of using faire.
The measure of a chef lies in the precise and careful measuring of ingredients to achieve consistent quality in every cooking endeavor. Rest assured: every cook can obtain good results, too, with the help of a few simple weighing and measuring devices readily available around the kitchen. Let’s find out what this equipment is called in French and how the system works.
As you may have noticed in Yabla's cooking videos, all the recipes use the French metric system as opposed to the imperial system. So, everything is given to you in grammes, kilogrammes (grams, kilograms) and mililitres, litres (milliliters, liters) instead of cups, pints, and ounces. In the video below, the chocolate log recipe calls for many ingredients, all of them measured in grammes (grams):
Ensuite, vous ajoutez cinquante grammes de beurre en morceaux
Then, you add fifty grams of butter cut in pieces
Captions 34-35, Il était une fois la pâtisserie Bûche de Noël
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That same recipe uses mililitres (mililiters) for liquids:
Vous ajoutez deux cent cinquante millilitres de crème chaude
You add two hundred fifty milliliters of hot cream
Caption 31, Il était une fois la pâtisserie Bûche de Noël
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If you are not familiar with the metric system, you can choose to convert measurements, which can be a complicated process, or you can simply use une balance (a kitchen scale) set to grammes. In the video below, the baker uses une balance électronique (an electronic scale):
Le boulanger a tout d'abord mesuré les ingrédients sur une balance électronique.
First of all, the baker measured the ingredients on an electronic scale.
Captions 5-6, Apprends les métiers Boulanger
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Alternatively, you can use a variety of devices such as un verre doseur (a measuring cup):
Tu rajoutes de la farine sans verre doseur, pas besoin
You add some flour without a measuring cup, no need
Captions 26-27, Sophie et Patrice Les crêpes
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Or, if precision is not crucial, you can resort to a drinking verre (glass), which is roughly equivalent to une tasse à mesurer (one measuring cup). (In France, drinking glasses generally come in smaller sizes than American ones.) In the video below, JB uses un verre d’eau (a glass of water) for his tarte aux mirabelles (mirabelle plum tart):
Et ensuite ajouter l'équivalent d'un verre d'eau
And then add the equivalent of a glass of water
Caption 17, JB La tarte aux mirabelles
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To measure smaller quantities, you can use une cuiller à mesurer (a measuring spoon). “A teaspoon” is une cuiller à café (“a coffee spoon") or une petite cuiller ("a small spoon"). Une cuiller à café holds cinq millilitres (five milliliters). In the video below, the cook adds a little flavor to his crêpes with une petite cuiller de rhum (a teaspoon of rum):
Comme on est entre adultes, une petite cuiller de rhum.
Since we're among adults, a teaspoon of rum.
Caption 77, LCM Recette: Crêpes
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The same recipe calls for deux cuillers à soupe (two tablespoons, literally "soup spoons") of melted butter:
Et deux cuillers à soupe de beurre demi-sel fondu.
And two tablespoons of melted, lightly salted butter.
Caption 49, LCM Recette: Crêpes
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Note that cuiller (spoon) has two spellings that are equally common: une cuiller or une cuillère. The pronunciation and gender remain the same.
You can also say une cuillerée (a spoonful) for indicating quantities, as in this natural remedy for sore throats:
Presser un citron bio. Ajouter deux cuillerées à café de miel pour les maux de gorge.
Squeeze an organic lemon. Add two teaspoons of honey for a sore throat.
Now that you know how to measure ingredients, you need to be able to turn on votre four (your oven) at the correct temperature. The oven can be set at various temperatures: doux, moyen, chaud (cool, medium, hot). In the video below, Sophie bakes her madeleines in un four chaud (a hot oven), approximately equivalent to 230-250 Celsius:
Et ensuite je mets à four chaud
And then I put it in a hot oven
Caption 63, Sophie et Patrice Les madeleines
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Indeed, France uses the metric system, which includes Celsius, while the US and a few other countries use Fahrenheit. To give you an idea, the most common baking temperature is 180 degrés Celsius, which is almost equivalent to 400 degrees Fahrenheit:
Et vous pouvez préchauffer votre four à cent quatre-vingts degrés.
And you can preheat your oven to one hundred eighty degrees [Celsius].
Caption 56, Il était une fois la pâtisserie Bûche de Noël
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In addition to oven temperatures set in Celsius, some gas ovens have un thermostat (a thermostat) ranging from 1 to 6. As indicated in the video below, thermostat cinq (thermostat five) is equivalent to 160 degrees Celsius:
On les placera au four à cent soixante degrés ou thermostat cinq, pendant quinze minutes.
We'll place them in the oven at one hundred sixty degrees [Celsius] or thermostat five, for fifteen minutes.
Captions 40-41, Aurélien et Automne Oreo fait maison - Part 2
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Now you that you can calculate quantities in French recipes, it’s time to measure your success in the kitchen and… in French!
Happy measuring!
In our previous lesson, we focused on vocabulary associated with the verb cuire (to cook). But cooking doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You will need a few essentials such as baking pans, bowls, and other kitchen utensils. Let’s find out what these things are called in French.
One of the must-have kitchen utensils is un saladier. Un saladier comes from the word salade (salad), so it’s “a salad bowl,” as its name would suggest. Having said that, un saladier can also accommodate any type of food or even liquids, acting as a mixing bowl. In the following video, Patrice and Sophie use un saladier (a mixing bowl) for their crêpe batter:
Tu rajoutes de la farine sans verre doseur, pas besoin, directement dans le saladier.
You add some flour without a measuring cup, no need, directly into the mixing bowl.
Captions 26-28, Sophie et Patrice Les crêpes
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Instead of un saladier, you can use un bol (a bowl) for mélanger (mixing) ingredients:
Mélange au bol oignons, mozzarella, on se gêne pas, champignons...
Mix in the bowl onions, mozzarella, don't be shy, mushrooms...
Caption 18, F&F Pizza Chez F&F - Part 2
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Traditionally, though, un bol is what most French people use to drink their café au lait (coffee with milk). In the video below, the restaurant owner shows us where the breakfast bols (bowls) and assiettes (plates) are available:
Nous avons des assiettes et des bols
We have plates and bowls
Caption 38, Nils L'auberge de jeunesse à Avignon
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In any case, you will need a utensil to stir the contents of your bol or saladier. You might use une cuillère/cuiller (a spoon) or un fouet (a whisk) to mix your ingredients. Automne isn’t sure which one she should use:
Tu mélanges, Automne. -Avec une cuiller ou un fouet? -Avec une cuiller.
You mix, Automne. -With a spoon or a whisk? -With a spoon.
Captions 24-25, Aurélien et Automne Oreo fait maison - Part 1
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Or to speed things along, you can use un batteur (a hand mixer):
Tu n'as pas un batteur fantastique à nous proposer? -Si.
Don't you have a fantastic mixer to suggest to us? -Yes I do.
Captions 31-32, Aurélien et Automne Oreo fait maison - Part 1
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Un batteur électrique is an "electric mixer," used for fouetter les blancs en neige (beating egg whites until stiff):
Vous fouettez les blancs en neige
You beat the egg whites until stiff
Caption 44, Il était une fois la pâtisserie Bûche de Noël
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To mix cake batter, you might prefer a more robust appliance like un robot ménager (yes, a robot!). Un robot (a food processor) is a more modern device that can perform many functions, from mixing cake batter to making soups and even baking bread:
Quel robot de cuisine choisir? Découvrez notre sélection des meilleurs robots de cuisine, accompagné d'un comparatif détaillé.
Which food processor should you choose? Discover our top selection of food processors, with a detailed comparison.
Once your mixture is ready to be taken out of your robot, you will need une spatule to scrape the batter off the bowl. In the video below the chef is removing the dough from the cookie cutter using une spatule (a spatula):
On le défait, avec une petite spatule. Et on vient le poser à côté, prêt à aller au four.
We take it out, with a little spatula. And we go and place it aside, ready to go into the oven.
Caption 52, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas
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Then it’s time to mettre au four (bake) your creation. For this, you will need un moule à gâteau (a baking pan). (In other contexts, un moule can mean “a mold” as well.)
Et une fois cette action réalisée, je vais placer la pâte sur un papier sulfurisé, la mettre dans un moule
And once this is done, I'm going to place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, place it in a baking pan
Captions 20-22, JB La tarte aux mirabelles
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When you bake cookies or even a chocolate log, you will use une plaque (a baking tray):
Vous versez la préparation sur une plaque recouverte de papier cuisson.
You pour the mixture onto a baking tray covered with baking paper.
Caption 57, Il était une fois la pâtisserie Bûche de Noël
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Once this is done, you can serve your dessert in un plat (a dish):
Je la mets dans un plat.
I put it in a dish.
Caption 19, JB La polenta
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Now that you are familiar with some ustensiles (utensils) and kitchen essentials, you're all set to explore Yabla’s delicious food and cooking videos. Bonne cuisine! (Happy cooking!)
The mention of French cuisine conjures up images of mouthwatering food prepared with loving care. How do ordinary French people manage to produce delicious meals every day? One of the key ingredients to success is how you cook the food. In this lesson, you will learn various expressions associated with cuire (cooking). À vos fourneaux! (Let’s get cooking!)
As mentioned earlier, the generic verb for “cooking” is cuire. In the video below, JB explains how he prefers to cuire ses légumes ensemble (cook his vegetables together) for his ratatouille:
En effet selon certaines traditions il faut les cuire séparément ou tous ensemble. Moi, je préfère les cuire tous ensemble.
Indeed, according to certain traditions, you have to cook them separately or all together. As for me, I prefer to cook them all together
Captions 16-18, JB La ratatouille
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As for Lucette, who is making apricot jam, she uses the expression faire cuire, which means the same thing as cuire (to cook):
Dans le temps, on les faisait cuire dans la bassine en cuivre,
In past times, we used to cook them in a copper basin,
Caption 6, Lucette La confiture d'abricots
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Lucette puts her apricots in une cocotte de cuisson (a cooker), a kind of Dutch oven for slow cooking:
Je vais les mettre dans la cocotte de cuisson.
I'm going to put them in the cooker.
Caption 30, Lucette La confiture d'abricots
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On its own, the verb mettre usually means “to put," but mettre à cuire is yet another equivalent to cuire and faire cuire. Having said that, note that in the context of the video below, mettre à cuire departs from its usual meaning and translates as “to bake” since it’s implied that the food is going in the oven:
Et nous allons la mettre à cuire
And we're going to bake it
Caption 89, Christian Le Squer Comment cuisiner les figues
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In fact, there is no concise French equivalent of the verb “to bake”! You have to say cuire/faire cuire au four (literally, “to cook in the oven”). Watch JB bake a delicious Mirabelle plum tart in the video below:
Il s'agit de la faire cuire au four
It's a matter of baking it in the oven
Caption 36, JB La tarte aux mirabelles
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On the other hand, the verb enfourner is much more concise than its English translation, “to put/load into the oven." This skilled baker is going to enfourner les madeleines (put the madeleines in the oven):
Steven va à présent enfourner les madeleines.
Steven is now going to put the madeleines in the oven.
Caption 57, Lionel L'usine de madeleines de Liverdun - Part 2
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Then again, English has a verb for “steaming,” which doesn’t exist in French. You have to use the construction cuire + noun + à la vapeur (literally, “to cook with steam”):
Cuire les légumes à la vapeur permet de conserver les vitamines.
Steaming vegetables helps preserve vitamins.
Not only can you use the verb cuire to talk about steaming and baking, but you can also cuire at various temperatures: à feu doux (on low heat) or à feu vif (on high heat):
Tout dépend de la chaleur du feu; il faut toujours le faire à feu doux.
It all depends on the stove temperature; it always has to be done on low heat.
Caption 40, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: Au Caveau de l'étable à Niederbronn-les-Bains
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Je fais revenir le tout à feu vif pendant trois minutes.
I brown everything over high heat for three minutes.
Caption 24, JB La ratatouille
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After browning (faire revenir) everything, JB turns down the heat to mijoter (simmer) his ratatouille:
Je laisse encore mijoter pour une quinzaine de minutes.
I let it simmer again for fifteen minutes or so.
Captions 38-39, JB La ratatouille
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You'll often see mijoter or its synonym, mitonner, in the expression mijoter/mitonner de bons petits plats, which translates as “cooking up nice little dishes." Yet no expression in English quite conveys the love, care, and time that goes into mijoter/mitonner des bons petits plats, which is exactly what the chef and his staff are doing in the video below:
En effet, le chef et l'équipe de cuisine s'emploient à leur mitonner de bons petits plats chaque jour.
Indeed, the chef and the kitchen staff are working on cooking up nice little dishes for them every day.
Caption 22, TV Tours Défendre les fromages au lait cru
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If spending hours in the kitchen is not for you, you can resort to le micro-ondes (the microvave). The grandmother in the video below needs a little technical help with son micro-ondes (her microwave):
Rien... savoir comment marcher le micro-ondes.
Nothing... just how to work the microwave.
Caption 66, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 7
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The word “microwave” only exists as a noun in French. If you want “to microwave," you have to again resort to the construction cuire + noun: cuire/faire cuire au micro-ondes (literally, "to cook in the microwave”):
Faire cuire au micro-ondes 5 à 10 minutes suivant la puissance du four. Mélanger.
Microwave for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the oven. Mix.
In conclusion, whatever cooking method you may prefer, you’re likely to use the verb cuire (to cook). Yabla cooking videos will help you mijoter de bons petits plats (cook up nice little dishes) while learning French. Thank you for spending time in our Yabla “kitchen”! Stay tuned for another lesson on kitchen-related vocabulary.
À vos fourneaux! (Get cooking!)
French verbs take on many endings, which can be a challenge to a new learner. Not to mention that some irregular verbs bear little resemblance to their original infinitive forms when conjugated. And a small group of verbs have unique characteristics that may surprise you. So let’s take a tour of these weird and wonderful things called verbs.
Did you know that the shortest conjugated verb in French is only one letter long, a, as in il/elle a (he/she has)?
Et il a des révélations à lui faire.
And he has some revelations to make to him.
Caption 2, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon père - Part 9
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Speaking of short verbs, a few irregular past participles ending in -u are extremely short and depart from their infinitive forms. And to make matters worse, they look very similar. The past participles of savoir, croire, pouvoir, boire, voir, and devoir are su, cru, pu, bu, vu, and dû (known, believed, was able to, drank, must have):
Ce que j'ai pu constater...
What I was able to observe...
Caption 23, Alphabétisation des filles au Sénégal
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Just a quick reminder that past participles sometimes have to agree in gender and number with their objects, which means they take on additional endings. In the following example, vu becomes vus to agree with the masculine plural object, les gens:
...et les gens qu'elles avaient vus là-bas.
...and the people they had seen there.
Caption 21, Contes de fées La petite sirène - Part 1
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Verbs ending in -ut or -it, as in fut (was) and fit (did), are often the mark of the passé simple or past historic, which is a tense used in fairy tales and other literary or historical works:
La première chose qu'elle vit fut un grand bateau.
The first thing she saw was a large boat.
Caption 25, Contes de fées La petite sirène - Part 1
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Although the past historic is little used, you may come across it from time to time, so it is worth familiarizing yourself with its endings at least. Be aware, though, that some verbs in the past historic look the same as other verbs in the present tense. For example, elle vit (she saw) is a past historic form of voir, but elle vit (she lives) is also a present tense form of vivre:
Mais heureusement ton frère, bon, qui vit à Montréal...
But luckily your brother, well, who lives in Montreal...
Caption 36, Elisa et sa maman La technologie
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And sometimes, a verb conjugated in the same tense can have two different meanings, as in je suis (I am/I follow), which is the first-person singular present of both être (to be) and suivre (to follow). Usually, context is enough to guide you, but it could also be a trick question in an exam! In the video below, the poor koala is having an identity crisis:
Quoi? Je ne suis pas un koala? Mais alors, qui suis-je?
What? I'm not a koala? But then, who am I?
Caption 8, Les zooriginaux 3 Qui suis-je? - Part 1
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And here, you have both meanings of suis within the same caption:
Je suis bien d'accord, ils ne servent à rien. Allez, suis-moi.
I totally agree, they are of no use. Come on, follow me.
Caption 14, Les zooriginaux 2 Tel père tel fils - Part 4
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Speaking of present-tense tricks, the verbs vaincre (to defeat, vanquish) and convaincre (to convince) are the only verbs in the French language that have endings in -c and -cs: je convaincs (I convince), tu convaincs (you convince), il convainc (he convinces). This little nugget of knowledge might come in handy while playing Scrabble, but not so much in conversation.
The past participles of vaincre and convaincre are more straightforward: vaincu, convaincu:
Alors, te voici convaincu? Ne cherche pas ailleurs!
So, are you convinced? Don't look elsewhere!
Caption 10, Il était une fois: L’Espace 3. La planète verte - Part 4
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One verb that draws attention to itself not for its unique present-tense ending but for its unusual infinitive form is the verb se fiche (to not give a damn). Normally it should come with an -r at the end, like all infinitives, but many grammarians, including those at Larousse, make a case for se fiche as the infinitive. In any event, it makes for a vigorous debate among scholars and grammarians. As for most people, ils s’en fichent (they could care less) and use the more regular infinitive version, se ficher.
Se fiche is most often a conjugated form of the present tense. In the following example, it takes on a different meaning: "kid" or "get a rise out of":
On se fiche de nous ou quoi?
Are you kidding us or what?
Caption 5, Actus Quartier Devant la SNCF
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Finally, some verb tenses have very exotic endings, even to the average French speaker! Endings such as -inssent, -assent, and -ussent, as in qu’ils vinssent/fassent/fussent (that they came/did/were) belong to the imperfect subjunctive, a tense that's hardly ever used. Most French speakers use the present subjunctive even when referring to the past:
Je voulais que tu viennes.
I wanted you to come.
Very few would use the imperfect subjunctive, unless perhaps for a humorous effect:
Je voulais que tu vinsses.
I wanted you to come.
While the imperfect subjunctive is a literary verb form, the present subjunctive is not, and is often used in casual conversation. For example, you will need the present subjunctive to say something as simple as “I’ve got to go":
Merci de m'avoir regardée sur Yabla. Maintenant faut que j'y aille.
Thanks for watching me on Yabla. I gotta go now.
Caption 39, B-Girl Frak Limoges
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Vaille que vaille (come what may), don’t hesitate to explore more wondrous verb oddities in your Yabla wanderings by taking full advantage of our videos and lessons. Thank you for reading. Maintenant il faut que nous y allions! Au revoir!
Partir normally means “to leave,” as in nous sommes partis (we left). However, c’est parti is an idiomatic expression that has little to do with its literal meaning, "it left." So, without further ado, let’s explore the various shades of meaning of this very popular catchphrase. C’est parti! (Here we go!)
When it’s clear from the context that we’re talking in the past tense, c’est parti has a fairly straightforward meaning: “it started." In the video below, the speaker discusses how the Belleville upcycling center began:
Et puis voilà. C'est comme ça que c'est parti.
And there you are. That's how it started.
Caption 117, Actu Vingtième Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville
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So far so good. However, c’est parti doesn't always refer to something in the past, despite its verb being in the past tense. In fact, c’est parti usually describes an event that hasn’t happened yet. It tells us that something is about to start. Moreover, c’est parti is often accompanied with an exclamation mark to reflect the enthusiasm of the person starting an activity:
Et nous, on goûte. Allez, c'est parti! Fourchettes! Bon appétit!
And we're going to taste it. OK, here we go! Forks out! Bon appétit!
Caption 116, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano Médaillon de Homard - Part 3
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You can even add a little color to the expression by saying, Cest parti, mon kiki! Kiki is a colloquial term for "throat," but it only appears here for the rhyme:
C’est parti, mon kiki!
Let’s get cracking!
In any case, c’est parti used on its own is something people say when they want to get started, like Amal setting off on a bike ride in the following video:
Voilà! C'est parti.
There! Let's go.
Caption 46, Amal Vélib
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Later in the same video, you will find another variation in the English translation of c’est parti:
Voilà. C'est bon. Le vélo... Et c'est parti!
There. It's good. The bike... And off you go!
Caption 50, Amal Vélib
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Similarly, c’est parti can also mean “we’re off”:
C'est parti, on y va.
And we're off, here we go.
Caption 44, Delphine et Automne Le gâteau au yaourt - Part 2
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Saying c’est parti is a perfect way to announce the start of a race. It's equivalent to on y va (let’s go/here we go):
Bon ben c'est parti. -Top chrono, c'est parti.
Good, well, here we go. -Starting now, here we go.
Caption 37, Joanna La course à pied: Conseils
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Another variation of c’est parti is c’est parti pour (for) in combination with a time period, to indicate duration:
C'est donc parti pour trois jours de concert. Au programme, musique classique et jazz
So it's off for a three-day concert. On the program: classical music and jazz
Caption 2, Grand Lille TV Un piano dans le métro!
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C’est parti pour can also introduce what’s coming, as in “it’s time for” something:
Huit heures, le suspense prend fin. C'est parti pour quatre heures de réflexion.
Eight o'clock, the suspense is over. Time for four hours of recollection.
Caption 4, Le Journal Le bac
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You can also use c’est parti pour to discuss what you might expect. In the video below, Sophie and Patrice speculate about the weather. Sophie thinks “they are in for" some rain:
Ah mais là, on est parti pour une semaine, hein?
Ah but here, we'll be in it for a week, huh?
Caption 9, Sophie et Patrice La pluie
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Here Sophie replaces c'est with on est. Note, however, that on est parti is usually not an idiomatic expression, but retains its literal meaning (we left):
On est parti de Rome...
We left Rome...
Caption 48, Lionel et Automne Lionel retourne à l'école
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In addition to the phrase c’est parti pour, you can qualify c’est parti with an adverb like bien (well) or mal (badly) to indicate whether things are going to turn out well or badly. So, the expression t’es bien parti means “you’re off to a good start/on the right track”:
Je pense que t'es bien parti.
I think that you're on the right track.
Caption 109, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano Médaillon de Homard - Part 3
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And of course, c’est mal parti means the opposite, “to be off to a bad start," like Amal's awful singing:
C'est très mal parti quand tu... -J'ai fait cinq ans de conservatoire.
It's off to a very bad start when you... -I did five years of conservatory.
Caption 52, Amal et Caroline Je n'aime pas quand tu chantes
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Note that Caroline could have put it another way and said:
T’es très mal partie.
You’re off to a very bad start.
Finally, you can add the suffix re- and say c’est reparti (here we go again) to indicate repetition, which can be meant as a good thing or a bad thing. In the video below, Nico expresses his frustration with Sam and says:
C'est reparti!
Here we go again!
Caption 19, Extr@ Ep. 4 - Sam trouve du travail - Part 7
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And Barbara is also frustrated with her mother, who does the same annoying thing over and over:
Et voilà, c'était reparti pour l'interrogatoire de police.
And then she went off again with the police interrogation.
Captions 39-40, Mère & Fille La soirée
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As you can see, there are many ways of interpreting c’est parti. In general, it's an idiomatic expression that marks the beginning of an action. With a little practice, you'll be able get a sense of its nuances in context. Keep watching Yabla videos, dear readers, and vous serez bien partis (you’ll be off to a great start)! Thank you for reading!
The French devote an average of two hours to physical activity each week. They love to walk. They also play sports and go to the gym. They like to exercise in various ways, but what expressions do the French use to convey the idea? How many ways are there to say “exercise” in French? Let’s find out in this lesson.
One form of exercise is faire du sport (playing sports), and according to Patricia in her video on Antibes, there is no shortage of people qui font leur sport (doing their sporting activities) in Antibes:
Des gens qui font leur sport également... du jogging, du roller, du skateboard, des arts martiaux
Also people who are doing their sporting activities... jogging, rollerskating, skateboarding, martial arts
Caption 17, Mon Lieu Préféré Antibes
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In addition, note that when you hear the French talk about faire du sport, they don’t necessarily mean practicing a sport. In fact, faire du sport simply means "to exercise":
Y a pas d'âge pour faire du sport.
There's no age for exercising.
Caption 68, Le Jour où tout a basculé Des hôtes pas comme les autres - Part 3
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People like Amal and Caroline often talk about how they wished they’d exercise more:
Ah, il faudrait que je fasse du sport. -C'est vrai? T'es prête à faire du sport?
Ah, I should exercise. -Is that true? Are you ready to exercise?
Captions 102-103, Amal et Caroline La cigarette
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Faire du sport is synonymous with faire de l’exercice (to exercise), so Amal could have said this instead:
Ah, il faudrait que je fasse de l’exercice.
Ah, I should exercise.
Note that when talking about exercising the body, you use the expression faire de l’exercice, which always comes with the definite article l’ (the). Faire un exercice, with the indefinite article un (a), has a slightly different meaning. It just means “to do an exercise." This can be a physical activity:
On va faire un petit exercice.
We're going to do a little exercise.
Caption 72, Marie & Jeremy Candice et son coach
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Or it can be any type of exercise, such as a learning exercise:
L'élève qu'on voit ouvrir son manuel pour faire un exercice, peut-être voir une partie de cours
The student that you see opening his book to do an exercise, maybe to see a part of the lesson
Caption 14, Le Journal Manuels scolaires
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As you many have noticed, exercice as a noun is more or less a direct cognate of "exercise." Its verb form, exercer, mainly means "to exercise" in the sense of exercising or practicing a profession:
Le prévenu encourt une interdiction d'exercer.
The defendant risks being banned from exercising his profession.
Caption 42, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 1
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The reflexive form s’exercer takes on another meaning: “to train” or “to practice” any type of activity.
On peut s’exercer à chanter.
One can practice singing.
Finally, “to exert oneself” in English is not s’exercer in French but rather se dépenser, with the emphasis on expending some energy. In the example below, aller se dépenser involves a physical workout:
Et si vous alliez vous dépenser avec Maxime?
What if you went for a workout with Maxime?
Caption 60, Le Jour où tout a basculé Des hôtes pas comme les autres - Part 3
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The term “workout” doesn’t have a direct translation in French. There are only equivalents like l’exercice physique (physical exercise):
Après l'exercice physique...
After the workout...
Caption 27, Le Jour où tout a basculé Des hôtes pas comme les autres - Part 4
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Or you could say un entraînement for “workout”:
Des vidéos d'entraînement.
Workout videos.
Caption 30, Sports Shop D'un sport à l'autre
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There you have it. Exercez-vous tous les jours avec Yabla en faisant des exercices! (Practice every day with Yabla by doing exercises!)
In the Yabla video Sophie et Patrice - On m'a volé mon téléphone, Sophie had her phone stolen and shares her frustration with Patrice, who offers a few suggestions to solve her problem. In their conversation, you will learn plenty of phone-related vocabulary. Throughout the video, Sophie and Patrice use the generic term un téléphone, but they could have used the term un portable (a cell/mobile phone) instead:
Personne. -Personne. Sauf une fois, il s'est fait voler son... portable...
Nobody. -Nobody. Except once, he had his... cell phone stolen...
Caption 77, Actus Quartier Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 1
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Sophie and Patrice also didn’t use the English loanword un smartphone, which you might also hear:
Des témoignages que les visiteurs pourront bientôt découvrir sur leur smartphone
Accounts that visitors will soon be able to discover on their smartphone
Caption 13, Télévision Bretagne Ouest Concarneau: Un tournage sur la vie maritime
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Patrice simply uses the French cognate téléphone when he advises Sophie to faire bloquer son téléphone (have her phone blocked):
Tu as appelé pour faire bloquer le téléphone?
Did you call to have the phone blocked?
Caption 11, Sophie et Patrice On m'a volé mon téléphone
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It might preserve her privacy, since her whole répertoire (address book) was on her phone, as well as all her contacts:
Moi, j'ai... j'ai tout mon répertoire... Tu te rends compte? J'ai tous mes contacts.
I have... I have my whole address book... You realize? I have all my contacts.
Captions 6-7, Sophie et Patrice On m'a volé mon téléphone
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Losing her phone also means that Sophie can no longer access her agenda électronique (electronic calendar):
Mon agenda, il était dans... C'était mon agenda électronique dans mon téléphone.
My calendar was in... It was my electronic calendar in my phone.
Caption 52, Sophie et Patrice On m'a volé mon téléphone
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Unfortunately, she never thought to do une sauvegarde (a backup):
Pourquoi j'ai pas fait la sauvegarde?
Why didn't I do a backup?
Caption 78, Sophie et Patrice On m'a volé mon téléphone
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Still searching for a solution, Patrice asks Sophie if she has une puce (a chip) or une carte SIM (a SIM card) on another appareil (device):
C'est la seule puce que tu as, euh... T'as pas un autre appareil avec la même carte SIM?
Is that the only chip that you have, uh... You don't have another device with the same SIM card?
Captions 58, 61, Sophie et Patrice On m'a volé mon téléphone
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You might be interested to know that in other situations, une puce is something entirely different. It’s actually "a flea"! In any case, Sophie has neither une puce nor une carte SIM on another appareil. She's going to have to call son opérateur (her provider):
Je vais appeler l'opérateur...
I'm going to call the provider...
Caption 84, Sophie et Patrice On m'a volé mon téléphone
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Sadly, it looks like Sophie and Patrice have run out of solutions. It might be time for her to start shopping for un nouveau portable (a new cellphone)—perhaps un smartphone compatible avec la 5G (a 5G smartphone)!
It’s no secret that many English words have become part of the French language. What is not so well-known, however, is how much Arabic has influenced European languages. From the Moorish occupation of Spain to the latest waves of North African immigrants, Arabs have had a strong presence in Europe. So, it’s no surprise that Arabic terms have crept into the French language. Let’s explore some of them.
Many of these words were adapted to sound more like French over time, so much so that French people use words of Arabic origin every day without realizing it. For example, a typical day may start with un café, derived from the Arabic word qahwa:
Les adultes boivent plus du café ou du thé
Adults drink coffee or tea more
Caption 9, Arles Le petit déjeuner
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Arab cuisine has also become part of the French cooking repertoire. For example, you can find the spicy Maghrebi sausage called merguez in most supermarkets nowadays. In the video below, Parisians can’t resist the smell of merguez:
les odeurs de merguez, de frites, euh...
the smells of merguez, of French fries, uh...
Caption 8, Manif du Mois La traditionnelle manif du 1er mai
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People even use Arabic terms when talking about routine activities, like aller au magasin (going to the store), a word borrowed from the Arabic makazin, which originally referred to a warehouse. The meaning of introduced words often departs from the original:
Alors, nous sommes dans un magasin.
So, we're in a shop.
Caption 24, Extr@ Ep. 2 - Sam fait du shopping - Part 3
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Other times, loanwords have remained close to the original Arabic meaning. French borrowed the term souk, which is a marketplace in Northern Africa. But the word has also become slang for a messy place and is often accompanied by an exclamation mark:
Quel souk!
What a mess!
The somewhat dated expression faire la nouba (to party) kept its Arabic sound but lost its original meaning. La nouba refers to traditional songs and dances performed by Algerian women. The term later became slang, first used in the military, for partying and living it up:
J’aime trop faire la nouba.
I love to party a lot.
While young people may not use the same Arabic expressions as their parents, today’s youth adopted their own new set of Arabic words to add to their vocabulary and complement their favorite verlan expressions. In his conversation with Anna, Louis greets her using the term wesh, borrowed directly from Algerian slang, which is equivalent to "hi," "yo," or "what's up":
Wesh ["salut" en arabe] Anna.
Wesh ["hi" in Arabic] Anna.
Caption 1, Anna et Louis Le vocabulaire des jeunes
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Louis also uses the word kiffer (to love). Kif originally served as a slang word for drugs, equivalent to "dope" or "hash" in English. By extension, the verb kiffer came to mean "to smoke hash." Nowadays, though, kiffer mostly functions as a general synonym of aimer:
En vrai, Louis, je kiffe bricoler
For real, Louis, I love tinkering
Caption 45, Anna et Louis J'ai besoin d'un coup de main
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Conversely, something that is pas kiffant is not fun:
Enfin c'était pas kiffant, quoi
Well, it wasn't fun, you know
Caption 14, Anna et Louis Hier soir
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Speaking of pas kiffant, you might hear someone in trouble use the expression avoir le seum, slang for being depressed, frustrated, or in a bad spot:
Moi, j'ai trop le seum.
Me, I'm really frustrated.
Caption 14, Sophie et Edmée Les études de médecine
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Ben, euh... moi j'ai un peu le seum
Well, uh... I'm kind of in a bad spot
Caption 8, Edmée et Fanny Les présidentielles à 20 ans
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The reason for all this seum (trouble) might be a lack of moula (moolah), which is one of several slang terms for money:
Pour les langages des jeunes et plus récemment: "la moula", "la moulaga", "les lovés", "les bifs" et "les waris."
In youth language, and more recently: "la moula" [moolah], "la moulaga," "les lovés," "les bifs," and "les waris."
Captions 24-26, Lionel L L'argent
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The lack of moula might well prompt the use of the Maghrebi expression c’est la hess ("it’s hell," "it’s a struggle"). Imagine a hungry teenager opening an empty refrigerator, saying:
Le frigo est vide, c’est vraiment la hess.
The fridge is empty, it’s hell.
The Algerian term hess or hass originally referred to licking the plate clean, in other words starving.
As you may have noticed, many Arabic loanwords come into French as slang, and thus change from generation to generation. However, many of these words, such as café and magasin, have been part of the French vocabulary for many years, centuries even, and are not at all slang. In any case, there is no shortage of Arabic words in the French language. Watch for new ones in Yabla videos!
As the saying goes, French is the language of love. So, let’s take this opportunity to delve into peoples’ hearts and minds and discuss expressions featuring the theme of love, ever so present in conversations, literature, and songs.
Grand Corps Malade sings about le grand amour (true love) in his song "Les Voyages en Train":
Le grand amour change forcément ton comportement
True love inevitably changes your behavior
Caption 13, Grand Corps Malade Les Voyages en train
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The masculine noun amour also exists in the plural form, as in the expression la saison des amours, which means "the season of love" when referring to humans:
Ah oui, oui, oui, c'est la saison des amours là.
Ah yes, yes, yes, it's the season of love now.
Caption 44, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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And "the mating season" when referring to animals:
Et là, c'est la saison des amours là?
And now, it's the mating season now?
Caption 43, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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The term conjoint (mate) applies to both the animal and the human kingdom:
Elles trouvent le temps long parce que le conjoint, il tarde à venir là.
They feel that time is moving slowly because their mate is taking his time to arrive now.
Caption 45, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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You'll often come across conjoint (partner/spouse) when filling out an administrative form:
L'utilisation du nom du conjoint nécessite certaines démarches.
Adopting a partner’s name requires certain steps.
Alternatively, you will also come across the word époux/épouse (spouse) which works in the same way as "spouse" in English—as a slightly more formal alternative to le mari (husband) and la femme (wife):
Voilà. Je désire prendre votre fille pour épouse.
Here's the deal. I want to take your daughter as my wife.
Caption 19, Il était une fois: l’Homme 6. Le siècle de Périclès - Part 3
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Vous acceptâtes de me prendre pour époux
You accepted to take me for a husband
Captions 26-27, Oldelaf interprète "Bérénice"
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Speaking of époux, young girls in fairy tales often dream of épouser (marrying) le Prince Charmant (Prince Charming):
Seule dans sa chambre elle rêve encore au Prince Charmant
Alone in her room she still dreams of Prince Charming
Caption 8, Wallen Donna
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These days, people might look for their Prince Charming on un site de rencontre (a dating site):
Je m'inscris sur un site de rencontre pour retraités.
I'm subscribing to a dating site for retirees.
Caption 12, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 1
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Of course, faire une rencontre (meeting someone) or rencontrer l’amour (finding love) can happen in any setting, even unusual ones, as Nico can attest in this video:
Nico rencontre l'amour à un feu rouge.
Nico finds love at a red light.
Caption 34, Extr@ Ep. 5 - Une étoile est née - Part 8
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With a little luck, Nico may have found une âme sœur (a soulmate):
Petites fées du cœur accueillent les âmes sœurs
Little love fairies welcome the soulmates
Captions 25-26, Melissa Mars Music Videos Army of Love
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In any case, Nico and his neighbors Sacha and Annie have a complicated love life. They are all amoureux (in love), but with the wrong people!
Elles ont un voisin, Nico, qui est amoureux de Sacha, et Annie est amoureuse de Nico.
They have a neighbor, Nico, who is in love with Sacha, and Annie is in love with Nico.
Captions 3-5, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 1
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Nico wants Sacha to be sa petite amie (his girlfriend), while Annie wants Nico to be son petit ami (her boyfriend). They could simplify their lives by being amis (just friends), but that's not how love works! The adjective petit (little) is just an endearing term of affection that bears no relation to size at all. It simply implies a more exclusive relationship:
Ça va être ta petite amie qui doit être jalouse.
It's your girlfriend who must be jealous.
Caption 20, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 4
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Instead of using the term petit ami/petite amie, they could have said une petite copine (a girlfriend) or un petit copain (a boyfriend).
Traditionally, the next step is to progress from petits amis to mari et femme (husband and wife), and perhaps to sing together, like the couple in the video below:
Tout comme sa femme, le mari chante bien.
Just like his wife, the husband sings well.
Caption 56, Le saviez-vous? "Non plus", forme négative de "aussi" - Part 1
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But before jumping into marriage, the pair may first se fiancer (become engaged). Hence the term un fiancé/une fiancée, which English borrowed from French:
Comme par exemple... ta fiancée? T'en as une? C'est ça?
Like, for example... your fiancée? You have one? Is that right?
Caption 46, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon père - Part 4
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Fiancés might celebrate their fiançailles (engagement) with an engagement party, though perhaps not as grandiosely as Anne of Austria and Louis the Thirteenth, who had the famous Place des Vosges in Paris built for the occasion:
...à l'occasion des fiançailles de Louis Treize et d'Anne d'Autriche.
...on the occasion of the engagement of Louis the Thirteenth and Anne of Austria.
Caption 16, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion La place des Vosges
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Les fiançailles usually lead to another celebration, the wedding (le mariage or la noce):
...à l'occasion de son mariage entre mille huit cent quatre-vingt-douze et mille neuf cent deux.
on the occasion of his wedding, between eighteen ninety-two and nineteen hundred two.
Caption 36, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 5
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La noce se fera en automne.
The wedding will take place in the fall.
Two things worth noting about the word un mariage (marriage). It’s spelled with only one r, and it can mean either “wedding” (the ceremony) or “marriage" (the relationship). La noce, however, only means "wedding."
While marriage is usually a union based on love, in some cases, a marriage might be un mariage blanc, which literally means “white/blank marriage,” as Patricia explains in her video:
Un mariage blanc, c'est un mariage arrangé, ou pas consommé.
A white marriage is an arranged marriage, or not consummated.
Captions 56-57, Le saviez-vous? La couleur blanche et ses expressions - Part 2
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Usually though, a marriage is a happy occasion on which la mariée (the bride) and le mari (the groom) exchange vows:
La mariée et le marié sont aussi au rendez-vous
The bride and the groom are also at the rendez-vous
Caption 16, Amadou et Mariam Beaux dimanches
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Many newlyweds (nouveaux mariés) go on une lune de miel (honeymoon):
Celle-là, c'était l'année de notre rencontre. Et notre lune de miel.
That one was the year we met. And our honeymoon.
Captions 35-36, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 3
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Of course, le mariage is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people may decide to vivre en couple (to live together as a couple) instead. The word couple can refer to the number of people in the relationship, as in English, or to the relationship itself:
Notre couple allait mal.
Our relationship was going badly.
Caption 57, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 8
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Finally, those who remain unattached are called célibataires (single), like the lady mentioned in this video:
Et elle est toujours célibataire.
And she's still single.
Caption 90, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 5
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On November 25th, la Sainte-Catherine (Saint Catherine’s Day), single, unmarried young girls celebrate their catherinette by saying a special prayer for a suitor, before they reach the age of twenty-five.
As much as le grand amour (true love) may seem like the perfect recipe for happiness, one cannot vivre d’amour et d’eau fraiche (live on love alone). On the other hand, as the Beatles' song goes, all you need is love!
How do you pronounce ville (city) and fille (daughter)? In all logic, the pronunciation should be the same, but is it? The French language has its idiosyncrasies that make learning interesting and challenging at times. Words like ville, fille, fil, fils (city, daughter, thread, son) have their own stories to tell. Are you ready?
Words ending in -ille (with a double ll), such as brille (shines) and fille (girl/daughter), follow a specific pronunciation rule. The -ille sound is roughly equivalent to the sound “ee-yuh” in English, as in “giddy-up."
Listen to Sam, who sees the sunny side of life in this video, and pay attention to the way he says brille:
Le soleil brille dehors.
The sun is shining outside.
Caption 17, Extr@ Ep. 9 - Du boulot pour Sam et Nico! - Part 1
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Most words ending in -ille end with same “ee-yuh” sound. Hence, it’s no surprise to hear that brille (shines) rhymes with fille (girl/daughter):
Sa fille lui expliqua et lui demanda conseil.
His daughter explained it to him and sought his counsel.
Caption 42, Contes de fées Le roi grenouille - Part 1
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However, you guessed it, there are exceptions! No need to panic, though, as there are only three: mille, tranquille, ville (thousand, tranquil, city). In these words, the -ille is pronounced differently, like “eel” in English. (Note, however, that the word for "eel," anguille, rhymes with fille!)
Listen to the way mille, tranquille, and ville are pronounced in the following videos:
Notre amour brillera de mille feux
Our love will shine a thousand fires
Caption 10, Alsace 20 Colonel Reyel en session live acoustique!
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L'avantage, c'est qu'on peut s'y promener de façon vraiment tranquille
The advantage is that you can walk here in a really tranquil fashion
Caption 17, Antoine La Butte-aux-Cailles
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Nous sommes maintenant dans la vieille ville de Chartres
We are now in the old town of Chartres
Caption 6, Voyage en France La Ville de Chartres
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If a word ends in -ile, with a single l, this is no longer an issue, as you simply sound the l as you would normally.
Et des automobiles qui se suivent en file et défilent
And of automobiles that follow in line and drive past
Caption 15, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 9. Galilée - Part 1
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The feminine noun la file (line) has a masculine homophone, le fil (thread/wire), with no e at the end. They both sound the same but mean different things:
la prêtresse grecque qui déroula son fil
the Greek priestess who unravelled her thread
Caption 9, d'Art d'Art "La mélancolie d'une belle journée" - Chirico
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In the plural form, le fil becomes les fils (threads/wires), and they share the same pronunciation since the s in the plural is always silent:
Bon, enfin. -Et les fils?
Well, anyway. -And the wires?
Caption 1, Sophie et Patrice Les lampes de Sophie - Part 2
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So far so good. However, the word fils has another trick up its sleeve! Les fils (threads/wires) could also be les fils (sons). Fortunately, these two words are easy to tell apart as they have a different pronunciation. When talking about les fils (sons), the l is silent while the final s is pronounced.
Il transmit à ses fils tout ce qu'il possédait.
He passed on to his sons everything he possessed.
Caption 5, Contes de fées Le chat botté - Part 1
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Furthermore, le fils (the son) also ends in a sounded s, even though it’s singular:
Il cherche son fils à l'école.
He looks/is looking for his son at school.
Caption 9, Farid et Hiziya Chercher et trouver
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The only way to tell how to pronounce fils—and whether it's referring to threads, wires, or sons—is through context.
Merci mille fois (many thanks) for following le fil (the thread) of this newsletter!
This lesson is brought to you by the letter Z. Why the letter Z? Because few French nouns contain the letter Z. On the other hand, most verbs do, which is a handy thing to know when playing French Scrabble, as the letter Z is a high-scoring letter.
Almost all verbs in the second-person plural vous (you) end in -ez, as in vous savez (you know). What’s more, this is the case in pretty much all moods and tenses.
In the present tense:
Et toujours, vous savez, la langue est toujours liée à la culture.
And always, you know, a language is always tied to its culture.
Caption 42, Allons en France Pourquoi apprendre le français?
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In the imperfect tense:
Le saviez-vous?
Did you know?
Caption 1, Le saviez-vous? L'art culinaire français
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In the future tense:
Maintenant vous saurez que à chaque fois que vous entendez un verbe qui se termine par le son "é", c'est un verbe du premier groupe
Now you will know that each time you hear a verb that ends with the sound "é," it's a first-group verb
Captions 42-45, Le saviez-vous? Les verbes du 1er groupe
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In the conditional mood:
Sauriez-vous jouer au Scrabble en français?
Could you play French Scrabble?
While most verbs conjugated with vous (you) end in -ez, there are not as many nouns ending in Z. But a few of them are very commonly used, such as chez (at/to the home of), le riz (rice), le nez (nose), le raz-de-marée (tidal wave), and le rez-de-chaussée (ground floor):
Bienvenue chez moi
Welcome to my home
Caption 7, Stromae Bienvenue chez moi
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Elles mangent du riz.
They are eating rice.
Caption 28, Farid et Hiziya Boire et manger
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ce Milanais qui vous peignait une courgette en guise de nez
this Milanese man who painted you a zucchini as a nose
Captions 23-24, d'Art d'Art "Les quatre saisons" - Arcimboldo
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Mieux encore, les racines des palétuviers amortissent les effets des raz-de-marée et des fameux tsunamis.
Better still, the mangrove roots absorb the impact of tidal waves and notorious tsunamis.
Captions 19-20, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 9. Les écosystèmes - Part 7
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J'habite au rez-de-chaussée, donc je n'ai pas besoin de monter les escaliers.
I live on the ground floor, so I don't need to go up the stairs.
Caption 6, Joanna Son appartement
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As you can hear in the examples above, Z at the end of a word is almost always silent in French. So then why do we pronounce the Z in gaz (gas), for example? That’s because it's usually pronounced in words of foreign origin:
Factures: téléphone, gaz, électricité.
Bills: telephone, gas, electricity.
Caption 30, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 1
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Le français a une bande passante qui fait mille, deux mille hertz
French has a bandwidth that measures one thousand, two thousand hertz
Caption 34, Lionel Langue sous hypnose
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When Z comes at the beginning or in the middle of a word, it is always sounded just as it is in English. Here are a couple of interjections starting with Z:
Allez, zou!
Come on, let's go!
Caption 111, Claire et Philippe La campagne
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Je pourrais dire "zut" aussi.
I could also say "zut" [darn].
Caption 8, Le saviez-vous? Les expressions inspirées de la musique - Part 2
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You'll also find the letter Z in certain numerals, such as quinze (fifteen), seize (sixteen), and zéro (zero):
Et voilà, me voilà parée pour, sortir par, moins zéro, moins quinze degrés.
And there we have it, here I am dressed to go out in below zero, negative fifteen degrees.
Caption 14, Fanny parle des saisons S'habiller en hiver
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Now that you’ve zipped through this lesson, we trust that you will apply this newfound knowledge with le zeste (zest) and le zèle (zeal)!
Memorizing the gender of nouns referring to things is one of the most difficult parts of learning French, as assigning gender to an object or concept is unfamiliar to native English speakers. Is there any logic to this process? In many cases, it seems arbitrary, and there’s no way of guessing. Fortunately, some categories of nouns do follow logical rules.
For example, it is indeed possible to identify the gender of a country based on its ending. La France is a feminine noun because it ends in e. (Note that we say la France even though it’s a proper noun. Unlike in English, all names of countries are preceded by an article in French.)
Le nom de la France vient du mot "Franc"
The name of France comes from the word "Franc" [Frank]
Caption 3, Le saviez-vous? D'où vient le nom de la France?
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That said, there are always exceptions. Even though it also ends in an e, le Mexique (Mexico) is masculine:
Maintenant avec leur aide, partons sur-le-champ conquérir le Mexique!
Now with their aid, let's leave at once to conquer Mexico!
Caption 29, Il était une fois: Les Amériques 9. Cortés et les Aztèques - Part 8
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But as for countries that don’t end in an e, it’s easy! They are automatically masculine: le Canada, le Japon, le Luxembourg (Canada, Japan, Luxembourg).
Pierre Trudeau, Premier Ministre du Canada, a dit que c'était une loi de fou.
Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, said it was a crazy law.
Caption 28, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 3
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What about cities? Do they follow the same rule as countries? Not exactly. The Académie Française (the official French language watchdog, if you will) doesn’t give a definite answer, noting that people tend to prefer masculine although feminine is often used in literary contexts.
In the video below, we can tell that Paris is masculine because of the masculine past participle traversé (intersected):
Car Paris était traversé à l'époque par un aqueduc
For Paris was intersected at the time by an aqueduct
Caption 39, Voyage dans Paris Le Treizième arrondissement de Paris - Part 2
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French speakers often get around the gender ambiguity by using the expression c’est (it’s), which always requires a masculine agreement. Instead of saying Paris est belle or Paris est beau (Paris is beautiful), Sophie uses the phrase c’est + masculine to describe Paris:
C'est beau Paris comme ça.
Paris is beautiful like this.
Caption 1, Sophie et Patrice Paris, c'est gris
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The gender of languages is much more clear-cut. All languages are masculine, from le français (French) to le thaï (Thai):
Je crois que le français est une langue géniale.
I believe that French is a great language.
Caption 11, Allons en France Pourquoi apprendre le français?
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Note, however, that if you say "the French language" or "the Thai language" instead of just "French" or "Thai," you have to use the feminine, because the word langue (language) is feminine: la langue française, la langue thaïe.
Most foreign words are also masculine, in particular sports names and terms borrowed from English. It’s a simple matter of putting a masculine article like le (the) in front of the loanword:
Il aime le football.
He likes soccer.
Caption 33, Lionel L Les liaisons et le h aspiré
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On the other hand, native French sports terms are either masculine or feminine. For example, we have two words for “bicycle”: le vélo, which is masculine, and la bicyclette, which is feminine.
Tu peux faire du vélo
You can ride a bike
Caption 31, Amal et Caroline Le Parc de la Villette
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Most inanimate nouns follow no predictable pattern when it comes to gender. When we talk about feelings, for example, we say le bonheur (happiness) but la joie (joy):
Y a de la joie. On est avec les petits.
There's good cheer. We are with the little ones.
Caption 45, Actu Vingtième Fête du quartier Python-Duvernois
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C'est quand le bonheur?
When is happiness?
Caption 9, Cali C'est quand le bonheur
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To complicate things further, some words take both genders, and their meaning changes depending on whether they're masculine or feminine (we discuss this at length in our lesson One Word, Two Genders). For example, un livre is "a book," but une livre is "a pound":
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.
And there is a small group of noun pairs that have slightly different meanings in the masculine and feminine that aren't conveyed in English. For example, the words an and année both mean "year," but the masculine an emphasizes a point in time or a unit of time, while the feminine année stresses duration:
Un manuscrit de mille deux cents ans
A one thousand two hundred year old manuscript
Caption 9, Télé Lyon Métropole Un manuscrit vieux de 1200 ans découvert à Lyon
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Ça fait des années et des années qu'ils cherchent à être logés.
For years and years they've sought housing.
Captions 35-36, Actus Quartier Devant la SNCF
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Whether you’ve been studying French pendant des années (for years) or you’ve only just begun, with practice, remembering the gender of nouns will become easier. Thank you for reading the final lesson of this series!
Like many other types of nouns, nouns referring to animals often have both male and female versions, and sometimes even separate names for each gender. Many of them, however, are exclusively masculine or feminine, as we'll see in this lesson.
Nouns referring to animals work in a comparable way to those referring to people. The most common way to feminize a noun is to add an -e at the end, and, in many cases, double the final consonant, as in un chien/une chienne (a male dog/a female dog). Note that whenever you double a final consonant, the normally silent consonant (like the -n in chien) becomes pronounced, as you can hear in the example below:
Certains noms masculins vont doubler leur consonne finale. Un chien donne... -une chienne, deux "n", "e". Et un chat donne une chatte, deux "t", "e".
Some masculine nouns will double their final consonant. "Un chien" [dog] gives... -"une chienne," two "n's," "e." And "un chat" [a cat] gives "une chatte," two "t's," "e."
Captions 25-27, Manon et Simon - Le masculin et le féminin
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On a side note, you may want to exercise caution when using the words chatte and chienne, as they can both be offensive terms referring to women.
Here is another example of a noun that changes spelling and pronunciation in the feminine form. The word for "lion" follows the same pattern as chien/chienne:
Tu as vu? Le papa lion et la maman lionne se suivent partout.
Did you see? The dad lion and the mom lioness follow each other everywhere.
Caption 23, Les zooriginaux - Léa jacta est - Part 1
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On the other hand, some animal nouns ending in -n don’t double their final consonant in the feminine, as in un lapin/une lapine (male/female rabbit), but the change in pronunciation still applies. Pay attention to the nasal -in sound in this fairy tale video:
Il y attrapa un beau lapin gras et le mit dans sa bourse.
He caught a nice fat rabbit there and put it in his purse.
Caption 25, Contes de fées - Le chat botté - Part 1
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Likewise, un renard (a fox), with a silent d, doesn’t have a double consonant in the feminine, but the d will be pronounced: une renarde.
Le renard femelle adulte s’appelle la renarde.
An adult female fox is called a vixen.
Sometimes, in addition to the -e ending, there are some unexpected spelling changes in the feminine, as in un loup/une louve (male/female wolf):
Par exemple, un loup donne... -une louve.
For example, "un loup" [a male wolf] gives... -"une louve" [a female wolf].
Caption 53, Manon et Simon - Le masculin et le féminin
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As in un prince (a prince) and une princesse (a princess), some animal nouns take the suffix -esse in the feminine:
Un âne? -Une ânesse. -Bien!
"Un âne" [a donkey]? -"Une ânesse" [a jenny]. -Good!
Caption 41, Manon et Simon - Le masculin et le féminin
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In short, there are diverse ways to feminize an animal noun. However, many animals have separate names for male and female specimens, as in English. For example: une vache/un taureau (a cow/a bull).
Et là on voit déjà si c'est une vache ou des taureaux [sic: un taureau]? -Là, c'est une femelle.
And can we already tell here if it's a cow or a bull? -Here, it's a female.
Caption 43, Lionel à la ferme
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Male and female animal names can be quite specialized and hard to remember. If you don’t know the special name for a female animal, you can do what Automne does in the video below and refer to her as, for example, la maman cochon (the mommy pig) or le cochon femelle (the female pig) instead of the more technical term la truie (the sow). (The term cochonne actually exists, but usually it means something entirely different! It’s a way of insulting a sloppy human, or "a pig"—une cochonne for females and un cochon for males.)
Y a même le bébé de la maman cochon.
There's even the mommy pig's baby.
Caption 56, Lionel et Automne - Playmobil
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Fortunately, there is no need to be technical in everyday situations. If gender is not important or unknown, we tend to use the generic masculine, like the couple does in the video below:
Premièrement, le chat met des poils partout.
First, the cat sheds fur everywhere.
Caption 8, Marie & Jeremy - Le chat
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In fact, most nouns referring to animals don’t have feminine and masculine versions—they only come in one gender, assigned arbitrarily regardless of the sex of the animal. In this case, you will need to memorize the gender of the animal along with its name as there is no logic or way of guessing.
For example, some insects, like une mouche (a fly), are always feminine. Some rodents are feminine, as in une souris (a mouse), while others are masculine, as in un écureuil (a squirrel). Some snakes are masculine, as in un serpent (a snake), or feminine, as in une vipère (a viper). Some birds are feminine, as in une hirondelle (a swallow), and some are masculine, as in un perroquet (a parrot).
In the video below, apart from le lion, all the names of the endangered species—la panthère (panther), la girafe (giraffe), l'autruche (ostrich), and l'hyène (hyena)—are feminine in gender, but don't necessarily refer to individual females:
Certaines espèces ont quasiment disparu, telles que la panthère, autruche, hyène, girafe et lion.
Some species have almost disappeared, such as the panther, ostrich, hyena, giraffe, and lion.
Captions 27-30, Nader Fakhry - À la recherche des derniers éléphants - Part 1
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As these nouns only have one grammatical gender, you will need to specify the sex of the animal with the term mâle (male) or femelle (female). In the documentary below, the speaker refers to une panthère femelle (a female panther):
Malgré la présence d'une panthère femelle juste à côté...
Despite the presence of a female panther right next door...
Caption 20, Le Journal - Espèces en voie de disparition
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There you have it! We’ve explored some of the grammatical quirks and intricacies of the animal kingdom. Remember that not all animal names have a masculine and feminine counterpart, but only a single grammatical gender just like nouns referring to objects, which will be the topic of our next lesson. So stay tuned!
In our previous lesson on nouns referring to humans, we learned that many nouns have dual genders that often end in -e in the feminine, which is especially useful for the feminization of job titles. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the many ways to feminize a job title and discuss what happens when there is no feminine equivalent.
Most profession names are masculine in French, regardless of whether they refer to men or women:
On a donc un kit de montage complet opérationnel à la portée d'un bon bricoleur ou d'un plombier
So we have a completely operational mounting kit within the capability of a good handyman or a plumber
Captions 30-31, Salon Eco Habitat: Primacalc, système anti-calcaire
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When no feminine title is available, we default to masculine. So, when referring to a woman pilot, for instance, we would simply say un pilote or une femme pilote (a woman pilot). (You may come across the feminine title une pilote, but it's relatively rare.)
Deux femmes pilotes parlent de leurs parcours : sexisme et regard des passagers.
Two female pilots talk about their journeys: sexism and passengers’ stares.
We also resort to the masculine when referring to a profession in general, as in les enseignants (teachers), or when we don’t know the gender of the person in question:
Parce que je dispose d'excellents liens avec les enseignants de mon master,
Because I have excellent connections with my master's degree instructors
Caption 66, QuestionEntretien: Pourquoi vous et pas un autre ? - Part 3
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For all that, many job titles do have a feminine equivalent, which often ends in -e, as in une députée (a female deputy):
Madame George Pau-Langevin, la députée de la quinzième circonscription
Ms. George Pau-Langevin, the deputy for the fifteenth constituency
Caption 92, Actu Vingtième: Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville
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Note that you can only add an extra -e to an accented -é (-ée). Nouns that already end in -e (no accent) don’t change in the feminine form, as in un/une dentiste (a male/female dentist), the profession chosen by the girl’s schoolmate in the following video from Côte d'Ivoire:
Je veux être une dentiste.
I want to be a dentist.
Caption 96, Nader Fakhry: L'école pour tous
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(Bear in mind that usually, you would omit the article un/une when the job title comes directly after the verb être, but this may vary from one French-speaking country to another.)
In many cases, though, feminizing a job title is not as simple as adding an -e and requires making changes to the noun.
Sometimes switching to feminine will cause a change in pronunciation for words ending with a consonant, as in un enseignant/une enseignante (teacher). The t in enseignante (female teacher) is sounded, but the t in enseignant (male teacher) is not:
Je suis enseignante de français langue étrangère, à l'Université Nancy Deux
I am an instructor of French as a foreign language at the University of Nancy Two
Caption 2, Yabla à Nancy: Université Nancy 2
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Other times, you will need to add a grave accent (è) and an extra -e to nouns ending in -er, as in infirmier/infirmière (male/female nurse). The suffix -er becomes -ère:
Je voulais être médecin. -C'est vrai? -Ouais, et je suis infirmière.
I wanted to be a doctor. -Is that true? -Yeah, and I am a nurse.
Caption 55, Micro-Trottoirs: Rêves d’enfants
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Nouns ending in -en often change to -enne in the feminine, as in chirurgien/chirurgienne (male/female surgeon). In the following example, we have the masculine version, un chirurgien, with a silent -n:
Françoise Artigues accuse son chirurgien, le docteur Cujasse
Françoise Artigues is accusing her surgeon, Doctor Cujasse
Caption 1, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 1
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Nouns ending with the suffix -eur in the masculine form are a little bit more complicated, as they can take on different endings in the feminine.
Un professeur (a male professor) simply becomes une professeur in the feminine or, less often, une professeure:
Et j'ai pris sa suite avec la même professeur [or professeure] en fait.
And I followed in her footsteps with the same teacher, actually.
Caption 42, LCM Concert: La Folia à l'abbaye Saint-Victor
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Un auteur (a male author) can be feminized in two different ways. You can call a female author une auteure, a term borrowed from Canada, or you can say une autrice, the suffix -trice being more popular in France:
Enfin, en 2012, l’Académie française propose à son tour l’adoption du mot « auteure ».
Finally in 2012, the Académie Française in turn proposes the adoption of the word “auteure” (female author).
Indeed, in Canada, they use the -eure suffix, as in traducteure (female translator), more frequently than in France, where they say traductrice instead:
Euh, ça m'a permis beaucoup de voyager et d'être parfois même la traducteure pour mon père ou ma mère
Uh, it's allowed me to travel a lot and to sometimes even be the translator for my dad or my mom
Captions 21-22, Annie Chartrand: Grandir bilingue
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The French usually prefer to use the suffix -trice, as in un acteur/une actrice. In the example below, Melissa Mars introduces herself as une actrice (an actress), among other things:
Bonjour! Je suis Melissa Mars. Je suis actrice, chanteuse, française ou martienne.
Hello! I am Melissa Mars. I'm an actress, singer, French or Martian.
Caption 1, Melissa Mars: Melissa et son premier album
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She also introduces herself as a singer, une chanteuse. Here we have yet another feminine form of -eur: -euse. So une chanteuse is un chanteur in the masculine, and une serveuse (a waitress) is un serveur (a waiter):
La serveuse t'aime bien Nico.
The waitress likes you, Nico.
Caption 16, Extr@ Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 5
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You might also see the suffix -esse, as in docteur/doctoresse (male/female doctor) and maître/maîtresse (school master/schoolmistress), but it's pretty dated.
The Académie Française, the French authority on language, has introduced many new feminine job titles, but it’s up to people to adopt them. Sometimes, women themselves don’t systematically adopt newly feminized titles. In the following video, the female judge introduces herself as le juge Beaulieu (Judge Beaulieu) even though she could have introduced herself as la juge:
Bonjour, je suis le juge Beaulieu.
Hello, I am Judge Beaulieu.
Caption 31, Le Jour où tout a basculé: À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1
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As you can see, the feminization of job titles is a work in progress, fraught with ambiguity and, sometimes, controversy. Just be sure to follow the correct grammatical rules applying to both masculine and feminine titles, as they are not negotiable in most cases.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson on the gender of nouns referring to animals.
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