French Lessons

Topics

Lessons for topic Expressions

Et c'est parti!

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!)

banner PLACEHOLDER

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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!

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption


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!

Continue Reading

Leveling up with au niveau de

The expression au niveau de means "at the level of" or "on the level of." You can use this expression to talk about something that's physically level with something else:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

...pour avoir de l'eau au niveau des genoux,

...having the water at knee level,

vous allez être emporté de ce côté.

you are going to be carried away to this side.

Captions 12-13, À la plage avec Lionel - La plage

 Play Caption

 

La ville est au niveau de la mer.

The city is at sea level.

 

Or, as in English, it can refer to more general things, such as one's health or one's skills or abilities:

 

Ben, c'est vrai qu'au niveau de la santé,

Well, it's true that on a health level,

 je le ressens parfois.

I feel it sometimes.

Captions 80-81, Amal et Caroline - La cigarette

 Play Caption

 

Je ne suis pas au niveau des autres élèves.

I'm not at the (same) level as the other students.

 

Another way of saying "on a health level" is au niveau sanitaire. You'll often see "au niveau + adjective" (no de) used in this way: au niveau national (on a national level), au niveau économique (on an economic level), au niveau spirituel (on a spiritual level), etc.

 

But sometimes "on the level of" or "on an x level" isn't the most succinct translation of au niveau de. It's also equivalent to phrases such as "when it comes to," "regarding," and "in regards to":

 

Parce que... en France

Because... in France

on a souvent tendance

we often have a tendency

à faire des amalgames

to mix them together

en particulier au niveau du sandwich, du kebab...

particularly when it comes to sandwiches, kebabs...

-Au niveau des fromages...

-When it comes to cheeses...

Captions 54-57, Lionel et J.B. - La salade grecque

 Play Caption

 

Ensuite au niveau de la selle,

Then regarding the seat,

faut bien la régler à votre hauteur.

you should really adjust it to your height.

Captions 35-36, Amal - Vélib

 Play Caption

 

Even when referring to physical spaces, au niveau de doesn't necessarily imply that something is level with something else. It could just mean "near," "by," or "in the region/area of":

 

Bruce se rend compte qu'un autre cours d'eau rejoint son

Bruce realized that another river joined his

Nil au niveau de Khartoum.

Nile near Khartoum.

Caption 42, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 15. Bruce et les sources du Nil

 Play Caption

 

Au niveau de also functions as a simple preposition when used with body parts, in which case it means "in":

 

Je ressens une douleur au niveau de mon genou.

I feel a pain in my knee.

 

No matter your niveau de françaisau niveau de is a great expression to know! 

Continue Reading

On dirait une leçon sur "on dirait"!

In our last lesson, we discussed the expression on se croirait (literally, "one would believe oneself"), which means "it feels like." Now we'll take a look at a similar expression: on dirait. Both are impersonal expressions using a verb in the conditional. On dirait literally means "one would say," but it's also a synonym of il semble (it seems/looks like). 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

When introducing a clause, on dirait is followed by que:

 

On dirait que les gens sortent de la terre

It looks like people are coming out of the ground

Caption 31, Lionel - En studio d'enregistrement

 Play Caption

 

But when it comes before a standalone noun ("it looks like x"), you don't need the que:

 

On dirait un serpent à pattes.

It looks like a serpent with paws.

Caption 16, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci

 Play Caption

 

You can also use on dirait by itself, without introducing a noun or clause:

 

C'est ton jour de chance, on dirait.

It's your lucky day, it seems.

Caption 11, Marie & Jeremy - Monopoly

 Play Caption

 

Je suis rouge de colère.

I'm red with anger.

On dirait pas.

It doesn't look like it.

Captions 1-2, Sophie et Patrice - Les couleurs

 Play Caption

 

Depending on context, on dirait can mean something more specific than "it seems/looks like":

 

On dirait que t'as huit ans

You act like an eight year old

Caption 45, Mika - Elle me dit

 Play Caption

 

On dirait... on dirait Cluzet!

It sounds... it sounds like Cluzet [French actor]!

Caption 71, Alsace 20 - Laurent Chandemerle, l'homme aux 100 voix

 Play Caption

 

And sometimes it comes closer to its literal meaning:

 

Belle, c'est un mot qu'on dirait inventé pour elle...

Beauty, it's a word you could say was invented for her...

[Beauty, it's a word that seems to have been invented for her...]

Caption 64, Alsace 20 - Laurent Chandemerle, l'homme aux 100 voix

 Play Caption

 

But be careful: dire is a very common verb, so you'll just as often encounter on dirait used in a literal sense.

 

On dirait pas "as-tu", axe verbe en premier, sujet en deuxième...

We wouldn't say "have you," verb in first position, subject in second...

Caption 31, Le Québec parle - aux Français

 Play Caption

 

On dirait que cette leçon est terminée!

 

Continue Reading

On se croirait: When You Feel Like You're Somewhere Else

There's an interesting expression in Sophie and Patrice's latest video on Paris's twentieth arrondissement: on se croirait (literally, "one would think/believe oneself"). It means "to feel like," or more specifically, to feel like you're in a different setting than the one you're in now. Whenever Sophie and Patrice are in the center of Paris, for instance, they feel like they're in Euro Disney:

 

Ça ressemble maintenant à Euro Disney, quoi.

It looks like Euro Disney now, you know.

On se croirait à Euro Disney un petit peu. 

It feels like Euro Disney a little bit. 

Captions 20-21, Sophie et Patrice - Le vingtième arrondissement

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

And in Extr@, when Sacha smells a strong fragrance upon walking into her apartment, she feels like she's in a perfume shop:

 

Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette odeur?

What's that smell?

On se croirait dans une parfumerie.

It's like we're in a perfume shop.

Captions 19-20, Extr@ - Ep. 3 - Sam a un rendez-vous

 Play Caption

 

In English we use "you'd think" in a similar way to on se croirait:

 

On se croirait même dans une ambiance de campagne.

You'd even think you were in a country atmosphere.

Caption 27, Le Québec parle - aux Français

 Play Caption

 

Alors on se croirait pas du tout à Paris,

So you wouldn't think you're in Paris at all,

et on a énormément de verdure.

and you have lots of greenery.

Captions 13-14, Antoine - La Butte-aux-Cailles

 Play Caption

 

You can also use the phrase avoir l'impression de (to feel like, to get the impression that) to express this feeling of being elsewhere: 

 

On n'a plus l'impression d'être à Paris. 

You don't feel like you're in Paris anymore.

Caption 62, Actu Vingtième Vendanges parisiennes

 Play Caption

 

If you're playing Dorothy in a French adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, you might even say:

 

Toto, on ne se croirait plus dans le Kansas!
Toto, it doesn't feel like we're in Kansas anymore!

 

Or, in a more accurate translation of the line:

 

Toto, je n'ai plus l'impression d'être dans le Kansas!
Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!

 

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

Continue Reading

Getting Frustrated in French

In a previous lesson, we discussed the words finalement and enfin, which both mean "finally" but have different connotations. Now we'll look at the related phrase à la fin, which can also mean "finally," but is more aptly translated as "in the end":

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

Comme une larme à la fin de l'histoire

Like a tear at the end of the story

Caption 29, 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille - Tomber dans ses yeux

 Play Caption

 

However, like enfin, which is often used as a filler word equivalent to "well," "I mean," "in any case," or "come on," à la fin also has a more colloquial meaning. It's used to express frustration, when you've had enough of something and want it to be done with, or when you're fed up with someone's behavior:

 

Tu deviens ridicule à la fin avec cette histoire.

You're becoming ridiculous with this story at this point.

Caption 11, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon histoire d'amour est impossible - Part 5

 Play Caption

 

Mais qu'est-ce que t'as à la fin avec ce garçon?

But what is it with you and this boy, ultimately?

Caption 16, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon histoire d'amour est impossible - Part 5

 Play Caption

 

Mais arrête à la fin!

But stop it already!

Caption 58, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté - Part 6

 Play Caption

 

In this sense, à la fin overlaps with enfin, which can also be used to express frustration: 

 

Mais enfin, relève-toi!

Come on, stand up!

Caption 2, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 15. Bruce et les sources du Nil

 Play Caption

 

You can even use the two in the same sentence, when you're really frustrated:

 

Enfin de quoi vous parlez à la fin?

Well, what are you talking about now?

Caption 65, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté - Part 5

 Play Caption

 

Mais enfin, elle est dingue, cette histoire à la fin!

But come on, this story is crazy now!

Caption 43, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté - Part 7

 Play Caption

 

But that's not all! There's yet another word that's used informally for this purpose: encore (still, again). Patricia gives a succinct explanation of this in her video on encore and toujours:

 

Enfin le mot "encore" peut désigner l'impatience

Finally, the word "encore" can indicate impatience

ou le mécontentement par rapport à un événement

or dissatisfaction with regard to an event

qui se répète ou continue.

that repeats or continues.

Par exemple, la phrase: Quoi encore?

For example, the sentence: What now? [What is it now?]

Captions 17-21, Le saviez-vous? - Utilisation de "encore" et "toujours"

 Play Caption

 

Patricia also uses two phrases meaning "to be fed up with" or "to be sick/tired of" in this video—en avoir assez de and en avoir marre de:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Ah! Encore lui!

Ah! Him again!

C'est clair, ça veut dire que on en a assez de le voir.

It's clear, it means that we're tired of seeing him.

On en a marre de lui.

We're sick of him.

Captions 25-28, Le saviez-vous? - Utilisation de "encore" et "toujours"

 Play Caption

 

You now have all you need to vent your frustrations in French!

Continue Reading

Saying Grâce

While preparing a gâteau aux pommes with Marie, Jeremy uses the phrase grâce à several times when noting the utensils they use to add the ingredients:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

On ajoute cent grammes de sucre mesurés avec précision grâce à un mesureur.

We add one hundred grams of sugar measured precisely thanks to a measuring cup.

Captions 10-11, Marie & Jeremy - Le gâteau aux pommes

 Play Caption

 

Ensuite on mélange grâce à un fouet avec vivacité et énergie.

Then we mix using a whisk with speed and energy.

Captions 14-15, Marie & Jeremy - Le gâteau aux pommes

 Play Caption

 

Ensuite, grâce à une petite balance de cuisine.

Then, with the help of a small kitchen scale.

Caption 16, Marie & Jeremy - Le gâteau aux pommes

 Play Caption

 

"Thanks to" is the closest equivalent to grâce à in English. Though Jeremy uses it to talk about inanimate objects, you can just as well use it to refer to a person, someone you're literally thanking:

 

Merci beaucoup. Grâce à vous, ce mariage, c'était formidable.

Thank you very much. Thanks to you this wedding was great.

Caption 59, Grand Corps Malade - Inch'Allah, en duo avec Reda Taliani

 Play Caption

 

Grâce has the same Latin root as the Spanish gracias and the Italian grazie, which both mean "thanks." It's also the source of the English word "grace." Like "grace," la grâce (don't forget the circumflex) can mean "elegance," "pardon," and "mercy":

 

Par lui, tout est grâce et lumière et beauté

Through it, all is grace and light and beauty

Caption 5, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 9. Les écosystèmes

 Play Caption

 

La grâce des membres de l'Arche de Zoé pourrait intervenir la semaine prochaine.

The pardoning of the members of Zoe's Ark could occur next week.

Caption 22, Le Journal - L'Arche de Zoé

 Play Caption

 

Les vénérables vieillards, plusieurs fois centenaires, n'ont pas connu grâce.

The venerable old men, centenarians several times over, did not get any mercy.

Caption 53, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 3. La planète verte

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

As you might have guessed, "mercy" is the literal meaning of merci. So when you say "thank you" in French, you're really saying "mercy." And when you say "thanks to" something or someone, you're really saying "grace"!

Continue Reading

Again and Again and Again

De nouveau and à nouveau both mean "again" (or more literally, "anew"), and you'll often find them used interchangeably in everyday speech. But technically there's a subtle difference between them. De nouveau implies a repetition of something that already happened:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

Le lendemain il se retrouva de nouveau sur le bord d'un immense lac.

The next day, he found himself again on the edge of an immense lake.

Caption 13, Contes de fées - Le vilain petit canard

 Play Caption

 

Je ne vous ai pas entendu. Pourriez-vous m'expliquer de nouveau?
I didn't hear you. Could you explain it to me again [repeat what you just said]?

 

On the other hand, à nouveau implies something happening in a different way than before—that is, in a new way: 

 

On retravaille à nouveau l'orthographe français [sic: française].

French spelling has once again been reworked.

Caption 46, Le saviez-vous? - L'histoire de la dictée

 Play Caption

 

Je ne comprends pas. Pourriez-vous m'expliquer à nouveau?
I don't understand. Could you explain it to me again [in a different way]?

 

Do you see the difference between the second sentences in the examples above? If you don't hear something someone said, you want them to repeat it. So you use de nouveau. But if you don't understand what they said, you want them to rephrase it, say it in a new way. So you use à nouveau.

 

Note that both these expressions only use nouveau, not the other forms of the adjective (nouvelnouveaux, nouvelle, nouvelles). If you see any of these after de, you're dealing with "new," not "again":  

 

...et de la mémorisation de nouveaux mots ou de nouvelles phrases.

...and the memorization of new words or new phrases.

Caption 49, Le saviez-vous? - Les bénéfices de la dictée

 Play Caption

 

If you forget when to use à nouveau versus de nouveau, you can always just use encore, the most basic equivalent of "again":
 

On espère te... te voir encore sur d'autres scènes en Alsace?

We hope to... to see you again on other stages in Alsace?

Caption 62, Alsace 20 - Femmes d'exception: Christine Ott

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Just keep in mind that encore can also mean "still," as we discussed in a previous lesson.

Continue Reading

Une leçon sur "rien que", rien que ça!

When you put the words rien (nothing) and que (that) together, you get the expression rien que, which does not mean "nothing that," but "nothing but":

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Je jure de dire la vérité, toute la vérité et rien que la vérité.
I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

 

ll utilise rien que pour cela dix-huit kilos de beurre.

For that, he uses nothing but [no less than] eighteen kilos of butter.

Captions 4-5, France 3 - Les conséquences de la crise du beurre

 Play Caption

 

Like "nothing but," rien que is a more emphatic way of saying "only" (seulement or ne... que) or "just" (juste):

 

C'est rien que des cochonneries, non? [C'est seulement des conneries, non? / Ce n'est que des conneries, non?]

It's nothing but trash, isn't it? [It's only trash, isn't it?]

Caption 36, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 9. Les écosystèmes - Part 3

 Play Caption

 

Aujourd'hui rien que pour vous

Today, just for you,

j'ai décidé d'enquêter sur le titre "Maître Restaurateur".

I decided to investigate the title "Maître Restaurateur" [Master Restaurant Owner].

Captions 2-3, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le titre de Maître Restaurateur, c'est quoi?

 Play Caption

 

Voici la ferme verticale, un gratte-ciel rien que pour cultiver des fruits et des légumes.

Here is the vertical farm, a skyscraper solely for growing fruits and vegetables.

Caption 27, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 25. Technologies - Part 7

 Play Caption

 

It can also mean "alone," again in an emphatic sense:

 

Je trouve que rien que le titre du recueil, il est vraiment sublime.

I think that the title of the collection alone is really sublime.

Captions 76-77, Le saviez-vous? - Karine Rougier présente son art

 Play Caption

 

Ça me rend malade rien que d'y penser.
The thought of it alone/The very thought of it/Just thinking about it makes me sick.

 

Rien que pour ça je devrais quitter mon emploi.
For that reason alone I should quit my job.

 

Don't confuse rien que pour ça with rien que ça, which means "that's all" or "no less," often used ironically to emphasize something enormous or extravagant:

 

C'est un grand cinéma avec une énorme salle 

It's a big movie theater with a huge auditorium

qui peut comporter deux mille sept cents spectateurs. Rien que ça!

that can accommodate two thousand seven hundred viewers. That's all!

Captions 3-5, Paris Tour - Visite guidée de Paris

 Play Caption

 

Il n'a plus d'argent mais il veut quand même acheter une nouvelle voiture. Une Porsche, rien que ça!
He has no money left but he still wants to buy a new car. A Porsche, no less!

 

But sometimes a rien next to a que does indeed mean "nothing that":

 

Et c'est pas pour rien que les derniers polars français par exemple...

And it's not for nothing that the latest French thrillers, for example...

Caption 21, Télé Lyon Métropole - Un café librairie spécialisé dans le polar

 Play Caption

 

The rien in this example is part of the expression ce n'est pas pour rien (it's not for nothing). "Nothing but" wouldn't make sense here. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Rien que ça pour "rien que"!

Continue Reading

Au moins or du moins?

Moins is a comparative word meaning "less" or "least" (its opposite, plus, means "more" or "most"). In this lesson, we'll focus on two common expressions with moinsau moins and du moins, both equivalent to "at least." How do we know when to use which?

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

If you think about it, "at least" has (at least!) three usages. It can specify the minimum amount of something ("I need at least two cups of coffee every day"), it can emphasize a positive aspect of an otherwise negative situation ("The car was totaled, but at least we're all OK"), and it can alter the connotation of a previous statement ("That restaurant is terrible. At least that's what I've heard"). In general, au moins corresponds to the first two usages, and du moins to the third.

 

We use au moins when referring to a minimum amount. It's often followed by a number:

 

On fait au moins sept ou huit groupes différents.

We have at least seven or eight different bands.

Caption 5, French Punk - Frustration

 Play Caption

 

Tu pourras leur parler de ce que tu voudras, pourvu que tu parles au moins deux heures.

You'll be able to talk to them about whatever you like, as long as you speak for at least two hours.

Captions 3-4, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 6. La révolte des robots - Part 5

 Play Caption

 

Au moins is synonymous with au minimum in this sense: 

 

Pour jouer à la pétanque il faut au minimum deux joueurs.

To play pétanque, you need at the minimum two players.

Caption 5, Lionel - Les nombres

 Play Caption

 

But like "at least," au moins doesn't have to refer to a numerical minimum. It can also refer to the "bare minimum," as in the minimum you can do if you can't or don't want to do something else:

 

Bien entendu, il faut réapprendre ou tout au moins se remettre au niveau

Of course, it's necessary to relearn or at the very least get up to speed

Caption 24, Lionel - Le club de foot de Nancy - Part 2

 Play Caption

 

Au moins is a great expression to use when you're being optimistic or encouraging someone:

 

C'était pas comme t'imaginais, mais au moins tu essayes

It was not as you imagined, but at least you're trying

Captions 76-77, Watt’s In - Zaz : On Ira Interview Exclu

 Play Caption

 

Just don't confuse it with à moins (que), which means "unless":

 

Ne plus couper les forêts à moins que ce soit pour faire mes jolis calendriers

No longer cut down the forests unless it's to make my pretty calendars

Captions 3-5, Nouveaux Talents? - Adonis chante

 Play Caption

 

Du moins restricts the meaning of a previous statement. You can use it to modify or clarify what you just said:

 

Je suis le fou du village. Du moins, c'est ce que les gens disent.

I'm the village idiot. At least that's what people say.

Captions 68-69, Patrice Zana - L'artiste et ses inspirations - Part 2

 Play Caption

 

C'est parti pour quatre heures de réflexion. Du moins en théorie.

Time for four hours of recollection. At least in theory.

Captions 4-5, Le Journal - Le bac

 Play Caption

 

Du moins is more or less synonymous with en tout cas (in any event, anyway): en tout cas c'est ce que les gens disent (that's what people say, in any event); en tout cas en théorie (in theory, anyway).

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

To get an even better sense of how to use these two expressions, just do a search for au moins and du moins on the Yabla site. 

Continue Reading

Idiomatic Animals

While discussing pigeons in Paris with his friend Lea, Lionel brings up an amusing French idiom referencing those ubiquitous city birds:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

Alors se faire pigeonner en français,

So "se faire pigeonner" [to be taken for a ride] in French

c'est vraiment se faire arnaquer,

is really to get ripped off,

se faire avoir par une personne

to be had by a person

qui vous a soutiré de l'argent.

who has extracted money from you.

Captions 54-58, Lea & Lionel L - Le parc de Bercy

 Play Caption

 

Se faire pigeonner literally means "to be taken for a pigeon." In English too, "a pigeon" can refer to someone who's gullible or easily swindled. Pigeons get a bad rap in both languages! 

 

Let's take a look at some more animal expressions and idioms used in Yabla videos. Here's another bird-related one:

 

Oui. J'avoue être un peu poule mouillée.

Yes. I admit to being a bit of a wet hen [a wimp].

Caption 23, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté

 Play Caption

 

Calling someone poule mouillée is equivalent to calling them "chicken." A slightly less pejorative poultry-inspired moniker is un canard:

 

Qu'ils me disent que je m'affiche,

That they'll say that I am showing off,

qu'ils me traitent de canard

that they'll call me a duck [a slave to love]

Captions 6-7, Grand Corps Malade - Comme une évidence

 Play Caption

 

Un canard is a person who's so lovestruck they'll do whatever their partner desires. Believe it or not, it's also a slang term for "newspaper." There's even a famous French newspaper called Le Canard enchaîné (The Chained Duck), which Lionel discusses in a few other videos

 

Don't confuse canard with cafard, the word for "cockroach." When used metaphorically, cafard means "depression" or "the blues":

 

Mon cafard me lâche moins souvent qu'autrefois...

My blues don't let me go as much as before...

Caption 8, Debout Sur Le Zinc - Les mots d'amour

 Play Caption

 

The expression avoir le cafard means "to be depressed," or literally, "to have the cockroach." And there's the adjective cafardeux/cafardeuse, which can mean either "depressing" or "depressed." Encountering a cockroach in your home can certainly be depressing, to say the least!

 

Though dogs are as beloved in France as they are in other countries, the word chien (dog) typically means "bad" or "nasty" when used as an adjective:

 

Fais demain quand le présent est chien

Make tomorrow when the present is bad

Caption 3, Corneille - Comme un fils

 Play Caption

 

You'll find chien in a couple of idioms involving bad weather, such as un temps de chien (nasty weather) and un coup de chien (a storm):

 

On va avoir un coup de chien, regarde!

We're going to have a dog's blow [stormy weather], look!

Caption 55, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci

 Play Caption

 

You can also say un temps de cochon (pig weather) instead of un temps de chien:

 

Et aujourd'hui on a pas un temps de cochon par contre.

And today we don't have pig weather [rotten weather] however.

Caption 22, Lionel - La Cathédrale de Toul

 Play Caption

 

In American English, "pigs" is a slang term for "cops." But the French call them vaches (cows):

 

Mort aux vaches, mort aux cons!

Death to the cows ["pigs," i.e., cops], death to the jerks!

Caption 5, Patrice Maktav - La Rue

 Play Caption

 

Finally, they don't celebrate April Fools' Day in France, but rather "April Fish":

 

En tout cas j'espère que ce n'est pas un poisson d'avril.

In any event, I hope that it's not an April fish [April fool].

Caption 21, Lionel - à Lindre-Basse

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

You can find out more about the poisson d'avril tradition here. And be sure to check out Manon and Clémentine's video Mots et animaux to learn some more expressions featuring cats, dogs, and wolves.

Continue Reading

Pas Mal: Not Bad and Quite a Bit

The phrase pas mal literally means "not bad," and like its English counterpart, it's often used to express an assessment of something: 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

La nourriture à ce restaurant n'est pas mal.
The food at that restaurant isn't bad

 

C'est pas mal déjà!

That's not bad at all! [or: That's pretty good!]

Caption 21, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois

 Play Caption

 

But just as often, pas mal is used not as a qualitative assessment, but a quantitative one. Take a look at this example from our video on Paris's Rue des Martyrs:

 

Y a pas mal de bars dans la rue.

There are quite a few bars on the street.

Caption 42, Adrien - Rue des Martyrs

 Play Caption

 

Adrien isn't saying that the bars on the street "aren't bad." If he were, he might have said something like, Les bars dans la rue ne sont pas malInstead, he uses pas mal to indicate that there are "quite a few" bars on the street. When followed by de (of) plus a noun, pas mal can mean anything along the lines of "quite a few," "quite a bit," or "quite a lot":

 

C'est quelque chose qui est très important

This is something that has been very important

pour nous depuis pas mal de temps.

to us for quite a bit of time.

Caption 18, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le titre de Maître Restaurateur, c'est quoi?

 Play Caption

 

When pas mal comes before an adjective, it means "a lot" or "pretty":

 

Ben c'est sûr que... c'est pas mal plus naturel.

Well, for sure... that's a lot more natural.

Caption 46, Bateau sport 100% électrique - Le Nautique 196 E

 Play Caption

 

Ce livre est pas mal intéressant.
This book is pretty interesting.

 

And when referring to a verb, it means "really" or, again, "quite a bit/a lot":

 

J'essaie de rechercher pas mal le son.

I'm trying to really research the sound [or: I'm trying to research the sound quite a bit].

Caption 12, Phil Cambron - Ses révélations

 Play Caption

                                     

Here's an example sentence that contains both senses of pas mal:

 

Pas mal de nuages mais quand même des éclaircies,

Quite a few clouds but still some sunny spells,

et au niveau des températures, c'est pas mal non plus.

and as far as temperatures go, that's not bad either.

Captions 9-10, Alsace 20 - Météo des Maquilleurs

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

But be careful: just because you see the words pas and mal next to each other doesn't necessarily mean you're dealing with the expression pas mal. Namely, when a verb phrase with mal (such as faire mal [to hurt] or le prendre mal [to take it the wrong way]) is negated, the pas mal portion doesn't mean "not bad" or "quite a bit"—it's just part of the negation:

 

Ça fait pas mal? -Non, non.

It doesn't hurt? -No, no.

Caption 16, Cap 24 - Rasage et Epilation du Visage : Alessandro Di Sarno teste!

 Play Caption

 

Ne le prends pas mal. 
Don't take it the wrong way

 

Thanks for reading! Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

Continue Reading

Ça te dit?

At the end of our last lesson, we introduced the question ça te dit (or ça vous dit), which literally means "does it say/speak to you," but is mostly used as an informal way of proposing something to someone. It's more or less equivalent to the English phrase "what do you say":

 

Du coup, je propose un apéro ce soir chez moi, dix-neuf heures.

So I propose an aperitif tonight at my place, seven p.m.

Ça vous dit?

What do you say?

Caption 62, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

But ça te dit can be translated a number of other ways too, depending on its position in the sentence: 

 

Alors, ça te dit?

So, are you interested?

Caption 68, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils

 Play Caption

 

Ça te dit qu'on aille boire un thé?

How would you like to go have some tea?

Caption 5, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mes grands-parents sont infidèles

 Play Caption

 

At the beginning of a sentence, ça te dit can precede either que or de. But be careful: the phrase ça te dit que requires the subjunctive, as you can see in the example above (qu'on aille). Ça te dit de, on the other hand, simply takes the infinitive:

 

Ça te dit d'aller boire un thé?
How would you like to go have some tea? 

 

Ça te dit has another meaning too. If you're not sure whether someone is familiar with what you're referring to, you can use the expression to double-check:

 

Non. Je connais pas Saguenay.

No. I don't know Saguenay.

-Bien, voyons, le fleuve, tout ça...

-Come on, the river, all that...

non, ça te dit rien?

no, that doesn't mean anything to you?

Caption 53, Le Québec parle - aux Français

 Play Caption

 

C'est situé dans le huitième arrondissement; je ne sais pas si

It's located in the eighth district; I don't know if

ça vous dit quelque chose, mais voilà.

that means anything to you, but there you go.

Caption 18, Paris Tour - Visite guidée de Paris

 Play Caption

 

Ça vous dit de regarder de nouvelles vidéos sur Yabla? 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

Continue Reading

Ça se dit en français?

In Part 2 of "Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an," Danièle Gerkens, a journalist at Elle magazine, talks about the health benefits she experienced after cutting sugar from her diet for one year. When the year was almost up, she was expecting to break her sugar fast with mountains of whipped cream, but it was actually a single piece of dark chocolate that did her in:

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Je me disais que j'allais me rouler dans la chantilly, et cetera.

I told myself that I was going to wallow in whipped cream, et cetera.

Et puis en fait, plus ça arrivait,

And then in fact, the closer it came [to the end],

plus je me disaismais... qu'est-ce que je vais faire?

the more I was wonderingbut... what am I going to do?

Captions 102-104, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an

 Play Caption

 

Note the two different translations of je me disais here: "I told myself" and "I was wondering." The reflexive verb se dire can mean a number of things depending on context, namely "to tell/say to oneself" and "to wonder/think." In a sense, these both mean the same thing: when you wonder or think about something, you're telling yourself about it. 

 

When multiple people se disent, they could be thinking about something or telling themselves something, but they could also just be talking to each other: 

 

Christine et Alice sont de meilleures amies. Elles se disent tout. 
Christine and Alice are best friends. They tell each other everything.

 

Se dire can also mean "to say of oneself," or in other words, "to claim to be":

 

Le Charles de Gaulle,

Charles de Gaulle,

où la direction se dit d'abord victime de son image.

where the management claims first to be a victim of its image.

Caption 29, Le Journal - Hôpital ultra-moderne à Burkina Faso

 Play Caption

 

Or se dire can simply mean "to be said," which has a few different connotations. Here Danièle is (somewhat cheekily) talking about something she thinks is taboo and can't be mentioned in public. Believe it or not, she's referring to her love of milk chocolate! 

 

Je sais, ça se dit pas, mais j'adorais ça.

I know you're not supposed to say it, but that's what I loved.

Caption 112, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an

 Play Caption

 

In its most general sense, se dire refers to anything that "is said" in everyday language:

 

Par contre,

On the other hand,

"faire le beau" se dit d'un chien qui se tient sur les pattes arrière

"faire le beau" is said of a dog that stands on its hind legs

pour réclamer un sucre.

to beg for a lump of sugar.

Captions 24-25, Margaux et Manon - Emplois du verbe faire

 Play Caption

 

"Je n'ai pas des biscuits": ça se dit en français? -Non. Il faut dire: "je n'ai pas de biscuits".
Can you say je n'ai pas des biscuits in French? -No. You have to say je n'ai pas de biscuits [I don't have any cookies].

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Don't confuse ça se dit with ça te dit (or ça vous dit in the plural), which means "how does that sound" or "how would you like..." (literally, "does it speak to you"):

 

Ça te dit de réviser les multiples sens de l'expression "se dire"? 
How would you like to review the multiple meanings of the expression se dire

 

Continue Reading

Avoir Beau

At the end of the second installment of Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils, Sarah uses an interesting construction to express remorse about something she did at work: 

 

Et j'avais beau me dire que je l'avais fait pour Nino,

And even though I told myself that I'd done it for Nino,

 j'avais vraiment honte.

I was really ashamed.

Captions 54-55, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Beau means "beautiful" or "handsome," but the expression "avoir beau + infinitive" doesn't have anything to do with beauty. It can mean a variety of things depending on context, but it generally describes a failed effort or something done in vain. Sometimes it's just a synonym of bien que, malgré, or quoique ("even though" or "although"), as in the example above: 

 

T'as beau le travailler, ça ne vient pas.

Even though you work at it, it doesn't come.

Caption 67, Alsace 20 - Laurent Chandemerle, l'homme aux 100 voix

 Play Caption

 

Ça a beau être une pizzeria,

Although it's a pizzeria,

nos prix sont assez élevés pour le commun des mortels.

our prices are pretty high for the everyday mortal.

Caption 5, F&F Pizza - Chez F&F

 Play Caption

 

Or it can correspond to the English expressions "no matter what" or "no matter how hard": 

 

Elle a beau faire, son copain la critique toujours. 
No matter what she does, her boyfriend always criticizes her. 

 

J'ai beau trimer,

No matter how hard I slave away,

sans toi ma vie n'est qu'un décor qui brille, vide de sens.

without you my life is just decor that shines, empty of meaning.

Caption 19, Indila - Dernière danse

 Play Caption

 

When used with the verb essayer (to try), it means "try as one might":

 

Et j'ai eu beau essayer de le convaincre

And try as I might to convince him

d'arrêter ses enfantillages, rien à faire.

to stop his childish games, it was useless.

Captions 6-8, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mes grands-parents sont infidèles

 Play Caption

 

And when used with être (to be), the expression is often translated as "may be" or "may well be": 

 

Yseult a beau être jeune,

Yseult may be young,

elle sait bien où elle veut aller.

[but] she knows exactly where she wants to go

Caption 5, Watt’s In - Yseult : La Vague Interview Exclu

 Play Caption

 

Tu as beau être désolé, tu m'as blessé profondément. 
You may well be sorry, but you hurt me deeply.

 

Note that, while the English requires a "but" in both of these sentences, there's no need for a mais in the French. So you wouldn't say: Yseult a beau être jeune, mais elle sait bien où elle veut aller. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

Continue Reading

De quoi s'agit-il dans cette leçon?

In the latest segment of his tour of L'Isle-Adam, Daniel makes repeated use of the common expression il s'agit de:

 

Il s'agit tout simplement de la plus grande piscine fluviale de France.

Quite simply, it is the largest river pool in France.

Caption 7, Voyage en France - L'Isle-Adam

 Play Caption

 

Il s'agissait du Tarzan de l'époque, le célèbre Johnny Weissmuller.

It was the Tarzan of the time, the famous Johnny Weissmuller.

Caption 13, Voyage en France - L'Isle-Adam

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

We could rewrite the above sentences with the expression c'est/c'était: C'est tout simplement la plus grande piscine fluviale..., C'était le Tarzan de l'époque.... But whereas c'est simply means "it is," il s'agit de can also mean "it's about" or "it's a question of." You can use it to specify something you just mentioned:

 

Il s'agit de voir où sont les abus.

It's a question of seeing where the abuses are.

Caption 13, Le Journal - Contrôle des prix alimentaires

 Play Caption

 

La seule prison qui se trouve dans Paris intra-muros,

The only prison located within Paris itself,

il s'agit de la prison de la Santé.

namely, the Santé [Health] Prison.

Captions 20-21, Voyage dans Paris - Le Treizième arrondissement de Paris

 Play Caption


Or you can use it to describe the content of something, for example a movie. Here's a very basic synopsis of the movie Jaws: 

 

Dans ce film, il s'agit des attaques de requin.
This movie is about shark attacks [literally: "In this film, it's about/it's a question of shark attacks"]. 

 

S'agir is an impersonal verb, which means it can only be conjugated with the pronoun il. So you couldn't say, Ce film s'agit des attaques de requin, even though that might seem like a more direct translation of the English. 
 

The best way to understand the nuances of il s'agit de is to hear it in context. You can do a Yabla search to find all the videos containing this extremely common expression. 
 

Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com!

Continue Reading

Cette leçon est à vous!

In her latest video series, Patricia talks about the different ways of expressing possession in French. Though she mainly focuses on possessive adjectives (which correspond to "my," "your," "his/her," etc.) and possessive pronouns (which correspond to "mine," "yours," "his/hers," etc.), Patricia also uses another possessive construction throughout the videos. It's the expression à + stressed pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles), which can be used as an alternative to a possessive pronoun: 

 

Si cette tasse est à moi...  je dis: c'est la mienne.

If this cup is mine... I say: it's mine.

Captions 27-30, Le saviez-vous? - Les pronoms possessifs

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

This expression usually follows the verb être, as in the example above, but you'll also find it in other contexts: 

 

J'ai trouvé une robe à elle dans le grenier. 
I found a dress of hers in the attic. 

 

Unlike possessive adjectives and pronouns, which change depending on the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the possessed object, this construction corresponds to the gender and number of the possessor:

 

Et si je veux dire que cette chaussure est à lui...

And if I want to say that this shoe is his...

je vais dire: C'est sa chaussure.

I'm going to say: It's his shoe.

Captions 55-59, Le saviez-vous? - Les adjectifs possessifs

 Play Caption

 

Since chaussure is feminine and singular, the possessive adjective modifying it also needs to be feminine and singular (sa). But sa chaussure can either mean "his shoe" or "her shoe" depending on context. We know that Patricia means "his shoe" here because she says cette chaussure est à lui (this shoe is his). If she had said cette chaussure est à elle (this shoe is hers), then sa chaussure would mean "her shoe." 

 

You'll often find this construction in combination with a possessive adjective. Let's say you're at a dog park and you're telling someone whose dog is whose. If you say c'est mon chien (that's my dog), they'll immediately know that the dog in question belongs to you. But if you say c'est son chien (that's his or her dog), they might not know who you're referring to. You can specify by saying: 

 

C'est son chien à elle. / C'est son chien à lui
That's her dog. / That's his dog. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The expression c'est à + stressed pronoun also has another meaning that has nothing to do with possession. It's the equivalent of the English expression "it's up to me, you, etc.": 

 

C'est à toi de décider ce que tu veux faire. 
It's up to you to decide what you want to do. 

 

Thanks for reading! Tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

Continue Reading

Getting the Facts Straight

In her new sci-fi series Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones, Patricia imagines a dystopian future in which all credit card companies have merged into one:

 

Du fait de nombreuses fusions,

Because of many mergers,

il ne reste plus qu'une société anonyme de cartes de crédit.

there remains only one limited liability credit card company.

Caption 15, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Du fait de is one of several French expressions that mean "because" (you can learn more about these expressions in our past lesson on the topic). It's also one of many expressions featuring the word fait, which you might recognize as a conjugation of the verb faire (to make, to do). But fait is also a noun meaning "fact"—du fait de literally means "from the fact of." In this lesson, we'll review some other "fact"-based expressions in French. 

 

Patricia uses a similar expression to du fait de earlier on in her video—de ce fait (therefore, literally "from this fact"):

 

De ce fait, toutes les procédures de paiement

Therefore, all payment procedures

sont réalisées sans argent physique.

are performed without physical money.

Caption 13, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones

 Play Caption

 

Now that you know that fait means "fact," you can probably guess what en fait means. Alessandro uses it when interviewing a flea market vendor: 

 

Vous, c'est une véritable passion

For you, it's a true passion

que vous partagez tous les jours en fait.

that you share every day, in fact.

Caption 6, Cap 24 - Paris : Alessandro fait les Puces!

 Play Caption

 

The vendor responds in the next caption with another fait expression, tout à fait (exactly):

 

Oui, oui. Tout à fait.

Yes, yes. Exactly.

Caption 7, Cap 24 - Paris : Alessandro fait les Puces!

 Play Caption

 

Don't confuse en fait with au fait, which means "by the way" or "incidentally":
 

Ah, au fait, j'ai parlé à Vanessa de nos nouveaux voisins.

Oh, by the way, I spoke to Vanessa about our new neighbors.

Caption 22, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble - Part 8

 Play Caption

 

En fait and au fait are easily confused not only because they look similar, but also because the t is pronounced in both of them. In most other instances of the word fait, the t is silent.  

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

If someone has done a good job on something, you can say, Bien fait! (Well done!) In this case fait isn't a noun but the past participle of the verb faire:

 

Oui, chef. Bien fait!

Yes, chief. Well done!

Caption 46, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 3. La planète verte

 Play Caption

 

As a noun, fait doesn't only mean "fact." It can also mean "event" or "occurrence" depending on the context:

 

Cette histoire est inspirée de faits réels.

This story is inspired by real events.

Caption 21, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble - Part 1

 Play Caption

 

This lesson is now a fait accompli (accomplished fact). Thanks for reading! 

 

Continue Reading

Wild and Crazy

In her latest video, Patricia gives us an overview of French synonyms, or words with the same basic meaning but different nuances and intensities. To demonstrate, she illustrates some examples of synonyms for "happy" and "angry." She repeatedly uses the expression être fou/folle de (to be mad or wild with) to describe the more intense degrees of those emotions:

 

Elles sont folles de bonheur.

They are mad with happiness.

Caption 40, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

You can use this expression to heighten just about any word describing an emotion:

 

Ils sont extatiques, fous de joie, béats.

They are ecstatic, overjoyed, blissful.

Captions 37-39, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes

 Play Caption

 

Elles sont folles de colèrefolles de rage, horripilées.

They are wild with anger, raging mad, incensed.

Captions 52-54, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes

 Play Caption

 

Or, you can use it with any other noun or pronoun to describe something or someone you're "crazy about": 

 

Non, je ne suis pas fou. Je suis seulement fou de vous!

No, I am not crazy. I'm only crazy about you!

Caption 6, Charles-Baptiste - Interview

 Play Caption

 

...qui montre la vie trépidante des jeunes,

...that shows the hectic life of young people

fous de voitures dans les années soixante-dix.

who are crazy about cars in the seventies.

Caption 8, L'auteur - Bernard Colin

 Play Caption

 

If you haven't already, check out Patricia's other videos in the Le saviez-vous? series for more of her excellent insights into French language and culture. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.

Continue Reading
12