Textbook vs. Spoken French

Learners of French strive for grammatically correct speech, only to discover that native speakers usually don't speak "textbook" French. Some rules taught in the classroom don't always apply in real life, as spoken French abandons some conventions in favor of a more fluid and authentic way of communicating. While this fluidity feels natural to natives, these discrepancies can be confusing for students. In this lesson, we will explore how to navigate some of the main differences between “textbook” and spoken French.

Elision is a phenomenon in which certain short words, such as que (what/that) and je (I), lose their final vowel when they come before a word starting with a vowel or mute h. For example, you'd say j'ai (I have) as opposed to je ai, and quelqu'un (someone) instead of quelque un. This is a standard, obligatory aspect of both textbook and conversational French. But conversational French also does this with another word: tu (you). For example, French speakers like to condense tu as (you have) into what now sounds like one word: t’as (you’ve).

T'as encore faim ?

Are you still hungry?

Caption 26, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes parents se préparent à la fin du monde - Part 3

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In textbook French, we would say the following:

Tu as encore faim ?

Are you still hungry?

Likewise, the expression tu n’as qu’à (you just have to) often gets shortened to t’as qu’à, which might sound like a strange new word to a French learner: “taka” instead  of “tunaka." This involves a double shortcut: the omission of ne (not) and the compression of tu as (you have) into t’as (you’ve). Omitting ne is also very common in conversational French:

Ben, t'as qu'à l'appeler. -Ben, t'as qu'à l'appeler.

Well, you just have to call her. -Well, you just have to call her.

Caption 84, Mère & Fille Mère ou sœur

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Fast-speaking Barbara could have slowed down and said to her mother:

Ben, tu n'as qu'à l'appeler. -Ben, tu n'as qu'à l'appeler. 

Well, you just have to call her. -Well, you just have to call her.

You'll also often hear t'es (you're) as opposed to tu es (you are):

T'es tranquille, quoi.

You're tranquil, you know.

Caption 13, Sophie et Patrice Dépendance des jeux vidéo

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Here is the textbook French version:

Tu es tranquille, quoi.

You are tranquil, you know.

French speakers frequently shorten common expressions made up of a succession of very short words. The phrase il y a (there is), for example, becomes y a (there’s), dropping the pronoun il entirely. Sophie uses the casual y a (there’s) in her friendly conversation with Patrice:

Y a beaucoup de poésie.

There's a lot of poetry.

Caption 11, Sophie et Patrice Dépendance des jeux vidéo

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She could have used il y a (there is), which sounds just as natural in a conversation but is a bit more formal:

Il y a beaucoup de poésie. 

There is a lot of poetry.

The negative form of il y a involves a striking string of short words: il n’y a pas (there is not). As you might expect, French speakers have found a way to simplify this! In casual speech, it becomes y a pas, which sounds almost like a single word: "yapa." 

Y a pas que ça.

It's not just that.

Caption 55, Mère & Fille Un vent de liberté

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The more formal version is seldom used in casual spoken French. Note here the use of cela, a more formal alternative to ça (that):

Il n’y a pas que cela.

It is not just that.

Here is another il y a expression: the impersonal phrase il n’y a qu’à (we just have to), which can be shortened to y a qu’à (“yaka”):

Y a qu'à lui en trouver un autre.

We just have to find him another one.

Caption 66, Les zooriginaux 6. Tiger Minor - Part 2

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Il n’y a qu'à lui en trouver un autre.

We just have to find him another one.

To sum up, here's a list of the shortcuts mentioned in this lesson:

tu as –> t'as (you've)

tu n’as qu’à –> t’as qu’à (you just have to)

tu es –> t’es (you're)

il y a –> y a (there's)

il n’y a pas –> y a pas (there's not)

il n’y a qu’à –> y a qu’à (you/we just have to)

We hope you will be able to use those shortcuts yourself and be on your way to sounding like a native! Refine your comprehension skills by listening to the way French speakers manipulate the language in casual conversation in our Yabla videos. And stay tuned for another round of textbook vs. spoken French!