You may be familiar with the common money-related verbs gagner (to earn) and dépenser (to spend). While straightforward in a financial context, these French verbs take on meanings that may surprise you when used in non-monetary settings.

Let’s start with the verb gagner, as in gagner de l’argent (to earn money). In the following video, Barbara is desperate to gagner un peu d’argent:

Il fallait absolument que je trouve un moyen de gagner un peu d'argent.

I absolutely had to find a way to earn a little money.

Caption 18, Mère & Fille Crazy Sitting

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We could say that Barbara is ready to start gagner sa vie (earning a living):

Barbara a hâte de pouvoir gagner sa vie comme sa maman.

Barbara can’t wait to earn a living like her mother.

Or Barbara could buy a lottery ticket instead, in hopes of gagner au loto (winning the lottery). That's exactly what happens to Sacha in this video:

Sacha a gagné au loto !

Sacha won the lottery!

Caption 7, Extr@ Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 5

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Here is something else you can gagner (win) in French: time! The phrase gagner du temps literally means "to win time," or “to gain time." ("To gain" is actually a cognate of gagner!) See how this cider manufacturer gagne du temps (gains time):

Donc, pour gagner un petit peu de temps, les pommes ont donc été préparées, nettoyées et coupées en morceaux.

So, to gain a little bit of time, the apples have therefore been prepared, cleaned and cut into chunks.

Captions 4-6, Frédéric La fabrication du jus de pomme - Part 1

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Gagner du temps also translates as “to save time,” depending on your perspective:

Je n'ai pas besoin de prendre les transports, donc je gagne beaucoup de temps sur ma journée.

I don't need to take public transportation, so I save a lot of time for my day.

Captions 55-56, Français avec Nelly Ma vie à Paris - Part 1

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As for “spending time," there are two ways of doing this in French: dépenser son temps (to use/spend one's time) or passer son temps (to pass one's time). The phrase dépenser son temps is not very common and is often used in a negative context. In the example below, time, like money, is considered a precious commodity that should not be wasted:

Ce n’est pas la peine de dépenser tout son temps à jouer aux jeux vidéos. 

It’s not worth spending all your time playing video games.

On the flip side, dépenser can also carry positive connotations, particularly regarding religious dedication:

L'homme doit dépenser tout son temps au service de Dieu.

Man must spend all his time serving God.

In most cases, however, French speakers use the phrase passer son temps to describe how they spend their time:

C'est un métier où on passe notre temps à ranger d'un côté sur l'autre,

It's a job where we spend our time putting things in place from one side to the other,

Captions 9-10, Gaëlle Librairie "Livres in Room"

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On the other hand, do use the verb dépenser (to spend) in a financial context. For example, in this video, dépenser de l’argent (spending money) is a fun activity for Barbara—until she realizes she has none left:

Si t'as dépensé ton argent, c'est ton problème.

If you spent your money, that's your problem.

Captions 33-34, Mère & Fille L'argent de poche

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Among other things, Barbara needs to watch her dépenses téléphoniques (phone expenses):

Pour maîtriser mes dépenses téléphoniques, ma mère avait opté pour un forfait commun.

To keep my phone expenses under control, my mother had opted for a family plan.

Captions 22-23, Mère & Fille Le coup de téléphone

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In French, it’s not just money that you can dépenser (spend). It’s also possible to se dépenser: literally “to expend energy on oneself,” or in other words, “to exercise” or “work out":

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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In addition, se dépenser (exercising) is an opportunity to dépenser des calories (burn calories):

C'est mieux de... de faire ça, même si c'est calorique, c'est ci, c'est là... Non mais... -Tu les dépenses après.

It's better to... to do that, even if it's calorific, it's this, it's that... No but... -You use them up [burn them] afterward.

Captions 60-62, Sophie et Patrice Le petit-déjeuner

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Now that we’ve explored ways to gagner (earn, win) and dépenser (spend), how about discussing ways to “save” in a future lesson? Merci d’avoir passer du temps à lire cette leçon ! 

In a previous Yabla lesson, you learned how to turn adjectives into adverbs. But what about adjectives that act as adverbs without changing at all? For example, did you know that the adjective bon (good) can be used as an adverb and therefore never take agreements? In this lesson, we will look at a few of these instances where adjectives morph into adverbs without warning.

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Let’s take a look at the word bon (good) as an adjective. In the example below, bon modifies the masculine pronoun il (it):

On va le goûter pour savoir s'il est bon.

We're going to taste it to find out if it's good.

Caption 43, Frédéric La fabrication du jus de pomme - Part 2

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Bon also appears in this example, but here it's used as an adverb, not an adjective:

De manger dehors... -Ah ouais. quand il fait bon et tout

Eating outside... -Oh yeah. when it's nice out and everything

Captions 74-75, Sophie et Patrice Terrasse

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You will often come across the adverb bon in the expression il fait bon (it’s nice out). Remember that an adverb modifies a verb, not a noun/pronoun. So in this expression, bon modifies the verb fait, not the pronoun il. 

However, don’t assume that bon always works as an adverb after faire. In the expression faire bon voyage (to have a good trip), bon is an adjective describing the noun voyage (trip):

J'espère que vous avez fait bon voyage.

I hope you had a good trip.

Caption 10, Le Jour où tout a basculé Des hôtes pas comme les autres - Part 2

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If our speaker had been referring to a road trip, the adjective bon would become bonne to go with the feminine noun route:

J'espère que vous avez fait bonne route.

I hope you had a good road trip.

Now let’s move on to another adjective, dur (hard). In the following video, Barbara knows how dur (hard) it is for her mother to give up her dreams of seeing her daughter dance at the opera:

Je savais que c'était dur pour ma mère d'abandonner l'idée de me voir danser à l'Opéra.

I knew that it was hard for my mother to abandon the idea of seeing me dance at the Opera.

Captions 69-70, Mère & Fille Danse pas si classique

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But in the expression travailler dur (to work hard), dur functions as an adverb. Dur doesn’t change since it modifies the verb travailler:

Maintenant c'est à toi de travailler, travailler dur, très dur.

Now it's up to you to work, work hard, very hard.

Captions 17-18, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mon père s'oppose à ma passion - Part 6

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Now let’s talk about the adjective fort (strong), which in the example below modifies il (it):

Ah oui, il t'a eu. Il est très fort.

Ah yes, he got you. He's very strong.

Caption 60, Le Monde Sauver les animaux sauvages ? C'est la mission de cette clinique - Part 2

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In the feminine plural, fort becomes fortes, as in the expression de fortes chances (a good chance):

Si tu cherches le genre d'un pays, il y a de fortes chances pour que le pays soit féminin.

If you're looking for the gender of a country, there's a good chance that the country is feminine.

Interestingly, when used as an adverb, fort also takes on a different meaning: “loudly,” as in parler fort (to speak loudly): 

Et « crier », qui veut dire parler très fort, hurler.

And "crier," which means to talk very loudly, to shout.

Caption 72, Français avec Nelly Les faux amis - Part 1

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Finally, we have the adjective cher/chère. You are probably familiar with the expression cher + noun, as in chère voisine (dear neighbor):

Bonjour, chère voisine.

Hello, dear neighbor.

Caption 27, Le Jour où tout a basculé Notre appartement est hanté - Part 8

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In a different context, cher/chère means "expensive":

La vie à Paris est-elle chère ?

Is life in Paris expensive?

Caption 2, Français avec Nelly Ma vie à Paris - Part 1

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As an adverb, cher most often means "expensive," as in coûter cher (to cost dearly, to be expensive). Again, there is no need to worry about agreements here, since cher modifies the verb couter:

Quand même, ça coûte cher.

That's still expensive.

Caption 81, Sophie et Patrice Le sapin

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There you have it. We have looked at some of the most common instances of adjectives "disguised" as adverbs. Just remember that while adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify, they don't require agreement when used as adverbs. And remember that French n’est pas si dur (is not so hard) if vous travaillez dur (you work hard). Soon, you will become très fort en français (very good at French)!