Textbook vs. Spoken French - Part 2

In Part 1, we discussed how textbook French, which is less flexible with grammar rules, is different from conversational French, which often takes shortcuts. For example, small words such as tu es (you are) are shortened to t’es (you’re), and some words, such as the ne in ne...pas, are dropped entirely. This lesson focuses on how some shortcuts can affect sentence meaning and clarity.

As we just mentioned, the ne in the negative construction ne...pas (not) usually disappears in conversational French. Like the two friends in the video below, most people typically drop ne, yet their message remains perfectly clear with pas:

En fait, je peux pas me réveiller si j'ai pas mon café.

In fact, I can't wake up if I don't have my coffee.

Captions 15-16, Sophie et Edmée Le petit-déjeuner

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Here is the textbook version with ne...pas:  

En fait, je ne peux pas me réveiller si je n’ai pas mon café.

In fact, I cannot wake up if I do not have my coffee.

While dropping the ne in ne...pas rarely affects clarity, dropping the ne in ne...plus (no more/no longer) can sometimes cause confusion. Plus on its own might be misinterpreted as a positive statement to mean "more." In the example below, j’ai plus faim could be misconstrued as "I’m hungrier." Fortunately, we can tell from the context that the person doesn’t want any more food:

Tu veux quelque chose ? Un fruit ? Non ? D'accord. -Non, merci. J'ai plus faim.

Do you want anything? A fruit? No? OK. -No thanks. I'm full [I'm not hungry anymore].

Captions 16-17, Le Jour où tout a basculé Notre appartement est hanté - Part 5

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In any case, using the complete expression ne...plus (no more/no longer) would remove any doubt:

Tu veux quelque chose ? Un fruit ? Non ? D'accord. -Non, merci. Je n’ai plus faim.

Do you want anything? A fruit? No? OK. -No thanks. I am full.

But if you're still in doubt, the pronunciation of plus provides an additional clue. Not pronouncing the s at the end of plus implies the negative ne...plus (no more), as in j’ai plus de batterie (I have no more battery, I’m out of battery). Conversely, if the s were pronounced, it would indicate the opposite, "more battery," which would not make sense in this specific context:

Non non non. J'ai plus de batterie, j'ai plus de batterie !

No no no. I'm out of battery, I'm out of battery!

Caption 102, Mère & Fille Soirée interdite

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Again, the use of the full negative phrase ne...plus makes everything clear:

Non non non. Je n'ai plus de batterie, je n'ai plus de batterie !

No no no. I'm out of battery, I'm out of battery!

Here is another common phrase that tends to baffle learners of French when they hear it spoken: je sais pas, often pronounced very fast as one word, "chaipa." It’s roughly equivalent to "dunno" in English:

Je sais pas, ouais, t'as changé les rideaux du salon ?

I don't know, yeah, did you change the living room curtains?

Caption 5, Mère & Fille Le dentiste

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Another potentially confusing trend in spoken French is the use of the very versatile personal pronoun on (one). Traditionally used to mean "one" or “people” when making a general statement, its usage has expanded in informal contexts to replace just about anyone: nous (we), il/elle (he/she), ils/elles (they), and even je (I)!  Essentially, it’s a favorite shortcut for natives who want to keep verb conjugations simple and take advantage of the fact that on remains in the third-person singular no matter who on is referring to. Typically, though, on is an alternative to the more formal nous (we):

T'imagines! -On serait capables.

Can you imagine! -We could do that.

Caption 69, Elisa et Mashal CV

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In the textbook version, the verb would change to the third-person plural nous:

T'imagines ! -Nous serions capables.

Can you imagine! -We could do that.

Here is another expression with on as an alternative to nous (we): the idiomatic expression on y va, which people use when they want to get going: 

On y va ! 

Here we go!

Caption 12, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 13. Stephenson - Part 5

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Interestingly, as an idiomatic expression, on y va has almost exclusively replaced its formal equivalent nous y allons, which tends to be used in a more literal sense:

Nous y allons !

We're going there!

In conclusion, the use of shortcuts in spoken French is very common and convenient, adding fluidity and simplicity to the language. On the flip side, straying too far from grammatical French can affect meaning and clarity, which can be especially challenging to French learners. But don't worry: tuning in to Yabla videos will greatly improve your comprehension of real-world French. Thank you for reading!