The French have an appreciation for quality living. The enjoyment of fine food, wine, and life’s simple pleasures are an essential part of French culture. Hence the abundance of French terms—such as bon vivant, gourmet, gourmand, connaisseur and more—that capture this ethos. Many of these expressions have filtered into the English language, highlighting the influence of French culture and values. 

Some of these terms are loanwords and are left as is. In France people who enjoy food fall into two broad categories, gourmet and gourmand. Both words convey the idea of enjoying food but in a slightly different way. A gourmet has a more refined taste than a gourmand, who may not have the same knowledge or might enjoy food to excess, especially sweet food:

Ou que vous soyez gourmet ou gourmand, je vous propose aujourd'hui de faire des crêpes

Or whether you're a gourmet or gourmand, today I propose that you make crêpes

Captions 2-3, Le saviez-vous? Comment faire des crêpes

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As a noun, when referring to people, "gourmand" and "gourmet" are considered loanwords and are usually not translated. However, when used as adjectives, they take on different meanings in English depending on context. In this video, la Bretagne gourmande refers to “the foodies of Brittany," which is a more specialized meaning:

Difficile alors d'échapper au Marché des Lices à Rennes; c'est comme si toute la Bretagne gourmande s'y retrouvait.

It's difficult then to escape the Lices Market in Rennes; it's as if all the foodies of Brittany were there.

Captions 4-5, Le Journal Gourmet en Bretagne

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Usually though, the adjective gourmand/gourmande simply refers to someone with a sweet tooth:

Je suis pas très gourmand...

I don't have much of a sweet tooth...

Caption 12, LCM Recette: Crêpes

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In addition, the adjective gourmand can also apply to food itself to mean “delicious.” In his cooking series Whoogy’s, Hugo uses the word gourmand to describe one of his tasty creations, une crème méga gourmande (a mega-tasty cream): 

Pour une crème méga gourmande, on va utiliser de la crème.

For a mega-tasty crème, we're going to use cream.

Captions 34-35, Whoogy's Crème brûlée facile & ultra-onctueuse

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In another video, Hugo describes his mushroom gnocchi dish using this simple phrase: C’est gourmand. Interestingly, gourmand translates as “gourmet” in English here, conveying the idea that Whoogy’s dish is not only delicious but refined:

C'est bon. C'est gourmand.

It's good. It's gourmet.

Captions 9-10, Whoogy's Gnocchis maison faciles (champignons & parmesan)

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Speaking of delicious food, each region of France offers its own variety of gourmandises (treats or delicacies). In this video, a shopkeeper will tempt you with une gourmandise called a madeleine: 

À savoir, une gourmandise, un magnifique gâteau qui est déjà assez ancien et qui se nomme la "madeleine".

Namely, a sweet treat, a magnificent cake that is quite old already and that is called the "madeleine".

Captions 23-25, Lionel La boutique de madeleines de Liverdun - Part 1

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Une gourmandise can also mean a “delicacy” that is not necessarily sweet:

Des gourmandises de toutes sortes vous attendent dans cette épicerie fine.

All kinds of delicacies await you in this delicatessen.

Une gourmandise has a synomym, une friandise. Une friandise more often describes a treat for grownups, although that’s not always the case. In this video, Saint-Nicolas is in charge of giving out friandises to good children:

C'est pour ça qu'il fait le tour, euh... -Des écoles -Des écoles pour donner... des friandises.

This is why he is doing a tour of, uh... -Schools -Schools to give... treats.

Caption 3, Grand Lille TV Focus: la tradition de Saint-Nicolas

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Here is an interesting quote from Mazouz Hacène contrasting the word gourmandise (gluttony) and friandise (delicacy):

Ne sois pas la gourmandise des hommes mais la friandise d’un homme.

Be not the gluttony of men but the delicacy of one man.

Indeed, the word gourmandise spells pleasure and indulgence. When discussing different types of wine in France, this winegrower makes an interesting distinction between vins de garde (wines to keep) and vins de gourmandise (wines to indulge in):

Et ça, c'est plus un vin de garde alors que le "Dentelle" était plus un vin... de gourmandise à boire rapidement.

And this is more of a wine to keep, while the "Dentelle" was more of a wine... to indulge in, to drink quickly.

Captions 17-18, Provence Domaine Rouge-Bleu - Part 1

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Speaking of indulgence, the term "guilty pleasure" comes to mind, but the French prefer to call it a “cute sin” (un péché mignon), sans guilt:

Ça a toujours été mon péché mignon, avec le vin et le fromage.

It's always been my guilty pleasure, along with wine and cheese.

Caption 22, Le Village de la Bière Ceci n'est pas un bar!

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In fact, there is a special word in French and English for people who know how to enjoy life to the fullest. They are called bons vivants (literally, "good living"). According to Merriam-Webster, a bon vivant is "a sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes especially with respect to food and drink.” According to this video, there is no shortage of bons vivants in the Burgundy region:

Dijon est l'une des capitales de la gastronomie française. Et ses habitants sont réputés pour être de bons vivants. On adore manger ici en Bourgogne.

Dijon is one of the capitals of French gastronomy. And its inhabitants are known for being bons vivants. We love to eat here in Burgundy. 

Captions 73-78, TF1 Info Week-end à Dijon, capitale des ducs de Bourgogne - Part 1

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And people who know a lot about food and wine especially are connaisseurs (with an a—don't let autocorrect change it to the English spelling “connoisseur” when writing in French!). In this humorous video, wannabe cook Isabelle leaves it to un connaisseur to judge her dubious entry in a cooking competition:

C'est un connaisseur, lui.

He's a connoisseur.

Caption 78, Mère & Fille Cuisine Monster

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Finally, here is one expression that is often used in anticipation of a delicious meal:

On va se régaler.

We're going to enjoy it [It's going to be delicious].

Caption 57, Sophie et Patrice Les ustensiles de cuisine

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Sample some of Yabla's food-related videos and learn how to prepare some gourmandises (delicacies). In no time, you will become a connaisseur! Régalez-vous! 

In our previous lesson, we discussed the verb dire (to say), which has a few derivatives: médire (to speak ill of), maudire (to curse), redire (to say again), interdire (to forbid, ban), contredire (to contradict), and prédire (to predict). Although these verbs all end in -dire, they don’t necessarily follow the same conjugation patterns as dire (to say). Let’s explore the various meanings and characteristics of these verbs.  

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Redire (to say again) is the only verb that is conjugated in the exact same way as dire (to say). In other words, it is also irregular in the second-person plural in the present tense of the indicative. So, just as we say vous dites (you say), we say vous redites (you say again). Here is an example of this verb in the infinitive:

Maintenant tu vas me redire quelle couleur c'est.

Now you're going to tell me again what color this is.

Caption 33, Lionel et Automne Lionel retourne à l'école

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If Lionel had used the formal vous (you), this is what the sentence would look like:

Maintenant vous me redites quelle couleur c'est.

Now you tell me again what color this is.

Interestingly, redire doesn’t just mean “to say again.” When used in the idiomatic expression n’avoir rien trouver à redire, redire implies some kind of criticism: “to have nothing bad to say."

La direction de Vélo'v n'a trouvé rien à redire sur ces selles multicolores.

Vélo'v's management has found nothing bad to say about these multicolored seats.

Caption 19, Télé Lyon Métropole Street art: le yarn bombing, c'est quoi?

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Speaking of having bad things to say, we have the verb maudire, which means “to put a curse on somebody,” something that happens a lot in fairy tales:

Elle l'avait maudit aussi longtemps qu'une princesse ne l'aurait autorisé à manger dans son assiette et à dormir dans son lit pendant trois nuits.

She had cursed him for as long as a princess wouldn't allow him to eat off her plate and to sleep in her bed for three nights.

Captions 33-34, Contes de fées Le roi grenouille - Part 2

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Also worth noting is the fact that maudire (to put a curse on somebody) is the only derivative that belongs to the second-group (-ir) verbs, as it models its conjugation on finir (to finish) with the plural endings -issons, -issez, -issent in the present tense: 

Les contes de fées finissent souvent mal quand les sorcières maudissent les princesses.

Fairy tales often end badly when witches put a curse on princesses.

In addition, when placed before a noun, the past participle maudit/maudite works as an adjective, often translating as “damned” in English:

En fait, c'est la faute de cette maudite molaire

Actually, it's the fault of this damned molar

Caption 53, Les zooriginaux La rage de Croqueur - Part 4

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A milder variation of maudire (to put a curse on someone) is médire (to speak ill of someone or to slander). Unlike maudire, médire is conjugated like dire, as in ils disent/ils médisent (they say/they speak ill of), except in the second-person plural. In this case, médire keeps the regular form, vous médisez (you speak ill of)—not "vous médites." Here is a quote from the book Histoire de Marie-Antoinette by Edmont and Jules de Goncourt:

Malin avec le sourire, impitoyable avec l'ironie, il médisait avec le silence.

Clever with a smile, merciless with irony, he slandered with silence.

Moving on to other derivatives, we have interdire (to forbid), contredire (to contradict), and prédire (to predict), which all conjugate like médire (to speak ill of). Let’s start with interdire (to forbid), something that Barbara has trouble understanding in the video below. She is in big trouble for dyeing her hair blond:

Je t'avais interdit de te teindre en blonde.

I had forbidden you to dye your hair blond.

Caption 93, Mère & Fille Tout en couleur

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Interdire often comes in the impersonal phrase il est interdit de (it is forbidden to) + verb:

Aujourd'hui il est interdit de se regrouper.

Today it's forbidden to gather in groups.

Caption 8, Lionel L La pandémie

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You may also come across contredire (to contradict):

Oui. -Monsieur qui est breton ne va pas me contredire. -Hé, c'est pas gagné!

Yes. -The gentleman from Brittany isn't going to contradict me. -Hey, that's not certain!

Caption 63, LCM Recette: Crêpes

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Finally, we have the verb prédire (to predict), which comes up frequently in the world of horoscopes:

Résultat: si un horoscope prédit trois choses...

The result: if a horoscope predicts three things...

Caption 136, Le Monde L’astrologie fonctionne-t-elle ?

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In conclusion, here is a summary of how each of these verbs is conjugated in the vous form:

interdire: vous interdisez (you forbid)
prédire: vous prédisez (you predict)
médire: vous médisez (you speak ill of)

contredire: vous contredisez (you contradict)

redire: vous redites (you say again)

maudire: vous maudissez (you curse)

That's about all that dire and its derivatives have to say. Thank you for reading!

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.

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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!

For most people, learning to conjugate verbs probably isn’t the most exciting part of studying a language (unless they have friends like our very own Margaux and Manon, that is). But luckily, in French as in other languages, there are a few verbs that cut you a break. These are the "impersonal verbs," and the beauty of them is that you only have to worry about conjugating them with the pronoun il (he/it). They’re called "impersonal" because they don’t refer to any specific person—il in this case just means "it."

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A good number of these verbs have to do with that most impersonal of dinner party topics, the weather. Imagine this conversation between two partygoers who don’t have much to talk about:

Est-ce qu’il pleut dehors? -Non, il neige!

Is it raining outside? -No, it’s snowing!

The two forms that you see above, il pleut and il neige, are the only conjugations of pleuvoir (to rain) and neiger (to snow) that exist in the present tense. This is obviously because people can’t "rain" or "snow": you can’t say je pleux (I rain) or tu neiges (you snow). Unless you have superpowers, that is!

Some other impersonal weather expressions: il gèle (it’s freezing), il bruine (it’s drizzling), il tonne (it’s thundering), il grêle (it’s sleeting).

Next we’ll take a look at one of the most common impersonal verbs, falloir (to have to, to be necessary). In the present tense, you’ll see this as il faut:

Il faut protéger la terre

We have to protect the earth

Caption 2, Nouveaux Talents? - Adonis chante

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Il faut deux ans pour former les pilotes d'hélicoptère de l'armée française.

It takes two years to train French Army helicopter pilots.

Caption 29, Le Journal - École de pilotage

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As you can see, you can have "il faut + infinitive" (to have to do something) and "il faut + noun" (to need something). A bit more complicated is the phrase il faut que..., which requires the subjunctive:

Il faut que je fasse la pâte.

I have to make the batter.

Caption 16, LCM - Recette: Crêpes

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Another impersonal verb you’ll see quite frequently is s’agir (to be about), in the expression il s’agit de...:

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

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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

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Note that s’agir is just the reflexive form of agir (to act), which is not an impersonal verb.

Sometimes regular old verbs can become impersonal too. Basic verbs like avoir, être, and faire can be conjugated left and right, but they can also be impersonal:

Il est minuit à Tokyo, il est cinq heures au Mali

It's midnight in Tokyo, it's five o'clock in Mali

Caption 12, Amadou et Mariam - Sénégal Fast Food

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Il est intéressant de vivre dans un pays étranger.  

It is interesting to live in a foreign country.

Il y a beaucoup de choses à faire aujourd’hui.

There are many things to do today.

Il fait froid en hiver

It is cold in the winter.

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As you can see, impersonal verbs come in handy when you’re talking about the time, the weather, and the general state of things. You can learn more about them on this page.