If you have any worries, concerns, or problems in a French-speaking country, souci is the word to use to express your predicament. In the first two senses ("worry" and "concern"), it's synonymous with inquiétude:
Ne te fais pas de souci. Fais-moi confiance!
Don't worry. Trust me!
Caption 6, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès - Part 4
Play Caption
Alors, le souci, quand elles en font deux, c'est que si elles sont pas très bonnes productrices de lait...
So the concern, when they have two, is that if they are not very good producers of milk...
Caption 4, Ferme de la Croix de Pierre - Les chèvres
Play Caption
Pas d'inquiétude. De nos jours, le pont est protégé d'un grillage.
Not to worry. Nowadays, the bridge is protected by a wire fence.
Caption 29, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion - Le parc des Buttes Chaumont
Play Caption
Souci and inquiétude both have verbal forms (se soucier, s'inquiéter) and adjectival forms (soucieux/soucieuse, inquiet/inquiète):
Sans se soucier [or: s'inquiéter] de dévoiler ses sentiments.
Without worrying about revealing her feelings.
Caption 7, Vous avez du talent Paulin - "Elle"
Play Caption
Donc si vous êtes un petit peu soucieux [or: inquiet] de votre santé...
So if you're a little bit concerned about your health...
Caption 16, Voyage dans Paris - Cité Florale
Play Caption
Un souci is also "a problem" or "an issue" you might have with something—for instance, if there's something wrong with a bike you've rented:
...si y a aucun souci avec les pédales.
...if there's any problem with the pedals.
Caption 34, Amal - Vélib
Play Caption
Et si y a le moindre souci avec un vélo...
And if there's the slightest issue with a bike...
Caption 57, Amal - Vélib
Play Caption
But un souci doesn't always involve a sense of frustration or anxiety. It can also mean "a concern," as in something you really care about and pay a lot of attention to.
Le souci du détail est un dogme.
Concern over detail [or: Attention to detail] is a dogma.
Caption 27, Le Journal Chocolats
Play Caption
Nous avons un grand souci de l'environnement.
We have a great concern for [or: We really care about] the environment.
There are also the expressions par souci de and dans un souci de, both meaning "in the interest of" or "for the sake of":
Si une partie de Lyon a été retenue, c'est d'abord par souci de [or: dans un souci de] cohérence.
If a portion of Lyon has been contained, it is primarily for the sake of coherence.
Caption 11, Le Journal - La grippe aviaire - Part 2
Play Caption
Finally, souci is also the word for "marigold." So while the informal expression pas de souci most often means "no worries," it can also mean "no marigolds"!
Our friend Lionel is known for his witty puns and excellent comedic timing. He even filmed a standup set for Yabla! Apparently, a good sense of humor runs in his family. In Lionel's latest video, his cousin Jean-Pierre cracks a joke about the Vosges mountain range:
Y a une blague à propos de...
There's a joke about...
justement des Vosges du Nord.
precisely about the Northern Vosges.
Quand on voit pas les Vosges du Nord,
When you don't see the Northern Vosges,
c'est qu'il pleut.
it's because it's raining.
Et quand on les voit bien, c'est qu'il va pleuvoir.
And when you see them clearly, it means that it's going to rain.
Captions 85-90, Lionel - à Lindre-Basse
Play Caption
If you didn't laugh at Jean-Pierre's joke, you probably had to be there (near the Northern Vosges, that is).
Une blague doesn't only refer to a verbal joke. It can also be a trick or a prank you play on someone:
On va leur faire une bonne blague!
We're going to play a nice trick on them!
Caption 23, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 9. Les écosystèmes
Play Caption
Une farce and un tour are the other words for "trick," "prank," or "practical joke":
Une farce joyeuse et de franche gaieté.
A joyous prank with uninhibited gaiety.
Caption 10, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès
Play Caption
Ils ont plus d'un tour dans leur sac.
They have more than one trick in their bag [up their sleeves].
Caption 34, Il était une fois... la vie - 14. La bouche et les dents
Play Caption
There's also another word for "joke": une plaisanterie. This example explains what happens in your body when you laugh at a joke:
Vous savez que ce sont les lèvres glottiques
You know that it's the glottic folds
qui sous l'effet d'une plaisanterie se mettent à vibrer.
that start vibrating when a joke is told.
Captions 8-9, Le Journal - Les effets bénéfiques du rire!
Play Caption
So how do you say "to crack a joke" or "to tell a joke" in French? You can either say raconter une plaisanterie or raconter une blague:
Il aime raconter des plaisanteries [or des blagues] grivoises.
He loves to tell dirty jokes.
But if you're talking about "joking" or "joking/messing around," then you use the verbs plaisanter or blaguer:
Ils blaguaient tout le temps pendant leur enfance.
They always used to joke around when they were little.
Tu plaisantes! Je ne crois pas ça. -Non, je ne plaisante pas!
You're kidding! I don't believe that. -No, I'm not kidding!
Thanks for reading! We'll be back soon with a new lesson. Sans blague! (No joke!)
If you're a Yabla subscriber, you may have noticed that we translate every word in the video captions, even if it's a repeated word or a filler word such as euh... (uh...). This allows you to really hear everything the speaker is saying and gives you a better understanding of everyday French speech patterns. In this lesson, we'll review some of the most common filler words and interjections that pop up in Yabla French videos.
While euh (uh) is pretty straightforward, hein is a filler word whose translation really depends on context. In general, it's used as an interrogative to mean anything from "right," to "isn't it," to "you know":
Donc, euh... c'est le même système, hein, pour les légumes,
So, uh... it's the same method, right, for the vegetables,
euh... comme pour les homards.
uh... as for the lobsters.
Caption 54, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard - Part 2
Play Caption
Il bouillonne bien, hein?
It's bubbling nicely, isn't it?
Caption 77, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard - Part 1
Play Caption
Enfin, j'ai déjà trois filles, hein!
After all, I already have three daughters, you know!
Caption 42, Actu Vingtième - Vendanges parisiennes
Play Caption
If you didn't quite catch something someone said, you can simply say, Hein? (Huh?) But like its English counterpart, this usage of hein is very informal. A more polite way of expressing the same sentiment is, Pouvez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît? (Can you repeat that, please?)
The word quoi usually means "what," but as a filler word it has the same meaning as hein:
Ouais, euh... ça serait vraiment le...
Yeah, uh... that'd really be the...
le rêve ultime, quoi, pour le fan...
the ultimate dream, you know, for a fan...
Caption 9, Alsace 20 - Rammstein à Strasbourg
Play Caption
Also like hein, quoi can stand alone to express incomprehension: Quoi? (What?) It's a little less informal than hein in this context.
Là ("here," "there," or "now") can also mean "you know," but it's often used as an informal way of adding emphasis:
Parce qu'en fait hier, on allait... avec... avec,
Because actually, yesterday, we were going... with... with,
euh... avec des grands, là...
uh... with some older kids, you know...
Caption 80, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
Play Caption
Là tu exagères!
You're really exaggerating [going too far]!
Ben or eh ben (well) is another common filler word. It's a shortened form of bien, the standard word for "well":
Les températures, eh ben, cela va être relativement facile,
The temperature, well, that's going to be relatively easy,
quatre degrés partout...
four degrees everywhere...
Caption 6, Alsace 20 - Météo des Maquilleurs
Play Caption
You'll also find it in the expression, Ben oui! (But of course!)
Our final example contains two common interjections:
Oh la la! Oh mais dis donc, non mais... oh, qu'est-ce qui se passe?
Oh my! Oh but you don't say, no but... oh, what's going on?
Caption 24, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès
Play Caption
The first has been adapted into English as "ooh la la!" But while "ooh la la" is a comical way of expressing attraction or excitement, oh la la (often shortened to oh la) is a more neutral expression of surprise (more like "oh my" in English).
The second interjection, dis donc, literally means "say then," but is better translated by the phrase "you don't say" or a number of others.
In short, if you ever find yourself at a loss for words in French, a filler word or an interjection is a good way to plug the gap!
Spanish
German
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
