The word rendez-vous is the second-person plural imperative form of the verb se rendre ("to go" or "to present oneself"). It literally means "go!" or "present yourself!" But rather than a command, you'll hear it most often used as a noun—un rendez-vous. In English, "a rendezvous" is another word for "a meeting." Un rendez-vous means that and much more, as you'll see in this lesson.
If you're a regular Yabla French user, you'll recognize this word from the final caption of nearly every video in our Voyage en France series:
Je vous donne rendez-vous très bientôt pour de nouvelles découvertes.
I will meet you very soon for some new discoveries.
Caption 50, Voyage en France - Mont-Valérien
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Donner rendez-vous à (literally, "to give meeting to") is to arrange to meet someone, to set up a date or an appointment with someone. Indeed, besides "a meeting," un rendez-vous can also be "a date" or "an appointment":
C'est au premier rendez-vous qu'ils franchissent le pas
It's on the first date that they take that step
Caption 5, Grand Corps Malade - Roméo kiffe Juliette
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J'ai rendez-vous chez le dentiste et je suis en retard!
I have an appointment at the dentist and I'm late!
Caption 10, Micro-Trottoirs - Art ou science?
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Note the discrepancy between the French and the English in that last example: when talking about having an appointment with someone, you don't have to say j'ai un rendez-vous. J'ai rendez-vous will suffice.
In French, you don't "make" an appointment with someone—you "take" (prendre) one:
Aujourd'hui, on va apprendre à prendre rendez-vous chez le médecin.
Today we're going to learn how to make an appointment at the doctor's.
Caption 1, Manon et Clémentine - Rendez-vous chez le médecin
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And if something is by appointment only, it's sur rendez-vous ("on appointment"):
au trente-neuf rue Saint-Pavin des Champs sur rendez-vous
at thirty-nine Saint-Pavin des Champs Street by appointment
Caption 38, Le Mans TV - Le Mans: Ouverture d'un nouvel atelier d'artistes
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Un rendez-vous can refer both to a meeting and a meeting place:
Ce château était un rendez-vous de chasse.
This castle was a rendezvous point for hunting.
Caption 26, Le Mans TV - Mon Village - Malicorne
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Here's an interesting example that uses rendez-vous in more of a metaphoric sense:
Le soleil est au rendez-vous pour ce nouveau numéro de la découverte de la ville de Provins.
The sun is present for this new episode of the discovery of the city of Provins.
Caption 2, Voyage en France - La ville de Provins
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The sun is "at the meeting" for this new episode—in other words, the sun is out. Être au rendez-vous means "to be present." The expression is used in the negative in Part 1 of Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan to describe an actress's lack of success in recent years:
Sophie est une comédienne célèbre, mais depuis quelques années le succès n'est plus au rendez-vous.
Sophie is a famous actress, but success has been hard to come by for several years.
Captions 1-2, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan
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Mais depuis deux ans, le succès n'est plus vraiment au rendez-vous.
But for the last two years, success has been somewhat elusive.
Caption 41, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 1
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That about does it for this lesson. Nous vous donnons rendez-vous très bientôt pour une nouvelle leçon (We'll meet you very soon for a new lesson)!
In the latest episode of "Le Jour où tout a basculé," Frédéric accuses his wife Anne-Sophie of cheating on him with her ex, but Anne-Sophie insists he's mistaken. Both of them use the verb tromper to state their cases:
Quatre ans plus tôt, Anne-Sophie m'avait trompé.
Four years earlier, Anne-Sophie had cheated on me.
C'était une histoire sans lendemain.
It was a short-lived affair.
Caption 46, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...
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Tu t'es toujours trompé avec lui.
You've always been mistaken about him.
Caption 10, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...
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While Frédéric uses tromper to mean "to cheat" or "deceive," Anne-Sophie uses the reflexive form of the verb, se tromper, which means "to be mistaken" (literally, "to deceive oneself"). Frédéric also uses se tromper later in the video:
Je m'étais pas trompé.
I was not wrong.
Ce fameux soir, c'est un mail de son ex sur lequel je suis tombé.
That famous evening, it was an email from her ex I came across.
Captions 49-50, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...
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You'll have to stay tuned to find out who's really being deceived here. There's a lot more at stake in this episode than potential infidelity!
Tromper isn't only reserved for marital dramas. It's the best verb to use whenever you've been duped, tricked, fooled, or misled (which hopefully isn't that often!):
Le marchand m'a trompé. Il m'a vendu une montre cassée.
The shopkeeper misled me. He sold me a broken watch.
Being mistaken is usually not as serious as being cheated, so you'll often see se tromper used in more mundane situations. You can add de + a noun after it to specify what the person is mistaken about:
Bonjour, pourrais-je parler à Christine?
Hello, may I speak to Christine?
-Désolé, vous vous êtes trompé de numéro.
-Sorry, you've got the wrong number.
Je pense que nous nous sommes trompés de bus.
I think we got on the wrong bus.
You may be familiar with a painting technique known as "trompe-l'œil" (literally, "tricks the eye"), which creates an illusion of three-dimensionality. Daniel shows us an interesting example of this technique in a church in Provins:
Observez quelques instants au cœur de l'église
Observe for a few moments in the heart of the church
cet effet de trompe-l'œil...
this trompe-l'œil effect...
Captions 35-36, Voyage en France - La ville de Provins
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We hope this lesson has helped you tromper l'ennui (stave off boredom)!
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