In a previous lesson, we explored the words compte and compter, which are used in a wide variety of expressions beyond their most basic meanings (“account” and “to count,” respectively). One of these expressions is se rendre compte, which literally means “to give an account to oneself,” but which is best translated as “to realize”: 

Et bien sûr nous allons aussi nous rendre compte que

And of course we'll also realize that

Metz est une ville riche par son patrimoine, son passé.

Metz is a rich city through its heritage, its past.

Captions 14-15, Lionel - à Metz

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“To realize” also has a French cognate, réaliser. While réaliser can be used as a synonym of se rendre compte, it more often refers to realizing something in the sense of making something a reality, such as a goal or a dream: 

C'est un rêve qui va être chaud à réaliser:

It's a dream that's going to be hard to realize:

c'est pouvoir voir Michael Jackson.

it's being able to see Michael Jackson.

Captions 26-27, Micro-Trottoirs - Un rêve récurrent?

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While this sense of “to realize” is more of a formal and often technical term, réaliser is more commonly used as a synonym of faire (to make or to do). For example, “to realize a recipe” isn’t as common a phrase in English as réaliser une recette is in French: 

Ben, pour réaliser, euh, la recette,

Well, to make, uh, this recipe,

ben on a besoin des... des homards.

well we need some... some lobsters.

Caption 29, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard

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Margaux and Manon even use réaliser in their definition of faire:

"Faire" veut dire construire ou fabriquer

"Faire" means to build or make

ou réaliser quelque chose de concret, de matériel.

or achieve something concrete, material.

Caption 9, Margaux et Manon - Emplois du verbe faire

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If you make the verb reflexive, it means "to become reality" or, in the case of wishes and dreams, "to come true":

Tous mes rêves se sont réalisés.
All my dreams came true.

Some other synonyms of réaliser are accomplir (to accomplish), exécuter (to execute, carry out), créer (to create), atteindre (to achieve), and achever (to finish, complete). 

Réaliser is also an important verb in film terminology, meaning “to direct.” In fact, its noun form, réalisateur, specifically means “film director”: 

Alors, c'est le réalisateur qui s'est battu pour elle.

So, it was the director who fought for her.

Caption 4, Le Journal - Marion Cotillard

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You can also use the word cinéaste, or “filmmaker,” instead of réalisateur. A “cineaste” in English is either a filmmaker or a film buff (or both!). 

Another noun form of réaliser is réalisation, which generally means “realization” or “fulfillment,” but can also mean “design” or “creation” in architectural parlance. As France contains a wealth of architectural treasures, you’ll come across this word a lot in Yabla travel videos: 

La réalisation architecturale du parc a été confiée

The park's architectural design was assigned

en mille neuf cent quatre-vingt trois.

in nineteen eighty-three.

Caption 8, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion - Le Parc de la Villette

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Et à l'entrée, pour les amateurs d'architecture,

And at the entrance, for architecture enthusiasts,

il y a cette extraordinaire réalisation Le Corbusier.

there is this extraordinary Le Corbusier creation.

Captions 11-12, Voyage dans Paris - Le Treizième arrondissement de Paris

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We hope you realize all of your dreams and goals, whether they’re as small as making a recipe or as large as constructing a building, or as fun as learning French with Yabla!  

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Oldelaf’s latest song featured on Yabla, “Vendredi” (Friday), is a sort of satirical ode to boring weekends: 

Je m'ennuie

I am bored

Je me sens tout chose

I feel peculiar

Captions 42-43, Oldelaf - interprète "Vendredi"

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You might have been able to guess that je m’ennuie means “I am bored” here because it contains the word ennui, which the English language borrowed from the French as a synonym for “boredom.” But in French, l’ennui and its related words don’t only have to do with being bored. They can also involve being bothered, worried, troubled, or annoyed. In this lesson, we’ll see how these multiple meanings play out—and we promise it won’t be boring!

First, there’s l’ennui, which usually just means “boredom”:

Je meurs d’ennui.
I’m dying of boredom.

However, if you pluralize l’ennui (les ennuis), you don’t get “boredoms,” but “problems” or “troubles”:

On évite certains ennuis.

We avoid certain problems.

Caption 16, Le Village de la Bière - Ceci n'est pas un bar!

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Quant à Socrate, il a de sérieux ennuis.

As for Socrates, he has serious troubles.

Caption 27, Il était une fois: l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès

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(Speaking of philosophers with ennui(s), there's also l'ennui pascalien, or "Pascalian ennui," named after the seventeenth-century polymath Blaise Pascal. It corresponds to the notion of "existential ennui" in English.)

As we saw in the first example, the reflexive verb s’ennuyer means “to be bored.” But the non-reflexive verb ennuyer can either mean “to bore” or “to bother”:

Ça vous ennuie que je vous photographie?

Will it bother you that I photograph you?

Caption 36, Le Journal - Marion Cotillard

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Marc ennuie ses enfants avec ses longues histoires.
Marc is boring his kids with his long stories.

You’ll have to pay attention to context to determine whether ennuyer means “to bore” or “to bother.” In the case of the examples above, taking a photo of someone is probably more likely to bother them than bore them, and kids are probably more likely to be bored than bothered by their dad’s long stories. That said, sometimes ennuyer can have both meanings at once. For example, you could say that Marc is bothering his kids by boring them with his long stories. You could also say that he is annoying them—in fact, the word “annoy” is etymologically related to the word “ennui,” which should make this additional meaning of ennuyer easier to remember.

Context is also key with other ennui derivatives like ennuyeux/ennuyeuse (boring, annoying, tiresome) and ennuyé(e) (bored, annoyed, worried):

Y a rien à dire

There's nothing to say

C'est ennuyeux

It's boring

Captions 39-40, Melissa Mars Music Videos - Et Alors!

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Toutes ses questions sont vraiment ennuyeuses.
All his questions are really annoying.

On peut être fasciné, agacé, déçu,

We can be fascinated, annoyed, disappointed,

énervé par le ton, captivé par l'intrigue

upset by the tone, captivated by the plot,

ou tout bêtement ennuyé...

or, quite simply, bored...

Captions 29-30, Manon et Clémentine - Vocabulaire du livre

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Tu as l’air ennuyé. Mais ne t’inquiète pas! Tout ira bien.
You look concerned. But don’t worry! Everything will be all right.

Hopefully you aren’t bored, annoyed, bothered, or worried at the moment, but if you are, Oldelaf’s new video is a perfect antidote to all the various shades of ennui!

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And for more information on the usage and history of the word "ennui" in English, check out this interesting article.