As the saying goes, French is the language of love. So, let’s take this opportunity to delve into peoples’ hearts and minds and discuss expressions featuring the theme of love, ever so present in conversations, literature, and songs.
Grand Corps Malade sings about le grand amour (true love) in his song "Les Voyages en Train":
Le grand amour change forcément ton comportement
True love inevitably changes your behavior
Caption 13, Grand Corps Malade Les Voyages en train
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The masculine noun amour also exists in the plural form, as in the expression la saison des amours, which means "the season of love" when referring to humans:
Ah oui, oui, oui, c'est la saison des amours là.
Ah yes, yes, yes, it's the season of love now.
Caption 44, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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And "the mating season" when referring to animals:
Et là, c'est la saison des amours là?
And now, it's the mating season now?
Caption 43, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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The term conjoint (mate) applies to both the animal and the human kingdom:
Elles trouvent le temps long parce que le conjoint, il tarde à venir là.
They feel that time is moving slowly because their mate is taking his time to arrive now.
Caption 45, Lionel à Lindre-Basse - Part 5
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You'll often come across conjoint (partner/spouse) when filling out an administrative form:
L'utilisation du nom du conjoint nécessite certaines démarches.
Adopting a partner’s name requires certain steps.
Alternatively, you will also come across the word époux/épouse (spouse) which works in the same way as "spouse" in English—as a slightly more formal alternative to le mari (husband) and la femme (wife):
Voilà. Je désire prendre votre fille pour épouse.
Here's the deal. I want to take your daughter as my wife.
Caption 19, Il était une fois: l’Homme 6. Le siècle de Périclès - Part 3
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Vous acceptâtes de me prendre pour époux
You accepted to take me for a husband
Captions 26-27, Oldelaf interprète "Bérénice"
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Speaking of époux, young girls in fairy tales often dream of épouser (marrying) le Prince Charmant (Prince Charming):
Seule dans sa chambre elle rêve encore au Prince Charmant
Alone in her room she still dreams of Prince Charming
Caption 8, Wallen Donna
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These days, people might look for their Prince Charming on un site de rencontre (a dating site):
Je m'inscris sur un site de rencontre pour retraités.
I'm subscribing to a dating site for retirees.
Caption 12, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 1
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Of course, faire une rencontre (meeting someone) or rencontrer l’amour (finding love) can happen in any setting, even unusual ones, as Nico can attest in this video:
Nico rencontre l'amour à un feu rouge.
Nico finds love at a red light.
Caption 34, Extr@ Ep. 5 - Une étoile est née - Part 8
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With a little luck, Nico may have found une âme sœur (a soulmate):
Petites fées du cœur accueillent les âmes sœurs
Little love fairies welcome the soulmates
Captions 25-26, Melissa Mars Music Videos Army of Love
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In any case, Nico and his neighbors Sacha and Annie have a complicated love life. They are all amoureux (in love), but with the wrong people!
Elles ont un voisin, Nico, qui est amoureux de Sacha, et Annie est amoureuse de Nico.
They have a neighbor, Nico, who is in love with Sacha, and Annie is in love with Nico.
Captions 3-5, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 1
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Nico wants Sacha to be sa petite amie (his girlfriend), while Annie wants Nico to be son petit ami (her boyfriend). They could simplify their lives by being amis (just friends), but that's not how love works! The adjective petit (little) is just an endearing term of affection that bears no relation to size at all. It simply implies a more exclusive relationship:
Ça va être ta petite amie qui doit être jalouse.
It's your girlfriend who must be jealous.
Caption 20, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 4
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Instead of using the term petit ami/petite amie, they could have said une petite copine (a girlfriend) or un petit copain (a boyfriend).
Traditionally, the next step is to progress from petits amis to mari et femme (husband and wife), and perhaps to sing together, like the couple in the video below:
Tout comme sa femme, le mari chante bien.
Just like his wife, the husband sings well.
Caption 56, Le saviez-vous? "Non plus", forme négative de "aussi" - Part 1
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But before jumping into marriage, the pair may first se fiancer (become engaged). Hence the term un fiancé/une fiancée, which English borrowed from French:
Comme par exemple... ta fiancée? T'en as une? C'est ça?
Like, for example... your fiancée? You have one? Is that right?
Caption 46, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon père - Part 4
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Fiancés might celebrate their fiançailles (engagement) with an engagement party, though perhaps not as grandiosely as Anne of Austria and Louis the Thirteenth, who had the famous Place des Vosges in Paris built for the occasion:
...à l'occasion des fiançailles de Louis Treize et d'Anne d'Autriche.
...on the occasion of the engagement of Louis the Thirteenth and Anne of Austria.
Caption 16, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion La place des Vosges
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Les fiançailles usually lead to another celebration, the wedding (le mariage or la noce):
...à l'occasion de son mariage entre mille huit cent quatre-vingt-douze et mille neuf cent deux.
on the occasion of his wedding, between eighteen ninety-two and nineteen hundred two.
Caption 36, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 5
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La noce se fera en automne.
The wedding will take place in the fall.
Two things worth noting about the word un mariage (marriage). It’s spelled with only one r, and it can mean either “wedding” (the ceremony) or “marriage" (the relationship). La noce, however, only means "wedding."
While marriage is usually a union based on love, in some cases, a marriage might be un mariage blanc, which literally means “white/blank marriage,” as Patricia explains in her video:
Un mariage blanc, c'est un mariage arrangé, ou pas consommé.
A white marriage is an arranged marriage, or not consummated.
Captions 56-57, Le saviez-vous? La couleur blanche et ses expressions - Part 2
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Usually though, a marriage is a happy occasion on which la mariée (the bride) and le mari (the groom) exchange vows:
La mariée et le marié sont aussi au rendez-vous
The bride and the groom are also at the rendez-vous
Caption 16, Amadou et Mariam Beaux dimanches
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Many newlyweds (nouveaux mariés) go on une lune de miel (honeymoon):
Celle-là, c'était l'année de notre rencontre. Et notre lune de miel.
That one was the year we met. And our honeymoon.
Captions 35-36, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 3
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Of course, le mariage is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some people may decide to vivre en couple (to live together as a couple) instead. The word couple can refer to the number of people in the relationship, as in English, or to the relationship itself:
Notre couple allait mal.
Our relationship was going badly.
Caption 57, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 8
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Finally, those who remain unattached are called célibataires (single), like the lady mentioned in this video:
Et elle est toujours célibataire.
And she's still single.
Caption 90, Le Jour où tout a basculé À la recherche de mon passé - Part 5
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On November 25th, la Sainte-Catherine (Saint Catherine’s Day), single, unmarried young girls celebrate their catherinette by saying a special prayer for a suitor, before they reach the age of twenty-five.
As much as le grand amour (true love) may seem like the perfect recipe for happiness, one cannot vivre d’amour et d’eau fraiche (live on love alone). On the other hand, as the Beatles' song goes, all you need is love!
In his latest video on the coronavirus pandemic, Lionel talks about the measures being taken to control the spread of the virus in France. Like everyone else in the world, French people are trying to minimize the risk of catching the virus by staying inside and wearing masks when they have to go out.
Though risk is a major theme of the video, when Lionel uses the verb risquer, he means something a bit different:
Lors du déconfinement,
During reopening,
nous risquons de sortir avec des masques
we're likely going out with masks
et... les distanciations sociales
and... social distancing
risquent de durer un bon moment.
is likely going to last for quite some time.
Captions 35-38, Lionel L - La pandémie, un mois déjà
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We don't "risk" going out with masks on, nor does social distancing "risk" lasting for a while longer. (Quite the contary: these are the very measures that are reducing risk). Risquer often just means "to be likely" (être probable) or "there's a good chance that." The stakes don't have to be that high:
Cette année, Noël risque d'être très présent dans les rues.
This year, Christmas is bound to be very present on the streets.
Caption 22, TV Vendée - Le sapin de Noël décoré par les enfants
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But risquer can also mean "to risk" or "run the risk of":
Si ça continue à cuire, ça risque de perdre sa belle couleur.
If they continue to cook, they run the risk of losing their beautiful color.
Caption 57, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
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Il a risqué sa vie pour sauver le chien.
He risked his life to save the dog.
Its noun form, risque, can mean "risk," "danger," or "chance." Note that, though it ends in an e, risque is masculine:
Le risque avec les lamas, c'est qu'en grandissant,
The danger with llamas is that as they grow up,
ils peuvent devenir agressifs.
they may become aggressive.
Caption 25, Angers 7 - Un lama en plein appartement
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There's also the adjective risqué, which you probably recognize. Though risqué can mean "racy" and "suggestive," as it does in English, it also just means "risky":
Pour elles c'est trop risqué de s'accrocher à la locomotive.
For them it's too risky to grab on to the engine.
Caption 47, Grand Corps Malade - Les Voyages en train
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Some say it's a good thing to take a lot of risks, but these days, that doesn't seem like the safest advice. Ne prenez pas de risque! (Don't take any risks!)
We've touched on grammatical agreement in previous lessons, but in this one we're focusing on the word "agreement" itself. The French word for "agreement" is un accord, and its verbal form, accorder, means "to agree" or "to make an agreement":
Et les accords, également. Savoir comment on accorde un adjectif à son sujet, par exemple.
And agreements too. Knowing how you make an adjective agree with its subject, for example.
Captions 11-12, Le saviez-vous? - Les bénéfices de la dictée
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Un accord is "an agreement" in all senses, not just a grammatical one. It can refer to an official agreement, something you might sign or seal:
Eh bien, scellons cet accord!
Well then, let's seal this agreement!
Caption 16, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès
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Or it can refer to a verbal agreement, to permission or consent:
Il me fallait aussi l'accord de ses parents.
I also needed the consent of her parents.
Caption 30, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion
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It's pretty obvious that this is where the English word "accord" comes from. But did you know that accord is also the root of the word "chord"?
Ce morceau se joue sur trois accords.
This piece is played with three chords.
Caption 7, Leçons de guitare - Leçon 3
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(It's not, however, the root of the word "cord." That would be une corde—a cord, rope, or string.)
On another musical note, accord is also the word for "harmony" in a figurative sense, referring to a match, fit, rapport, or understanding:
Le riesling ça reste quand même sur les huîtres un accord parfait.
Riesling still remains in perfect harmony with oysters.
Caption 71, Alsace 20 - 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Alors c'est quoi le bon accord mets et vins?
So what is the good pairing of food and wine?
Caption 8, Alsace 20 - 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Nous sommes en parfait accord.
We are in complete agreement/harmony.
But you're most likely to encounter accord in the expression d'accord, the French equivalent of "OK" or "all right":
D'accord, ça marche pour moi.
OK, that works for me.
D'accord is an abbreviated form of the phrase être d'accord, "to agree" or "to be in agreement":
On s'est quitté d'un commun accord, mais elle était plus d'accord que moi
We left each other with a mutual agreement, but she was more in agreement than I
Caption 51, Grand Corps Malade - Les Voyages en train
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Certaines personnes sont pas d'accord avec l'enfermement des animaux.
Some people don't agree with the confinement of animals.
Caption 21, Actus Quartier - Bêtes de scène ?
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D'accord, c'est tout pour cette leçon!
In a recent lesson, we talked about the words bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise, which respectively mean "good" and "bad," but can also mean "right" and "wrong" depending on context. It's easy to confuse these with the words bien and mal, which have similar meanings ("well" and "badly/poorly") but different functions.
Bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise are adjectives, which means they change according to the number and gender of the noun they modify:
Alors justement je crois que c'est vraiment une très bonne chose...
So, exactly, I think that it's really a very good thing...
Caption 56, Alsace 20 - 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Il y a eu la destruction de la partie de maison existante
There was the destruction of the existing part of the house
qui était en très mauvais état.
that was in very bad shape.
Caption 22, Thomas - Thomas et sa maison
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On the other hand, bien and mal are adverbs, which can modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Unlike adjectives, these never change in French:
...un grand orfèvre parisien que Balzac connaissait bien.
who was a great Parisian goldsmith whom Balzac knew well.
Caption 28, Exposition - Balzac, architecte d'intérieurs
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Il paraît que les voyages en train finissent mal en général
It seems that train rides generally end badly
Caption 54, Grand Corps Malade - Les Voyages en train
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Just as it's ungrammatical to say "whom Balzac knew good" and "train rides generally end bad" in English, in French you can't say que Balzac connaissait bon or les voyages en train finissent mauvais. You have to use bien/mal.
Bien and mal can also function as nouns. In philosophical terms, they refer to "good" and "evil":
Quelle est la différence entre le bien et le mal?
What is the difference between good and evil?
But they have more down-to-earth meanings as well. For instance, the plural les biens means "goods," as in commodities or possessions. And mal can also refer to illness or harm, as in the expressions avoir mal and faire mal:
J'ai mal à l'oreille.
I have an earache.
Ne me fais pas mal!
Don't hurt me!
In everyday speech, bon and bien are also used as interjections, in which case they're more or less interchangeable. They both correspond to the English interjection "well" in this context:
Eh bien, j'espère que vous avez passé un bon moment, ici, sur Arles.
Well, I hope you had a good time here, in Arles.
Caption 21, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles
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Bon, il y a des raisons personnelles évidemment qui jouent.
Well, obviously there are personal reasons that come into play.
Caption 17, Alphabétisation - des filles au Sénégal
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It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between good and bad, but at least now you know the difference between bon, mauvais, bien, and mal!
Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
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