What’s in an egg? Besides its culinary versatility, the French œuf (egg) has some unique spelling and pronunciation features. Let’s discover its special characteristics and then take it into the kitchen to explore some egg-related vocabulary.
First, let’s explore the unique spelling feature of the noun œuf. A few common words have this special character œ, like le cœur (heart), la sœur (sister), l'œuvre (work), and le bœuf (ox):
Qui vole un œuf vole un bœuf.
He who steals an egg steals an ox (give someone an inch and they'll take a mile; once a thief, always a thief).
Let’s look at another example featuring the word œuf in Patricia’s fairy tale video, “Le vilain petit canard” (The Ugly Duckling):
Le septième œuf, le plus gros de tous n'avait toujours pas éclos.
The seventh egg, the largest of all, had not yet hatched.
Caption 10, Contes de fées Le vilain petit canard - Part 1
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Not only does the word œuf contain a special character, but it also has an irregular pronunciation in the plural form, des œufs (eggs), even though the spelling is perfectly regular. Indeed, while un œuf (an egg) rhymes with neuf (nine), des œufs (eggs) rhymes with feu (fire). Listen carefully to Lionel’s pronunciation of œuf versus œufs in his video on madeleine-making:
Ici devant moi, nous avons un œuf, o, e, u, f, mais également des œufs, le pluriel: des œufs.
Here in front of me, we have un œuf [an egg], o, e, u, f, but also des œufs, the plural: some eggs.
Captions 19-22, Lionel L'usine de madeleines de Liverdun - Part 1
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The letter œ is an example of a ligature, a character composed of two letters joined together. In French, œ is commonly called e dans l'o ("e in the o"), which is actually a pun, as it sounds like œufs dans l'eau (eggs in the water)!
Speaking of eggs in water, let’s proceed to the kitchen. As you know, there are many ways to cook an egg, but first you should know how to tell un œuf cru (a raw egg) from un œuf dur (a hard-boiled egg):
Est-ce que vous savez comment reconnaître un œuf cru d'un œuf dur ?
Do you know how to tell a raw egg from a hard-boiled egg?
Once you’ve established that your egg is cru (raw) and not dur (hard-boiled), you may want to prepare un œuf mollet (a soft-boiled egg). Not to be confused with the anatomical term le mollet (the calf), mollet here is a variant of the adjective molle (soft). Un œuf mollet (a soft-boiled egg) is often served in the country salad described below:
Nous avons une salade de lentilles avec un œuf mollet et une vinaigrette au lard paysan.
We have a lentil salad with a soft-boiled egg and a vinaigrette with country bacon.
Caption 7, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: Au Caveau de l'étable à Niederbronn-les-Bains
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If un œuf mollet is not to your taste, you could try un œuf poché (a poached egg). The restaurant Le Relais de la Poste in Alsace has a delicious version of this on their menu:
Laurent Huguet du Relais de la Poste, lui accommode un œuf poché aux asperges avec un petit riesling.
Laurent Huguet of the Relais de la Poste, he prepares a poached egg with asparagus with a little Riesling.
Captions 22-23, Alsace 20 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Another alternative is un œuf au plat (a fried egg, literally "an egg on the plate"), which can make a nice addition to a traditional savory French crêpe:
Tu peux faire une crêpe complète avec jambon, fromage, et en plus tu rajoutes un œuf au plat par-dessus.
You can make a complete crêpe with ham, cheese, and in addition you add a fried egg to the dish on top.
Captions 44-46, Claude et Zette Les crêpes bretonnes
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You can also make œufs Bénédicte, or a simple omelette. In their video, Elisa and Mashal discuss what mouth-watering egg dishes they would like for breakfast:
Des œufs Bénédicte ou sinon je te fais des œufs... un... une omelette.
Eggs Benedict, or otherwise I'll make you eggs... a... an omelette.
Caption 82, Elisa et Mashal Petit-déjeuner
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Les œufs are also an essential baking ingredient that you can crack into your mixture. In French, though, we don’t say craquer (to crack) but rather casser les œufs (break the eggs). In his madeleine video, Lionel asks about the art of casser des œufs:
Donc là ben, on va commencer par casser des œufs entiers.
So, here, well, we're going to start by cracking some whole eggs.
Caption 36, Lionel L'usine de madeleines de Liverdun - Part 1
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Here is another culinary technique: fouetter/battre les blancs en neige (to beat the egg whites until stiff; literally, "beat the whites into snow"). This is exactly what is required to make a chocolate-rolled Christmas log:
Vous fouettez les blancs en neige
You beat the egg whites until stiff
Caption 44, Il était une fois la pâtisserie Bûche de Noël
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If le blanc is "the egg white" in French, can you guess what "the yolk" is? That's right, le jaune (literally, "the yellow")!
As you can see, there is more than one way to frire un œuf (fry an egg). Whichever way you choose to cook des œufs, be sure to use the correct pronunciation. Feel free to draw inspiration from our many Yabla cooking videos on how to prepare your eggs, and you will increase your kitchen vocabulary in the process.
Happy cooking!
In a previous lesson on French art vocabulary, we learned that “le cadre is the frame around a painting or photograph.” In this lesson, we will focus on other meanings of cadre (frame) that are not related to art. In the process, we will also discuss related vocabulary such as encadrement (frame, management) and encadrer (to frame, supervise) that are also not always art-related.
Indeed, un cadre can take on a more figurative meaning. In the example below, it means “an environment”:
On a un cadre qui est vraiment agréable donc les gens viennent.
We have an environment that is really pleasant, so people come.
Caption 59, Le Mans TV Mon Village - Malicorne - Part 1
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Or, un cadre is simply “a space,” an interior space:
On a pris une décoratrice d'intérieur pour nous faire un cadre vraiment zen, épuré
We took on an interior designer to make us a really Zen, clean space
Caption 18, Alsace 20 Grain de Sel: à l'Anatable à Dinsheim
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As mentioned in the previous lesson, "un cadre is also the word for 'framework' (as in the expression dans le cadre de, 'within the framework of')":
Donc là on leur met - et bien évidemment dans le cadre de ce suivi - une bague du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Paris
So there we put on them - and quite obviously within the framework of this follow-up - a ring from the Paris Museum of Natural History
Captions 13-14, Canal 32 Les secrets des cailles des blés
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The expression dans le cadre de can also mean “within the context of”:
et que ça rentre aussi tout à fait dans le cadre du vivre-ensemble
and that it also falls really well within the context of harmonious living
Caption 38, Actus Quartier Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois - Part 4
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You might come across a less common meaning of dans le cadre de: “as part of,” as in part of an event, such as the anniversary of a wine route:
Oui. C'est un petit peu aussi dans le cadre du soixantième anniversaire de la route des vins.
Yes. It's a little bit also as part of the sixtieth anniversary of the wine route.
Caption 6, Alsace 20 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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In short, un cadre refers to a space, environment, setting, framework, or context. But you may be surprised to learn that it’s also the word for "executive" or "manager." For example, the mother in the following video is une cadre supérieure (a top executive):
Mère de famille, cadre supérieure
Mother of a family, top executive
Caption 7, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 2
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And it seems logical that un poste d’encadrement should refer to "a management position":
Découvrons un premier exemple pour un poste d'encadrement.
Let's discover a first example, for a management position.
Caption 64, QuestionEntretien Pourquoi vous et pas un autre ? - Part 3
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Likewise, the verb encadrer means “to organize” or “supervise.” (Note that in an art context, encadrer means to frame a picture or a photograph.) In the video below, the speaker mentions that the annual Paris-Plage event was bien encadré (well organized) thanks to its constant supervising and monitoring:
C'est toujours, euh... bien encadré.
It's always, uh... well organized.
Caption 24, Lionel L Paris-Plage - Part 2
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Encadrer is synonymous with surveiller (to supervise, monitor, surveil):
Il y a toujours des gens pour encadrer, surveiller.
There are always people to supervise, monitor.
Caption 29, Lionel L Paris-Plage - Part 2
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Encadré in the broader sense of the word means “taken care of.” In the following video, the speaker would like to go on a cruise where everything is encadré:
Tout est encadré.
Everything is taken care of.
Caption 40, Le Jour où tout a basculé Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 1
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However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, encadré can imply excessive interference to the point of feeling restricted. In the video below, Youssef Ben Amar, a contender in the legislative race, tries to debunk the myth that politics is about imposing restrictions:
On nous a vendu le mot "politique" comme quelque chose de très encadré
We've been sold the word "politics" as something very restricted
Captions 14-15, Le Mans TV Youssef Ben Amar, un rappeur engagé en politique
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Worse still, encadrer is not just a criticism—it can also describe something or someone you can't stand:
Je ne peux pas me les encadrer.
I can't stomach them.
Caption 85, Le saviez-vous? Comment dire qu'on n'aime pas?
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So, to sum up, encadrer has many meanings, ranging from “to frame," "to supervise", "to organize," "to loathe.” The Yabla team will make sure that you’re bien encadré or bien encadrée (well taken care of) thanks to our numerous videos.
\Wishing you every success dans le cadre de Yabla! Thank you for reading.
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.
Ailleurs is an adverb with a few different meanings. By itself, ailleurs means “elsewhere,” in both a literal and figurative sense:
On te souhaite, ben, beaucoup de réussite,
We wish you, well, a great deal of success,
si tu vas en Australie ou ailleurs.
whether you go to Australia, or elsewhere.
Captions 106-107, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
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Désolé, je n’ai pas entendu la question. J’avais la tête ailleurs.
Sorry, I didn’t hear the question. My mind was elsewhere.
You can also find ailleurs in the more absolute phrases nulle part ailleurs (nowhere else) and partout ailleurs (everywhere else):
...et des poissons qu'on ne trouve nulle part ailleurs.
...and fish that one cannot find anywhere else.
Caption 15, Le Journal - L'île de Pâques
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La situation s’améliore partout ailleurs.
The situation is improving everywhere else.
Ailleurs can also be found in two common phrases that are used to add extra information to a topic. The first of these is par ailleurs (otherwise, additionally):
La préfecture du Rhône a par ailleurs mis en place un centre d'appel.
Additionally, the Rhône Prefecture has set up a call center.
Caption 33, Le Journal - La grippe aviaire
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The second phrase, d’ailleurs, has a wide range of meanings:
C'est un très bon vin et
It's a very good wine and
d'ailleurs je vous conseille de le boire.
I recommend that you drink it, for that matter.
Caption 4, Actu Vingtième - Vendanges parisiennes
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C'est d'ailleurs lui qui préface le livre.
He's the one who prefaces the book, by the way.
Caption 10, Alsace 20 - 100 recettes pour 100 vins
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Un très beau lieu d'ailleurs.
A very beautiful place, incidentally.
Caption 66, LCM - Concert: La Folia à l'abbaye Saint-Victor
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Both d’ailleurs and par ailleurs can be placed pretty much anywhere in a sentence. For instance, we could easily move the phrases from the middle of the sentence to the beginning in the examples above:
Par ailleurs, la préfecture du Rhône a mis en place un centre d’appel
D’ailleurs, c’est lui qui préface le livre.
An easy way to learn the difference between these very similar phrases is to learn synonyms for them. Par ailleurs is generally synonymous with d’autre part and d’un autre côté (otherwise, on the other hand), while d’ailleurs is synonymous with du reste (furthermore), en outre (besides), and de plus (moreover). In other words, while d’ailleurs tends to be used to confirm what was previously said, par ailleurs is more often used to contradict it or provide an alternative.
That pretty much covers all the uses of this word, but if you’re interested in looking ailleurs for some more translations and example sentences, this Larousse entry is a handy summary of everything we mentioned above.
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