A Bunch of Things—and More

In this lesson, we are going to discuss a “bunch” of words, starting with concrete things like bananas or flowers and moving on to more abstract ideas. French has a bunch of different translations for the word “bunch,” as it can mean a bunch of things (un tas de choses)!

Let's start with the edible kind of bunch, as in “a bunch of grapes,” or une grappe de raisin in French. In this video, the grappes de raisin are actually made of stone to decorate the front of a church:

Elles sont principalement composées de grappes de raisin et d'animaux étranges et surprenants

They are mainly composed of grape bunches and strange and surprising animals

Caption 27, Voyage en France Lagny-sur-Marne - Part 2

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And yes, une grappe is where we get the English word "grape"!

But when we're talking about a bunch of other kinds of fruit, such as bananas, we use a different term: un régime.

Je vois un régime de bananes qui pousse sur un bananier.

I see a bunch of bananas growing on a banana tree.

However, if you were buying a bunch of radishes, for example, you would NOT ask for une grappe de radis or un régime de radis. Instead, you would ask for une botte de radis (a bunch of radishes). We say une botte for any root vegetable that can be tied up in a bunch:

Vous trouverez de belles bottes de radis frais au marché.

You will find beautiful bunches of fresh radishes at the market.

And if you decided to add a bunch of flowers to your purchases, you would be asking for un bouquet de fleurs. This, of course, is "a bouquet" in English:

Huit : un bouquet de fleurs.

Eight: a bouquet of flowers.

Caption 11, Joyeuses Pâques! Vocabulaire

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Indeed, you can buy tout un tas de trucs (a whole bunch of stuff) at the market, as Manon attests in her video:

Ou faire le marché ou faire ses courses. C'est-à-dire acheter tout un tas de trucs.

Or go to the market or go shopping. That is to say, to buy a whole bunch of stuff.

Caption 40, Margaux et Manon Emplois du verbe faire

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Un tas de trucs is synonymous with un tas de choses (a bunch of things):

J'ai organisé un tas de choses.

I put a bunch of things in order.

Caption 48, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Détournement d'argent dans le couple ? - Part 4

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Alternatively, the expression un tas de choses can also translate as "loads of things":

Y a des tas de choses qui nous dépassent...

There are loads of things that are beyond us...

Caption 54, Sophie et Patrice Le tarot de Marseille

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You can also use un tas de for more specific things:

Et puis, tout un tas de messages et de sculptures à découvrir d'urgence

And then, a whole bunch of messages and sculptures to discover urgently

Caption 25, Voyage en France île de Chatou

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When "bunch" refers to a group of people, as in a “bunch of friends,” we're talking about une bande d’amis:

On est une bande d'amis sur Paris depuis quinze ou vingt ans.

We are a bunch of friends based in Paris for the past fifteen or twenty years.

Caption 4, French Punk Frustration

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The term une bande de (a bunch of) can also be used pejoratively, as in une bande de snobs (a bunch of snobs):

Il va te dire les Français sont une bande de snobs. 

He'll tell you the French are a bunch of snobs. 

Caption 49, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 2

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Une bande specifically refers to a group of people, a musical band for example, or a gang:

Le vilain petit canard de la bande

The ugly duckling of the gang

Caption 9, Le Monde Pourquoi le service à la cuillère au tennis fascine ou exaspère

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But instead of saying une bande de, you can use un tas de to express disgust or frustration with a group of people—or in the case of this cartoon, human-like pigs:

"Horrible!", dit Piggeldy. « Un tas de cochons »!

"Horrible!" said Piggeldy. "A bunch of pigs!"

Caption 30, Piggeldy et Frédéric Voyage à Pont-à-Cochon

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Un tas literally means "a pile" or "a heap" of materials lying on top of one another:

Ici, quand je pars d'un tas de bois

Here, when I start from a pile of wood

Caption 70, Vauréal Laurent Azriel, luthier

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As for the sometimes sarcastic English expression “thanks a bunch,” this is simply merci beaucoup:

Je dois devoir tout recommencer à cause de toi. Merci beaucoup ! 

Thanks to you, I’m going to have to start all over again. Thanks a bunch!

Since "a bunch" can mean tout un tas de choses (a whole bunch of things), feel free to watch des tas de vidéos Yable (loads of Yable videos) to get un tas d’idées (a bunch of ideas). Thank you for reading!