In one of our newest videos, an interviewer asks people on the street to talk about their most beautiful dreams and most terrifying nightmares. One woman describes a particularly unsettling nightmare:
J'assiste à des accidents où y a des gens qui sont très blessés...
I witness accidents where there are people who are badly injured...
Captions 83-84, Micro-Trottoirs - Rêves et cauchemars
Play Caption
She's not saying that she assists with these accidents (which would be even more unsettling!), but that she witnesses them. The phrase assister à doesn't mean "to assist," but rather "to witness" or "to attend":
Puisqu'un public assiste à une assemblée générale et à une réunion...
Because a crowd attends a general assembly and a meeting...
Caption 8, Lionel L - Nuit Debout - Journée internationale
Play Caption
"To attend" looks a lot like the French verb attendre, but like "to assist" and assister à, these two words are faux amis (false friends)—attendre means "to wait," not "to attend."
But once you take away the à, assister has the same meaning as its English cognate:
Le sous-chef assiste le chef dans la cuisine.
The sous-chef assists the chef in the kitchen.
There are a number of other French verbs meaning "to assist," like aider (to help) and accompagner (to accompany):
J'ai aidé ma grand-mère à nettoyer la maison.
I helped my grandmother clean her house.
Qui connaissent les parents
Who know the parents
et accompagnent les enfants les plus en retard.
and assist the students who are the most behind.
Caption 29, Grand Corps Malade - Education nationale
Play Caption
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
Our new videos this week feature a wealth of vocabulary related to the performing arts. In the first, our newest presenter Mathilde talks about the Comédie-Française, one of France's most iconic state theaters. Though the theater has the word comédie in its name (and was founded by one of France's greatest comic playwrights, Molière), it stages all kinds of theater pieces, both comic and tragic. In fact, the word comédie doesn't only mean "comedy." It can also mean "acting" in general. Likewise, un comédien/une comédienne is not merely "a comedian":
Donc la Comédie-Française aujourd'hui a environ
So the Comédie-Française today has around
soixante comédiens dans sa troupe,
sixty players in its troupe,
parmi les plus célèbres comédiens français.
among the most famous French actors.
Captions 40-41, Mathilde - La Comédie-Française
Play Caption
You can also simply say un acteur/une actrice for "actor/actress." And if you want to specify that you're talking about a comic actor (i.e., a comedian), you can say un/une comique or un/une humoriste.
The phrase jouer la comédie means "to act" or "to be an actor." Sometimes it's just shortened to jouer (which also means "to play"):
Ils jouent aussi pour d'autres théâtres.
They also act for other theater companies.
Caption 43, Mathilde - La Comédie-Française
Play Caption
Don't confuse that expression with faire de la comédie, which means "to make a fuss" or "a scene."
In this tragic tidbit about Molière's final performance, we find two interesting theater-related words:
Molière serait mort en scène
Molière supposedly died onstage
en interprétant le rôle mythique d'Argan
while interpreting the mythic role of Argan
dans une de ses plus célèbres pièces...
in one of his most famous plays...
Captions 36-38, Mathilde - La Comédie-Française
Play Caption
While une scène can refer to a scene in a play, it also refers to the stage on which the play is performed. The word for "play," une pièce, is short for pièce de théâtre (theater piece).
Our second video takes us from the world of theater to the world of film. It documents a Chinese film festival in the town of Richelieu headed by one of France's most famous film directors, Claude Lelouch. The video contains not one but three different words for "director":
...et des metteurs en scène prestigieux d'ailleurs qui ont des prix...
...and eminent film directors, incidentally, who won prizes...
Caption 27, Festival du cinéma chinois - Coup d'envoi à Richelieu
Play Caption
Et pour rendre hommage à ces femmes
And to pay homage to these women
si chères au cœur du cinéaste...
who are so dear to the filmmaker's heart...
Caption 40, Festival du cinéma chinois - Coup d'envoi à Richelieu
Play Caption
...en présence du réalisateur et de son actrice Anouk Aimée.
...in the presence of the director and of its actress Anouk Aimée.
Caption 43, Festival du cinéma chinois - Coup d'envoi à Richelieu
Play Caption
On the other hand, there's only one word for "screenwriter"—scénariste (from scénario, "screenplay" or "script"):
...mais surtout scénariste de bon nombre
...but more importantly screenwriter of a good number
de films signés Lelouch.
of films signed "Lelouch."
Caption 10, Festival du cinéma chinois - Coup d'envoi à Richelieu
Play Caption
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
Did you know that, in French, "good" can also mean "right," and "bad" can also mean "wrong"? This might sound sort of philosophical, but it's really just an issue of translation. Bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise are two of the most basic adjectives in French. They usually mean "good" and "bad" respectively, but depending on context, they can also mean "right" and "wrong":
C'est la mauvaise réponse à la question.
That's the wrong answer to the question.
Vous pouvez aussi me donner deux numéros de compte.
You can also give me two account numbers.
Je vous dirai lequel est le bon.
I will tell you which is the right one.
Captions 20-21, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones
Play Caption
When bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise mean "right" and "wrong," they're often preceded by a definite article (le, la, les). For example, take a look at the difference between the phrases un bon moment and au (à + le) bon moment:
Eh bien, j'espère que vous
Well, I hope you
avez passé un bon moment, ici, sur Arles...
had a good time here, in Arles...
Caption 21, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles
Play Caption
Tout cet art, c'est de faire en sorte de mettre dans l'eau
All this is an art to ensure that you put in the water
au bon moment, hein...
at the right time, you see...
Caption 8, Ostréiculture - Rencontre avec Gildas Mourier (Morbihan)
Play Caption
Using these adjectives isn't the only way to describe correctness and incorrectness. You can also use the verbal phrases avoir raison (to be right, literally "to have reason") and avoir tort (to be wrong, literally "to have fault"):
Oui, tu as raison.
Yes, you're right.
Je ne suis pas trop dans mon assiette.
I'm not too much in my plate [I feel under the weather].
Caption 26, Manon et Clémentine - Expressions toutes faites
Play Caption
J'ai peut-être eu tort de me fier à lui pour ce projet.
Maybe I was wrong to trust him with this project.
Caption 53, Il était une fois: Les Amériques - 9. Cortés et les Aztèques
Play Caption
In a previous lesson, we mentioned one other way to say "to be wrong"—se tromper:
Donc, tu crois que Colomb se trompe!
So you think that Columbus is wrong!
Caption 6, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci
Play Caption
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
In her new sci-fi series Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones, Patricia imagines a dystopian future in which all credit card companies have merged into one:
Du fait de nombreuses fusions,
Because of many mergers,
il ne reste plus qu'une société anonyme de cartes de crédit.
there remains only one limited liability credit card company.
Caption 15, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones
Play Caption
Du fait de is one of several French expressions that mean "because" (you can learn more about these expressions in our past lesson on the topic). It's also one of many expressions featuring the word fait, which you might recognize as a conjugation of the verb faire (to make, to do). But fait is also a noun meaning "fact"—du fait de literally means "from the fact of." In this lesson, we'll review some other "fact"-based expressions in French.
Patricia uses a similar expression to du fait de earlier on in her video—de ce fait (therefore, literally "from this fact"):
De ce fait, toutes les procédures de paiement
Therefore, all payment procedures
sont réalisées sans argent physique.
are performed without physical money.
Caption 13, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones
Play Caption
Now that you know that fait means "fact," you can probably guess what en fait means. Alessandro uses it when interviewing a flea market vendor:
Vous, c'est une véritable passion
For you, it's a true passion
que vous partagez tous les jours en fait.
that you share every day, in fact.
Caption 6, Cap 24 - Paris : Alessandro fait les Puces!
Play Caption
The vendor responds in the next caption with another fait expression, tout à fait (exactly):
Oui, oui. Tout à fait.
Yes, yes. Exactly.
Caption 7, Cap 24 - Paris : Alessandro fait les Puces!
Play Caption
Don't confuse en fait with au fait, which means "by the way" or "incidentally":
Ah, au fait, j'ai parlé à Vanessa de nos nouveaux voisins.
Oh, by the way, I spoke to Vanessa about our new neighbors.
Caption 22, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble - Part 8
Play Caption
En fait and au fait are easily confused not only because they look similar, but also because the t is pronounced in both of them. In most other instances of the word fait, the t is silent.
If someone has done a good job on something, you can say, Bien fait! (Well done!) In this case fait isn't a noun but the past participle of the verb faire:
Oui, chef. Bien fait!
Yes, chief. Well done!
Caption 46, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 3. La planète verte
Play Caption
As a noun, fait doesn't only mean "fact." It can also mean "event" or "occurrence" depending on the context:
Cette histoire est inspirée de faits réels.
This story is inspired by real events.
Caption 21, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble - Part 1
Play Caption
This lesson is now a fait accompli (accomplished fact). Thanks for reading!
In the latest segment of Le Jour où tout a basculé, Frédéric and Anne-Sophie meet Laetitia at a café to deliver some shocking news: their daughters were switched at birth. Upon hearing this, Laetitia is in a state of total disbelief. She says to the couple:
Mais qu'est-ce que c'est que cette histoire?
But what is this all about?
Caption 38, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Nos bébés ont été échangés...
Play Caption
Histoire is related to two English words, "history" and "story," and can mean either one depending on context:
Ici, donc une ville riche en culture et riche en histoire...
So here a town rich in culture and rich in history...
Caption 8, Lionel - à Wissembourg
Play Caption
C'est vraiment une histoire d'amour,
It's really a love story,
c'est parti d'une histoire d'amour.
it started out as a love story.
Caption 4, Annie Chartrand - Sa musique
Play Caption
But in informal expressions like qu'est-ce que c'est que cette histoire, the word means something more along the lines of "business" or "matter." It often has this meaning in the construction histoire de + noun:
Ici tout est histoire de récup' [récupération],
Here it's all a matter [or question] of recycling,
de quoi créer un beau Noël.
enough to create a beautiful Christmas.
Caption 58, Alsace 20 - Alsace: les plus belles déco de Noël!
Play Caption
When histoire de follows an infinitive, it means "in order to," "just to," or "so as to":
Bats le beurre de citron, histoire de bien mélanger le tout.
Whisk the lemon butter, it's a matter of mixing it all well.
Caption 47, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
Play Caption
Two other, less familiar ways of saying "in order to" are pour + infinitive and afin de + infinitive.
Be careful with the expression raconter des histoires. It can either mean "to tell stories" or "to tell lies":
La mère raconte des histoires aux enfants chaque soir.
The mother tells stories to the children every night.
Arrête de me raconter des histoires!
Stop telling me lies!
That's the story with histoire! If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
In her latest video, Patricia gives us an overview of French synonyms, or words with the same basic meaning but different nuances and intensities. To demonstrate, she illustrates some examples of synonyms for "happy" and "angry." She repeatedly uses the expression être fou/folle de (to be mad or wild with) to describe the more intense degrees of those emotions:
Elles sont folles de bonheur.
They are mad with happiness.
Caption 40, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes
Play Caption
You can use this expression to heighten just about any word describing an emotion:
Ils sont extatiques, fous de joie, béats.
They are ecstatic, overjoyed, blissful.
Captions 37-39, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes
Play Caption
Elles sont folles de colère, folles de rage, horripilées.
They are wild with anger, raging mad, incensed.
Captions 52-54, Le saviez-vous? - Les synonymes
Play Caption
Or, you can use it with any other noun or pronoun to describe something or someone you're "crazy about":
Non, je ne suis pas fou. Je suis seulement fou de vous!
No, I am not crazy. I'm only crazy about you!
Caption 6, Charles-Baptiste - Interview
Play Caption
...qui montre la vie trépidante des jeunes,
...that shows the hectic life of young people
fous de voitures dans les années soixante-dix.
who are crazy about cars in the seventies.
Caption 8, L'auteur - Bernard Colin
Play Caption
If you haven't already, check out Patricia's other videos in the Le saviez-vous? series for more of her excellent insights into French language and culture.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
Did you know that the French word for the back of a space is the same as the word for the bottom of a space? The word is le fond, and determining its meaning is a question of perspective:
Et l'on voit encore des vestiges, des traces de cette époque
And you can still see remains, traces from that time,
avec notamment dans le fond, une chapelle pour se recueillir...
with, in particular, in the back, a chapel for meditating...
Captions 36-37, Lionel - Verdun
Play Caption
L'eau de l'étang était si profonde que
The pond water was so deep that
la princesse ne pouvait pas en voir le fond.
the princess could not see the bottom of it.
Caption 7, Contes de fées - Le roi grenouille
Play Caption
We can tell what le fond means in each of these examples based on the type of space they're describing. The subject of the first example is the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Verdun. A chapel wouldn't be located on the bottom of a cathedral, but in the back. And in the second example, the princess is looking down into the pond, which means she's trying to see the bottom of it, not the back.
Whether it means "the back" or "the bottom," le fond refers to the depth of a space. But it can also refer to depth in a non-physical, metaphorical sense—even a spiritual one:
"Om", ça signifie le fond cosmique qui est...
"Om" signifies the cosmic depth that is...
le symbole de l'unité dans la diversité.
the symbol of unity in diversity.
Caption 37, Paix et partage - Journée Internationale du yoga
Play Caption
Fond is used in quite a few expressions, such as dans le fond and au fond, both meaning "basically":
Dans le fond, c'est des grosses feuilles de betterave.
Basically, they're big beet leaves.
Caption 13, Farmer François - Le stand de légumes
Play Caption
Parce que au fond, le fait de payer un stand,
Because basically, the act of paying for a booth,
ça sert aussi, euh, d'abord à se rencontrer...
that also helps, uh, first of all to meet each other...
Captions 65-66, Actu Vingtième - Le vide-grenier
Play Caption
Don't confuse au fond with à fond, which means "totally":
Ah, que griller des feux. -Griller des verts, donc. -À fond.
Oh, just running lights. -Running green lights, then. -Totally.
Caption 49, Cap 24 - Les cyclistes parisiens sont-ils indisciplinés ?
Play Caption
There's also de fond, an adjective phrase meaning "fundamental":
Mais pour une baisse en rayon,
But for a reduction on store shelves,
la prochaine étape devrait être une réforme de fond.
the next step should be a fundamental reform.
Caption 23, Le Journal - Contrôle des prix alimentaires
Play Caption
If you'd like to explore the many expressions using this word de fond en comble (from top to bottom), we recommend this WordReference entry.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
Être en train de is a handy French expression that describes an event in progress. It's always followed by an infinitive and is often translated as "to be in the process of" or "to be in the middle of":
Donc, je suis en deuxième année là;
So, I'm in my second year now;
je suis en train de... achever ma formation.
I'm in the process of... completing my training.
Caption 25, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
Play Caption
Là je suis en train de régler les meules pour que
Here I am in the middle of setting the millstones so that
le grain soit correctement écrasé.
the grain is crushed correctly.
Caption 4, Télé Lyon Métropole - Chaillé-les-Marais : Une biscuiterie 100 % familiale
Play Caption
But just as often, être en train de can simply be translated with the present progressive tense ("to be doing," "to be making," etc.):
Donc, en ce moment, on est en train de faire des truffes cacao.
So, right now, we're making cocoa truffles.
Caption 7, Canadian Chocolate Seller - Chocolats
Play Caption
In French, there is no difference between the present tense and the present progressive tense: on fait can mean both "we make" and "we are making." So the above example could also be written:
Donc, en ce moment, on fait des truffes cacao.
So, right now, we're making cocoa truffles.
Être en train de emphasizes the fact that the activity is currently in progress (further emphasized above by en ce moment). In fact, "currently" is another possible translation of être en train de:
...je suis en train de travailler avec celui qui a fait 'Pulp Fiction',
...I'm currently working with the person who made 'Pulp Fiction,'
Caption 9, Melissa Mars - From Paris with Love
Play Caption
You can also use être en train de to describe a continuing event in the past. In this case, it's synonymous with the imperfect tense:
Quand j'ai fait cette photo, la baleine était en train de dormir.
When I took this picture, the whale was sleeping.
Caption 25, Le Journal - Sillonner & photographier les océans
Play Caption
Quand j'ai fait cette photo, la baleine dormait.
When I took this picture, the whale was sleeping.
Here again, être en train de stresses the continuousness of the action: the whale was "in the process of" sleeping when the speaker took the picture.
Être en cours de has the same meaning and function as être en train de, except it's usually followed by a noun instead of an infinitive:
Un immense chantier est en cours d'achèvement.
A huge construction project is being completed.
Caption 25, Voyage dans Paris - Cour de l'Industrie
Play Caption
A final note: Make sure not to confuse en train with entrain, a noun meaning "enthusiasm" or "liveliness." Nous espérons que vous êtes en train d'étudier le français avec entrain! (We hope you're in the process of studying French with enthusiasm!)
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...
Play Caption
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...
Play Caption
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...
Play Caption
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
Play Caption
We hope this lesson has helped you tromper l'ennui (stave off boredom)!
The subject of Lionel's latest video is Article 49-3 of the French Constitution, which gives the prime minister the power to push through legislation without a parliamentary vote. The government most recently invoked Article 49-3 to push through a labor reform bill that has sparked much controversy in France. Public outcry over the bill culminated in the Nuit Debout protest movement, which Lionel has also been covering for Yabla.
In his video, Lionel uses the verb phrase se passer de (to bypass, to do without) to describe the government's action:
Au final le gouvernement a décidé de passer en force,
In the end, the government decided to force its passage,
et s'est passé du vote de l'Assemblée Nationale et du Sénat.
and bypassed the vote of the National Assembly and the Senate.
Captions 8-9, Lionel L - Le 49-3
Play Caption
The de in se passer de is crucial. If you remove it, you'll get a completely different expression, as Lionel demonstrates later on in the video:
...et que d'ores et déjà nous pouvons comparer à ce qui s'est passé en France.
...and that already we can compare it to what happened in France.
Caption 23, Lionel L - Le 49-3
Play Caption
By itself, se passer means "to happen" or "occur," as in the expression, Qu'est-ce qui se passe? (What's happening?/What's going on?) You'll also hear it in the impersonal expression il s'est passé...:
Et il s'est passé quelque chose de complètement inédit pour moi...
And something happened that was completely new for me...
Caption 45, Watt’s In - Indila : Dernière Danse Interview Exlu
Play Caption
But that's not all! Se passer can also mean "to pass" or "pass by" when referring to a period of time:
Six mois se sont passés depuis ma dernière visite.
Six months have passed since my last visit.
Stay tuned to Yabla to learn more about ce qui se passe (what's happening) throughout the French-speaking world!
At the end of the song "Tango," new on Yabla this week, Mélanie Laurent sings:
Parce qu'au fond tu l'aimes bien, elle te manquerait je crois
Because deep down you really love her, you would miss her, I think
Caption 52, Mélanie Laurent - "Circus" & "Tango"
Play Caption
When you're talking about missing someone in French, manquer is the verb to use. However, in this context, manquer actually means "to be missing" rather than "to miss." Though elle te manquerait might appear to mean "she would miss you" upon first glance, its literal translation is actually "she would be missing from you," which is just another (perhaps more romantic) way of saying "you would miss her." So when talking to someone close to you whom you haven't seen in a while, make sure to say tu me manques ("I miss you," literally "you're missing from me") rather than je te manque ("you miss me," literally "I'm missing from you").
On the other hand, manquer does mean "to miss" when you're talking about missing something in the sense of not being there for it. In this context it's synonymous with the verb rater:
J'ai manqué [or raté] le bus.
I missed the bus.
The expression "manquer de + infinitive" (or just "manquer + infinitive") means "to nearly do something." "Faillir + infinitive" has the same meaning:
Il a manqué d'être tué [or: Il a failli être tué].
He was nearly killed.
But in the negative, this expression more often means "to not forget to do something":
Ne manquez pas de vous arrêter au numéro treize de l'avenue Junot.
Don't forget to stop at number thirteen Avenue Junot.
Caption 12, Voyage dans Paris - Butte Montmartre
Play Caption
Another common meaning of manquer is "to lack," usually in the expression "manquer de + noun":
L'hôpital manque de moyens,
The hospital lacks resources,
comme toutes nos formations sanitaires, hein?
like all our medical facilities, huh?
Caption 22, Le Journal - Hôpital ultra-moderne à Burkina Faso
Play Caption
In fact, the noun form of manquer, un manque, specifically means "a lack":
J'ai compris qu'il y avait un manque énorme au niveau, euh, alimentaire.
I saw that there was an enormous lack at the, uh, alimentary level.
Caption 7, Alsace 20 - Mangez bien, mangez alsacien!
Play Caption
Finally, manquer is also used in the impersonal expression "il manque + noun" ("x is missing"):
Il ne manque plus que l'argent nécessaire.
All that's missing is the necessary money.
Caption 6, Il était une fois - Les découvreurs - 13. Stephenson
Play Caption
Don't forget (ne manquez pas) to check out our new videos this week and feel free to tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com!
In our last lesson, we looked at three different ways of saying "to look like" in French. We'll continue that pattern in this lesson by introducing the three different ways of saying "to feel": sentir, se sentir, and ressentir. Though these verbs all look alike and have the same meaning, each of them is used in a different context.
Sentir (related to "sense" in English) generally refers to feeling the physical effects of something, such as a post-run stretch or a cool breeze:
Tu dois sentir une petite tension au niveau, au niveau musculaire.
You should feel a little tension at the level, at the muscular level.
Caption 12, Joanna - La course à pied: Récupération
Play Caption
J'aime sentir la brise rafraîchissante sur mon visage.
I love feeling the cool breeze on my face.
Besides bodily sensations, sentir can refer to feeling any kind of external pressure:
Mais cette année on sent la crise, hein.
But this year we're feeling the financial crisis, you know.
Caption 26, Actu Vingtième - Le vide-grenier
Play Caption
But "feeling" isn't the only sense of sentir. It can also mean "to smell," both in terms of smelling something and giving off a scent:
Peut-être que vous sentez les odeurs qui sortent des studios
Maybe you smell the aromas that come out of the studios
de temps en temps.
from time to time.
Non, oh pas vraiment parce que nous, on est derrière les cuisines
No, oh not really because us, we're behind the stoves,
et puis ça sent!
and so it smells!
Captions 10-11, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard
Play Caption
When you make sentir reflexive (se sentir), it becomes less about external, physical feelings and more about internal, emotional ones. While sentir usually takes an object, se sentir usually precedes an adjective or adverb to describe a person's condition or state of mind:
Très vite, elle se sent menacée.
Very soon, she feels threatened.
Caption 5, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Espion dans l'immeuble
Play Caption
Ah, je me sens mieux!
Ah, I feel better!
Caption 42, Cap 24 - Les bus sont-ils toujours en retard ?
Play Caption
Finally, there's ressentir, which literally means "to feel again." That might give you a clue about this verb's connotations. Like se sentir, ressentir also refers to an interior feeling, but it's generally used to describe an intense emotion, something you strongly feel. Like sentir, it usually takes an object:
Vous voyez cette exigence que je ressentais...
You see this demand that I felt...
Caption 23, Le Journal - Défilé de mode
Play Caption
C'était vraiment quelque chose que je ressentais,
That it was something that I really felt,
qui me rendait vraiment heureuse.
that made me really happy.
Caption 5, B-Girl Frak - La Danse
Play Caption
Though ressentir is related to the English verb "to resent," it doesn't have the same meaning. Le ressentiment, however, does mean "resentment."
Sometimes it's tough to talk about your feelings—no matter what language you're speaking. These three verbs will help you do it in French!
In this lesson, we'll introduce three different ways of saying "to look like" in French.
The first expression is ressembler à, which looks a lot like the English word "resemble" (but note the extra s) and is used in much the same way:
Chacun de tes gestes ressemble aux miens
Each of your gestures looks like mine
Caption 2, Ina-Ich - Âme armée
Play Caption
Ressembler is always followed by à, except when à is replaced by an indirect object pronoun:
Elle me ressemble.
She looks like me.
Caption 31, Le saviez-vous? - La conjugaison au présent, au passé et au futur
Play Caption
The second expression, avoir l'air de, is more informal and figurative than ressembler à. Its literal translation is "to have the air/appearance of," but it generally means "to look like" or "to seem":
Tu n'as pas l'air de trouver ça suffisant, Psi.
You don't seem to think that's sufficient, Psi.
Caption 41, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 6. La révolte des robots
Play Caption
Ce chien a l'air d'un loup.
That dog looks like a wolf.
When the expression is in front of an adjective, the de is dropped:
Ça a l'air délicieux, mais j'ai des crampes à l'estomac, je peux rien avaler.
It looks delicious, but I have stomach cramps, I can't swallow anything.
Avoir l'air (de) can often be replaced with the verb sembler (to seem):
Tu ne sembles pas trouver ça suffisant, Psi.
You don't seem to think that's sufficient, Psi.
Ça semble délicieux, mais j'ai des crampes à l'estomac, je peux rien avaler.
It looks delicious, but I have stomach cramps, I can't swallow anything.
Finally, there's on dirait, which literally means "one would say," but is often used idiomatically to mean "it looks like":
À première vue, on dirait une pharmacie, mais non...
At first glance, it looks like a pharmacy, but no...
Caption 1, Le Journal - Chocolats
Play Caption
On dirait qu'il va neiger.
It looks like it's going to snow.
The main difference between these expressions is that ressembler à is only used to compare similar things, whereas avoir l'air de/sembler and on dirait can also be used to convey an impression of something.
We hope this lesson lived up to its title! Feel free to tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
In this lesson, we'll take a look at some special uses of the elementary French word petit(e), which, as you probably already know, means "little," "small," or "short." Though it generally refers to something or someone of a small size, it can take on a variety of other related meanings. For example, since children are smaller than adults, petit(e) can also mean "little" as in "young":
Mais tu voulais vivre de la musique?
But you wanted to make a living from music?
T'étais attachée à la musique?
You were attached to music?
Oui. -Ouais. -Depuis toute petite. Oui, oui.
Yes. -Yeah. -Since [I was] very little. Yes, yes.
Captions 24-25, Alsace 20 - Femmes d'exception: Christine Ott
Play Caption
In fact, if you turn the adjective into a (usually plural) noun, you get an informal word for "children":
Les petits sont à l'école.
The kids [or "little ones"] are in school.
But if you address someone as mon petit or ma petite, you're affectionately calling them "my dear." (You could also say mon chéri/ma chérie.)
Speaking of affectionate uses of petit(e), the words for "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" are petit ami and petite amie (literally, "little friend"):
Et pour parler de ma première petite amie,
And as for my first girlfriend,
l'une de mes premières petites amies est encore ma femme. Voilà.
one of my first girlfriends is still my wife, so there.
Captions 24-25, Mario Canonge - Ses propos
Play Caption
Going back to petit(e) as in "young," the words for "granddaughter" and "grandson" are petite-fille ("little daughter") and petit-fils ("little son"). Note that these words are hyphenated, unlike petit ami/petite amie:
Les parents de ma petite-fille sont morts dans un accident de voiture, et c'est moi qui l'élève.
The parents of my granddaughter died in a car accident, and I am the one raising her.
If you're only a little bit hungry, you might want to eat something with une petite cuillère (a teaspoon):
Si vous avez une petite faim,
If you're feeling a little hungry,
je vous recommande de vous arrêter quelques minutes juste ici.
I recommend that you stop for a few minutes right here.
Captions 12-13, Voyage dans Paris - Autour de l'Hôtel de Ville
Play Caption
...et pour finir, des couverts comme une fourchette,
...and finally, some cutlery like a fork,
un couteau, ou une petite cuillère.
a knife, or a teaspoon.
Caption 34, Joanna - Son nouvel appartement
Play Caption
You can also use the word to give a rough approximation of something:
Il y a une petite dizaine de places...
There are barely ten seats or so...
Caption 25, Voyage dans Paris - Cité Florale
Play Caption
The number of expressions with petit(e) is by no means small! Here are a few more, just to give you un petit goût (a little taste):
avoir une petite mine (to look pale)
avoir une petite pensée pour quelqu'un (to be thinking of someone)
une petite douceur (a little something sweet)
en petite tenue (in one's underwear, scantily clad)
chercher la petite bête (to nitpick)
à petite dose (in small doses)
une petite nature (a weakling)
une petite foulée (a trot)
une petite voix (a quiet voice)
petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid (every little bit helps; literally, "little by little the bird makes its nest")
If you'd like to like to do your own petite enquête (investigation), you can do a search for petit or petite to find even more examples in Yabla videos.
In her hit song "Christine," the French artist Christine and the Queens (aka Héloïse Letissier) plays with the phrase tenir debout:
Je ne tiens pas debout
I can't stand up
Caption 7, Christine and the Queens - Christine
Play Caption
Ça ne tient pas debout
It doesn't hold up
Caption 9, Christine and the Queens - Christine
Play Caption
The expression in the first caption is se tenir debout, which means "to stand up" (literally, "to hold oneself upright"). Since it's a reflexive expression, there should actually be a me in the caption (Je ne me tiens pas debout), but reflexive pronouns are often dropped in informal speech.
Without the reflexive pronoun, tenir debout is an idiomatic expression meaning "to hold up" (its literal translation), "to add up," or "to make sense."
Se mettre debout and se lever are two other common ways of saying "to stand up":
Donc on se lève et l'effet de surprise les fait s'envoler dans le filet.
So we stand up and the surprise effect makes them fly into the net.
Caption 9, Canal 32 - Les secrets des cailles des blés
Play Caption
Il s'est mis debout quand je suis entré dans la chambre.
He stood up when I entered the room.
These phrases describe the action of standing up, but if you wanted to describe someone who is already standing, you would use the phrase être debout or even just debout by itself:
Par exemple lui, il était debout, elle, elle était allongée.
For example him, he was standing up, her, she was lying down.
Caption 17, Niko de La Faye - "Visages"
Play Caption
Debout, une rose à la main
Standing up, a rose in hand
Caption 17, Indila - Love Story
Play Caption
We can't talk about standing up without also talking about sitting down! There are two expressions for sitting in French: s'asseoir (to sit) and être assis/assise (to be seated):
Le Jardin du Joli Cœur est un tout petit parc
The Jardin du Joli Cœur is a very small park
où on peut s'asseoir tranquillement.
where you can sit quietly.
Caption 38, Joanna - Son quartier
Play Caption
Tout le reste du temps, je dors... là où je suis assise.
The rest of the time, I sleep... right where I'm sitting.
Caption 15, Le Journal - Les navigateurs du Vendée Globe
Play Caption
Thanks for reading! If you have a suggestion for a future lesson topic, feel free to email us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
If you're a Yabla subscriber, you may have noticed that we translate every word in the video captions, even if it's a repeated word or a filler word such as euh... (uh...). This allows you to really hear everything the speaker is saying and gives you a better understanding of everyday French speech patterns. In this lesson, we'll review some of the most common filler words and interjections that pop up in Yabla French videos.
While euh (uh) is pretty straightforward, hein is a filler word whose translation really depends on context. In general, it's used as an interrogative to mean anything from "right," to "isn't it," to "you know":
Donc, euh... c'est le même système, hein, pour les légumes,
So, uh... it's the same method, right, for the vegetables,
euh... comme pour les homards.
uh... as for the lobsters.
Caption 54, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard - Part 2
Play Caption
Il bouillonne bien, hein?
It's bubbling nicely, isn't it?
Caption 77, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard - Part 1
Play Caption
Enfin, j'ai déjà trois filles, hein!
After all, I already have three daughters, you know!
Caption 42, Actu Vingtième - Vendanges parisiennes
Play Caption
If you didn't quite catch something someone said, you can simply say, Hein? (Huh?) But like its English counterpart, this usage of hein is very informal. A more polite way of expressing the same sentiment is, Pouvez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît? (Can you repeat that, please?)
The word quoi usually means "what," but as a filler word it has the same meaning as hein:
Ouais, euh... ça serait vraiment le...
Yeah, uh... that'd really be the...
le rêve ultime, quoi, pour le fan...
the ultimate dream, you know, for a fan...
Caption 9, Alsace 20 - Rammstein à Strasbourg
Play Caption
Also like hein, quoi can stand alone to express incomprehension: Quoi? (What?) It's a little less informal than hein in this context.
Là ("here," "there," or "now") can also mean "you know," but it's often used as an informal way of adding emphasis:
Parce qu'en fait hier, on allait... avec... avec,
Because actually, yesterday, we were going... with... with,
euh... avec des grands, là...
uh... with some older kids, you know...
Caption 80, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
Play Caption
Là tu exagères!
You're really exaggerating [going too far]!
Ben or eh ben (well) is another common filler word. It's a shortened form of bien, the standard word for "well":
Les températures, eh ben, cela va être relativement facile,
The temperature, well, that's going to be relatively easy,
quatre degrés partout...
four degrees everywhere...
Caption 6, Alsace 20 - Météo des Maquilleurs
Play Caption
You'll also find it in the expression, Ben oui! (But of course!)
Our final example contains two common interjections:
Oh la la! Oh mais dis donc, non mais... oh, qu'est-ce qui se passe?
Oh my! Oh but you don't say, no but... oh, what's going on?
Caption 24, Il était une fois... l’Homme - 6. Le siècle de Périclès
Play Caption
The first has been adapted into English as "ooh la la!" But while "ooh la la" is a comical way of expressing attraction or excitement, oh la la (often shortened to oh la) is a more neutral expression of surprise (more like "oh my" in English).
The second interjection, dis donc, literally means "say then," but is better translated by the phrase "you don't say" or a number of others.
In short, if you ever find yourself at a loss for words in French, a filler word or an interjection is a good way to plug the gap!
Il y a is probably one of the most common French expressions, and appears countless times in Yabla videos, which makes it a perfect lesson topic! Though it literally means "it has there," il y a is the equivalent of "there is" or "there are." You'll find it very useful when describing a location or a situation:
Donc, en effet, il y a des vagues, il y a du courant. Le courant est fort.
So, indeed, there are waves, there is a current. The current is strong.
Caption 2, À la plage avec Lionel - La plage
Play Caption
As the above example demonstrates, il y a remains unchanged regardless of whether its object is singular (du courant) or plural (des vagues). It does change, however, according to the tense of the sentence. Here it is in the imperfect, passé composé, and future tenses:
Il y avait un lièvre mais, tu vois, il courait trop vite.
There was a hare, but you see, it was running too fast.
Caption 15, Il était une fois: Les Amériques - 1. Les premiers Américains
Play Caption
Quand il est mort, il y a eu un million ...
When he died, there were a million ...
Parisiens qui ont suivi, euh, le cortège.
Parisians following, uh, the procession.
Caption 15, Bertrand Pierre - Victor Hugo
Play Caption
Il y aura beaucoup de tableaux à voir au musée.
There will be many paintings to see at the museum.
Il y a can also be used to indicate the passage of time, in which case it usually means "ago":
On a commencé il y a dix minutes.
We started ten minutes ago.
Caption 47, Actus Quartier - Fête de quartier Python-Duvernois
Play Caption
You can also use the phrase il y a... que to express the same thing, though in this case it usually means "for" or "since":
Il y a trois mois que j'habite à Paris.
I've lived in Paris for three months.
Incidentally, you could rewrite the above sentence three different ways, all with the same meaning:
Ça fait trois mois que j'habite à Paris.
Voilà trois mois que j'habite à Paris.
J'habite à Paris depuis trois mois.
Another more informal way of using il y a is when you notice someone looking sad or upset and you ask them: Qu'est-ce qu'il y a? (What's wrong?) Even more informally, you can shorten that question to: Qu'y a-t-il? If you're wondering why there's suddenly a "t" and two hyphens there, check out our lesson on inversion for a full explanation.
It's very common for il y a to be shortened to y a in casual speech:
C'est festif, euh... Y a de la barbe à papa.
It's festive, uh... There's cotton candy.
Caption 32, Actus Quartier - Fête de la rose au caviar rouge
Play Caption
To sum up, let's review all the uses of il y a in a short dialogue:
Qu'est-ce qu'il y a? -Je suis en colère parce qu'il y a trop de tableaux au musée du Louvre. Il y a trois mois que j'habite à Paris et je n'ai pas encore tout vu!
What's wrong? -I'm mad because there are too many paintings in the Louvre. I've lived in Paris for three months and I still haven't seen everything!
In the French drama series Plus belle la vie the character Zoé has been fighting to prove her father Stéphane’s innocence after he was identified as a murder suspect. In one episode Stéphane asks Zoé how she’s holding up when she comes to visit him in prison:
Comment tu te sens?
How are you feeling?
-Pas terrible. Je sais que c'est pas toi qui as fait ça.
-Not great. I know it’s not you who did this.
If Zoé were feeling “not terrible,” that might suggest that she’s doing fairly well, but the rest of the episode suggests otherwise. In fact, pas terrible is an idiom meaning “not great.” Though terrible often has a negative sense as it does in English, it can also mean something along the lines of “formidable,” “huge,” or even “terrific”:
J'ai eu une chance terrible cette année.
I've been tremendously lucky this year.
The meaning of terrible really depends on context. So when the narrator of this news segment calls Roman Polanski’s Death and the Maiden “un film terrible,” we can assume he’s not giving the movie a bad review, but rather commenting on its harrowing subject matter:
Une pièce du Chilien Ariel Dorfman,
A play by the Chilean Ariel Dorfman,
dont Polanski tira un film terrible avec
which Polanski made into a chilling film with
Sigourney Weaver et Ben Kingsley.
Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.
Captions 2-3, TLT Toulouse - Dorfman mis en scène à Toulouse
Play Caption
Though it can be easy for English speakers to misunderstand the meaning of terrible, there are many occasions when it directly translates as "terrible," as in this trailer for Beauty and the Beast:
Lors d'une terrible tempête, le marchand perdit sa fortune.
During a terrible storm, the merchant lost his fortune.
Caption 3, Bande-annonce - La Belle et La Bête
Play Caption
You might be wondering why we have une terrible tempête here but un film terrible and une chance terrible above. The answer will help you decipher the adjective's meaning: when terrible comes before the noun, it usually means "terrible," but when it comes after the noun, it usually means "tremendous," "formidable," or something similar.
Just double-check whenever you come across it to make sure you aren’t in the midst of une terrible méprise (a terrible misunderstanding)!
Anglais
Espagnol
Allemand
Italien
English
Deutsch
Español
Français 
Italiano