Welcome back, everyone – are you ready to learn about the details of another new word? In this week’s French word blog, we’re looking at coup, a masculine noun.
To hear the correct pronunciation of coup, listen to the audio below:
The main English translations are hit, shot, blow, shock and knock. While these words all appear to belong to a similar theme, coup is an incredibly dynamic word in French, which we’ll soon illustrate in our examples.
You probably already know the English term coup, borrowed directly from French: this can mean either a great success or achievement, or an attempt to overthrow a government or some sort of ruling body. While we use coup in these specific contexts in English, you might be surprised at how often the word appears in everyday French speech and language…
Let’s delve into some examples of phrases and expressions using coup:
un coup de poing / de pied / de main a punch / kick / slap
un coup de feu a gunshot
un coup sec a hard blow
un coup de la colère an angry outburst ; a fit of anger
avoir un coup de cœur pour quelque chose/quelqu’un to be in love at first sight with something/someone; to fall head over heels for something/someone
jeter un coup d’œil à… to glance at…; to cast an eye at…
après coup afterwards; later
tout d’un coup suddenly
sur le coup right away; immediately
Ça vaut le coup. It’s worthwhile; It’s worth your trouble.
Donne-moi un coup de fil si tu as besoin d’aide. Give me a ring if you need any help.
Je vais fêter mon anniversaire sur le coup de minuit ! I’m going to celebrate my birthday on the stroke of midnight!
On a attrapé un coup de soleil cet après-midi à la plage. We got sunburnt this afternoon at the beach.
Quand leur cousin a reçu un coup de couteau, cette nouvelle m’a portée un gros coup. When their cousin got stabbed, the news really shocked me.
In spoken French, coup appears in a very common expression that doesn’t really seem to make sense if you’re trying to translate it on the fly. It’s worth knowing what it could mean as you’ll hear it often in exchanges:
du coup… as a result; so; therefore… (sometimes it’s just a filler phrase that doesn’t even need a translation, in the similar way to alors)
« Alors qu’est qu’elle a dit ? » “Well, what did she say?”
« Rien. » “Nothing.”
« Du coup elle ne nous rejoindra pas ? » “So she’s not coming to meet us then?”
« Bah, non. » “Um, no.”
Thank you for checking out our word of the week blog. We hoped you’ve learned a bit more about coup and feel more confident using it – this small word certainly packs a punch in French!
Written by Holly Tarbet, freelance copywriter and editor.
All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.
