If you’ve just landed on our weekly blog post, you must be ready to add a new word to your French vocabulary! In this edition, we’re looking at the word plein.
Take a listen to its pronunciation in our audio clip below:
Before we tell you about the translation, we need you to be wary of this classic example of a false friend! It’s easy to immediately assume that plein in French will mean ‘plain’, but this is far from the correct translation. Plein means ‘full’ in English.
However, that’s not the only interesting thing about this word. It also has two different grammatical functions. The first section of this blog will look at how we use it as an adjective, which is a word we use to describe things. Most French adjectives need to agree with the noun they’re describing, which means you might see it spelled in two different ways:
- Masculine – plein
- Feminine – pleine (it’s also worth checking out the audio in the dictionary entry to hear how it sounds different)
You might see plein or pleine used as adjectives in examples like these:
plein de quelque chose full of / filled with something; a lot of something
On était plein de bonheur de vous revoir ! We were full of joy to see you again!
La chambre des petits était pleine de peluches. The kids’ bedroom was full of cuddly toys.
Il y a plein de gens qui voudrait y habiter. There are lots of people who would like to live there.
Nos grands-parents avaient plein d’argent, mais ils ne nous ont donné rien. Our grandparents had loads of money, but they never gave us anything.
Cette bouteille n’est pas pleine. This bottle is not full.
J’ai vendu une armoire en bois plein. I sold a solid wood wardrobe.
« Est-ce que tu travailles lundi ? » – « Oui tous les lundis. Je travaille à plein temps. » “Are you working on Monday?” – “Yes, every Monday. I work full-time.”
en plein [quelque chose] right in the middle of [something]; in full [something]
en plein air outdoor; open-air
en plein jour in broad daylight; in the middle of the day
en plein soleil in direct / full sunlight
In our introduction, we mentioned that the word plein has two grammatical functions in French. We’ve looked at the adjective, but you might also come across certain situations where plein is a masculine noun.
It means pretty much the same as the adjective, but often it doesn’t have a word-for-word translation. It’s used to describe something being at the maximum, or at full capacity: for example:
On vient de faire le plein. We just filled up the tank (with petrol).
battre son plein to reach the peak; to be at its best (for example, a party being ‘in full swing’)
Thank you for reading this week’s blog on plein. We hope that you’re now full of knowledge and ideas about how to use this word in everyday 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
