For some of us, improving our French conversation skills might feel ‘out of our depth’ or perhaps a bit of a ‘tough nut to crack’. If it feels like you’re putting too much ‘blood, sweat and tears’ into your practice, our blog is here to help make things easier!
Every month, we choose a topic that should help to improve your conversation skills and eventually get you ‘talking someone’s ear off’. By now, you must have worked out the topic of this edition – get ready to learn about some common idiomatic expressions you can try saying (or might hear) in French conversations.
In the same way we might chat in English, French speakers often express descriptions, feelings and opinions using various idioms. Just so that we’re all ‘on the same page’ an idiom is a figure of speech which doesn’t really make sense if you take it directly for what each word means. We can use idioms to comment on, compare or explain something in a figurative way, rather than a direct and literal way.
To be clear on what an idiom is, we’ll look at the English expression ‘when pigs fly’:
- What does it mean literally? The phrase is imagining that a pig is doing something it can’t possibly do – flying.
- What does it mean figuratively? The phrase means ‘never’, ‘that’s impossible’ or ‘no chance’, because pigs cannot and will never be able to fly.
The phrase has nothing to do with winged, porcine creatures, despite these being the words used in the expression. This makes it an idiom.
Now is when things get interesting! Idioms don’t necessarily translate directly across different languages. During a conversation, you might try translating an idiom you know in English, but the French one might have a completely different basis. We’ll need to go back to our flying pigs to explain. To say ‘Never!’ as an idiom, let’s take a closer look at the difference:
- ‘When pigs fly’ (English idiom – correct) > ‘Quand les cochons pourront voler’ (French direct translation – incorrect)
- ‘Quand les poules auront les dents’ (French idiom – correct) > ‘When chicken have teeth’ (English direct translation – incorrect)
‘When pigs fly’ = ‘Quand les poules auront les dents’
In essence, we almost have to translate a phrase twice when it comes to idioms – firstly for working out the meaning of the expression, then converting it into a French equivalent, if there is one.
« Quand allez-vous nous rendre visite à Melbourne ? » « Quand les poules auront des dents ! C’est trop loin. » “When are you going to come and visit us in Melbourne?” “When pigs fly! It’s too far away.”
We often use idioms in English alongside humour, sarcasm or irony, or even to be a little bit cheeky. With this in mind, remember to consider who you’re talking to, making sure that you don’t use too many idioms in serious or formal situations.
Of course, you could just say the direct meaning rather than attempting to find an idiom – but sometimes they just add a bit of colour and fun! Whenever you come across a term which seems strange word for word, try to work out if it might be something idiomatic.
If you haven’t already read our conversation blog on filler words, you might also find some of these expressions used in a similar way.
Before we round things up, let’s look at some French idioms and their English equivalents.
la semaine des quatre jeudis
Direct translation: the week of the four Thursdays
English expression: not in a month of Sundays
True meaning: extremely unlikely; that’ll never happen
revenons à nos moutons
Direct translation: let’s get back to our sheep
English expression: let’s get back on track
True meaning: can we get back to the subject we were talking about?
avoir la gueule du bois
Direct translation: to have a wooden mouth
English expression: to be hungover
True meaning: feeling bad after drinking too much alcohol
il pleut des cordes
Direct translation: it’s raining ropes
English expression: it’s raining cats and dogs
True meaning: it’s raining very heavily/it’s pouring
filer à l’anglaise
Direct translation: to exit in the English way
English expression: to take French leave; to do an Irish goodbye
True meaning: to leave without saying bye to anyone
jeter l’éponge
Direct translation: to throw the sponge
English expression: to throw in the towel
True meaning: to give up; to surrender
faire la grasse matinée
Direct translation: to have a fat/greasy morning
English expression: to have a lie-in
True meaning: to sleep in later than usual
c’est pas tes oignons / ce ne sont pas tes oignons
Direct translation: these are not your onions
English expression: it’s none of your beeswax
True meaning: this topic/conversation doesn’t involve you
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.
