March 2010
2 posts
prendre
Using prendre Prendre usually means “to take,” both literally and figuratively:
Il m’a pris par le bras He took me by the arm Tu peux le prendre dans le tiroir You can take it out of the drawer Je vais prendre une photo I’m going to take a picture Prenez votre temps Take your time
Prendre has a number of other meanings as well: 1. to come over, strike
La colère...
À la vôtre
Expression: À la vôtre Pronunciation: [a la vot(reu)] Meaning: Cheers! To your health! Literal translation: To yours! Register: informal Notes: The French expression à la vôtre is the most common way to toast people. It’s a contraction of à votre santé, hence the femininedefinite article la in the possessive pronounla vôtre. You can use à la vôtre with a group of people in an informal...
February 2010
1 post
Savoir vs Connaître
Savoir has three possible meanings: 1) to know a fact Je sais qu’il l’a fait. I know he did it. 2) to know by heart Je sais cette nouvelle (par cœur). I know this short story (by heart). 3) to know how to do something (note that the word “how” is not translated into French) Savez-vous conduire ? Do you know how to drive? Je ne sais pas nager. I don’t know how...
January 2010
5 posts
Avoir du pot
Expression: Avoir du pot Pronunciation: [ah vwar du po] Meaning: to be lucky Register: informal Notes: The French word pot means “luck” in a number of expressions: avoir du pot - to be lucky un coup de pot - a stroke of luck Quel pot ! - What luck! manquer de pot - to be unlucky Manque de pot ! - No luck! Pas de pot ! - No luck! Example: Tu as du pot ! You are so...
N'importe
N’importe with interrogative pronouns These can function as subjects, direct objects, or indirect objects. n’importe qui - anyone N’importe qui peut le faire. Anyone can do it. Tu peux inviter n’importe qui. You can invite anyone. Ne viens pas avec n’importe qui. Don’t come with just anyone. n’importe quoi - anything N’importe quoi...
expressions with donner
donner __ ans à quelqu’un to give someone __ years, to guess that someone is __ donner à fond to be on full-blast (radio, TV) donner à manger/boire à quelqu’un to give someone something to eat/drink donner à plein to be on full-blast (radio, TV) donner à quelqu’un à penser/croire/comprendre que to suggest that, to make someone think/believe/understand that donner à rire to...
fickle adjectives
Generally speaking, when the adjective precedes the noun, it has a figurative or subjective meaning, whereas the adjective which follows the noun has a literal or objective meaning. Here are the most common “fickle” French adjectives; if you know of others which should be added to this list, please let me know. ancien Figurative or subjective meaning mon ancienne école - my old...
French Video Immersion Program →
holy crap this site is AMAZING
I also found an English-Russian version for dad too. wow.
December 2009
5 posts
inquiet et épuisé
Je suis inquiet et épuisé - I am worried and exhausted (just seemed like a useful phrase to know)
aussitôt que
aussitôt que - as soon as
dés que - as soon as
The endings of the future tense in French look very much like the forms of the auxiliary verb avoir for good reason. In late spoken Latin, the original Latin future was replaced by a verb + infinitive construction consisting of the auxiliary verb habere (ancestor of French avoir) + the infinitive. The meaning shifted from I have to go or I am to go to I will go. The forms of habere were usually...
mouchoir
dailyfrench:
|moo’shwar| m - handkerchief, tissue
sang-froid
dailyfrench:
|sang frwah| m - extreme composure, nerve (literally: cold blood)
November 2009
10 posts
veste
dailyfrench:
|vest| f - jacket
French verbs with indirect objects that make no...
acheter qqch à qqn - to buy something from someone
arracher qqch à qqn - to snatch something from someone
cacher qqch à qqn - to hide something from someone
dérober qqch à qqn - to steal something from someone
emprunter qqch à qqn - to borrow something from someone
enlever qqch à qqn - to take something away from someone
louer qqch à qqn - to rent something from someone
prendre qqch à qqn -...
done with reflexive verbs… and went back to pronouns. fuck.
“From the point of view of an English speaker, a French sentence such as Je lui ai acheté la voiture is ambiguous because it can mean either I bought the car from him/her or I bought the car for him/her. Context clarifies which one is meant.
THANKS FOR NOTHING, FRENCH
se plaindre de qqn/qqch
se plaindre de qqn/qqch- to complain about someone/something
Quebec France
avoir les yeux dans la graisse de binnes - avoir l’air fatigué - very tired
bienvenu - de rien - you’re welcome
brailler piquer - une crise - crises
ça adonne bein - ça tombe bien - good timing
ça pas d’allure - ça n’a aucun sens - doesn’t make sense (?)
ça pas de tes affaires - ça ne te regarde pas - none of your business
câlisser une volée -...
Quebec vs France
Quebec France English
l’arrêt le stop stop
un breuvage une boisson drink
une broue une bière beer
des bébelles des jouets toys
un bécyque une bicyclette bike
des bidoux / du foin de l’argent to have lots of money
un bleuet une myrtille blueberry
ma blonde ma petite amie girlfriend
une buanderie une blanchisserie Laundry
une calotte une casquette cap (as in hat, I think)
une...
la charcuterie
Cold Cuts
bougie
dailyfrench:
|boo’zhee| f - candle
heehee funny word
effrayer
dailyfrench:
|eff’ray’ay| - to scare/frighten
citrouille
dailyfrench:
|sit’roo’wee| f - pumpkin
October 2009
26 posts
even more freaking reflexive verbs
se donner la peine de faire qqch - to take the trouble to do something
se faire à qqch - to get used to - accustomed to something
se fiancer avec qqn - to get engaged to someone
se mêler à - to mingle with, join in
se mettre en panique - to fly into a panic (fly?)
se mouiller - to get wet
se noyer - to drown
se plaindre de qqn - to complain about someone
se tenir à qqch - to insist on...
it actually has “se suicider” here too. wtf kind of a book is this
more freaking reflexive verbs
s’efforcer de faire qqch - to strive to do something, try hard to do something
s’emparer de qqch - to get hold of something
s’évanouir - to faint
se fier à qqnéqqch - to trust someone
se méfier de qqn - to distrust someone
se repentir de qqch - to regret something
se soucier de qqn - to worry about someone
Jumeaux
just for Tema :)
Jumeaux - twin
on s'aime beaucoup
on s’aime beaucoup - we love each other very much
on ne se ment pas - we don’t lie to each other
on c’est connus au travail - we met each other at work
(on can be singular or plural)
will this chapter on reflexive verbs NEVER END?!??
s'entendre bien/mal avec quelqu'un
s’entendre bien/mal avec quelqu’un - to get along /not get along with someone
s'asseoir
s’asseoir - to sit down
je m’assieds
tu t’assieds
il/elle/on s’assied
nous nous asseyons
vous vous asseyez
ils/elles s’asseyent
je m’asseyais
tu t’asseyais
il/elle s’asseyait
nous nous asseyions
vous vous asseyiez
ils/elles s’asseyaient
éloigner
éloigner qqch - to move something away
s’éloigner de - to move away from
weird reflextive expressions
se brosser les cheveux - to brush one’s hair
se brosser les dents - to brush one’s teeth
se casser le bras - to break one’s arm
se couper le doigt - to cut one’s finger
se couper les cheveux - to cut one’s hair
se couper/limer les ongles - to cutéfile one’s nails
se laver la tête - to wash one’s hair
se laver les mains/la figure - to wash...
soigner
soigner qqn- to take care of someone
se soigner - to take care of oneself
détendre
détendre qqn - to casue someone to relax
se détendre - to relax
débarbouiller
débarbouiller qqn - to wash someone’s face
se débarbouiller - to wash one’s face
I was like “omg i can’t believe they have a special word just for that! then I realized Russian does as well”
ennuyer
ennuyer les spectateurs - to bore the spectators
s’ennuyer - to get bored
cicatrice
dailyfrench:
|see’kuh’treece| f - scar
(merci celloshamstersandparakeetsrock!)
Silly French slang
daniiiii:
I just found the Hide This French book book. I don’t remember every buying it, but here it is anyway. Here are some of the funnier translations. Is it accurate?
Je lui ai roulé un patin. I french kissed him. Literally: I rolled a skate to him.
On a pris notre pied. We had a good time. Literally: We took our foot.
Il est une grande folle. He is gay. Literally: He is a big...
appareil-photo
dailyfrench:
|aaparrai foto| m - camera
hm such a complicated word!
I wonder if they shorten it
là-bas
dailyfrench:
|la bah| - over there
J'ai finis
dailyfrench:
|zhai feenee| - I am done
And “Je suit finis” means “i’m dead” apparently
là-dessus = sur
là-dessous = sous
là-dedans = dans
Il cache quelque chose sous cette apparence souriante.
Il chache quelque chose là-desous.
augmentation (f)
a raise (salary)
malheureusement
such an unfortunately long word!
nourriture
food
weird word, right?
weird letters
I learnt how to make the annoying æ and œ
except only in Word. Can’t make it work in a browser.
what you do is push control, shift, and the number 7 key (hold them all down), let go, and type the letter a or o, etc.;
neat right?
There’s this awesome translating website I have been using - http://translation2.paralink.com/
it lets you compare the translation made by their software with that of google. (google is actually better a lot of the time… but not always)
I just asked it to translate “Hello, my darling” and google gave me “Bonjour ma chérie” and the other said “bonjour mon...
September 2009
16 posts
tais-toi !
dailyfrench:
|tay twa| - shut up !