What's an Idiom?
So what exactly is an idiom? In any language, an idiom is a particular word or expression whose meaning cannot be readily understood by either its grammar or the words used. Examples of some common English idioms are:
To look on the bright side. To fall head over heels.
On the other hand. To be down and out.
Slinging Slang
What's the difference between an idiom and slang? Slang refers to colorful, popular words or phrases that are not part of the standard vocabulary of a language. Slang is considered unconventional. Many of these words evolved as needed to describe particular things or situations. Here are some examples of English slang:
Give me a break!
Get real!
Tough luck!
Get a life!
What's the Difference Anyway?
Idioms are acceptable in oral and written phrases, whereas slang, although freely used in informal conversations, is generally considered substandard in formal writing or speaking. Much slang is, at best, x-rated.
What Is It?
Take a look at some of these popular expressions used in sentences. I'm sure that you will immediately realize that it would be impossible to translate them into French. Certainly they couldn't be translated word for word. Which are they, idioms or slang?
You drive me crazy! Keep your shirt on!
Don't jump the gun! I'm always on the go.
You'll have to pay through the nose. He likes to play the field.
It's raining cats and dogs! We'll just have to kill some time.
I'm going to call your bluff. Can you buy some time?
She got angry and she lost it. He's on his way up.
Get a head start on the project. Did you fall for it?
Did you recognize that these are idiomatic expressions that we use in English all the time? Good for you. Now compare those sentences with the ones below:
Shucks! What a cop out!
She just flipped out! Don't dis my friend.
My son is a computer geek. That's tacky!
Did you notice how these slang sentences differed from the idiomatic ones? Excellent! You probably won't be using much French slang, but the idioms sure will come in handy.
There are a great many idioms in French. In this chapter we will look at six categories of idioms that you might find helpful: travel and transportation, time, location and direction, expressing opinions, physical conditions, and weather conditions. Other idiomatic expressions will appear in their appropriate chapters.
And You're Off
Let's say you are taking a trip. We might ask: “Are you going on a plane or on a boat?” In French the word for on is sur (sewr). If you said: “Je vais sur l'avion” that would imply that you were flying on the exterior of the plane. And, as we all know, that is truly impossible. It pays to know the French idioms to avoid this type of confusion. It is well worth your time to learn the idiomatic expressions covered below.
Idioms for Travel and Transportation
Idiom Pronunciation Meaning
à bicyclette ah bee-see-kleht by bicycle
à cheval ah shuh-vahl on horseback
à moto ah moh-to by scooter
à pied ah pyeh on foot
en automobile ahN no-toh-moh-beel by car
en avion ahN nah-vyohN by plane
en bateau ahN bah-to by boat
en bus ahN bews by bus
en métro ahN may-tro by subway
en taxi ahN tahk-see by taxi
en train ahN traN by train
en voiture ahN vwah-tewr by car
Putting Your Idioms to Use I (or You're Off and Running)
Tell how you would get to the following places:
Example: the drugstore à pied
1. Your place of business or school 6. The park
2. The movies 7. A tropical island
3. Your doctor 8. A fishing trip
4. The nearest hospital 9. A museum
5. Europe 10. The library
It's Time to…
For some travelers time is of the essence and they make sure they get that wake-up call bright and early in the morning. They want to be on the go as soon as possible. For others, its not important at all. They don't even wear a watch. They're on vacation and time is simply unimportant. Whether you're time-conscious or not .
Time Expressions
Idiom Pronunciation Meaning
à bientôt ah byaN-to see you soon
à ce soir ah suh swahr until this evening
à demain ah duh-maN until tomorrow
à l'heure ah luhr on time
à la fois ah lah fois at the same time
à samedi ah sahm-dee until Saturday
à temps ah tahN on time
à tout à l'heure ah too tah luhr see you later
au bout de o boo duh at the end of
au revoir o ruh-vwahr good-bye
de bonne heure duh boh nuhr early
jour en jour duh zhoor ahN zhoor from day to day
de temps à autre duh tahN zah o-truh from time to time
de temps en temps duh tahN zahN tahN from time to time
du matin au soir dew mah-taN o swahr from morning until evening
en même temps ahN mehm tahN at the same time
en retard ahN ruh-tahr late
il y a (+ time) eel yah ago (+ time)
par jour (semaine, mois) pahr zhoor (suh-mehn, mwah) by day, week, month
tout à l'heure too tah luhr in a while
tout de suite toot sweet immediately
Putting Your Idioms to Use II (or What Time Is It?)
What French idioms of time would you use in the following situations?
1. When you leave a friend for the day you would say:
2. If your boss wants something done right away, he wants it done:
3. If you have an interview at 9 a.m. and you arrive at 10 a.m. you arrive:
4. If you have an interview at 9 a.m. and you arrive at 8 a.m. you arrive:
5. If you are going to see a friend later today, you will see him/her:
6. If you go to the movies every once in a while, you go:
7. If you work all day long, you work:
8. If you are leaving a friend for today, but know that you will see him/her tomorrow, you would say:
Go to Your Left, Your Right, Your Left
Probably among the most useful idioms are those telling you how to get where you want to go. The idioms of location and direction in below are quite important for any traveler, don't you think?
Idioms Showing Location and Direction:
Idiom Pronunciation Meaning
à côté (de) ah ko-tay (duh) next to, beside
à droite (de) ah drawht (duh) to the right (of)
à gauche (de) ah gosh (duh) to the left (of)
à l'étranger ah lay-trahN-zhay abroad
à la campagne ah lah kahN-pahN-nyuh in the country
à la maison ah lah meh-zohN at home
à part ah pahr aside
à travers ah trah-vehr across, through
au loin o lwaN in the distance
au milieu (de) o mee-lyuh (duh) in the middle (of)
au-dessous de o duh-soo duh beneath, below
au-dessus de o duh-sew duh above, over
de l'autre côté (de) duh lohtr ko-tay (duh) on the other side (of)
du côté de dew ko-tay duh in the direction of, toward
en bas (de) ahN bah duh at the bottom of
en face (de) ahN fahs (duh) opposite, facing
en haut (de) ahN o (duh) at the top of
en plein air ahN pleh nehr in the open air, outdoors
en ville ahN veel downtown
le long de luh lohN duh along
par ici (là) pahr ee-see (lah) this way (that way)
tout droit too drwah straight ahead
tout près too preh nearby
Putting Your Idioms to Use III (or Getting There in One Piece)
You can get there. Below is a small map of a city street. There are six buildings to identify:
la pharmacie Legrand le cinéma Rex
le café Lebrun le restaurant Bonaparte
le théâtre Odéon le musée de l'art moderne
Read the directions and label the buildings on le boulevard Victor Hugo:
À gauche de la pâtisserie il y a le théâtre Odéon. Et à côté du théâtre il y a le café Lebrun. En face du café se trouve le restaurant Bonaparte. À droite de la pâtisserie, il y a la pharmacie Legrand. De l'autre côté du boulevard, en face, est le cinéma Rex. À gauche du cinéma et tout droit devant le théâtre se trouve le musée de l'art moderne.
So, What Do You Think?
Everyone, at one time or another, has an opinion about something. Some people are certainly more expressive than others. Whether you're talking about your flight, the food you ate, the movie you watched, the people you met, or life in general, you will need to know how to properly express your feelings. Table below should help.
Expressing Your Opinions with Idioms
Idiom Pronunciation Meaning
à mon avis ah mohN nah-vee in my opinion
à vrai dire ah vreh deer to tell the truth
au contraire o kohN-trehr on the contrary
bien entendu byaN nahN-tahN-dew of course
bien sûr byaN sewr of course
bon marché bohN mahr-shay cheap
c'est-à-dire seh-tah-deer that is to say
cela m'est égal suh-lah meh tay-gahl that's all the same to me (I don'tcare.)
cela ne fait rien suh-lah nuh feh ryaN that doesn't matter
d'accord dah-kohr agreed, O.K.
de mon côté duh mohN ko-tay as for me, for my part
jamais de la vie zhah-meh duh lah vee never, out of the question
n'importe nahN-pohrt it doesn't matter
ressembler à ruh-sahN-blay ah to resemble
sans doute sahN doot without a doubt
tant mieux tahN myuh so much the better
tant pis tahN pee too bad
tout à fait too tah feh entirely
tout de même too dmehm all the same
Putting Your Idioms to Use IV (or What's Your Opinion?)
Your friend has proposed some afternoon activities. Indicate a willingness to go along with his/her suggestions.
Show that you are unwilling to go along with him/her.
How Do You Feel?
Let's say you are freezing cold. So you say to your French host: “Je suis froid,” and he cracks up laughing. Why? In English we use adjectives to describe how we are feeling, thus you've chosen (so you think): “I am cold.” The French say: “I have cold” (which doesn't mean that they are sick and have a cold). Your French host would literally interpret what you said as that you are cold to the touch of a hand. Of course this sounds very strange and silly to us. Just remember, our idioms sound very off-beat to others.
You will notice that all the idioms below begin with the verb avoir, which means to have. Of course, it will be necessary to conjugate avoir as the subject of the sentence changes, but that will be discussed further later.
For now, concentrate on how you feel—J'ai (zhay, I have)—using the expressions for physical conditions below
Idiomatic Physical Conditions
Idiom Pronunciation Meaning
avoir besoin (de) ah-vwahr buh-zwaN duh to need
avoir chaud ah-vwahr sho to be hot (person)
avoir envie (de) ah-vwahr ahN-vee (duh) to need
avoir faim ah-vwahr faN to be hungry
avoir froid ah-vwahr frwah to be cold (person)
avoir honte (de) ah-vwahr ohNt (duh) to be ashamed (of)
avoir l'air (+ adj.) ah-vwahr lehr to seem, look
avoir l'air de (+ inf.) ah-vwahr lehr duh to seem to, look as if
avoir mal à ah-vwahr mahl ah to have an ache in
avoir peur (de) ah-vwahr puhr (duh) to be afraid (of)
avoir quelque chose ah-vwahr kehl-kuh shohz to have something wrong
avoir raison ah-vwahr reh-sohN to be right
avoir soif ah-vwahr swahf to be thirsty
avoir sommeil ah-vwahr soh-mehy to be sleepy
avoir tort ah-vwahr tohr to be wrong
avoir…ans ah-vwahr… ahN to be __ years old
Putting Your Idioms to Use V (or What's Up?)
Express how you feel, using idioms.
1. sleepy 5. being wrong
2. hot 6. on your 30th birthday
3. hungry 7. being correct
4. thirsty 8. cold
It's Cold Outside
Travelers tend to be obsessed with weather, which makes sense given that many plans are contingent on it. The French way of discussing weather differs from ours. If you said to your French host: “Il est chaud.” He or she would assume that you were speaking about something that was warm to the touch. The French use the verb faire (to make, to do) to describe most weather conditions. We wouldn't use the verbs make and do
to express ourselves in English. We'd be laughed at. But in France, do as the French do as you study below.
Idiomatic Weather Expressions
Idiom Pronunciation Meaning
faire beau fehr bo to be nice weather
faire chaud fehr cho to be hot weather
faire des éclairs fehr day zay-klehr to be lightning
faire doux fehr doo to be mild
faire du soleil fehr dew soh-lehy to be sunny
faire du tonnerre fehr dew toh-nehr to be thundering
faire du vent fehr dew vahN to be windy
faire frais fehr freh to be cool
faire froid fehr frwah to be cold
faire jour fehr zhoor to be daytime, light
faire mauvais fehr mo-veh to be bad weather
faire nuit fehr nwee to be night, dark
Quel temps fait-il? kehl tahN feh-teel What is the weather?
Putting Your Idioms to Use VI (or How's the Weather?)
Look at the weather map of France for the day. Tell what the weather will be in each of the cities listed below:
1. À Paris il fait ________
2. À Nice il fait ________
3. À Bordeaux il fait ________
4. À Strasbourg il fait ________
5. À Toulouse il fait ________
