Friday, November 4, 2016

common french phrases


Some french phrases I'm complying from various sources as a reference for myself and other students .
en fait- in fact; used in pretty much every sentence who knows why
ça marche- that works
c'est bon- it’s good
ouais- yeah
bahhhh oui- well yes
bien sûr- of course
c'est comme ça- it’s like that; said after any inconvenience
je prends- i take/am taking; instead of saying “je voudrais” at cafés or restaurants
euh/et oui/alors/donc: basically the french version of “um”
quand même- really; might be used more than en fait if that’s possible 
c'est pas grave- it’s not serious
c'est pas grave quand même- the french say this about everything 
chai pas- i don’t know; the shortened version of “je ne sais pas” 
bonne chance/bon courage- good luck
la vache/vachement- this is an interesting one cause it has a lot of different meanings. “la vache” by itself can just be an exclamation whereas in reference to someone can be an insult. “vachement” is a way to show excitement
vraiment?/c'est vrai?- really?
putain- i assume you know what this means. add to the end of any sentence
t'as raison- you’re right
(quelle) dommage- that sucks; said vaguely sarcastically
qu'est-ce que ça veut dire?- what do you mean/what’s that mean?
relâche-moi- release me; if you yell this at a guy they will never speak to you again
coucou- hello, but in a cute way
bisous- kisses; said when saying goodbye or hello or whenever
pourquoi pas?- why not? mostly just yelled drunkenly by americans 
on y va- let’s go 
vas-y/allez- come on 
tout à fait- absolutely
Bordel - literally means brothel. However, these days bordel is more commonly used to describe a large mess. An example would be: Range ta chambre. C’est le bordel. Clean your room. It’s a mess.
 BCBG- Another popular acronym, which is the French slang for preppy, is BCBG (bien chic bon genre).
Beginners: Common Everyday French
Sentence Fillers/responses/questions: 
En fait… - well/actually
Bah…  - well
J’en sais rien (moi) - no idea
Chai pas (je ne sais pas) - I dunno
Tant pis - never mind/too bad
Tant mieux pour (qqn) - good for (sb) 
N’importe quoi ! - nonsense/rubbish
c’est comme tu veux/vous voulez - it’s up to you/whatever you like
Laisse tomber - drop it (dangerous topic of conversation)
(il n’y a) pas de quoi - no worries/no problem (after you or someone does a favour for someone else)
Enfin - finally/at last
Bref - in short/anyway
Tu t’en sors - are you doing ok?
Tu fais quoi ? - what are you up to?
Ah bon ? - really?
ça va ? ça va. - this is a whole conversation: how are you? Good.
(il) y a - there are

Very important verbs:
être - to be
avoir - to have
savoir - to know
faire - to do/make
pouvoir - can/to be able to
mettre - to put
dire - to say
vouloir - to want
prendre - to take
donner - to give
aller - to go
parler - to speak
venir - to come
voir - to see
demander - to ask
trouver - to find
montrer - to show