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

Leaving Cert Results 2016

So on the 17th of August 2016, I finally got my hands on the piece of paper that would determine my life basically.

In out school, each girl had to go in to the principal's office where she had already seen your results and calculated your points on your behalf. Although I had put International Business in UL down as my 1st choice on the CAO,I had known all summer that it would be unlikely for me to actually get it because I dropped down to ordinary level maths 2 weeks before the Leaving. Oh well. So I had been planning all summer for my 2nd choice which was Business Studies in UL. This wasn't any kind of disappointment because I had never been that sure of what I want to do in life and just thought oh I like french. I like economics and business-y subjects. I'll like this course.

So I get my points and lo and behold I have my business studies in UL secured. I was really happy with my results but to be honest it does feel a bit like an anticlimax because I will be deferring until September 2017.

On July 21st I got double jaw surgery (and 3 wisdom teeth taken out) in University Hospital Limerick to fix my overbite. Shout out to Mr Gilbride, my surgeon who I hope will never see this. Although its coming up to 6 weeks since the surgery now, I'm still not eating solids and existing solely on smoothies.I'm skinny in general but have lost almost a stone going down to 6 stone (which at my height, 5 foot 7, is definitely not healthy)

In addition to that I have 6 months of orthodontic treatment left and would have to be travelling up and down from UL to my orthodontist. I can't drive so it would have been an ordeal.