French idioms & expressions

Ça marche

Literal translation: it walks.Figurative translation: 'it functions', but also 'got it' or 'okay'.

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You'll hear this one a lot when you're watching to a French movie. It's extremely versatile because you can use it in many ways.

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J'ai réparé le grille-pain, et maintenant ça marche de nouveau.

Translation: I've repaired the toaster, and now it works again.

Ça roule

to say 'got it' or 'okay'.

Être dans la lune

Literal translation: to be in the moonFigurative translation: to daydream, to pay zero attention. \n \n This is easy to guess, right? Sometimes, French also use this for the same meaning: être tête en l'air - which literally means 'head in the air,' but actually means 'to be distracted'. \n \n X: Est-ce que tu as compris ce que je viens de te dire?Y: Quoi? Désolée, j'étais dans la lune.

Ça coûte un bras

Literal translation: It costs an arm.Figurative translation: It's super expensive. \n \n I know, there's an identical idiom in English - It costs an arm and a leg. Who copied whom? Although French often claim they're the origin of so-and-so words, this idiom is probably English. \n \n A theory says that it originated from the first and second World War, where the price to pay is really heavy - body parts or even life. \n \n From the same category, we have: \n \n ça coûte les yeux de la tête (it costs the eyes in the head) \n and ça coûte la peau des fesses (it costs the skin of the butt). \n \n Cette voiture m'a couté un bras/les yeux de la tête/la peau des fesses. \n This car was extremely expensive.

Faire la grasse matinée

Literal translation: to do a fat morning.Figurative translation: to stay in bed until late in the morning. \n \n This is a useful idiom during your vacation in France so that your concierge doesn't come knocking at your door at 9 AM. \n \n Chaque samedi, j'aime bien faire la grasse matinée. \n Every Saturday, I like staying in bed until late.

faire une nuit blanche

to do a white night/to stay up all night long \n \n Je dois faire une nuit blanche pour finir ce travail. \n I have to stay up all night to finish this work. \n \n The origin of 'faire une nuit blanche' is quite interesting if you like history. It came from the fact that noblemen used to pray in white cloaks all night long before being knighted.

Coup de foudre

Literal translation: a lightning strike.Figurative translation: to fall madly in love at first sight. \n \n Did you guess it right? Use it if you feel like you've been hit by a lighting bolt when you see someone for the first time. \n If it's only a 'moderate' love at first sight, this is what you use: coup de coeur. \n \n C'était un coup de foudre entre lui et moi. \n We fell madly in love at first sight, him and me. \n \n J'ai eu un coup de coeur pour cette maison. Je pense que je vais l'acheter. \n I fell in love at first sight with this house. I think I'm going to buy it.

s’emballer

to get carried away

garder la tête froide

ne pas s’emballer

se disputer

to argue

avoir la tête dure

être têtu (to be stubborn)

être têtu, borné

to be stubborn

changer d’avis

to change point of view

marcher sur la tête

quelques chose qui n’a pas de sense en fait (on marche sur la tête)

faire la tête

bouder (to sulk / Il fait la tête - he’s sulking)

bouder

to sulk

avoir tort

to be wrong

supporter quelque chose

to endure something

être débordé

to be overwhelmed

gerer une entreprise

ro manage a company

En ce qui concerne

Regarding (in what concerns)

donner votre opinion

to give your opinion

Au vu que

in light of

Je considère que

I believe that (consider that)

effacer

to erase, delete

être accro à

to be addicted to

un chaton

a kitten

c’est mignon

it’s cute

marrant

funny

c’est adorable

it’s adorable

elle était nulle

it sucked (u)

elle était naze

it sucked (z)

Il était trop drôle

it was really funny

répugnant

disgusting

mal faite

poorly made

Ennuyeux (ennuyeuse)

boring

Hilarant

Hilarious

c’est dégueulasse

it’s disgusting

c'est dégueu

it’s gross

Succulent

flavorful (delicious)

lessivé(e)

worn out

crevé(e)

tired

chiant(e)

tiresome

énervant(e)

irritating (annoying)

impoli (malpoli)

rude

ça craint

it sucks

agaçant

annoying (irritating)

j’aurais dit

I would say

subitement

suddenly

épuisé(e)

exhausted

Cela dit

That being said

Ça va de soi

That goes without saying

C’est bon

Ok, d’accord

Ça en dit long sur

That says a lot about

bouleverser

to upset, disrupt

donner un pourboire

to tip (someone)

en grandissant

(while) growing up

être de mauvaise humeur

to be in a bad mood

draconien (-ne)

drastic

garder la ligne

to stay fit

perdre du poids

to lose weigh

prendre du poids

to gain weight

quand même

aun así

chaleureux

warm

la malbouffe

junk food

dans l’ensemble

as a whole

avancer en âge

to get older

débarrasser

to get rid of / dispose of

J’ai tendence à

I tend to

encombrer

to clutter

c’est kiff kiff

it’s all the same

pas forcément

not necessarily

majoritairement

mostly

à ce moment-là

at that time

gérable

manageable

prendre des décisions

to make decisions

À part ça

Besides that

Je suis revenue

I came back / returned

empirer

to make worse

Au pire

in the worst case/worste-case scenario

aborder un sujet

to tackle/address a subject/topic

fâcher

to upset/anger someone

un sondage

a survey/poll

J’ai l’impression que

I feel like