Lose the textbook: how to speak everyday french
Learning to speak French is a real treat, as I’m sure you’re well aware. The language (along with the bureaucratic system) is chock-full of catch-22s. If you’re trying to find an apartment and you’re also trying to learn French, you have my sincerest sympathies.
I’m here to give you a few quick cheats to help you sound a little more French. You may have spent plenty of time learning French in a classroom, as I did before moving here, and that’s great! It will help you a lot, however, there are so many things you can really only learn from spending time in a French speaking country. Don’t forget, these are examples of verbal usages and not to be used in writing! Let’s dig in.
1. Use informal contractions
As with in English, when you speak French you end up squashing a bunch of words together. What you end up with is a new singular sound for two words. In English, for example, going to often turns into gonna, want to to wanna, let me to lemme, etc. French speakers do the same thing. Here are some common examples:
- Je suis = chui (I am)
- tu as = t’as (you are)
- Dropping the “l” in “il” for example, “il fait froid” becomes “y fait froid“ (it’s cold) or “il y a trois filles” becomes “y a trois filles“ (there are three girls).
- Similarly, you can also drop the “i” when you’re referring to people. For example, “ils sont gentils” becomes “y sont gentils” (they’re nice). If the following word begins with a vowel you say “yz” rather than y, for example, “ils arrivent à dix heure” becomes “yz arrivent à dix heure” (they get here at ten).
2. Drop the "ne"
This is an important one if you don’t want to stand out big time as a novice French-speaker. I’m sure you covered the many ways to negate something in French, “ne pas”, “ne plus”, “ne jamais”, “ne personne”, “ne rien”…well guess what: you can pretty much always forget the “ne” part.
- “Je ne viens pas” becomes “je viens pas”. (I’m not coming)
- “Je n’ai plus faim” becomes “j’ai plus faim”. (I’m not hungry anymore)
- “Je ne ferai jamais ça” becomes Je ferai jamais ça. (I would never do that)
- “Je ne vois personne” becomes “je vois personne”. (I don’t see anyone)
- “Je ne mange rien” becomes “je mange rien”. (I’m not eating anything)
This actually makes your job way easier. Save your ne’s only for formal interactions such as a job interview, but don’t over think it.
Nous no more
This one came as a big surprise, as never once did a French teacher give me this heads up: in daily conversations the pronoun “nous” (“we” in English) is very often replaced by “on”. Consistently using nous is another big give-away that you’re a newbie in the French speakers circle.
For example you can say: “On va partir” (we’re going to leave), or “on a faim” (we’re hungry).
That said, nous has not been entirely forgotten, it is still very commonly used; it is still found in formal conversations and also when nous is the object of the sentence rather than the subject, for example:
“Viens avec nous” (come with us)
Or a combo! : “On va manger chez nous” (we’re going to eat at our place).
Add a touch of "argot" (slang)
Using slang is a fun way to spice up your conversations and there is no shortage of slang words and phrases for you to start adopting. Here are a few examples:
- J’ai la flemme (essentially: I’m not in the mood because I’m feeling lazy)
- Je me casse (I’m going to take off) / on se casse ? (Shall we go?)
- Ça me soule (That drives me crazy, I’m fed up)
- Laisse tomber (let it go, forget about it)
Besides singular slang phrases the French have also developed an entire linguistic system of slang called verlan. Laisse tomber is an example of a phrase used so frequently it has been entered into the verlan vernacular (laisse béton). Verlan is a pig-latin like form of french that you should also familiarise yourself with. You can learn some verlan here.
Add interjections
In English we tend to add filler words in conversation, things like “um” “well” “okay so” “I mean” “and then” and the French do the same, maybe even on the next level. Using fillers will not only make you sound more French but it can give you a little extra time to organise your next sentence. Here are some examples:
- Bon = okay so…
- Alors = so
- Tu sais = you know?
- Bref = in summary
- Enfin = anyway
- Bon ben = alrighty, okay then
- C’est à dire = what I mean is…
- baahhh = sort of an “um” equivalent, for example “baaaah oui, je pense” (uhhhh yeah, I think…)
Start complaining
If you’re already living in France you’re probably attempting to navigate some of the more trying cultural differences, the French “ennui” being one of them. French is a beautiful language but it’s also very negative. For instance, if you want to say “that’s pretty good” you might say “c’est pas mal” which directly translates to it’s not bad. Here are a few other ways to spice up the complaints in your life and sound a little more French:
- T’es chiant(e) = you’re annoying, a pain in the ass (note the use of informal contraction as well! 50 pts!)
- Ça m’embête = that annoys me
- Ça m’énerve = that really gets on my nerves
- J’en ai marre (de) = I’m over it, I’m fed up
- Il m’a pris la tête = he really annoyed me
- Tu me fatique = I’m tired of you
- C’est pas possible! = It can’t be possible, it can’t be true (note the dropped “ne” encore 50 pts!)
