Bonjour!
My name is Tania and I'm a French teacher at TakeLessons.
In this video, you're going to learn some of the most common French idioms,
expressions and sayings, so you can sound more like a native speaker.
So stay tuned and don't forget to click the link below to check out our free online classes.
So, what's an idiom? An idiom is a common phrase or word,
that means something different from its literal meaning,
but it's understood because of its popular use.
For example: it's a piece of cake, that's an English idiom.
In French, we use a lot of idioms in our everyday life.
So, I'm gonna share with you some of the most common idioms that we use in France,
so let's jump into it.
A common idiom that we use is: ça marche, ça marche !
It literally means "it walk," but we use it to say "it works."
So for example, if you have a coffee maker and you wanna say it works
well in French you say, "it walk," "ça marche".
Or if you wanna make plans with your friends or you wanna say:
"let's meet up at eleven." "Okay, it works",
in French you would say "ça marche!"
Another common expression / idiom that we use is: "coûter les yeux de la tête".
"Coûter les yeux de la tête" literally means something costs the eyes of the head,
which makes no sense.
But in English you would say: "it costs an arm and a leg".
So, it's not the same but it's really similar, and means it's really expensive:
"coûter les yeux de la tête".
Another common expression idiom that we use is: "être au courant".
So, it literally means to be in a current, in a electric current,
but it means to be up-to date with something like:
"Oh, I'm aware of that", "être au courant". I'm going to share with you some idioms
about love and relationships.
A really common idiom that we use is: "avoir un coup de foudre".
"Avoir un coup de foudre" literally means to have a strike of lighting,
which makes no sense but it's actually how you say "fall in love at first sight":
"avoir un coup de foudre". Another idiom about love and relationships is:
"poser un lapin".
"Poser un lapin" means to put a rabbit to someone.
It makes no sense but, it means for example: if you go on a date and the other person
doesn't show up.
So, it means to stand up someone, "poser un lapin".
Now I'm going to talk about idioms about feelings, to be able to express how you feel.
A common expression is: "avoir le cafard".
So, what does it means? "Avoir le cafard" means to "have the cockroach."
That's weird, but it means to be in a bad mood,
to feel down, to be depressed, that's "avoir le cafard".
Another idiom about feelings is: "avoir la pêche ou avoir la banane ou avoir la patate".
So, this means to have the peach or to have the banana or to have the potato,
but it actually means to be in a really good mood, to be super excited.
You would go: "j'ai la pêche, j'ai la banane".
So, this is a common expression to express that you're feeling great today:
"avoir la pêche, avoir la banane, avoir la patate".
Another idiom about feelings is: "ne pas être dans son assiette",
it means "not to be in one's plate,"
but it means that you're not feeling really well today,
either physically or mentally,
you're not feeling good. "Ne pas être dans son assiette".
We also have idioms to talk about the weather. For example: "un froid de canard".
It literally means "a cold of duck," but it means that it's actually really cold.
"Un froid de canard". Another way to talk about the weather is to say:
"pleuvoir des cordes". "Pleuvoir des cordes" means "it's raining ropes."
You can probably understand that they meant it's raining a lot, "pleuvoir des cordes".
You can also say if the weather is really bad: "il fait un temps de chien",
which means "it's a dog's weather." Why would you say that?
Well, that means the weather is really bad, really ugly. "Il fait un temps de chien".
We also have some idioms about food and drinks.
For example, we could say: "manger sur le pouce".
"Manger sur le pouce" means "to eat on the thumb." What does it mean?
"Manger sur le pouce" actually means that you eat something really quickly.
So, if you have a really short break and you don't have time to have a long dinner
with your family or with your friends, you just "eat on the thumb" -
"manger sur le pouce".
Another idiom is: "boire un coup", it means "to drink a shock."
"Boire un coup" means just to go have a drink with some friends, so,
let's go have a drink - "on va boire un coup".
Now some idioms about money.
A common expression that we use in French is: "jeter l'argent par la fenêtre".
It means to throw money through the window, "jeter l'argent par la fenêtre".
In the 16th century, people used to throw money out the window to give to the beggars.
Even though we don't do that anymore, the idioms stays.
So it means "to waste money." When you waste money,
you throw it through the window: "jeter l'argent par la fenêtre".
Another expression about money is: "rouler sur l'or".
"Rouler sur l'or" means "to roll on gold."
So, it basically means that you're rich. When you have a lot of money,
you roll on gold - "rouler sur l'or".
Another one is: "se serrer la ceinture".
"Se serrer la ceinture" means "to tighten your belt."
It actually means that you have to be careful with money.
When you have to be careful and be on a budget,
you would say: "se serrer la ceinture".
Which of these French idioms is your personal favorite?
Leave a comment and let us know. If you enjoyed this video,
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