English Words That Will Never Translate Into French
Fill the gaps in your French vocabulary by learning which English words don’t translate easily… and what to say instead!
0:00 - Intro
0:40 - A snack
2:03 - Rude
3:33 - Judgemental
5:00 - Offended
7:47 - Confusing
9:40 - Empowerment
11:37 - Awkward
13:42 - Foodie
15:40 - Outro
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Do you ever feel like you have big gaps in your French vocabulary? There can be many reasons for this - one reason being that some of the words that you might use in your everyday English conversations don’t exactly have a direct French translation.
It’s true! There are many English words that simply don’t translate into French. In today’s lesson, we’re going to cover some of those non-translatable words and discover some alternative vocabulary that you can use instead to express the same or a similar meaning in French.
Take care and stay safe.
😘 from Grenoble, France.
Géraldine
Having learned French many years ago while living in France, returning to France after such a long absence, I was shocked to have young French people tell me that my French is extremely old-fashioned. I also had the opportunity to be an American working in england. It was amazing the number of times that I caused shock or confusion among my English colleagues by simply using ordinary American words. At the same time many things the British said could be offensive or difficult to understand. Time and or place also has a great impact on language.
If I were to jump to South Korea and try to live there, I will struggle with the changes in the Korean language since I left South Korea which is over 30 years ago. My manner of Korean speech will be viewed as old-fashioned as well. In particular, today's Koreans make extensive use of contractions and abbreviations which were not used when I was growing up in South Korea. In short, I will be facing the kind of language barrier you have recently experienced.
Intéressant
For “a snack”, I was always taught that “une collation” was a one-to-one translation. I’m Canadian, so could that maybe just be a cultural or dialect thing?
Same
It’s also used in France very formal language though
The meaning has grown to become 'snack' but I believe that by definition, Une collation is a synonym of 'Un Goûter', it's a light meal you have between lunch and dinner. So while no one would take offense, it's not totally right to say that you're eating 'une collation' in the morning, or after dinner. Also as far as I'm aware, in France it's also used for something you get right before dinner, usually with friends like drinks after work but before dinner. Personally if someone asks me for (une petite collation avant de rentrer?) after work, I'm gonna assume they're asking for drinks and a small snack on the side, instead of taking me to buy a bag of chips. But that's just my experience
@@flamethrow868 I speak french at home and in my country. We use collation as a common word. It's to discribe a small snack you eat between meals
Great lesson! Thank you. Le "goûter" servi aux enfants à leur rentrée de l'école est aussi appelé le "quatre-heures" puisque c'est l'heure à laquelle se termine la classe à l'école primaire. Un peu comme le "elevenses" anglais dans la matinée, ou le "o-sanji" au Japon pour une pause avec thé et biscuits. En France, le déjeuner de midi souvent copieux comparé à celui d'autres pays, permet d'attendre jusque 19h ou 20h pour le dîner. Une expression souvent entendue en France, surtout quand on est un enfant qui réclame un petit quelque chose juste avant les repas, c'est "on ne mange pas avant de manger, ça coupe l'appétit !?" Les habitudes ont bien changé, mais en règle générale, les Français de ma génération ne mangeaient pas à toute heure de la journée.. et de la nuit. Le snack était donc plutôt une tranche de pain avec du fromage, du chocolat, du beurre, de la crème de marrons, ou de la confiture, très loin du sac de chips ou autres choses salées ou sucrées des rayons des supermarchés ou même du petit pain au chocolat ou le croissant, exceptionnellement après une bonne note.
I love this video and learned a lot. But as a French person who has lived in the US for over 40 years, I can assure you that Foodie means neither gourmet nor gourmand. It’s closer to “amateur (masculine)/amatrice (feminine) de cuisine”. Foodie does NOT imply high-end food/gastronomic experiences (gourmet). Nor does it imply massive love for lots of less-than-healthy rich foods such as sweets (gourmand). Foodie is simply someone who seeks great/unusual food experiences. They may be low-end, they may be high-end but a foodie SEEKS/LIVES FOR these experiences. In summary, je suis un gourmand, un gourmet et aussi un grand Foodie! 😂
My wife considers going out to the supermarket together to be a date. She plans meals weeks and even months in advance. She looks at recipes and she likes to go to special food stores but also just to the supermarket. She likes to talk about food. I consider her a foodie
@@tim71pos She totally is a Foodie!
Un gourmet is what you defined though, un gourmet who only likes to try 'gourmet food (eng here) is 'un fin gourmet' ou fine bouche. Je suis un gourmet, I like to try and cook all type of food. Although I do use 'amateur de cuisine' to define myself since gourmet unfortunately has the connotation (but not definition) of 'fin gourmet'
@@flamethrow868 Yes, gourmet is too associated with fine cuisine to be the equivalent of the more democratic “Foodie”
Certainly we would refuse it as "J'aime la bonne nourriture, la bonne bouffe". Or maybe with the verb adorer.
I'm French but I follow your channel to improve my English vocabulary. I like the subtle nuances you bring about translating between the two languages.
I’ve always used “mal élevé” for “rude”.
In Louisiana, as well.
Moi aussi
Ou bien "grossier".
Sounds like my grand ma talking... ☺
For me "impoli" seems more similar to rude...
I love her and I love it that despite her expertise, she pronounces "adjective" with the stress on the second syllable, so it kinds of sounds like obJECTive in stead of "ADJective." Elle me rappelle la grande majorité des Français de ma connaissance: intelligents, enthousiastes, pleins de joie.
Actually the way Geraldine pronounces the word "adjective", with the stress upon the 2nd syllable, is also the way we do in the UK - only just without her delightful French accent, sadly enough....
@@alexysq2660 Do all Brits pronounce it "ad-JECT-tive"? I haven't heard that in my U.K. sojourns. I have noticed how the accent stress appears to change as it crosses water. French: Cy-ra-NO British: Cy-RAN-o American; "CYR-a-no. I've heard an American poet point out that in Britain, apparently, one who plays that jazz instrument is a Sax-OPH-on-sit. And he might use the U-RINE-al in the gents' lav!
@@paules3437 Also, someone whose job involves taking phone calls ( eg, for a taxi service ) is a "tel-EPH-un-ist" 😄.... But, yeah actually: i can't really recall ever having heard its being pronounced with the stress upon any other syllable except the 2nd one, and that's in the London-/SE-Region ( of England ). ~💖
@@alexysq2660 Well, I maintain that when words cross channels of water or times zones, somehow the syllabification changes! I have wondered if the fact that Americans say "SAX-0-phon-ist" seems clumsy to a British ear because it has the accent on the first syllable and the THREE consecutive unaccented syllables. Perhaps that's too much to bear. Compare with French, where every word is essentially accented on the last syllable (not counting the "E muet" or "Schwa")
I think it is common in every language that there are words and phrases that can’t be translated into other languages. These phrases are more often than not related to cultural usage and understanding of what the word covers. There are plenty of words in French and English that appear similar in looks and pronunciation, yet the nuances of what they mean and how people use and understand them is quite different.
I was taught to say "je suis perdu" or "vous m'avez perdu" to mean "I'm confused" "you've lost me" in conversational or talking points
You pronounced "Holier than thou" very very well!!
Some alternatives: A snack: une petite faim (ça décrit la sensation mais aussi ce qu'on utilise pour la combler), une collation, un truc à grignoter, un en-cas Rude: bourru Offended: offusqué
Something that this really tells me is that French people definitely seem more in-tune to the specifics of their feelings and such, but they're also more rigid, making complicated feelings difficult to describe.
Back before the word "foodie" became a thing, English speakers used to borrow the French word "gourmand". But now that has disappeared
A snack : un casse-croute or un casse-dalle (for breaking hunger), grignoter is more associated to glutony imo. Rude : Brusque (Qui agit avec rudesse et d'une manière soudaine / act with rudness and in a suddently fashion).
Very interesting how French has some words that are similar to the English one, but have their own different connotation. As a native Spanish speaker, I like to compare both languages (Spanish and French), since they're both derived from Latin. Here's the Spanish equivalent for the English words proposed: Snack: Botana (but that word is never used in my country, we would call it "snack" or some local words in context of party snacks). Rude: Maleducado; Judgemental: Prejuicioso; Offended: Ofendido; Confusing: Confuso; Empowerment: Empoderamiento (We also have the mental connection between "empoderamiento" and feminism); Awkward: (No real translation, as in French, we might say "incómodo" for an awkward situation, but it actually means "uncomfortable") Foodie: (Also no real translation, maybe "goloso" which means someone who likes to eat tasty things, but in my country it also has other connotations, or "glotón", which refers to someone who likes eating a lot, but it's actually a derogatory term)
Some words in English and French even spell the same, but have different meanings. For example "sensible", in English it means "making sense", while in French it means "sensitive"
Those are called « faux amis ». There are a lot.
@@MauriceTituer There's false friends, but there's also cases where the word had both meanings but gradually each language focused on one meaning and lost the other. Would those still count as false friends, or just borrowings?
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 those words would be cognates but because of semantic drift over time, both their meanings changed
in Portuguese we say "Vergonha alheia" for awkward, it means "outsider shame", like "i feel shame for you"
This is my favourite problem with language, the fact that certain words just simply can't be translated directly because the thing being discussed is widespread in one language and barely observed in another.
Dont apologise for your pronunciation of "holier than thou", it was spot on 👌
After over 10 years away from France, I still find myself saying "how do I say... in English?" So, I would say it's the other way round. That said, I did make a point of never translating between French and English, so perhaps that's why. I would spend hours reading Le Petit Robert because I didn't understand the definition and had to keep going until I got one, then I'd work backwards to the first one and only then continue the book I was reading!! My grammar and accent were never very good, but I had a wonderful vocabulary. Now back in GB, I often amuse myself giving literal translations.
The only solution to your (mine and everyone else's who haa lived in, not merely visited, another culture), is to become involved romantically, get arrested and spend time in prison, become involved in politics, and (not "or") become sick there, winding up in a hospital. Then, you'll begin to become familiar with the language.
Thank you for these wonderful lessons! A little note on English pronunciation: “Adjective” should have the emphasis on the first syllable, like so: AD-jec-tiv. (I thought originally you were saying “objective,” which has the emphasis on the second syllable: ob-JEC-tiv.) I also noticed you mentioned that l’Académie Française issued an official “reclamation.” I believe that is a faux ami, at least in colloquial American English. In Portuguese, “reclamação” means “complaint,” so I’m guessing that’s what you meant? In English we use “reclaim” differently. It means something like “recycled.” “This table is made of reclaimed wood,” would mean the wood has been salvaged from, for example, a building that is to be torn down. By the way, your pronunciation of “holier than thou” was just about perfect!
Merci beaucoup! 👍I think difficult to translate words and expressions definitely deserve more walkthroughs and French is no exception. Regarding the word "snack": after going through the streetview feature of Google Maps to explore numerous French cities and towns, I have noticed that many convenience stores and bars simply include the word "snack" in their store signs. (I like using Google Maps to check out places I have never visited and this is also an excellent way of learning the geography of France.) On hindsight, this seem to make sense, considering the fact that one is expected to eat during mealtime in French culture. On a plus side, a typical French mealtime is not as rushed as its American counterpart. Not to mention, an English word like "snack" has become very ubiquitous, so why bother trying to translate it while just about everybody already understands what "snack" means? A side-note: Similar to the French, the Koreans have also adopted many English words which is also knows as Konglish. For example, there are many grocery stores in South Korea containing the word "슈퍼" which is derived from the word "super", which, in turn, derives from the word "supermarket". Koreans have also adopted many French words, such as: 모나미 (mon ami; also used as a brand name by a well-known stationary company); 샹송 (chanson); 앵콜 (encore); 루즈 (rouge; usually refers to lipstick).
...Just stumbled on your channel by chance and am so pleased I did. Your passion for teaching and linguistic knowledge (both French and English) took my breath away.. If only you had been my French teacher in the 1980s, I would have been a much better student :) and perhaps even studied French at University, instead of Spanish/Italian... .... My complements and admiration.....
"Perfectly normal. Even if you've been learning French for decades, there will always be words that you simply don't know." . . . Words of wisdom: And, that goes both ways, words in English that you can't find an equivalent in Spanish to express; words in French that you can't share with your friends back home. . . . . How can I communicate to my little-traveled family and friends back home the meaning of "cariño?" To see them nod their heads in total understanding, they would have had to stand with me outside the supermarket in Quito at 8:10PM, after closing, and see the store manager let me in to "buy just one thing for my ailing mother" and his not being surprised that "the one thing" was a bottle of whisky for myself. Or, nod with the provincial Peruvian judge and policeman, letting me go after taking me off a trans-Peruvian bus, because I then, in front of others, apologized to my fellow, grossly-disturbing passenger whose radio I had seized at four in the morning and thrown out the window of the speeding bus , , , an all-powerful Gringo showing humility.
4:25 I just love when people apologize for poor pronunciation in a non-native language when they turn around and pronounce it perfectly 🤣 If you want poor pronunciation, you should hear my French!
Merçi! Bien traduit ! Bonne prononciation, c est très clair !
I love the “Gretchen stop trying to make Fetch happen” vibe of some of these newer words
Prime example--also the arrogance and isolationist status of those "in the know:" What does "Gretchen stop trying to make Fetch happen" mean?
@@TalentedDilittante it’s a reference from a movie. Younger people will know it
@@TalentedDilittante To over-explain the joke/reference, this high school girl keeps saying things like "You're shirt is so fetch!", hoping people will start using the word and eventually someone calls them out for making up silly new words to be cool.
@@radmax Thank you for explaining this phrase.
Is that not a reference to RP'sDR - Season ...??? - when Raja was semi-desperately attempting to coin "fetch" as THE 'fierce new word' and ... Delta ( ?? ) more or less told her to just get over it 🤣...? ~💖
Nice post! Je l'ai beaucoup apprecié
Even my youngest students find it weird that the French have no direct translation for "sibling".
Hmmm… I mean there’s fratrie in general for all of your siblings.. and then you have to choose if you want to be more specific
Merci pour tout. J'aime tellement tes vidéos.
As an American with VERY little exposure to the French language, this is all very interesting to me. There are a lot of sounds in your language that I'm not entirely sure how you even make, too.
English doesn't have a lot of sounds that involve constricting the throat, but try to imagine if you take the starting position you would actuate the letter K or G, and , and breath strongly through it as if you're making a hard H, until you find the resonance point which makes it trill. I mean "th" isn't even a sound in French, and the lady manages it fine :)
@@rorychivers8769 I've learned through studying German that the "Th" dental fricitives are very rare in world languages, and I'm slightly familiar with a few throaty sounds (like -acht in German or "Groot" in Dutch), but I'm not sure that I'm doing them well or even correctly. The ease with which French, Danish, etc speakers do these sounds is pretty fascinating to me just because I never think about those movements/positions when I speak. Who would have thought the idea of speaking would be so interesting? Not me, apparently.
Super video. Vous m'a donné un tas de nouveaux choises pour traduire ces expressions genantes. Merci beaucoup :D
m'avez* donné un tas de nouvelles* choses. Good luck on your learning, practice makes perfect!
I remember when I was learning French in school my professors and I struggled to come up with a good translation for "coming of age" (as in a story) and "outlet" (as in "I workout as an outlet for my emotions.") I don't think we ever really figured out anything that really gets at the same sentiment though!
«réaliser la majorité«?
Le passaage à l'âge adulte? -- je ne sais pas - mais que ferai-je si je voudraos ña traduire à ma langue (je suis péruvien) - ¿maduración personal? ¿madurez?, et quand à "outlet" ça pourrait être: "escape", "alivio" "desahogo"?
Maybe 'un moyen de me défouler' ?
Maybe u can say impolite
An "outlet for one's emotions" is an "exutoire" in French. I don't know about "coming-of-age story", I say "coming-of-age" à l'anglaise when I want to use it in French 🤪
Before watching this video the only word I could think of was shallow (e.g. shallow water). In French all you can say is 'peu profond'.
Well presented
As someone does not speak French, I have consistently that my French vocabulary has rather large gaps. Gaps perhaps as large as the entire French language.
In French "un snack" ,also called " un snack-bar" (though the full expression is slightly old-fashioned) is any place where you can have a light bit. You can also notice it on the sign sat various establishments : " restaurant/snack," "café-snack", "snack-truck" , "salonde thé/snack" etc...
Très splendide et très magnifique themè et leçon du dimanche pour pouvoir comprendre plus et mieux la belle grammaire française
"Adjective" in English is pronounced "ADJ ek tiv" with the accent on the first syllable. But the way you say it is adorable!
Merci pour la leçon
Remarkable! merci!...
Actually the idea of snacking wasn't around in my country, when we were kids either. I was told it came from the USA some time in the second half of the 20th century.
Really enjoying your lessons in Canadian.
"Holier than thou" - you nailed it!
merci de Montréal...fort interessant..
As far as I know, there is no French word for ´mind’, as in the human mind. There is le conscience, l’esprit, but neither convey the nuance of ´mind’ from a neuroscience perspective. Note that I used ´nuance which is actually a French word that doesn’t have an English equivalent. Not sure if other bilingual people share this experience, but I find that when I’m having a conversation in French on a specific subject, the flow of the conversation can be different than if I were discussing the same subject in English.
This is a problem, or a fun thing to explore, with all languages! They never match quite, the words always have slightly different meaning. I read once about a Frenchman who came here to Sweden, and learned the Swedish word "ro". Meaning tranquility, or peace. Or something like it, but not quite. And it wasn't until he learnt the Swedish word "ro" that he actually could feel it. Before he had a word for it, he couldn't feel it. My point here is that I understand that all languages, French very much so, have words and expressions that means what us foreigners want to say, but also some other nuances that we might not be aware of. Like this "gené". Sorry for my spelling. I knew it meant embarrassed, but I didn't know it could be used to say that "it's difficult right now", as in the example with the broken bike that made it difficult to come visit a friend. But in case I got that wrong too... je suis gené. 😀
To be fair it's not used that frequently in that sense. Without giving the context of the broken bike, it would be 'gênant' to use the word 'gêné' in that way, because the other person is going to assume that you'd feel uncomfortable coming instead of having difficulty coming. It's safer to use words that actually express difficulty directly
"And, of course, l'Académie française, the official of French language ... wHicH tH'ey'Re _nOt_ ..." LOL!!!! 🤣 That was wonderful. It's so true that language evolves on its own and no artificial walls can contain or direct it.
Uhh yes it can.
If you’re pessimistic
Very informative and helpful -plus nice little Django Reinhardt type guitar breaks.
Hi, French person here 👋 For snack, I like to use the word grignoterie, even if it's not an official word (yet)
Great examples! 👏 I was hoping you would also discuss the word “helpful” … I’ve never found a good translation for it in French 🙏
A word that I have seen used that seems to be a very close approximation of helpful is serviable.
One uses "serviable" to describe someones generic personnality, when that person is not there (! In Fr, you dont wanna point out someones quality, or flaw, in front of that person, it is too direct, it is not the usual way) eg : "C'est quelqu'un de très serviable". OR contrary "Il n'est pas très serviable". Directly, "You have been most hepful" could be translated " Je vous remercie de votre aide", OR simply thanking," Merci, c'est très gentil/sympa, à toi/à vous".
Interesting! I saw a picture of a group of volunteers that were helping after some sort of natural disaster, a flood maybe. They were all wearing t-shirts that said Mains Serviables.
Having been to Paris where they were rude it’s ironic they don’t have a word for it. But perhaps it does make sense: they don’t recognize rudeness so therefore don’t have a word for it.
Merci 💚🌱
I was in an American play where one of the characters came out with a tray and asked, "Anyone care for a snack ala petite?" I still use that line at parties.
Although it might not be widespread in Europe, Quebec French commonly uses the word collation for snack.
Bonjour Geraldine. Lorsqu’il s’agit de traduire le mot Offend peut-on dire également « offusquer « ?? Merci infiniment. J’adore vos vidéos ! Andy
Le sens du mot "offusqué" est un peu plus général. On peut s'offusquer d'une situation. Le mot ne renvoie pas nécessairement à l'idée que quelqu'un ait effectué une action contre toi. Je traduirais "offended" par "outragé", qui est extrêmement proche du mot "offensé" mais qui est encore largement utilisé aujourd'hui.
@@italixgaming915 En fait, "offend" est plus général que "offusqué". Offusqué fait référence aux sentiment; tu offusque la réputation, la dignité,l'opinions de quelqu'un d'autre. offended peut autant être a propos d'une loi que des sentiment (feeling) d'une personne. You offended the law. -> Tu as brisé la loi You offended my feelings -> Tu as offusqué mes sentiments Très peu de mots on une parfaite translation, surtout si l'on parle de mots utilisé depuis plusieurs décénies voir centenaires.
I think "gourmet" is a good translation for a foodie, although, IMO, in English the term is a bit more "democratic" - you do not need to go to expensive posh restaurants to be a foodie, it is more about genuine interest and enjoyment of all kinds of food, including street food or using interesting ingredients while cooking at home.
I think "gourmade" is the word you're thinking of. "gourmade" is a person, "gourmet" is an adjective.
I am thinking about a French noun "un gourmet". You might be thinking about a word "un gourmand"- another French noun, which has a different meaning.
@@katyahvass7293 my apologies, I thought you were trying to find an English word for that!
Peut-être un nourritouriste ? (Pour inventer une phrase)
It sounds like a gourmet is a foodie, but a foodie isn't necessarily a gourmet
I wonder if it's a regionalism (midwest US), but sometimes rude and impolite are synonyms, like "he was rude/impolite to everybody at the party." But I don't think I'd say "he was impolite to me"; I think I'd only use rude in a sentence like that. I also think I wouldn't use modifiers with impolite, only with rude. Saying "very impolite" would seem weird, or maybe archaic, or maybe overly formal, and I'd say "very rude" instead.
I always thought snack was "casse-croute" .
Not really because "casse-croûte" is rather a quick meal, like a sandwich for lunch, for instance. Snack would be more like "goûter" or "collation".
@@s.p.8803 Ah ok. I understand. Merci !
@Comme une Française - Geraldine, how would you translate our concept of “privacy”, in the sense of: the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people; or the state of being free from public attention. “Intimité“, “vie privée”, and “confidentialité” don’t quite seem to do it. Merci!
I’m not sure if it’s very different in France but growing up in Quebec we would call a snack « une collation »
Same thing in Louisiana. In Italian, "la colazione" is breakfast. You must remember that Europeans do not eat much for brekkie: a piece of cheese, a piece of fruit and a cuppa', if anything. It is about the equivalent of a snack in the U.S. of A. or Canada. In Québec, you go to the «cabane à sucre» for brekkie. I remember the first time that my friends in Montréal told me that they were taking me «au cabane-à-sucre pour le déjeuner». I looked at them funny and replied "quoi faire on retien le sucre en le cabane? Et vous-autres Canadiens mangez en le cabane? Qui fonchoquarie ça?" En Louisiane, «le cabane» veut dire «le pissoir» ou «les bécosses»..
There's also "un en-cas'.
Came looking for this comment. I hear my francophone friends using « une collation » all the time.
It does exist in metropolitan french but it's fairly formal and usited. As in few people would use i in everyday conversation. Also the world grignotage can be used, in fact it is how medical professionals will refer to regular snacking as: "grignotages"
@@s.m.2523 Fascinating. Thanks! I appreciate the clarification. It must be one of those North American/European language differences, like apartment/flat or gasoline/petrol.
translating St-Exupéry into English I really grasped how beautifully economical French can be cf. English, which needed more words. So there are always two sides.
qu'est-ce que j'aime son attitude et accent
"Foodie" was recently just made up. English is good at that.
The English: 'vex' is a synonym of 'offend',Ii tend to use it more as a translation for vexer. Vex is a little old fashioned for English though.
Although it's coming back again as a slang term, interestingly...
In Québec, we say "collation" for snack
Long ago, I saw Mel Brooks on a talk show. About to take a drink, he lifted it and said "confusion to the French!". The absurdity cracked me up, (though I later heard a military toast "confusion to our enemies"). Apparently he was just pointing out the gap in their language.
Au Québec, "confusing" se traduit directement par mêlant ou mélangeant.
One that gets me is how in French there are two words for “owl” whereas there is only one for “turtle/tortoise”.
And we have three to snow leopard. Panthère des neiges Léopard des neiges Once And two for chamois. Chamois (Alpes) Isard (Pyrénées)
Tbh i frenchify words a lot because we took a lot from french and i just wanna give that love right back
The link to the blog post is for a lesson in September 2022. FYI.
Salut Géraldine, Il y a aussi "offusqué " pour "offended"
We were taught the word "casse-croute" in french class for snacks
You could describe a bike with a flat tire as being ‘awkward to move’ in English as well.
I've struggled to find a French translation of the English word "convenient", meaning "can be done or used with little effort or time" or "a circumstance that makes the situation less troublesome". Also the related word "convenience". For instance, "This new tool makes cutting holes in paper very convenient", or "App A produces better results, but app B is so much more convenient to use", or "I found a convenient short cut to get to the school", or "I am suspicious of Jim's claim that he forgot the report--it seems just too convenient". There is "convenable", but that means "suitable", which is one meaning of "convenient" but not the main one. There is "pratique" but that is "practical", indicating that it is a way to make something possible, not make it take less effort or time. Any ideas? Or is this another English word that doesn't translate into French?
simple
"Commode". "Pratique" can mean "convenient" in every, well, practical meaning, for instance "cet outil est bien pratique pour faire des trous dans du papier." "Commode" works there as well ("cet outil est bien commode...") but equally in less purely practical aspects: "Jim dit avoir oublié son rapport... Comme c'est commode..."
Perhaps: "facile pour utiliser / faire", etc...??
Cs genre de difference existe entre toutes les langues; par exemple il y a 40 mots pour ire un elephant en thai alors que nous n'avons que trois mots en francais (en comptant la femelle elephante et le petit elephantaux)
Sometimes the simplest words in one language require some really clumsy constructs in the other. The word "ride" is a great example. "I need a ride home" becomes "J'ai besoin qu'on me ramener à la maison (or chez moi)." 5 syllables vs. 10-12. 😮💨 And there are French expressions that require a lot more words when said in English. Professional translators earn every dollar/euro!
This is not just about translating English into French. English has generally developed to be more "functional", brief and to the point than many other languages. IMO, that is one of the reasons for its popularity and the large number of anglicisms that find their way into other languages.
@@katyahvass7293 Yes, both German and English (whose grammar is largely based on Germanic dialects) are examples of languages that allow on-the-fly creation of neologisms that are both grammatically and semantically valid - not so easy with Romance languages. This is the kind of thing that gives l'Académie française members heartburn and nuits blanches. 😱😂
If you want to ask someone to give you a ride home, you can just simply ask "Tu peux me ramener ?" "Ramener quelqu'un" litteraly means giving him a ride to his home. So there is no word for "ride" in French but there is a verb for "giving a ride to home". Both languages have advantages.
"confusant" -- ahahaha. Je l'adore, mais c'est un anglicisme bien sûr. Mon professeur m'a dit que "food truck" a été adopté par les français . . . c'est vrai? Les foodies, comme moi, adorent les food trucks.
Est qu'il y a "Is what he (there) has" usually gets translated to "is it that" I tend to understand petit dejeuner as "snack" more than breakfast... Like "little lunch".... Or like root words "little young diner"... Would "Peu de repas" or petite repas" work too for snack?It kinda hits reflexively with my minimal vocabulary
In Quebecois French, they use collation for a snack
Here in Canada, we use "fin gourmet" for goodie.
Efficiency. Accountability.
As for confusing, do you have no word for nonsensical or nonsense? Illogical? Non-Sequitur? Muddled? I'd probably use one of those situationally if I couldn't use Confusing. Maybe Befuddling or Confounding or something...
I put 'discombobulate' into google translate and it got very confused.
Et les ornières immenses du reflux, Filent circulairement vers l'est, Vers les piliers de la forêt, Vers les fûts de la jetée, Dont l'angle est heurté par des tourbillons de lumière. 😙bisous bisous!😙
A Snack: Une collation, offended : offensé Some would argue that a french equivalent to Judgemental could be Critique, moralisateur, détracteur......but I'm not convinced, it kinda depends on the context, Pretty sure there is a more appropriate word, but yeah.
I remember 10-15 years ago the French language body made a declaration that "email" should not be used in French anymore and they wanted people to use some crazy long word. Did that stick?
In Canada (more so in Quebec) the word for e-mail (en francais) is usually "courriel"
The English word that I'm forever searching for a French equivalent to is the word 'lovely:' a lovely girl, a lovely woman, a lovely sunset, a lovely painting... you get the picture. It is not 'jolie' - 'pretty.' The 9th Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary has for its fourth definition of the word pretty as 'beauty without majesty,' but 'lovely' is beyond that it conveys that the finer inner qualities of the person radiate through to the exterior, but isn't merely about a romantic quality - "appealing to the emotions as well as the eye." What is that word in French? Do the French even have that concept? I'm sure they must.
I found it very interesting when you said that "impoli" has more to do with breaking the rules of etiquette and not so much with hurting someone's feelings, as the word "rude" in English does. That might explain why many non-French think the French/Parisians are "rude", but the French don't find themselves rude. It's because for a French person, even if someone has an attitude of contempt and disdain, or arrogance, if there has been no breach of etiquette, there has been no "impolitesse"! Does that make sense?
Québecers have a beautiful term to designate snack foods, « grignotines ».
"It's like those French have a different word for everything!" - Steve Martin
En effet, c'est la même chose en autres languages. En français, normalment je conseille que après avoir fait la traduction, toujours verifique que l'ordre des lettres ou paroles produisent un son digne d'une bonne 'dégustation' - ça veut dire que toute la phrase doit résonner aux oreilles comme un bon vin stimule les papilles en bouche.
@Phillip Banes then don't speak. Keep yer mouth shut. It avoids most problems anyway.
Considering the shrug is considered to be the epitome of Gallic gestures, it is surprising that the French language has no word for it. It's equivalent is a whole phrase, 'hausser les épaules'.
I've never ever heard of the word Gallic to refer to the French people (I assumed that the adjective to refer to Gaul was Gaulish), I might use it again in the future because I find it really elegant and,as a Belgian, it could clear out the difference between French the language and French the adjective
@@TheGabygael It derives from the Latin adjective Gallicus. It survives in Modern French as 'galoche', with an original meaning of 'Gallic shoe'.
In Canada (more so in Quebec) the word for e-mail (en francais ) is usually "courriel"
Interesting, so the words rude and shrug do not have an equivalent in French, yet they are both words used to describe French people.
The French word gourmet, of course, has entered the English language. But the English word "foodie", as I understand it, means someone who is obsessed with eating what he considers to be healthy food and/or not eating what he considers to be unhealthy food. So that refers to something entirely different than gourmet - and is almost the opposite of gourmand!
Would love to hear about "date" and "ride" We went on our first date last Friday I need a ride into town
Where there is no equivalent, what is wrong with using the original French or English word in each other's languages. Sometimes it makes for better conversation. "Jet" is surely better than "Avion de reaction" (apologies if I have spelled that wrong). Similarly the French word "Entrepreneur" is fine used in English. (There was the classic quote from George W. Bush that the French don't have a word for entrepreneur!). All languages evolve and are enriched, usually by embracing words from others.
But President of the US, George W. Bush, asserted that the French have no word for "entrepreneur"!
In Quebec French they say "un collation" for snack.
9:14 I did always wonder
Awkward can also mean something mildly annoying or not quite smooth or maladroite.
I love this kind of stuff and find it fascinating. However these aren’t American words but English words used by all speakers of the language.
I once spent a good ten minutes trying to explain to a French friend the use/misuse of got/get and its different forms. It is in reality sloppy English, much loved by Americans and is definitely untranslatable into French.
You led off with 'snack' and I just couldn't help thinking of the phrase.. "You the snack".
Yes there is, it's 'cette' (f) and 'ce' (m) 🤣🤣