How to pretend to speak French in 10 minutes

Do you want sound like a native French-speaker? Then you ended up on the right spot. When we learn French at school, our learning is focused on the grammar, vocabulary, maybe phonetics and so on. This is great, but it is also very important to teach the way the language is actually spoken on a daily basis by most of the people…Especially if you want to learn French for your regular visits to France or any other French-speaking country.

Here is a list of the most versatile french words and their meanings, to sound like a real Frenchie! Afterwards, I’ll give you some tips on pronunciation and other quick tips that help you sound like a walking baguette in no time. Enjoy!

1. Use these words/fillers:

1. It can mean “at that time, back then” Example: j’avais alors 8 ans = I was 8 back then”
2. It can also express a consequence “in that case, so” Ex: Il pleut, alors je vais prendre mon parapluie.= It is raining so I will take my umbrella.
3. In the spoken language, it is used freely to link different parts of a narrative, without any particular function. Ex : Alors moi, ça m’est égal.= litterally: (So me), I don’t care.

This little expression is not often present in grammar books and yet it is SO MUCH used, even sometimes overused, making it one the most common filler in France.

1. You can use it to make a consequence (an equivalent of “donc”, “alors”, and translated “so, therefore” in English). Ex: On n’a plus de pâtes, du coup on fait du riz? = We don’t have pasta anymore, so should we make rice?
2. Just like “alors” It is sometimes used without any function at all. In extreme cases people can use it as much as 3 times in the same sentence (a bit like the English “like”). Ex: Du coup y’a Lisa qui va passer ce soir et du coup on fait une soirée jeu? =(So) Lisa will drop by tonight, (so) shoud we do a game night?

Note: Knowing that it is overused doesn’t mean you should use it as much as Frenchies (Please!).

Hein & Quoi

1. If you didn’t hear what your interlocutor said and want him repeat, then you can use it as a question “Hein?”. It is not the most polite way to ask though!  “Qu’est-ce que vous dites?” Would be more polite. It is much like the English “Huh?”
2. It can also express the surprise. Ex: “Hein? Tu as déjà fini?” = What? You are already done?
3. Used at the end of a sentence, “Hein?” means “Right?”, asking for your interlocutor’s confirmation, reinforcing the question. Ex: “Tu viens, hein?”.=You come, right? A more formal way to say that in French would be “Tu viens, n’est-ce pas?”
4. “Hein” is also often used at the end of an affirmative sentence, to emphasize the sentence. Ex: “J’ai faim, hein”= I am hungry, ok. means the same as “J’ai faim”= I am hungry with a stress on the sentence.

Notes: in 2 and 4, “Quoi?” could be used in the same way.

Voilà is used for:

1. Giving something to someone else. Example, the baker will reach out a baguette to you and say Voilà madame!.=Here you are, Madam!
2. Showing something, an artwork in a museum for example: Voilà “Impression, soleil Levant” de Claude Monet.=Here is “Impression, soleil levant” of Claude Monet.
3. Present someone “Voilà mon ami Robert”=Here is my friend Robert
4. Indicate that you are done with something. Imagine you just put the last piece of your 5000-pieces puzzle. In that case we often add “et” before. Ex: Et voilà! Le puzzle est fini! = There you go, the puzzle is done!

Notes:

In cases 1, 2 and 3 “Voici” can be used in exactly the same way as “Voilà”.

Voici and voilà can be used in the same sentence when there are 2 objects or persons. Exemple: Voici “Impression, Soleil Levant” et voilà “la Joconde”. Voilà Robert et voici sa femme Julie. Voici votre baguette et voilà votre pain au chocolat”

“Bof” is used to express a lack of motivation or indifference. Ex. « -Tu veux aller au cinéma ce soir ? » «- Bof, y’a aucun film intéressant en ce moment… » = -“You wanna go the the cinema tonight?” “Blah, there is nothing interesting at the moment.”

1. If you want to sum up. Think of the English: “to be brief”, or the word “brevity”. Ex : Cette boutique vend des produits bios et sans emballages, bref c’est une boutique très écolo ! »= This shop sells biological products and without any wrapping, in short this shop is very ecological!
2. You can also use it when you want to come back to the main subject after deviating from it.

The famous oh là là  is not only a cliché but is also a sentence that is definitely used by many French-speakers to express:

1. Enthousiam. Ex: Oh là là, on va se régaler dans ce restaurant ! = OMG, we gonna feast ourself!
2. Surprise. Ex: Oh là là, j’ai jamais vu un chien aussi gros !  = OMG, I have never seen such a fat dog!
3. Or even deception sometimes. Ex: Oh là là, quelle catastrophe ! = OMG, what a catastrophee!

Notes:

“Waou” has the same meaning, but prefer « Oh là là » if you want to sound like a Frenchie. 😉

You can also use « Oulà » instead of “Oh là là” but only for expressing surprise.

Used to verbalize an action. You can use it whenever you do something from taking the butter out of your fridge, to sending an email.  

Rhhoo

Similar to “Ohh”, can be used to manifest different things: anger, frustration, disgust, disappointement…

Ex: Rhhoo, mon train est retard !  = Ohh, my train is late!

When you feel pain (can be physically or mentally !). For example, if you hear bad news, or if you prick yourself with a needle.

Ah bon ? & Ah ouais ?

To express surprise. Ex: -J’ai reçu une prime! -Ah bon?/Ah ouais? = -I received a bonus! -Oh really?

Again to express surprise, but stronger than Ah bon/ah oui/ouais?”. Ex: -Les concombres coûtent maintenant 2 euros pièce. -C’est pas vrai ! =-Cucumbers cost 2 euros per untit nowadays. – That can’t be true!

Mark of hesitation. Used to avoid silend while thinking, equivalent of the english “= Hmmm”

“Ben” comes from the word “bien”, so it comes from the standard French “Et bien oui”.

1. We use it at the beginning of a sentence to confess, or to confirm. Ex: -Tu te rends compte que c’est de ta faute? -Ben ouais, je sais. = Do you realize it is your fault? -Well, I do.
2. It can also be used to answer to a question that is obvious. Ex: Tu savais que les grenouilles ne sont pas les femelles des crapauds? -Ben ouais, je suis pas né hier! =Did you know that frogs are not the females of toads? -Of course, I wasn’t born yesterday!

2. Pronounce it the French way!

Another key thing to sound like a French is to not pronounce all the letter that are written, or even sometimes remove some words. Here is the list of the main tricks to sound like a French:

Skip some ”e”

If you listen attentively when a French is speaking, you will notice that we don’t pronounce many « e » at all! (don’t be mistaken with é, è and ê, which are always pronounced). The final -e is always silent as you may know, but also within the word we have a tendency to remove them whe we speak. This is the case for « e » that are between 2 consonnants:

-Within a word : retard -> r’tard ; mouvement -> mouv’ment 

-Or within a sentence : Je me suis -> J’me suis  OR Je m’suis ; Je le regarde -> J’le regarde OR Je l’regarde

Note: When the letter « e » is surrounded by not 2, but 3 consonnants, you cannot suppress it because it would be phonetically impossible to pronounce (as we don’t have the talent of the Dutch or the Serbians!) Ex: Merde, merci, politesse

Use ON in informal French

And save NOUS for formal French. Ex: Nous allons au cinéma (formal) -> On va au cinéma (informal) = We go to the cinema.

Replace “Tu” by “T’”

We simplify “tu” when we speak.

Ex: Tu es fou -> T’es fou ! = You are crazy! ; Tu as vu -> T’as vu ? = Did you see?

Remove the “ne“

In schools and institutions, we often insist on the fact that you should use BOTH parts of the negation (NE & PAS). But it is mainly important not to forget the PAS (always present! or alternatively « jamais », « plus » or whatever negation you are using). But if you forget the NE it is not a big deal as you will just sound more French! (Be careful to not forget it when you write or want to speak in a formal way though)

Ex: Elle n’est pas douée -> Elle est pas douée. = She is not talented/gifted. ; Je ne suis pas folle -> Je suis pas folle.= I am not crazy. ; On n’est pas né hier! -> On est pas né hier! =We are not born yesterday!

Remove the « il » of « il faut »

Ex: Il faut qu’on aille acheter du pain ! -> Faut qu’on aille acheter du pain ! = We have to go and get bread!

Simplify “Il y a” to “Y’a”

Ex: Il y a encore des oeufs dans le frigo? -> Y’a encore des oeufs dans le frigo? = Is there still eggs in the fridge?

Ask questions without transformation

By that I mean that you ask the question using the same word order than in an affirmative sentence. No need to use “est-ce que” or inverse subject and verb (except if you want to sound formal). However, make sure you use the right intonation, or you could be misunderstood :). Ex: Est-ce que tu manges avec nous? -> Tu manges avec nous ? =Do you eat with us?

3. Use truncated words:

In France, we are a big fan of them! So to understand them and why not use them (I challenge you!) here is a list of the most common:

Truncated word	Full version	Translation
ordi	ordinateur	computer
ciné	cinéma	cinema
télé	télévision	television
appli	application	application
moto	motocyclette	motocycle
écolo	écologique	ecological
appart	appartement	appartment
prof	professeur	teacher
sympa	sympathique	sympathetic
exam	examen	examination
bac	baccalauréat	baccalaureate
compèt	compétition	competition
cafèt	cafétéria	cafeteria
petit-dèj	petit-déjeuner	breakfast
manif	manifestation	protest march
anniv	anniversaire	birthday
muscu	musculation	bodybuilding
restau (= resto)	restaurant	restaurant
pub	publicité	advertisement
clim	climatisation	air conditionning
fac	faculté	faculty
info	information	information
dico	dictionnaire	dictionnary
philo	philosophie	philosophy
géo	géographie	geography
d’ac (d’ac)	d’accord	alright

4. Use French slang

It goes without saying that you should know a bit of French slang is you want to speak like a French!

Here are some important ones:

5. Dialogue that uses a bit of everything:

Bonus:

Sentences that sound very different from the writing :