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.

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.

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?

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! 😂

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!!

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 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.

I’ve always used “mal élevé” for “rude”.

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)

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.

"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.

Back before the word "foodie" became a thing, English speakers used to borrow the French word "gourmand". But now that has disappeared

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).

Dont apologise for your pronunciation of "holier than thou", it was spot on 👌

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!

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

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.

I love the “Gretchen stop trying to make Fetch happen” vibe of some of these newer words

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).

Merçi! Bien traduit ! Bonne prononciation, c est très clair !

...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.....

Super video. Vous m'a donné un tas de nouveaux choises pour traduire ces expressions genantes. Merci beaucoup :D

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...

Merci pour tout. J'aime tellement tes vidéos.

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!

Nice post! Je l'ai beaucoup apprecié

Well presented

Très splendide et très magnifique themè et leçon du dimanche pour pouvoir comprendre plus et mieux la belle grammaire française

Merci pour la leçon

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.

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!

Even my youngest students find it weird that the French have no direct translation for "sibling".

Remarkable! 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!

"Adjective" in English is pronounced "ADJ ek tiv" with the accent on the first syllable. But the way you say it is adorable!

Really enjoying your lessons in Canadian.

"Holier than thou" - you nailed it!

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.

merci de Montréal...fort interessant..

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.

Very informative and helpful -plus nice little Django Reinhardt type guitar breaks.

Great examples! 👏 I was hoping you would also discuss the word “helpful” … I’ve never found a good translation for it in French 🙏

Merci 💚🌱

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.

Au Québec, "confusing" se traduit directement par mêlant ou mélangeant.

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'.

Bonjour Geraldine. Lorsqu’il s’agit de traduire le mot Offend peut-on dire également « offusquer « ?? Merci infiniment. J’adore vos vidéos ! Andy

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. 😀

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.

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

The link to the blog post is for a lesson in September 2022. FYI.

In Québec, we say "collation" for snack

Hi, French person here 👋 For snack, I like to use the word grignoterie, even if it's not an official word (yet)

Salut Géraldine, Il y a aussi "offusqué " pour "offended"

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 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.

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 might not be widespread in Europe, Quebec French commonly uses the word collation for snack.

qu'est-ce que j'aime son attitude et accent

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?

I always thought snack was "casse-croute" .

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)

"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.

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.

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.

One that gets me is how in French there are two words for “owl” whereas there is only one for “turtle/tortoise”.

Here in Canada, we use "fin gourmet" for goodie.

We were taught the word "casse-croute" in french class for snacks

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?

I’m not sure if it’s very different in France but growing up in Quebec we would call a snack « une collation »

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.

How would you translate the English word vexed? Vexe does not seem to fit using your examples.

I put 'discombobulate' into google translate and it got very confused.

You could describe a bike with a flat tire as being ‘awkward to move’ in English as well.

Y como se dice: gruñón?

"It's like those French have a different word for everything!" - Steve Martin

Would love to hear about "date" and "ride" We went on our first date last Friday I need a ride into town

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.

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 was taught the word "collation" was the word for snack in French in school. Is this true or does it have a different connotation in French?

How do your express "Je ne sais quoi" in french?

What about « collation » for snack?

"Foodie" was recently just made up. English is good at that.

Yes there is, it's 'cette' (f) and 'ce' (m) 🤣🤣

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?

Tbh i frenchify words a lot because we took a lot from french and i just wanna give that love right back

comment traduire The "ragged" paper of an old letter

Efficiency. Accountability.

Il me semble qu'une personne n'emploie pas volontiers le mot "vexé" pour parler d'elle-même. On dira plus facilement "il s'est vexé" que " je me suis vexé". Je sens (mais peut-être ai-je tort) dans le mot "vexé" une nuance réprobatrice ; il me parait en effet comporter l'idée que la personne qui se vexe est excessivement susceptible. Comme personne n'aime avouer être susceptible, nous n'employons pas volontiers ce mot pour décrire une réaction qui nous affecte nous-même.. J'aimerais bien connaitre vos avis sur cette question.

Question: If blessé translates to hurt feelings, then how would one say they were (physically) hurt "I fell down and hurt my knee' or "I was in in a car accident and was hurt."

Québecers have a beautiful term to designate snack foods, « grignotines ».

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.

You led off with 'snack' and I just couldn't help thinking of the phrase.. "You the snack".

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!😙

In Quebec French they say "un collation" for snack.

Just because they don't exist in France doesn't mean they don't exist in French. In Québec, where we put a lot more effort into protecting the French language from English domination, we do have French words for some of these.

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.

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'.

This is not even scrapping the surface. Many words we belive are exact translations from English to French most often will have slightly different meanings. And again, many coutries have French as one of their main languages (I'm French Canadian), and the language will be much different from one country to another. The reasons might be historical, cultural or other, so what she is saying might not apply to Quebec. As an example, Offended - Offensé, we use the word "offensé" very often on this side of the ocean, and the differences are mostly historical.