Informal French & Slang Tutorial

Last Update: Thursday, May 8, 2008

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This page is designed to teach the real spoken form of French, which is very different from the formal way of writing, as well as common French slang words. For fastest downloading, as well as the DownThemAll add-on. This will allow you to download all of the mp3s on this page at once and increase the download speed up to 400%. Recordings of mp3s were done by a native speaker of French from Haute-Savoie.

Informal Ways of Speaking - [ mp3 of sample sentences - 1.76 MB ]

Similar to the reduced forms in English (wanna, gonna, doncha, etc.), there are several informal ways of speaking in French. You will hear these forms very often, but you do not have to speak this way if you don't want to. However, you must be able to understand reduced forms in order to understand real spoken French. You may see these forms in informal written French (such as on blogs or in chat rooms), but you should still write the formal way.

Tu + verb beginning with a vowel

The most common contractions with tu are t'as and t'es, which replace tu as and tu es. You can also contract tu + other verbs that begin with a vowel, such as t'aimes or t'ouvres, which replace tu aimes and tu ouvres.

T'as fini de manger ? Have you finished eating?
T'es fatigué ou quoi ? Are you tired or what?
T'as beau essayer, t'y arrives pas. No matter how much you try, you won't succeed.
T'as rien compris ! Laisse-moi t'expliquer. You didn't understand! Let me explain it to you.

Unstressed e

The letter e is often dropped between two consonants (e caduc) if it is unstressed, such as in samedi, and also at the end of short words, such as ce, de, je, le, me, que, se, te. It's also common in future and conditional tenses of verbs: donnerai = donn'rai; aimerais = aim'rais

Il s'lève de bonne heure. He gets up early.
C'est c'que je veux. That's what I want.
Faut que j'parte maintenant. I have to leave now.
Avec ce travail, je ne manqu'rai pas d'argent. With this job, I won't lack money.

Reduced forms: il(s), elle(s), puis, parce que, quelque

The pronouns il and ils reduce to y, while elle and elles reduce to è when followed by a consonant. When followed by a vowel, il and elle reduce to l' whereas ils becomes y z' or just z' and elles becomes è'z'. The word puis is more commonly pronounced pis, parce que is pronounced pasque, and quelque is pronounced quèque.

Y pense qu'elle l'aime, mais c'est pas le cas. He thinks that she loves him, but that's not the case.
On va aller au restaurant, et pis après on se fera un ciné. We'll go to the restaurant, and then after we'll go to the movies.
Pourquoi tu dois m'obéir ? Pasque je suis ton père ! Why must you obey me? Because I'm your father!
Y a quèque chose la-dessous ! Regarde voir ! There's something down there! Look!

Use on instead of nous

The pronoun on is used much more often to mean we than nous. It always take the third person singular form of the verb even though it's always plural in English.

On peut y aller ? Tout le monde est là ? Can we go ? Is everybody here ?
C'est pasqu'on est frères que je te fais confiance. It's because we are brothers that I trust you.
Pourrait-on accélérer ? On va pas assez vite ! Could we speed it up? We're not going fast enough!

Drop ne in negatives

Although the ne in negatives should always be written, it is very rarely used in informal speech.

Ça va pas ! C'est nul ! That doesn't work! That's stupid!
Si tu veux pas voir ce film, lequel veux-tu voir ? If you don't want to see this movie, which one do you want to see?
Je peux pas m'acheter cette voiture. C'est pas possible. I can't buy myself this car. It's not possible.

Drop -re at end of words

You usually do not pronounce -re at the end of a word, whether it's a verb (mettre) or adjective (notre).

Allez, à bientôt ! A un de ces quat' ! See you soon one of these days!
C'est pas vot' problème, c'est not' problème. It's not your problem, it's our problem.
Y faut pas êt' si bête. You shouldn't be so stupid.

Word order in questions

Word order in questions is less difficult to master in informal spoken French. Inversion and est-ce que are generally not used, and word order is simply subject - verb - question word OR question word - subject - verb.

Tu fais quoi ? What are you doing?
On va où ? Where are we going?
Il parle de quoi ? What's he talking about?

Pourquoi t'as dit ça ? Why did you say that?
Quand elle va arriver ? When is she going to arrive?
Quelle heure il est ? What time is it?

In addition, ça frequently follows an interrogative to add emphasis, such as in qui ça ? or c'est quoi, ça ?

Forget grammatical rules

Sometimes you can forget the grammar rules that you have learned when speaking informally. An example of this is using à to show possession (in grammatically correct French, you should use de).

On est dans la chambre à Cyril. We are in Cyril's room.

Another example is using (r)amener to mean to bring things (back) to some place. In grammatically correct French, you should only use (r)amener with people, and (r)apporter with things.

J'ai ramené les livres à la médiathèque. I brought the books back to the library.

Fillers in Speech

Fillers in speech are words that don't add any real meaning to the sentence, except for maybe emphasis. Examples in English include uh, um, well, I mean, I guess, you know?, so, ok, etc. You should get used to just ignoring these words when you hear them, so that you can focus on the key words in the sentence.

Quoi is the most common filler that I hear in everyday speech. It can be used to add emphasis to emotions or thoughts or to show impatience. It is usually said at the very end of the sentence.
Voilà is often used with quoi at the end of the sentence.
A la limite is mostly used by young people, and can be translated as I suppose or I mean.
Tu vois ? is the closest approximation for you know?
Bon begins or ends a thought, similar to ok. It also can express anger or impatience, similar to fine! (Ah, bon ? actually means "really?" and not "good.")
Ben (pronounced liked bain) adds emphasis to questions, statements, commands and yes or no.
Bon ben is used to wrap up a thought or conversation. Translated as ok or well.
Donc emphasizes a question or command.
Alors emphasizes an interjection and yes or no.
Moi is commonly added to commands involving the senses. The closest translation in English is "just."

Regarde-moi-ça ! Just look at that!

Recognizing French Slang Words

Several suffixes are commonly used to form slang words from regular words. This may help you determine the meaning of the slang word, which you probably cannot find in a dictionary, by identifying the root word, which you can find in a dictionary. For example, folle is a regular adjective meaning crazy. Follasse is the slang word derived from the adjective that means crazy woman.

- aille (r)	- ard	- arès	- asse	- ace	- oche
- os	- osse	- ouille	- ouse	- ouze	- uche

Common Expressions

Je n'en reviens pas - I can't believe it
C'est du gâteau ! - It's a piece of cake!
Revenons à nos moutons - Let's get back to the subject
Ça saute aux yeux - That's obvious
C'est dans la poche - It's a sure thing
Quand les poules auront des dents - When pigs fly
Ça ne tourne pas rond - Something's wrong
C'est pas vrai ! - You're kidding!
Ce n'est pas la mer à boire - It's not the end of the world
C'est pas sorcier - It's not rocket science
Je vais jeter un œil - I'll take a look
Ça n'a rien à voir avec... - That has nothing to do with...
Ça vaut le coup - It's worth it

Common Verbs

balancer - to throw (away)
en baver - to have a hard time
bosser - to work
bouffer - to eat
bousiller - to break, damage
chialer - to cry
chopper - to get, to catch
débarquer - to arrive without notice
encarrer - to enter
engueuler - to yell
épater / scier - to astonish, surprise
être à deux doigts (de faire quelque chose) - to be on the verge (of doing something)
être à mourir d'ennui - to be very boring
faire gaffe - be careful, pay attention
farfouiller - to rummage
filer - to give, hand over
filer à l'anglaise - to leave without saying goodbye / to take a French leave
flipper - to go crazy, flip out
fourrer - to cram, stick, shove
foutre - to put, throw / to give / to do
foutre le bordel - to make a mess
gaver - to be sick of
gerber - to puke
gonfler - to annoy
louper - to miss
mater / zieuter - to look
paumer - to lose
piger - to understand
piquer - to steal
planquer - to hide
poireauter - to wait
repêcher - to find
rigoler / se marrer - to laugh
schlinguer - to stink
se planter - to make a mistake
se pointer / radiner - to show up
se tirer / se barrer / se casser - to leave
vadrouiller - to rove around

The verb foutre

This slang verb has several meanings in French: to put, to give, to do, etc. It is conjugated thus: fous - fous - fout - foutons - foutez - foutent. The pronominal verb s'en foutre means to not care, while the adjective foutu(e) usually means screwed/screwed up. Fiche is a milder expression that is very common too: je m'en fous / je m'en fiche. I don't care.

Qu'est-ce qu'il fout là-bas ? What's he doing over there? / What the hell is he doing over there??

Je n'en ai rien à foutre. I don't care. / I don't give a damn.

Je m'en fous de tes problèmes. I don't care about your problems.
Tu t'en fous de ce que les autres pensent. You don't care about what others think.
On s'en fout de foot ! We don't care about soccer!
Ils s'en foutent des jeunes. They don't care about young people.

Fous-moi la paix ! Leave me alone! / Give me a break!
Va te faire foutre ! Go to hell!

The adjective foutu does not always have a negative connotation, however:
un mec bien foutu a well-built/muscular guy

Common Adjectives

bidon - phoney, fake
chapeau - bravo, hats off!
collant - clingy
cradingue - filthy
débile - pathetic, stupid
dégueulasse - disgusting
dingue / cinglé / timbré / givré - crazy
farfelu - eccentric
génial / chouette - great
godiche - silly, awkward
impec - great, terrific
marrant / rigolo - funny
moche - ugly
nickel - very clean
pas terrible - not good
roublard - devious, cunning
salé - expensive
sympa - nice, likable
vache - mean

espèce de - stupid + adjective

Common Intensifiers / Adverbs

carrément - completely
rudement - very, terribly
pas mal de - a lot of
super - very, ultra
vachement - very, really
foutrement - extremely

Oh la vache ! - Oh wow!

Health & Body

babines (f) - lips
barbouze (f) - beard
bidon (m) - belly
caillou / ciboulot (m) - head
carcasse (f) - body
esgourdes (f) - ears
gueule (f) / bec (m) - mouth
jambons / gigots (m) - thighs
mirettes (f) - eyes
nichons (m) - breasts
palpitant (m) - heart
paluche (f) - hand
panard (m) - foot
patte / gambette / guibole (f) - leg
pif / blair (m) - nose
riquiqui (m) - pinkie finger
tifs (m) - hair
tignasse (f) - mop of hair
tronche (f) - face, head

se casser la gueule - to break one's neck
coller un pain / une mandale / une chataigne / un marron à quelqu'un - to punch someone
avoir la pêche - to be on top of the world
avoir mal au cœur - to feel nauseated / to feel like vomiting
avoir mauvaise / bonne mine - to look bad / good
être maigre comme un clou - to be really skinny
attraper la crève - to catch a terrible cold
requinquer - to perk up
se débarbouiller - to wash your face
à l'article de la mort - at death's door
bien roulée - good body
mal fichu - sick

Emotions & Feelings

crevé / lessivé / nase / mort - really tired, exhausted
être de mauvais poil - to be in a bad mood
en avoir marre / en avoir ras-le-bol / en avoir soupé - to be fed up, really angry
raffoler de quelque chose - to be crazy about something
être accro à quelque chose - to be addicted to something
avoir le mal du pays - to be homesick
se barber - to get bored
avoir la trouille / la frousse - to be scared
déconner - to mess around
se planter - to make a mistake / to fall
péter les plombs - to go crazy

pot (m) - luck
guigne / déveine (f) - bad luck
avoir de la veine - to be lucky
branché - with it, hip, cool
peinard - calm

s'engueuler / bagarrer - to fight, yell
blairer - to not be able to stand someone
casser les pieds à quelqu'un - to annoy someone
être casse-pieds - to be a pain in the neck
gonfler - to get on someone's nerves, be a pain
monter sur ses grands chevaux - to get angry
taper sur les nerfs à quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves
taquiner - to tease, bother someone
bête noire (f) - pet peeve
débile / taré - stupid, idiotic

avoir la cosse/flemme - to be lazy
avoir un poil dans la main - to be really lazy
avoir la bougeotte - to be fidgety
flemmard / feignant - lazy
glander / glandouiller - to waste time, to bum around

donner un coup de main - to give someone a hand / to help someone
dépanner quelqu'un - to do someone a favor
retirer une épine du pied à quelqu'un - to do someone a big favor

School

bahut (m) - school
bizut (m) - freshman / pledge (to a fraternity/sorority)
bizutage (m) - hazing
bouquin (m) - book
bûcher / potasser - to study hard, to cram
calé en - good/smart in
cartonner à un examen - to ace an exam
coller - to get detention
fac (f) - university
piger - to understand, to get (it)
potache (m) - student
se faire étendre - to flunk a test
sécher un cours - to skip class

Weather & Time

cailler - to freeze
cramer - to burn
flotter - to rain
flotte (f) - water
temps de chien - lousy weather
tomber des cordes - to rain heavily

entre chien et loup - at dusk, sunset
pige (f) - year
un de ces quat' - one of these days

Talking & Chatting

avoir de la tchatche - to talk a lot
avoir un mot sur le bout de la langue - to have a word on the tip of your tongue
baratin (m) - nonsense
baratiner - to sweet talk
bavarder / causer - to chat
casser les oreilles à quelqu'un - to talk someone's ear off
chanter comme une casserole - to sing really badly
charabia (m) - gibberish
charrier - to exaggerate
dégoiser - to talk a lot, rattle on
donner un coup de fil - to call, telephone
et patati et patata - blah blah blah
jacter - to speak, chatter
parler une langue comme une vache espagnole - to speak a language really badly
passer du coq à l'âne - to quickly change the subject
quand on parle du loup - speak of the devil
rouspéter - to complain, moan
tchatcher - to chat
tuyau (m) / astuce (f) - tip, piece of advice

Eating & Drinking

avoir la dalle - to be starving
avoir la gueule de bois - to have a hangover
avoir les crocs - to be very hungry
avoir un petit creux - to be a little hungry
arroser - to drink to celebrate something
Berk ! - Yuck!
bouffe / boustifaille (f) - food
bouffer - to eat
bourré / pété / saoul / plein - drunk
ça fouette - that stinks (said of cheese)
chaud - tipsy, buzzed
gavé - stuffed (ate too much)
se goinfrer - to pig out
Miam ! - Yum!
picoler - to drink alcohol
poivrot (m) - drunkard
pot (m) - drink
régaler - to treat, pay
repu - full (of food)
tituber - to stumble (drunkenly)
tournée (f) - round of drinks
trinquer - to toast, to drink to

People & Animals

beauf (m) - brother-in-law
boudin (m) - ugly girl
copain/copine (m/f) - friend, pal
cossard (m) - lazy bum
fiston (m) - son
frangin (m) - brother
frangine (f) - sister
gamin/e (m/f) - kid, brat
gars (m) - boy
gosse (m/f) - kid
mec / type (m) - guy
môme (m/f) - kid, brat
moutards / lardons / marmots / morveux (m) - kids
nana / gonzesse (f) - girl, chick
pote (m) - buddy, mate
vieux (m) - parents
voyou - punk

clébard (m) - mutt, hound

House & Vehicles

piaule / crèche (f) - bedroom
pieu / plumard / pageot (m) - bed
crècher - to crash, to live
pioncer / roupiller - to sleep
truc / machin (m) - a thing, thingamajig
bordel (m) / galère (f) - mess
bagnole / caisse (f) - car
baraque (f) - shed, stand, house

Work & Money

arnaquer - to rip off, cheat
arnaqueur (m) - con artist
boîte (f) - company
bosser - to work
boulot (m) - work, job
claquer - to blow money
du fric / du pognon / des sous (m) - money
fauché / à sec - broke
flic / poulet (m) - cop
mettre au clou - to hock, pawn
proprio (m/f) - landlord, landlady
radin - cheap
se faire arnaquer - to get ripped off
smicard (m) - someone who earns minimum wage
thune (f) - coin
toubib (m) - doctor
turbin (m) - job, daily grind

Love & Dating

avoir le béguin / craquer pour quelqu'un - to have a crush on someone
avoir le coup de foudre - to be in love at first sight
canon - hot, very attractive
draguer - to flirt
kiffer - to like
larguer / plaquer - to leave, dump (a person)
rencard (m) - date
rouler un patin / une pelle - to French kiss
poser un lapin à quelqu'un - to stand someone up (for a date)
tripoter - to grope, fondle

Fashion & Shopping

costard (m) - suit
fringues (f) - clothing
futal (m) - pants
godasse (f) - shoe
jogging / survêt / training (m) - jogging suit
pompe (f) - shoe
sweat (m) - sweatshirt

fringué / sapé - dressed
rabais - discount
ringard - old fashioned, out of style

Entertainment & Technology

clope / sèche (f) - cigarette
came (f) - drugs
boîte (f) - nightclub, bar
boum (f) - party
s'éclater - to have fun
se faire un ciné / se faire une toile - to go to the movies
cinoche (m) - movie theather
faire un tabac - to be a hit, success (a film, a song, etc.)
tube (f) - hit song
buter - to bump off, kill
taule (f) - jail, slammer
potin (m) - gossip
people / pipol (m) - celebrities
casting (m) - audition
book (m) - portfolio (for a model, actor, etc.)

Baby Talk

faire dodo - to go beddy-bye
avoir un bobo - to have a booboo
faire pipi - to go peepee
faire caca - to go poopoo

mamie / mémé - grandma
pappy / pépé - grandpa
tata / tatie - aunt
tonton - uncle

doudou (m) - blankie
joujoux (m) - toys
nounours (m) - teddy bear
toto (m) - car
lolo (m) - milk

minet (m) - kitty
toutou (m) - doggy
dada (f) - horsie

Proper Names

A la tienne, Etienne ! - Cheers!

Ça glisse, Alice ! - It's slippery!

Tu parles, Charles ! - You bet!

Idioms & Proverbs

C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. Practice makes perfect.
Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait. If the young knew, if the old could.
Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner. To understand is to forgive.
Vouloir, c'est pouvoir. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Un de perdu, dix de retrouvés. There's other fish in the sea.
L'habit ne fait pas le moine. Clothes doesn't make the man.

Animals

avoir d'autres chats à fouetter - to have better things to do; other fish to fry
avoir un chat dans la gorge - to have a frog in your throat
doux comme un agneau - soft/gentle like a lamb
un froid de canard - very cold
appeler un chat un chat - to call a spade a spade
s'entendre comme chien et chat - to get along like cats and dogs
un mal de chien - difficulties
une vie de chien - difficult life
passer du coq à l'âne - to change subjects quickly
avoir une mémoire d'éléphant - to have a good memory
avoir une faim de loup - to be starving
marcher à pas de loup - to walk silently
revenir à ses moutons - to get back to the subject
avoir la chair de poule - to have goosebumps
quand les poules auront les dents - when pigs fly
une peau de vache - a mean person
une langue de vipère - a person who often speaks badly of others
chercher la petite bête - to nitpick, split hairs
avoir le cafard - to be down, depressed
entre chien et loup - at dusk, sundown
avaler des couleuvres - to swallow one's pride
la brebis galeuse de la famille - black sheep of the family
le bouc émissaire / le dindon de la farce - scapegoat
avoir une araignée au plafond - to have bats in the belfry
être heureux comme un poisson dans l'eau - to be as happy as a clam at high tide
il y a anguille sous la roche - I smell a rat
il faut ménager la chèvre et le chou - you have to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
jetter quelqu'un dans la fosse aux lions - to throw someone to the wolves
se jetter dans la gueule du loup - to put one's hand in the lion's mouth
courir deux lièvres à la fois - to ride two horses at the same time
mettre la charue avant les bœufs - to put the cart before the horse
ce n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces - you can't teach an old dog new tricks
être hardi comme un coq sur son fumier - to be a showoff

Body Parts

se creuser la tête - to think really hard
se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter - to think oneself is better than everyone else
se mettre le doigt dans l'œil - to make a mistake
rester bouche cousue - to not say anything; keep a secret
avoir le coeur sur le main - to wear one's heart on one's sleeve
avoir un cheveu sur la langue - to lisp
ne pas avoir la langue dans sa poche - to be talkative
avoir la langue bien pendue - to know how to answer/talk
faire la tête - to pout
garder la tête froide - to keep one's calm
ne pas avoir froid aux yeux - to not be scared
avoir/mettre l'eau à la bouche - to want/drool over something
rester bouche bée - to be speechless
ne rien faire de ses dix doigts - to be lazy
avoir l'estomac dans les talons - to be hungry
prendre ses jambes à son cou - to leave quickly
ne pas lever le nez - to concentrate on something
à l'œil - without paying, for free
faire la sourde oreille - to not listen/hear
être bête comme ses pieds - to be stupid
mettre les pieds dans le plat - to say/do something stupid
coûter les yeux de la tête - to cost an arm and a leg
se payer la tête de quelqu-'un - to pull someone's leg
donner sa langue au chat - to give up
avoir les dents longues - to be ambitious
avoir le bras long - to have influence, connections
être au bout de la langue - to be at the tip of your tongue
avoir un poil dans la main - to be lazy, to avoid work
casser les pieds à quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves
manger sur le pouce - to grab a bite to eat
enlever une épine du pied à quelqu'un - to help someone out
dormir sur les deux oreilles - to sleep soundly
prendre la lune avec les dents - to try to do the impossible

Numbers

en moins de deux - very quickly
comme deux et deux font quatre - sure, certain
les deux font la paire - both are the same
jamais deux sans trois - something that's happened twice, will happen a third time
ni une ni deux - without hesitating, very fast
quatre à quatre - quickly
dire des quatre vérités à quelqu'un - to say what you think of someone
se mettre en quatre - to give oneself a hard task
un de ces quatre - one of these days
être tiré à quatre épingles - to be dressed well
tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche - to take time to think before speaking
voir trente-six chandelles - to see stars
faire les cent pas - to pace back and forth, come and go
faire les quatre cents coups - to have a hectic and chaotic life; to sow one's wild oats
se mettre sur son trente et un - to be dressed to kill

Colors

blanc bonnet et bonnet blanc - the same thing
être blanc comme un linge - to be white from fear
passer une nuit blanche - to spend a sleepless night
donner carte blanche à quelqu'un - to let someone do what they want
être un cordon bleu - to be a good cook
être fleur bleu - to be sentimental
avoir une peur bleue - to be scared stiff
être la bete noire - to be the person that no one likes
avoir des idées noires - to be sad
voir la vie en rose - to see the good side of things, to be optimistic
donner le feu vert - to give the green light to someone
se mettre au vert - to rest in the countryside
devenir pourpre - to get red with embarassment

Food

appuyer sur le champignon - to go very fast, accelerate
être haut comme trois pommes - to be small
ne pas être dans son assiette - to not feel yourself
sucrer les fraises - to be senile, crazy
tomber dans les pommes - to faint, pass out
couper la poire en deux - to meet halfway
jeter de l'huile sur le feu - to add fuel to the fire
tondre des œufs - to be cheap, a skinflint
pédaler dans la semoule - to become insane, senile
c'est la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder la vase - it's the straw that broke the camel's back
mettre du beurre dans les épinards - to help financially
casser du sucre sur son dos - to spread lies about someone, talk about someone behind his/her back
être dans le pétrin - to be in a jam

Other

être dans ses petits souliers - to not feel comfortable
faire d'une pierre deux coups - to kill two birds with one stone
ne pas être de la dernière pluie - to not be born yesterday
passer une nuit blanche - to have a sleepless night
pendre la crémaillère - to have a house-warming party
vendre la mèche - to let the cat out of the bag, to tell a secret
n'y voir que du feu - to be taken in / to be had
ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillière - to not be subtle about something
faire un chèque en bois - to write a bad check
manger les pissenlits par la racine - to push up daisies, to be dead and buried
tourner autour du pot - to beat around the bush
se mettre à table - to confess, come clean
mettre des bâtons dans les roues de quelqu'un - to throw a monkey wrench in someone's business
reprendre ses billes - to renege on a deal
un coup d'épée dans l'eau - a wasted effort
être au four et au moulin - to be in two places at once
faire le pont - to take a long weekend
tirer les plans sur la comète - to count one's chickens before they have hatched
ce n'est pas la mer à boire - it's not as bad as all that
c'est au bout du monde - it's halfway around the world
ce n'est pas le Pérou - it's nothing to write home about
tirer le diable par la queue - to barely get by
il ne faut pas déshabiller Pierre pour payer Paul - you shouldn't rob Paul to pay Peter
parler à quelqu'un à brûle-pourpoint - to ask someone point-blank

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