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Cheat sheet
Sounding natural: cheat sheet
The summary, key terms and the trap to avoid for every lesson, in order. Print it, or read it, cover it, and say it back.
- French has three registers: soutenu (formal), courant (standard) and familier (casual).
- In speech, ne is often dropped and on replaces nous; in writing and formal speech, keep ne and nous.
- Start with vous for strangers, managers and new colleagues; move to tu when the other person suggests it.
- Interview and landlady: courant to formal and polite, with vous. Friends: familier, with tu.
- stp and chais pas belong to texts and speech between friends only.
- soutenu
- formal, careful register
- courant
- standard, neutral register
- familier
- casual register, used with friends and family
- tutoyer
- to address someone as tu
- vouvoyer
- to address someone as vous
- on
- we (in speech), instead of nous
- stp / svp
- texting short forms of s'il te plaît / s'il vous plaît
- cordialement
- a neutral way to end an email
Watch out: Using one register for everything. Typical slips: a casual word to someone you should address formally (wrong: Salut, tu peux m'envoyer le contrat ? to a landlady), or writing a text to a friend like a letter. Another is mixing tu and vous with the same person (wrong: Pourriez-vous me dire si tu as le temps ?).
- Discourse markers organise speech: learn what they signal, not a fixed translation.
- bref wraps up; en fait corrects or contrasts; enfin can correct yourself; du coup gives a result.
- genre, ben, du coup and tu vois are casual: fine among friends, not in formal writing.
- Actuellement means currently; "actually" is en fait.
- Use markers sparingly: one now and then sounds natural.
- bref
- in short
- en fait
- actually
- enfin
- well, I mean (correction); finally
- quand même
- all the same, still
- du coup
- so, as a result
- genre
- like, sort of (casual)
- bon
- well, right
- ben
- well (very casual)
- tu vois
- you see
- voilà
- there you go
- franchement
- honestly
- alors
- so, then
Watch out: Translating actually as wrong: actuellement. Actuellement means currently. For "actually", say en fait: wrong: Actuellement, il n'est pas malade, il est juste fatigué → En fait, il n'est pas malade, il est juste fatigué.
- An idiom is a fixed phrase: learn it whole, never word for word.
- Feelings: avoir le cafard, avoir la flemme, en avoir marre, être dans la lune.
- People: poser un lapin, mettre son grain de sel, raconter des salades.
- Love, money and weather: avoir un coup de foudre (avoir le coup de foudre is the more common form for a person; one can also say it of a flat), coûter les yeux de la tête, il pleut des cordes.
- Check the register: familier idioms belong to conversation, not to formal emails.
- une expression idiomatique / une locution
- a fixed phrase with its own meaning
- courant
- standard register
- familier
- casual register
- avoir le cafard
- to feel down
- poser un lapin
- to stand someone up
- avoir la flemme
- to not feel like it
- en avoir marre
- to be fed up
- être dans la lune
- to daydream
Watch out: Translating an English idiom word for word: wrong: il pleut des chats et des chiens (it's raining cats and dogs). French says il pleut des cordes (or à verse).
- Slang is for recognising, not for copying: some words sound too casual or out of place from a learner.
- Verlan reverses the sounds of a word: louche → chelou, fou → ouf, femme → meuf, fête → teuf.
- Only established verlan words exist: don't invent your own.
- Everyday slang: un truc, bouffer, le boulot, un mec, une nana, kiffer, c'est chaud.
- For each slang word, know a neutral equivalent and keep that one for formal situations.
- le verlan
- slang that reverses the syllables of a word
- chelou
- weird, dodgy (from louche)
- ouf
- crazy, incredible (from fou)
- meuf
- woman, girl (from femme)
- teuf
- party (from fête)
- relou
- annoying (from lourd)
- un truc
- a thing
- bouffer
- to eat (casual)
- le boulot
- work
- un mec / une nana
- a guy / a girl (casual)
- kiffer
- to love, enjoy
- c'est chaud
- it's tricky or risky
Watch out: Trying to invent verlan by reversing any word: wrong: maison → sonmai. It may not be understood: speakers decide which forms catch on. Use only words you have heard people use, and don't create new ones.