French. What a beautiful language. It sounds elegant and alluring. I find that there are many words, phrases, and sounds that are so pleasing to my ears. There are so many beautiful phrases.
There are also so rather funny ones. I have been learning French for two years now and I have enjoyed almost every minute of it. I'm in no way an expert or entirely fluent, but it's a lot of fun for me to learn more.
If you've studied another language before, you may have found that phrases or adjectives may be used a lot differently or have quite different meanings than in English.
That's the fun of it all! Here are some beautiful, ridiculous, and useful French phrases (and some beautiful pictures of France) you need to start using. Allons-y!
L'habit ne fait pas le moine.
The literal translation of this phrase is "the habit doesn't make the monk." It can be compared to the English phrase "the suit doesn't make the man."
Basically, it means to not judge someone without knowing them.
Avoir le cafard.
This phrase means "to have the cockroach" and it means to feel sad. We could compare it to our English saying "to feel blue."
N'oublie pas de vivre.
Maybe I put this one in here just because it's one of my favorites (maybe). It simply means "don't forget to live."
Passer l'éponge.
This means to "pass a sponge" or to clean up a mess made. It is similar to the English phrase to "wipe the slate clean" or to start over.
Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard.
This literally means "it doesn't break three legs of a duck" which means that it isn't that great or impressive. We can compare it to the phrase "nothing to write home about."
Vivre sans aimer n'est pas proprement vivre.
This Molière quote means "to live without loving is to not really live." I just think it's beautiful.
Ce n'est pas la mer à boire.
This translates to "it is not as if you have to drink the sea." It means that it isn't that hard.
C'est la fin des haricots.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna be saying this every chance I get. This phrase literally means "it's the end of the beans!" It can be compared to the English phrase, "game over!"
Il faut tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler.
Translating to "you should turn your tongue seven times in your mouth before you speak" this phrase pretty much means to think before you speak.
