‘What do you mean’ in French
In today’s lesson, we are clearing up any confusion around a fundamental concept: how to say “to mean” in French and ask ‘What do you mean?! 🇫🇷
Practice with the cheat sheet here:
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#1 The verb 'to mean' in French
In French, ‘to mean’ is actually a mix of two verbs translating into ‘To want to say’.
You’ll need to use the verb ‘to want’ followed by the verb ‘to say’. The first verb is conjugated while the second one always stays in its base form (infinitif).
‘To want’ is vouloir in French and to say is ‘Dire’. Hence, ‘vouloir dire’ is ‘to mean’ in English.
To use it, you need to know how to use the verb ‘vouloir’. We’ll use the present tense.
C’est parti and repeat after me!
Je veux dire = I mean.
Tu veux dire = You mean.
Il/Elle veut dire = He/She means.
Nous voulons dire = We mean.
Vous voulez dire = You mean (formal/you all).
Ils/elles veulent dire = They mean.
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#2 French expressions with 'to mean' to know absolutely
As mentioned, sometimes you need more details, explanations, or you want to make sure to be understood!
You already know how to say ‘I mean’ (je veux dire) so let’s practice more French expressions you absolutely need to know!
‘Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire?’ = What does this mean?
Qu’est-ce que vous voulez dire? = What do you mean? (formal/you all)
Qu’est-ce que tu veux dire? = What do you mean?
If you’d like to sound slightly more sophisticated, you can also say :
Qu’est-ce que cela signifie ? = What does this mean?
(but you never use ‘signifier’ when you’re the subject!)
Par exemple :
Qu’est-ce que ce mot veut dire ? = What does this word mean?
Qu’est-ce qu’il veut dire ? = What does he mean?
Qu’est-ce que ce symbole signifie ? = What does this symbol mean?
#3 Spoken French with 'to mean' to know absolutely
Spoken French is often different from standard French! Let’s review the same expressions in spoken French.
‘ça veut dire quoi?’ = What does this mean?
‘Vous voulez dire quoi? = What do you mean? (formal/you all)
‘Tu veux dire quoi?’ = What do you mean?
