Don’t say comme-çi comme-ça!
Don’t say comme-çi comme-ça! Stop using outdated French to sound like a Native! At the end of this episode, you will know bad expressions to avoid and the right ones to use to speak like a native and be understood! Welcome to 2021 and not 1971!
#1 ‘Comme çi comme ça’…
You all have heard ‘Comme çi comme ça’… I can assure you that almost nobody will use ‘comme çi comme ça’ in France except tourists! If someone asks you ‘Comment ça va ?’, Please, do me a favor, and never use ‘comme çi comme ça’ ever again!! You want to use ’Couçi couça’ ….. Yes, and then, you will sound like a true French person… ‘Couçi-couça’……. The meaning is the same…. ‘so-so’…..
#2 C’est fantastique ! C’est terrifique ! Ou Fantastique / Terrifique…
Stay away from these two expressions….Even my grand mother does not use these expressions! French will think you are coming straight from the 50’s… You will be better of saying ‘Génial’ or ‘C’est Génial’… or ‘Super’ … ‘C’est super’ or ‘Top’ or ‘C’est top!
#3 Au contraire ! (At the contrary)….
Again, you will sound out of touch from spoken French… You have to use ‘A l’inverse’…. ‘A l’inverse’ when you want you to mean ’At the contrary’ in French…
#4 ‘C’est incroyable’ or ‘incroyable’….
Incredible but nobody will really say this…. You want to use ‘C’est pas vrai ! … C’est pas vrai’… the translation is ‘This is not true’… but the implied meaning is ‘Incredible’… Trust me!
#5 ‘Je ne sais quoi’…
if you want people to stare at you in shock try ‘je ne sais quoi’…. French people don’t use this expression and they will have absolutely no idea about what you are talking about….
#6 ’N’est-ce pas’
at the end of the sentence… I know your high school French teacher tortured you with this one… and for nothing…. Nobody in France uses ’n’est ce pas’ at the end of a French sentence… Maybe be you heard some old dialogues in movies…. Drop it entirely, and if you really badly want to use a similar expression, then just add ‘Non?’ at the end…..
#7 Sympathique…
Sympathique means Nice… Except that every says ’Sympa’ in French… Such as ‘Elle est sympa’ (she is nice) or ‘C’est sympa’ .. ‘This is nice’… Sympa…
#8 Exactement ou Absolument…
Try not to translate ‘Exactly’ or ‘Absolutely’ in French…. Instead use ’Tout à fait’ ou ‘Carrément’ …..Tout à fait’ ou ‘Carrément’….. They mean the same, with ‘carrément’ sometimes used as ‘Oh really’ , make sure in this case to stress the last syllables…
#9 Drop the Ne….
When French speaks, they drop the ‘NE’ when using negation…. For example, ‘Je ne veux pas’ (I don’t want) is often pronounced ‘ Je veux pas’… Ce n’est pas (this is not) is often pronounced ‘C’est pas’… Let’s practice … If you need to say ‘It doesn’t matter’ you will ‘C’est pas grave’ … C’est pas grave ( no grave involved here)… ‘C’est pas grave’ means it doesn’t matter … And when of you are at a restaurant….‘This is not good’ … C’est pas bon ….. ’This is not hot’… ‘C’est pas chaud…
Allright, you made it!! Now you know to stay away from Don’t say comme-çi comme-ça Thank you again, and please share with your friends, comment, and join the Facebook page or Instagram account!
Make sure to check out my workshops to be fully ready when you go to France! Merci !!