French blunders to avoid at all costs
French blunders to avoid at all costs: Aujourd’hui, nous allons parler des ‘faux-pas’, blunders you have to avoid in French! As a language-learner, we often translate expressions from our native language and cross fingers! I’m about to reveal the expressions to avoid at all costs if you don’t want to puzzle or embarrass people!
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French blunders to avoid at all costs
Aujourd’hui, nous allons parler des ‘faux-pas’, blunders you have to avoid in French! As a language-learner, we often translate expressions from our native language and cross fingers! I’m about to reveal the expressions to avoid at all costs if you don’t want to puzzle or embarrass people!
#1 Quel temps est-il ?
‘Quel temps est-il ?’ n’a aucun sens en français. This expression has zero meaning in French. This is a mix of ‘Quel temps fait-il ?‘ and ‘Quelle heure est-il ?‘
Quel temps fait-il ? means ‘how is the weather? whereas ‘quelle heure est-il ?‘ means ‘what time is it?
#2 Je suis chaude/ j’ai chaud
Replying ‘Je suis chaud’ or ‘je suis chaude’ to a French person inquiring about your well-being is a big blunder.
Il faut utiliser le verbe avoir. J’ai chaud 🥵 (same for man or woman) when you want to say you’re feeling hot.
Je suis chaude/ je suis chaud has a sexual subtext.
#3 Je suis bonne/je suis bien/je vais bien
Comment ça va ? Je vais bien.
That is your correct answer!
‘Je suis bien’ is closer to ‘I’m comfortable’
Je suis bon/je suis bonne also have sexual undertones.
#4 Je suis excité
‘je suis excité’ is explicitly sexual is French.
Make a habit to practice ‘j‘ai hâte de + verbe‘ such as ‘j’ai hâte de voyager’, j’ai hâte d’être en France’
#5 Je suis plein/pleine
‘I’m full’ does not translate at all in French…
When you say that, this is slang, meaning ‘I’m drunk!’.
If you’re not hungry anymore, then a simple ‘je n’ai plus faim’ (I’m not hungry anymore) or ‘j’ai assez mangé‘ (I’ve eaten enough)
Allright, you made it!! Practice makes perfect!
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Merci et à bientôt, Séverine