It's freezing cold - French Expression Part of Mots Du Jour | Vocabulary Lists What does the French expression 'un froid de canard' mean? What does it sound like? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne. As the weather is getting colder and colder in France, I was thinking of that funny expression: un froid de canard. Literally, a cold of duck, a duck's cold. un froid de canard means that it's freezing cold. I think the expression comes from hunting ducks in the fall, when hunters...

at dusk – French expression Part of Mots Du Jour | Practice French Expressions What does the French expression ‘entre chien et loup’ mean? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne. entre chien et loup – between dog and wolf. entre chien et loup means ‘at dusk’, ‘at twilight’. It describes that hour when it’s difficult to see well, between day and night, when you can’t really see if you’re looking at a dog or at a wolf. entre chien et loup is used a lot when talking...

to make a mistake – French expression Part of Mots Du Jour | Reflexive Verbs – List se tromper – oneself to mislead. se tromper means ‘to make a mistake’. * « Oh là là ! Je me suis trompé. Elle m’avait donné rendez-vous dans le VIème, mais comme elle avait écrit son message avec un chiffre romain, j’ai inversé et je suis allée dans le IVème. »* ‘Oh dear ! I made a mistake. She had given me a meeting point in the sixth arrondissement, but because she wrote her message with...

what a disaster – French expression Part of Mots Du Jour | Strike and Protest Terms – Today’s French What does ” bonjour les dégâts ” mean? How do you say ‘ what a disaster ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. bonjour les dégâts – hello the damages – In everyday French, bonjour les dégâtsmeans ‘what a disaster’. * « Regarde cet arrêt de bus détruit après la manif. Bonjour...

to go over the top – French expression Part of Mots Du Jour | Le Festival de Cannes faire son cinéma – to do one’s movies. In everyday French, faire son cinéma means to be dramatic, to be over the top about something, to draw the attention onto oneself, to be a ham, to ham it up. There is another word that means the same thing. It’s cabotiner. I love cabotiner. It feels like it’s coming from old times, and as a result, it’s not very used any more. However, faire son...

things behind you – French expression Part of Mots Du Jour | La Covid What does ” tourner la page ” mean? How do you say ‘ to put things behind you ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com tourner la page – to turn the page. In everyday French, tourner la page means ‘to make a fresh start’, to put things behind you’. * « Je ne sais pas comment on va pouvoir tourner la page après...

le premier mai – Mot du Jour Part of Le Mot du Jour | Merry Month of May le premier mai – the first May. le premier mai is also called ‘la fête du travail’ which means ‘work holiday’, or ‘labor day’. le premier mai is ‘May Day’ or ‘French Labor Day’. It is celebrated on May 1 every year. French workers and Unions march in the streets of all major cities after they bought a twig of lily of the valley. * « Le premier mai, c’est la fête du travail. On achète un brin de...

fumer la moquette - French expression What does the French expression ‘ fumer la moquette ’ mean? How is it used in a sentence? fumer la moquette - to smoke the carpeting. fumer la moquette means two things. First, it means to smoke pot. I'm not sure where that comes from. Is it because you're ready to smoke carpeting if you don't have pot anymore, or is it that carpeting looks like grass? Anyway, this expression is fairly new. Its second meaning, gaining popularity, is that someone is out...

to be fed up – French expression Part of All Levels | French Expressions – Daily Practice What does ” en avoir marre ” mean? How do you say ‘to be fed up’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. en avoir marre – to it to have enough. In everyday French, en avoir marre means ‘to be sick of it’, ‘to have had enough’, to be fed up’. * « J’ai arrêté de lire cette histoire. Les...

LOL – French expression Part of Le Mot du Jour | Halloween and La Toussaint MDR – mort de rire – dead of laughter. mort de rire or être mort de rire means ‘laughing out loud, to laugh one’s head off’, ‘LOL’, which is also used in French, in text messages  as MDR. * « J’adore la blague que tu viens de me raconter. MDR. »* “I love the joke you just told me. LOL.“ BECOME A MEMBER – FREE TRIAL  Further your French – Allez plus Loin Trick or Treat in...

to make a mess – French expression What does ” mettre la zone ” mean? How do you say ‘ to shake things up ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. mettre la zone – to put the mess – In everyday French, mettre la zone means ‘to disrupt, to wreak something, to make a mess’. * « Les gosses ont bien mis la zone dans la voiture pendant que je conduisais. Je ne retrouve plus mon...

lundimanche – French expression What does lundimanche mean? How is it pronounced? How is lundimanche used in a sentence. Listen to Anne, repeat after her. Learn French at FrenchHour.com Covid-19 has created a tragic situation and I want to reiterate how much we’re grateful to all who are going to work despite the crisis. My thoughts are also with those who lost loved ones. I was listening to the radio yesterday, and the journalist was talking about this new words in French, due...

Internet Giants – French expression What does GAFA mean in French? How is it used in a sentence? Learn French with Anne at Frenchhour.com GAFA. G. A. F. A. is an acronym for Google – Apple – Facebook – Amazon. Often included in these internet giants are Microsoft, Uber, Airbnb. They are often in the heart of French news as these large tech-companies may be taxed on local revenues from now on, even though they are based mostly in the States. * « Est-ce que t’as entendu...

ELEVE or ETUDIANT ? – French Expression Should you say ELEVE or ETUDIANT? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne’s AUDIO file. un/e élève is someone who goes to a school.un/e étudiant/e is someone who goes to a university – la fac. It is confusing because in English, you may easily hear the word ‘student’ not necessarily applying to a university. For instance, you can hear: my father is a student at French Hour. French Hour is not a university, it’s a school. So even if my...

13 people at the dinner table – French expression What does the French expression “13 à table” mean? How is it used in a sentence? treize à table – thistheen at table – treize à table means ‘thirteen people at the dinner table’ and it’s supposed to bring bad luck. Take the free quiz on French superstitions here. People who are superstitious tend to invite an extra person to avoid the wrath of the gods. * « Oh là là, nous serons treize à table ce soir. J’invite le voisin...

to feel like home – French expression What does ” avoir le goût du terroir ” mean? How do you say ‘ to feel like home ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. avoir le goût du terroir – to have the taste of the local. In everyday French, avoir le goût du terroir can describe something literally and figuratively. It sets a positive slant describing all the features of a particular region, of...

hats off – French expression What does ” tirer son chapeau à quelqu’un ” mean? How do you say ‘ hats off ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. tirer son chapeau à quelqu’un – to shoot, to pull one’s hat at someone. In everyday French, tirer son chapeau à quelqu’un means that you admire someone for what they did, or that you express your respect for them. In English, I translated it as ‘to...

nothing we can do – French expression What does ” le tour est joué ” mean? How do you say ‘ nothing we can do ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. le tour est joué – the trick is played. In everyday French, le tour est jouémeans that it’s over and ‘there is nothing we can do about it’. * « En un tour de main, le tour était joué, et on a su que c’était lui, le nouveau champion du...

here and there – French expression What does ” ici et là ” mean? How do you say ‘ here and there ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. ici et là – here and there. Today, our expression is straight forward, y a pas photo. ici et là means ‘here and there’. * « Si tu vas sur le site de français d’Anne, tu trouveras des photos de sa ferme ici et là. »* “If you go to Anne’s French site,...

here we go again – French expression What does ” c’est reparti ” mean? How do you say ‘ here we go again ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. c’est reparti comme en 40 – it’s to leave again like in 40. 40 (quarante) is the year 1940 during the second world war. I’m not sure why we use this expression in such a way, but c’est reparti comme en 40 expresses the idea that something big and...

What are you staring at? – French expression Learn a French expression today. What does ” tu veux ma photo ” mean? How do you say ‘ What are you staring at ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. tu veux ma photo ?– you want my picture?. In everyday French, tu veux ma photo means ‘What are you staring at?’. * « Arrête de me regarder comme ça. Tu veux ma photo ? »* “Stop looking at me...

a date – French expression What does ” un rencard ” mean? How do you say ‘ a date ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. un rencard can also be spelled with a t at the end – un rencart. Go figure! In everyday French, and it’s familiar French, un rencard means ‘a date’. If you wanted to be more sophisticated, you’d say ‘un rendez-vous amoureux’. * « Je peux pas venir avec toi faire...

to meet halfway – French expression What does ” eau dans son vin ” mean? How do you say ‘ to meet halfway ’ in French? How is it pronounced? How is it used in a French sentence? Listen to Anne, a French native say it at FrenchHour.com. mettre de l’eau dans son vin – to put some the water in his/her wine. In everyday French, mettre de l’eau dans son vin means that you agree to compromise with someone, ‘to make concessions’, to meet someone halfway’. * « Il a mis beaucoup...

Wine course – French dictation A “dictée” is the transcription of a spoken text. This dictation is going to help you improve your French vocabulary, your understanding of the structure of sentences and your listening comprehension as well. En français Cours d’œnologie – Dictée J’ai trouvé un cours d’œnologie super. On apprend à faire des accords mets et vins, on va même faire des excursions dans des châteaux. Ce sont des cours du soir… In English Wine...