French is an interesting language with words that some of you are probably familiar with, and other words that can sound very strange to the Israeli ear. Want to get to know the language a little more in depth for your trip to France?
Even if you think you have no idea what French is, you'd be surprised at how many French terms you already know, simply because over the years we've borrowed about 20-30 terms that we use on a daily basis. We can use these words to open a window into the French language, understand how to pronounce words correctly, and learn about some of the craziness that exists in this language and the pronunciation of words, which sometimes goes against common sense.
Here are 15 interesting words in French, including detailed explanations of their meaning:
Chauffeur – The hot driver
Chauffeur (“שופֶר”) – We know the meaning of the word in English as “driver”. With the invention of engines and cars, the first drivers’ job was to start the engine and keep it warm. Indeed, the word Chauffeur is taken from the French verb Chuaffer (“שופֶה”, the r at the end is not pronounced), which means to heat. That is, the driver is “the one who heats”, Chauffeur. From this we can also learn the word Chaud (“שוֹ”) which means “hot”.
The French are masters at dropping consonants, especially at the end of a word. We know this from the names of car manufacturers Peugeot and Renault, as well as the watch manufacturer Cartier.
Inhale – why don't you have a hat?
The word Chapeau! (“Cheer up!”) is widely used in Israel. Hebrew speakers can easily think that the word means “Bravo!” or “Well done!” But the word simply means “hat”! In fact, when you say “Chapeau!”, you mean “I take my hat off to you.”
Deja vu – where have I heard that before?
The expression Déjà Vu is used to indicate a familiar feeling from the past, or a place we have already been. Scientists speculate that what triggers déjà vu is a feeling of familiarity (“on the tip of the tongue”) rather than memory. That is, it is possible that a similarity between two environments or faces, without having a specific memory of either, can trigger déjà vu. The exact meaning of the expression is ‘already seen’. That is, something that has already been seen in the past. The word Vu is the past tense of the verb Voir (pronounced V-wa-r), which means “to see.”
Chef – Who is the landlord here?
Chef : We all know the word “chef” from the restaurant world, but the word generally means “manager” or “boss.” In the case of the restaurant world, the word is used as an abbreviation for Chef de cuisine, meaning the head of the kitchen. There are also other chefs: Chef d'Etat (Chef de Tah) is the head of state (prime minister) and Chef de ventes (Chef de vente) is the head of sales.
We can also mention the role of sous-chef – he is the chef's assistant, that is, the one below him. Indeed, the word Sous (“сущ”) means 'under'.
Low Netherlands
Pays-Bas (“Pays-Bas”) . Remember how the Netherlands is called in French at Eurovision? That’s right – Pays-Bas! What’s the connection between the Netherlands and this nickname? The word Pays (“Pays”) means “country”. And the word Bas (“Bas”) means ‘low’. All because the Netherlands is below sea level!
And what about Eurovision?
Le Royaume-Uni (“The Kingdom”) . What is the name of Britain in Eurovision? That’s right – Royaume-Uni! What is the connection between this long word and the United Kingdom? So – Le Roi (“The Kingdom”) is the King and Le Royaume (“The Kingdom”) is the Kingdom.
A kingdom in French is masculine. One of the most difficult challenges in switching to a new language is the different gender assignments for nouns. For example, the sun in French is masculine (Le Soleil) and the moon is feminine (La Lune).
Le Royaume-Uni (“Le Royaume-Uni”) is the United Kingdom! Let’s also remember that the name Roy means “king,” and in Spanish the word Rey also means king.
Wella Woo – What are Abba singing about?
Remember the stunning song by ABBA , “Voulez-Vous” ? What does the name mean? The simple interpretation is “Do you want/Do you want?” When there is an allusion here to the famous phrase “Would you like/Would you like to sleep with me tonight?” But the exact meaning of the pair of words is “Do you want.”
Why in the plural? Because in French (as in other languages), when addressing a stranger or a respected person, one addresses them in the plural to maintain distance. So Voulez means “you want,” and Vous means “you.” Who wants you?
Let's talk about love.
Je t'aime (“Je t'aime”) – of course means “I love you”. This is a shortened version of Je te aime, with the last two words connected with an apostrophe. Je means “I”, te means “you” and aime means “love”. I love you, with the verb “to love” being Aimer (“Aime”). We can also mention Emile Zola’s “I accuse!”, J'accuse (“J'accuse”), where this is also a combination of two words, Je and Accuse.
And a Little More About Love – by Mike Brant
Laisse-moi t'aimer (“les moi t'aimer”) – “Let me love you” (Mike Brandt’s famous song). Here is another example of the use of the verb Aimer (“aime” – to love). The verb Laisser (“les moi”) means “to let” or “to allow”. Laisse-moi means “let me” and t'aimer is the familiar abbreviation of the two words te aimer – “to love you”. Let me love you! Now all that’s left is to listen to the song and appreciate it anew!
In this context, it is interesting to note the common English term Laisser-faire, which means “let-do.” The term describes a policy of non-intervention, that is, letting things take care of themselves, for example, a country that does not intervene in its economy, assuming that market forces will balance it out on their own.
And it's impossible without the Eiffel Tower
(“La Tour Eiffel”) – that is, the famous Eiffel Tower , named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel who built it. Note that the word Tour (tower in French) is feminine, and therefore it is preceded by the pronoun “la.” And now we can also understand the sense of humor in Yoni Rechter’s poem “The Great Journey” (words by Ali Mohr):
“And pick some flower in Timbuktu,
and watch football at the Maracana,
And tour the Eiffel and its surroundings,
Then return to Tel Aviv.”
Between a coupe and a collage
Coupé : Remember the “coupe” cars? Those short, or more precisely “cut” cars? They got their name from the verb Couper, which sounds exactly the same, which means “to cut.” We can also mention the verb Coller, which means “to glue.” Where did we come across this verb? In the word collage, which means “to glue,” as when you make a collage of pictures in a frame. The combination of words Couper-Coller is the familiar combination from the computer world, cut and paste.
Let it open up for me, let it open up
Parachute , as in English, means “parachute.” The word is made up of two words: Para, meaning “against” or “anti,” and Chute, meaning “fall,” and together – against a fall. And what does the word Parapluie mean? Against rain, i.e. an umbrella!
Days of the week
Did you know that most days of the week in French are named after celestial bodies?
Monday – Lundi (“Lundy”) is named after the moon, La Lune.
Tuesday – Mardi (“March”) is named after the planet Mars (“Mars”).
Wednesday – Mercredi (“Mercury”) is named after the planet Mercury (“Mercury”).
Thursday – Jeudi (“Judi”) is named after the planet Jupiter
Friday – Vendredi (“Vondredi”) is named after the planet Venus
For the sake of completeness, we will add the rest of the days of the week:
Saturday – Samedi (“Samdi”)
Sunday – Dimanche (“Dimanche”)
Stamp in a pony
Carré (“square”) – Where does the name of the French haircut carré come from? The word means “square” and indeed the haircut is reminiscent of the geometric shape!
Another example of the use of the word – Un carré de chocolat (“A square of chocolate”) – a square of chocolate.
The most delicious stick – a baguette
Baguette – We all know the famous French bread , but what is the original meaning of the word? The answer is simply – stick. Indeed, the baguette got its name because of its elongated shape.
Note that words or names with the suffix Ette are feminine, such as the names Annette, Ninette, etc. That is, the Pali baguette is generally feminine…
What's happening, what's up, what's the situation, how's it going?
Comment ça va? (“Como sà và?”) which means “How are you?” or more precisely “How are you?” or ‘How is it going?’. There are a few things to learn from this sentence. First, words that end in -ent should be pronounced as if they ended in an open ‘o’, with the accent at the end of the word. So is the word comment (“como”). Other examples are the words moment (“momò”, meaning a moment) and seulement (“sélumò”, meaning only). The word ça means ‘this’. Note the squiggle under the letter ‘c’ (cedilla), which is to indicate that the word should be pronounced as ‘sà’ and not as ‘ka’. The word va means “going”. How are you going? Other variations are comment vas-tu? (“como sà và tu”) which means “How are you going?” or “How are you doing?”, and the more polite version: comment-allez vous? (“Como ta-ale vu”) – How are you?
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