5.14 Idioms and set phrases — Epoché
What you will be able to do Understand and use fifty-five idioms and set phrases that French speakers use every day: replies, linking phrases, greetings, moods, and comments on people and things. Reply naturally in conversation with ça marche , tant pis , ça m'est égal , pas de quoi . Recognise the idioms whose images differ from their English equivalents: a cat in the throat, a hair in the hand, ropes of rain. Judge the register of each phrase, and keep the informal ones for informal company. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Je voudrais vraiment faire la grasse matinée. [1] I'd really like to sleep in. Je m'en fiche de toute façon. [2] I don't care anyway. Arrête de me casser les pieds ! [3] Stop bugging me! Je ne fais jamais la grasse matinée. [4] I never sleep in. Il a fait exprès de casser la fenêtre. [5] He broke the window on purpose. Vous voulez peut-être mettre cela en lieu sûr. [6] You might want to put this someplace safe. Le garçon a fait semblant d'être trop malade pour aller à l'école. [7] The boy pretended that he was too sick to go to school. Avez-vous fait cela exprès ? [8] Did you do that purposely? Prerequisites : 5.13 — this is the last vocabulary lesson of the phase, after 5.13 Vocabulary . Several idioms of feeling were taught in 5.9 Vocabulary , such as avoir le cafard and en avoir marre , and the animal idioms of 5.10 Vocabulary , such as poser un lapin ; they are not repeated here. A learner who knows the grammar and the vocabulary of a language still sounds like a learner until the set phrases come. They are the small pieces that native speakers use without thinking: the reply that means fine by me , the word that means oh well , the phrase that means can't be bothered . None of them can be built from rules, and many cannot be translated word for word. This lesson collects fifty-five of the most frequent, with a corpus sentence for each. Word list Fifty-five phrases in six groups. The notes give the literal meaning where it helps you remember the phrase. Everyday replies Word Meaning Notes ça marche fr OK, that works Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Agreeing to a plan: On se voit à huit heures ? — Ça marche. Ça marche. [9] That works. ça roule fr fine, OK (informal) Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Literally it rolls . Ça roule. [10] Okey-dokey. ça y est fr that's it, done; here we go Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Said when something finally happens. Ça y est ! [11] There you are! ça dépend fr it depends Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs ça dépend de , it depends on . Ça dépend. [12] That depends. ça m'est égal fr I don't mind, it's all the same to me Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Neutral, not rude. Ça m'est égal. [13] It's the same to me. je m'en fiche fr I don't care Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Informal; ruder forms exist. Je m'en fiche. [14] I don't give a fig. peu importe fr never mind, whatever Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Literally it matters little . Ah, peu importe. [15] Ah, whatever. ça ne fait rien fr it doesn't matter, never mind Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs The reply to an apology. Ça ne fait rien. [16] It doesn't matter. pas de quoi fr you're welcome; no reason to Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Short for il n'y a pas de quoi . Pas de quoi s'inquiéter. [17] No need to worry. tant pis fr too bad, oh well Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Accepting a disappointment. Tant pis ! [18] Oh well! tant mieux fr so much the better, good Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Welcoming good news. Le train a du retard ? Tant mieux, on a le temps. The train is late? So much the better, we have time. quand même fr all the same, still; really Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Merci quand même , thanks anyway . Merci quand même. [19] Thank you all the same. pas du tout fr not at all Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Emphatic negation. Non, pas du tout. [20] No, not at all. tout à fait fr absolutely, quite Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Pas tout à fait , not quite . Pas tout à fait. [21] Not exactly. mon œil fr my foot, yeah right Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Literally my eye ; expressing disbelief. Mon œil ! [22] My foot! c'est la vie fr that's life Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Used in French as in English. C'est la vie. [23] So goes life! Linking and hedging Word Meaning Notes en tout cas fr in any case, anyway Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Moving on from a topic. Merci, en tout cas. [24] Thank you, anyway. de toute façon fr anyway, in any case Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs De toute façon, c'est trop tard. Tu perdras de toute façon. [25] You'll lose anyway. c'est-à-dire fr that is, i.e. Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Written c.-à-d. in abbreviations. Une fête aura lieu samedi prochain, c'est-à-dire le 25 août. [26] A party will be held next Saturday, that is to say, on August 25th. exprès fr on purpose; specially Gender / part of speech adverb How English differs Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès , I didn't mean to . Le fais-tu exprès ? [27] Are you doing this on purpose? se rendre compte fr to realise Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Tu te rends compte ! , can you believe it! Tu te rends compte ! [28] Can you imagine? laisser tomber fr to drop, to give up Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs Laisse tomber , forget it . D'accord, je laisse tomber. [29] Okay, I give up. faire semblant fr to pretend Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs faire semblant de dormir , to pretend to sleep . Pourquoi faire semblant ? [30] Why pretend? avoir l'air fr to look, to seem Gender / part of speech