French words in English language (when to use them!)

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French words in English and when to use them! In this episode I give you some of the most common French words in the English language. Why do you need to know if there are French words in English? Well, we English speakers use them all the time, so it’s really OK if you also use them too. By using French words in the English language, you will, funnily enough, sound more like a confident English speaker

Mots français dans la langue anglaise (et quand les utiliser!) Dans cet épisode, je vous donne les mots français les plus courants en anglais. Pourquoi avez-vous besoin de savoir s'il existe des mots français en anglais ? Eh bien, nous, les anglophones, nous les utilisons tout le temps, donc c'est vraiment bien si vous les utilisez aussi. En utilisant des mots français dans la langue anglaise, étrangement, vous parlerez mieux l’anglais!

Video Transcript:

Welcome back to English with Kathryn and if this is your first video then welcome bienvenue, benvenuto, willkommen, ahlan wa sahlan!

Today is a little homage to the french language and its huge influence on the english language and well why the cafés are closed and I have to drink my own coffee but as well as that I have to cook all my own meals because the restaurants are also closed. No hors d'œuvres or entrées for me, the only thing I can cook are omelettes. And now that we are in lockdown again I'm watching a lot more movies. Now I'm no connoisseur of the french language but i do love a good film noir full of intrigue and suspense but they can get a bit risqué with beautiful french women in french lingerie .

Okay did you get my drift? Did you see how many words of French origin are in the English language that we use all the time?

In fact there are 25 000 french words (well at least) in the in the English language so you're going to see them all the time ....now today I'm only going to focus on some French words and expressions that have become a huge part of the english pop culture and i'll get some of my Hollywood friends to help me.

You may commence.

Thanks Matthew as you notice, Matthew in the great film Glory uses the word commence, now commence is the English word of the French word commencer which means to start.

Now we use commence in English in more formal situations in more natural in more informal situations we use to start or to begin.

Next we have c'est la vie which in English means that's life. Sometimes we say that's life but quite often we do use the french version c'est la vie.

Oh I didn't win the lottery again, c'est la vie!

[clip from The Office]

People say I'm the best boss... they go oh you know we've never worked in a place like this before you're such a laugh you get the best out of us and i go c'est la vie! If that's true excellent!

[clip from The Spy Who Shagged Me]

Well Scott rejected me c'est la vie.

[clip from Notting Hill]

We can't have a baby....c'est la vie

Next we have au contraire which means in English on the contrary or in fact the opposite is true. I think it might have originated from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot who used to say this in his movies and we use it now in English in a rather theatrical way. It's not pretentious it's just a little bit over the top, but I have a feeling and if you're a French person saying it in English it will sound a lot more natural.

[clip from The Simpsons]

Why would you do that? Are you a bad parent?

Au contraire man with no hair.

[clip from The Simpsons]

And yes you love correcting people and putting them down

Au contraire when i correct people i am raising them up!

The next word is risqué and in french this means something that is risky or dangerous. We have a specific context for this in English:

[clip from Pretty Little Liars]

Is this too risqué for the party?

In English if something is risky, it's normally something that is just dangerous in general like an extreme sport, for example extreme ironing.

We would normally say it's a risky sport. However risqué has a sexual connotation. It means if someone is indecently dressed or acting sexually suggestive.

[clip from Family Guy]

Now kids this book is very controversial and has just been taken off the banned books list. Oh really sweet!

It's called catcher in the rye and it has some very risqué parts

Alright!

[clip from American Pie]

This here is your is your more um exotic risqué magazine.

And while we are on the topic of risqué let's talk about lingerie... that beautiful dainty lacy underwear that women wear ..or sometimes men. Now you French speakers may have picked up that we pronounce it Lawn-ger-ay in English, which is actually the incorrect pronunciation. I don't know where we got it from but that's how we say it:

[clip from The IT Crowd]

Here's a selection of her lingerie

In fact the correct pronunciation is lingerie lingerie. I think, I hope! So if you're a French person looking to say this word in English please use the proper French pronunciation:

[Clip from Titanic]

She designs naughty lingerie among her many talents

Next is a faux pas and I do believe that we use this relatively regularly in the English language and it means to make a social faux pas or to be very impolite.

[Clip from Seinfeld]

I'm gonna call you back.

Jill's father is in the hospital and you call to ask about him on a cell phone?

What no good?

Faux pas.

Faux pas?

Big, hefty stinking faux pas!

[Clip from Family Guy]

I hope I don't make any social faux pas like i did at Pamela and Tommy Lee's dinner party

Next word is touché. Now the French and the English use this word very differently. In French it's the past form of the verb toucher which means to touch. Touché can be used to be touched physically or emotionally, for example in French you would say "j'étais très touché par son cadeau"( i was very touched by his gift). It is also used in the sport of fencing where the word touché is used to signal that someone has been touched by the sword.

However in English when we use the word touché it's to signal that someone has made a good point against you in an argument or discussion.

[kathryn's example]

You're not wearing a mask!

Well you didn't put on hand sanitizer!

Touché

[Clip from The Simpsons]

Don't you have school?

Don't you have work?

Touché.

[Clip from A Star is Born]

No drink?

What's that?

No drink?

No socks?

Touché touché mate

The next word is cliché. Now something is cliché it means it's not very original, for example:

[kathryn's example]

I know it's cliché but the day my son was born was just the happiest day of my life.

[Clip from Stars in their Eyes]

I can't believe I have a crush on a girl with such clichéd wishes!

Now this is a french word that we use a lot in English with the same pronunciation and the same meaning as in french.

[Clip from The Office(US)]

Maybe I'm being cliché, I don't care because I am what I am.

Next is déjà vu. Now we don't actually have an English version of this word in the French language. It's the only word we use to describe this weird sensation of feeling like you've experienced something before. For example:

[kathryn's example]

When I met the woman I had a distinct feeling of déjà vu like i had met her before somewhere or in another life.

[Clip from The Matrix]

What did you just say?

Nothing just had a little déjà vu

[Clip from Friends]

Guys we have to talk.

Wait I'm getting a déjà vu...no i'm not

All right we have to talk!

There it is!

We also use it jokingly to describe something that's boring or unoriginal like:

[kathryn's example]

When I watch the news I get a distinct feeling of déjà vu. All I see is coronavirus this coronavirus that. Give me something new!

Voila! Voila is used in English as a kind of a one-word statement to show that you've done something and that you're very happy with yourself. For example

[kathryn's example]

-You put water in the saucepan

- You boil the water

- You put the egg in

- You leave it for seven minutes and voila you have a soft boiled egg!

Americans tend to say voila with a w and I'm not sure where that came from!

In French voila is used but not really in the same way. It's used to express emotions like pride, irritation, sadness but never really used in that voila spectacular way that we use it in English and we often use it when we're trying to act french...

[Clip from Sex and the City]

Bonjour voila le french hat, voila le french fry!

Next word is a resumé. Now resumé comes from the French word resumé which is a short one or two page document we use to write up our skills and our background and our job experience in order to get a new job. We use it in exactly the same way in English for example:

[kathryn's example]

Paul took his time writing his resumé because he wanted to make a good impression and get that job.

[Clip from Will and Grace]

Will are we talking about my resumé or your problems?

[Clip from Captain Ron]

Did we get a resume on him?

Oh I'm sure he's fine you know what I mean?

And this is not to be mistaken with the English word to resume. To resume means to start something again and in French it would be recommencer.

And the last word for today is the word blasé which means to be unimpressed with something because you've experienced it or seen it so many times before. For example:

[kathryn's example]

The CEO had flown first class so many times he started to get a little blasé about it.

[Clip from Titanic]

You could be blasé about some things Rose, but not about Titanic!

In English you can also use the word jaded. For example:

After an incredible 15 years of hosting the tv show the presenter began to get a little jaded and uninterested in the job so he quit.

Well how did you go? Do you think you feel more confident now using French words in english... piece of cake!

Tell me in the comments below if you feel comfortable or uncomfortable or if you think it's a good idea.

We use them in English all the time so now it's your turn and why not contact me for a free half an hour consultation on your English. There's a link in the description below. I would love to hear from you.

Thanks again everybody and if you haven't already please check out these videos on everyday English, they're fantastic, you're bound to learn something. See you next time!