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I think of another weird French expression: sans doute. It definitely should mean "no doubt"... But it doesn't. Rather, it would be better translated by "maybe" or "probably" : Je tousse. J'ai sans doute attrapé froid. (I cough. I probably caught a cold.) If you really mean "no doubt" you'll have to say "sans aucun doute" or more formal "sans nul doute" (Maybe you know one of the most famous of La Fontaine's fables, Le corbeau et le renard. "Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage sans doute." In the 17th century's French, it meant "certainly")
Pas terrible seems to mean the same as in English. If I say my soup isn't terrible, that's definitely not a compliment. But if I say it's not bad, that could mean mediocre or very good, depending on how you say it.
Yes but the meaning of "terrible" is not the same, if I'm not mistaken. In the French "pas terrible", "terrible" would mean "great", so "pas terrible": "not great". In the English "not terrible", "terrible" would stand for "awful", wouldn't it? "Not terrible": "not awful". Am I correct?
@@HunterNuttall : In colloquial French, the meaning of the adjective _terrible_ is turned away from its literal meaning, just like the adjective ridiculous is in colloquial (American) English. The literal meaning of _terrible_ is, of course, awful, horrible, devastating, etc., but, the colloquial meaning is : exciting, incredible, great, etc. Therefore, _pas terrible_ always means not great.
If someone asks you "ça va ?" then you answer "ça va...", it often means "ça va pas". You have to answer " ça va très bien" to say "ça va ". Then people think " why did he says très bien? Is he really ok?"🤔🤔🤔
That's not really the same thing nor a French particularism though. "Ça va" is a positive answer and will still often be taken as such. It's just that depending on several factors (context, voice tone ...), an affirmation perceived as too timid could be indicating there is actually a problem you don't want to talk about, but I think that can happen in any language.
I don't quite agree with your definition of "tu m'étonnes", it's not really used that often in a mocking fashion, usually when I say "tu m'étonnes" it's to agree with someone
Sorry but I do not agree with you Alex. « T’inquiète » is not an affirmative form. If you had to say « worry » you would say « inquiète-toi » or « il faut que tu t’inquiètes (de ceci ou cela…) ». A native, hearing « t’inquiète » would never take it for an affirmative mood or form. I hope it helps. Bravo pour ta chaîne !
C'est techniquement une forme affirmative, c'est juste qu'on n'utilise normalement pas le pronom atone dans ce type de structure, ce qui permet effectivement d'éviter la confusion.
"t'inquiète !" is not too confusing, because it is not the positive form, which would be "inquiète-toi", but this formula is rarely used. Instead, we hear: "tu devrais l'inquiéter" (you should worry), or "à ta place, je m'inquièterais" (if I were you, I'd worry).
Interessant comme d'habitude. But first of all for tha pedagogique way to explian. Just 4 subjects (more is less: and more difficult to remember) and developped in context, the best way to lean. Felicitacions chère professeur ❤.
To be fair, as a French speaker of Switzerland, I sometimes struggle to understand French colloquial expressions, like _ça va pas le faire_ , _ça se passe_ etc. Without context, it's very difficult to understand.
I got into so much trouble with "pas terrible" with a French host once. They were serving a homemade blood sausage/black pudding (!), and they knew that it was not something I'd ever tried and I might not like. "Pas terrible" had been explained to me poorly, and I thought I could use it to express "hey, this is not bad!" when I was asked if I liked it. Well THAT went down like a lead balloon, and I had to quickly backtrack, apologize, and explain that I'd meant the sausage was actually quite good...yipes!
I've always thought that "pas terrible" came from the slang use of "terrible" to mean "great". Hence according to me it means "not great" - paradoxically not far removed from your explanation.
It aint half hot here, mum. (the series that was situated in India ) I would think it was meaning 'it's cold', but it's indicating very high temperatures. This shows you kept some of the Norman way of speaking:)
In the language of young people in the 60s, "terrible" meant "awesome", a bit like "terrific" in English. The word (in this sense) has fallen out of fashion. Today, it's more common to hear "c'est mortel" or "c'est une tuerie".(It's a killing). However, the negative form, "pas terrible", has remained.
Yep, exactly. Nowadays if someone were to use the French word "terrible" to say a movie was really good, everybody would understand. But I'm pretty sure a lot of people would joke about the fact it is an old phrasing. ^^
It's not an American thing - it's just one of those idioms / words that people say incorrectly a lot. Just like people saying "Expresso" instead of "Espresso"
@@am34 just by sheer widespread usage I'd say it now is an American thing though. It may not be in the dictionary though. Funnily enough, "expresso" is the official french term for that drink. I get annoyed with it in the UK but I can't here 😂
Yes I hear that, because dropping "ne" is not necessarily informal. It's a spectrum rather than one or the other. You can say "vous inquiétez pas" or "ne vous inquiétez pas". To be safe, choose the latter.
@@FrenchinPlainSight You could use "vous inquiétez pas" with someone you don't know but have no particular reason to hold in a particular regard. Like, maybe, a random person in the street is afraid of a sudden sound but you personally know it's not dangerous. But maybe not with your boss (depending on your relationship), as it could be seen as too familiar. "Ne vous inquiétez pas" is always fine in case of doubt, of course.
I never used pas terrible , is it similar to pas mal ? That I use quite often in a way to express indifference. The ‘ a tout à l’heure’ thing clears up a few things 😂 when I used to live in Montpellier people always come late to appointements
Did you know I send out free lessons from my personal experience learning French every Thursday in newsletter format? Sign up and get more from French in Plain Sight each week: frenchinplainsight.com/newsletter
It’s videos like this that help me become a better French speaker or better understand the French when in France.
I think of another weird French expression: sans doute. It definitely should mean "no doubt"... But it doesn't. Rather, it would be better translated by "maybe" or "probably" : Je tousse. J'ai sans doute attrapé froid. (I cough. I probably caught a cold.)
If you really mean "no doubt" you'll have to say "sans aucun doute" or more formal "sans nul doute"
(Maybe you know one of the most famous of La Fontaine's fables, Le corbeau et le renard. "Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage sans doute." In the 17th century's French, it meant "certainly")
Yessss. Thanks for contributing that!
"je m'en doute" is another one that trips me up because I know it means "I can imagine" but I always interpret it in my head to mean "I doubt it"
Pas terrible seems to mean the same as in English. If I say my soup isn't terrible, that's definitely not a compliment. But if I say it's not bad, that could mean mediocre or very good, depending on how you say it.
Yes but the meaning of "terrible" is not the same, if I'm not mistaken. In the French "pas terrible", "terrible" would mean "great", so "pas terrible": "not great".
In the English "not terrible", "terrible" would stand for "awful", wouldn't it? "Not terrible": "not awful". Am I correct?
@@Irulan10 You're correct about English, but I don't know about French. I assumed it meant the same in both languages.
@@HunterNuttall Thank you 🙂
@@HunterNuttall : In colloquial French, the meaning of the adjective _terrible_ is turned away from its literal meaning, just like the adjective ridiculous is in colloquial (American) English.
The literal meaning of _terrible_ is, of course, awful, horrible, devastating, etc., but, the colloquial meaning is : exciting, incredible, great, etc.
Therefore, _pas terrible_ always means not great.
@@JeanChordeiles Thanks!
This is such an interesting and amusing episode. It is also great to see how much you enjoy giving these tips. Thank you so much!
Glad you like them!
Je note que la traduction de "tu m'étonnes", c'est "you don't say" when the person you're talking to has actually said it.
If someone asks you "ça va ?" then you answer "ça va...", it often means "ça va pas". You have to answer " ça va très bien" to say "ça va ".
Then people think " why did he says très bien? Is he really ok?"🤔🤔🤔
That's not really the same thing nor a French particularism though. "Ça va" is a positive answer and will still often be taken as such. It's just that depending on several factors (context, voice tone ...), an affirmation perceived as too timid could be indicating there is actually a problem you don't want to talk about, but I think that can happen in any language.
I don't quite agree with your definition of "tu m'étonnes", it's not really used that often in a mocking fashion, usually when I say "tu m'étonnes" it's to agree with someone
Sorry but I do not agree with you Alex. « T’inquiète » is not an affirmative form. If you had to say « worry » you would say « inquiète-toi » or « il faut que tu t’inquiètes (de ceci ou cela…) ».
A native, hearing « t’inquiète » would never take it for an affirmative mood or form. I hope it helps. Bravo pour ta chaîne !
True!
C'est techniquement une forme affirmative, c'est juste qu'on n'utilise normalement pas le pronom atone dans ce type de structure, ce qui permet effectivement d'éviter la confusion.
Thank you a lot! It really helped me and answered all of my questions ,merci bcp
Hi Alex, your English is getting better and better. Ha ha… just joking- thanks for the vids. Much appreciated 👍👍👍
I actually think it's getting worse! But you can't tell when I'm reciting a script :D
"t'inquiète !" is not too confusing, because it is not the positive form, which would be "inquiète-toi", but this formula is rarely used. Instead, we hear: "tu devrais l'inquiéter" (you should worry), or "à ta place, je m'inquièterais" (if I were you, I'd worry).
3:20 well *_technically_* that would be « inquiète-toi »
Yup. I misspoke there. But anyway, my point is, there's no ne or pas so the learner would be confused.
Salut, mille mercis de nous éclairer. À très bientôt:)
Interessant comme d'habitude. But first of all for tha pedagogique way to explian. Just 4 subjects (more is less: and more difficult to remember) and developped in context, the best way to lean. Felicitacions chère professeur ❤.
To be fair, as a French speaker of Switzerland, I sometimes struggle to understand French colloquial expressions, like _ça va pas le faire_ , _ça se passe_ etc. Without context, it's very difficult to understand.
I got into so much trouble with "pas terrible" with a French host once. They were serving a homemade blood sausage/black pudding (!), and they knew that it was not something I'd ever tried and I might not like. "Pas terrible" had been explained to me poorly, and I thought I could use it to express "hey, this is not bad!" when I was asked if I liked it. Well THAT went down like a lead balloon, and I had to quickly backtrack, apologize, and explain that I'd meant the sausage was actually quite good...yipes!
I've always thought that "pas terrible" came from the slang use of "terrible" to mean "great". Hence according to me it means "not great" - paradoxically not far removed from your explanation.
It aint half hot here, mum. (the series that was situated in India ) I would think it was meaning 'it's cold', but it's indicating very high temperatures. This shows you kept some of the Norman way of speaking:)
About the 'pas' being dropped, there was one other verb it can occur with, but I can't remember what verb it was.
T’inquiète -> TKT ;)
À tout à l’heure --> À tout' (very concise, isn't it?)
👍👍👍
Mais le mot terrible a lui même 2 sens: excellent ou mauvais.
Ex : j'ai lu un livre terrible (excellent)/ j'ai commis une erreur terrible ( mauvaise).
In the language of young people in the 60s, "terrible" meant "awesome", a bit like "terrific" in English.
The word (in this sense) has fallen out of fashion. Today, it's more common to hear "c'est mortel" or "c'est une tuerie".(It's a killing).
However, the negative form, "pas terrible", has remained.
Yep, exactly.
Nowadays if someone were to use the French word "terrible" to say a movie was really good, everybody would understand.
But I'm pretty sure a lot of people would joke about the fact it is an old phrasing. ^^
Nah, it's really not that old-fashioned. Not really at the forefront of youth speech anymore but not phased out of casual speech either.
You and me, not you and I.
Allez, "say" parti, Alex ;)
C'est exactement ça ! 👍
Like when Americans say I could care less meaning I don't care at all.
Yeah, that's a weird one. When I hear it in person it's always "I couldn't care less," but online, "could" is very common.
Yea that one is weird. In the UK we say "couldn't care less".
It's not an American thing - it's just one of those idioms / words that people say incorrectly a lot. Just like people saying "Expresso" instead of "Espresso"
@@am34 just by sheer widespread usage I'd say it now is an American thing though. It may not be in the dictionary though.
Funnily enough, "expresso" is the official french term for that drink. I get annoyed with it in the UK but I can't here 😂
May I please ask if there is a formal way to say t’inquiète pas. I’m guessing you wouldn’t say vous inquiétez pas or would you 🤔
Yes I hear that, because dropping "ne" is not necessarily informal. It's a spectrum rather than one or the other. You can say "vous inquiétez pas" or "ne vous inquiétez pas". To be safe, choose the latter.
@@FrenchinPlainSight You could use "vous inquiétez pas" with someone you don't know but have no particular reason to hold in a particular regard. Like, maybe, a random person in the street is afraid of a sudden sound but you personally know it's not dangerous. But maybe not with your boss (depending on your relationship), as it could be seen as too familiar. "Ne vous inquiétez pas" is always fine in case of doubt, of course.
I never used pas terrible , is it similar to pas mal ? That I use quite often in a way to express indifference. The ‘ a tout à l’heure’ thing clears up a few things 😂 when I used to live in Montpellier people always come late to appointements
No, "pas mal" is, paradoxically, a compliment. "Pas terrible" is not.
Hi