| mentir | to lie- Tu mens ! You’re lying!- Les animaux ne mentent pas… Animals do not lie… |
| morceau | piece- un morceau de pain a piece of bread |
| devoir | to have to, must, to be due to- Je dois partir. I’ve got to go.- Tu dois être fatigué. You must be tired.- Je devais déjeuner avec mon fils, mais il m’a posé un lapin. I was supposed have lunch with my son but he stood me up. |
| poser un lapin à qn | to stand sb up |
| avoir d’autres chats à fouetter | to have other cats to whip (to have other fish to fry): to have other activities to do, esp more important ones |
| comme un chien | like a dog / It is used to describe someone who is treated badly, physically or emotionally.- Mon boss me traite comme un chien; il me parle agressivement, ne me fait jamais de compliment My boss treats me like a dog; he speaks aggressively to me, never pays me a compliment.- Il y a quelques jours, j’étais malade comme un chien. A few days ago, I was as sick as a dog. |
| fièvre de cheval | a high fever / This expression is used to describe a person who has a very high fever, often associated with a serious infection or illness. / horses can develop a high fever when they are sick, and the fever can be so severe that it can cause them to become delirious and behave erratically.- J’avais une fièvre de cheval et plein de courbatures. I had a raging temperature and I was aching all over. |
| courbature | ache |
| avoir le cafard | to be feeling downcafard cockroachavoir un coup de cafard to have a fit of the blues |
| cloué au lit | confined to bedclouer to nail / clouer au sol (personne) to pin to the ground; (avion) to ground |
| depuis | since- Il habite Paris depuis 2013. He’s been living in Paris since 2013.- Je ne lui ai pas parlé depuis. I haven’t spoken to him since.for- Depuis combien de temps ? How long?- Il habite Paris depuis cinq ans. He’s been living in Paris for five years.- Depuis quand ? How long? |
| moche | awful, rotten- Je la trouve moche comme un pou mais elle est maligne comme un singe ! I find her as ugly as sin but she’s as smart as a whip. |
| temps de chien | rotten weather- Dehors, il faisait toujours gris et moche - un vrai temps de chien. Outside, it was always grey and dull -really lousy weather. |
| ennuyer | to bothers’ennuyer to be bored |
| s’ennuyer comme un rat mort | to be really bored- Stéphane s’ennuie comme un rat mort dans son boulot. Stéphane is getting bored to death in his job. |
| avoir un appétit d’oiseau | to have a small appetite- Je m’ennuyais comme un rat mort et j’avais un appétit d’oiseau. I was bored to death and I was eating like a bird. |
| être bavard comme une pie | to be a chatterboxune pie a magpie: a long-tailed crow with boldly marked (or green) plumage and a raucous voice. / used in similes or comparisons to refer to a person who collects things, especially things of little use or value, or a person who chatters idly. “his father was a garrulous old man who chattered like a magpie” |
| dormir comme un loir | to sleep like a logloir dormouse, which is a rodent that hibernates for seven months a year- Elle a dormi comme un loir cette nuit et maintenant elle a une faim de loup. She slept like a log last night and now she’s famished. |
| reprendre du poil de la bête | to find a second wind, to regain strength, to pick up (to retake the hair of the beast)poil hair (of body and animal, vs un cheveu / des cheveux human head hair)- Je commence tout doucement à reprendre du poil de la bête. I’m beginning quite slowly to pick up again. |
| surtout | above all, especially |
| J’ai une faim de loup ! | I’m ravenous! I’m famished!loup wolf |
| passer du coq à l’âne | to suddenly change the subject, jump between subjects, make a non sequitur coq cock (masc.) / âne donkey (masc.)- J’ai du mal à vous suivre car vous sautez du coq à l’âne tout le temps. I find it hard to follow you because you’re jumping from one thing to another. |
| boulot | job, work- Anita a trouvé du boulot. Anita has found a job. |
| malin comme un singe | malin (fem. maligne) crafty, clever, smart (from le mal, evil. Because of the word’s “devilish” origins, the emphasis is on shrewdness rather than just intelligence.)- Il est malin comme un singe, celui-là ! He’s as smart as a whip (a monkey), that one! / singe monkey- Ce n’est pas très malin, ce que tu viens de faire. What you’ve just done isn’t very clever. |
| doux comme un agneau | as gentle as a lambagneau lamb |
| vachement | really- Viens te baigner, l’eau est vachement chaude. Come in the water, it’s really warm.- Il a l’air doux comme un agneau, mais il est vachement ambitieux. Qu’est-ce qu’il va faire ? He looks (as) gentle as a lamb but he damned ambitious. What’s he going to do?- Elle est vachement intelligente. She’s really smart.- Il pleut vachement. It’s raining really hard. |
| deviner | to guess- Tu ne devineras jamais. Vas-y : essaie ! You’ll never guess. Go on, try! |
| courir plusieurs lièvres à la fois | to chase several hares at once, have several irons in the fire (to concentrate on more than one thing)- Je sais qu’il court toujours plusieurs lièvres à la fois et il peut tout faire. I know that he’s got several irons in the fire at once and he can do anything. |
| bijoutier | jeweller |
| chirurgien | surgeon |
| éboueur | dustman |
| chauffeur | driver |
| jardinier | gardener |
| donner sa langue au chat | to give one’s tongue to the cat (to give up or stop guessing)- Si tu donnes ta langue au chat, je te donnerai la réponse. If you give up, I’ll tell you the answer.- Non ? Alors je donne ma langue au chat ! Dis-le-moi s’il te plaît. No? Then I give up! Tell me please. |
| vétérinaire | vet |
| heureux comme un poisson dans l’eau | happy as a fish in water |
| avoir un mal de chien | to have a lot of difficulty doing something- J’ai eu un mal de chien à trouver un taxi ce matin. I had a heck of a time finding a taxi this morning. |
