The French verb tense called the Recent Past (or Passé Récent in French) is a way to talk about things that have happened in the past, but quite recently. It translates in English as “to have just (done something).” It is very easy to use because it doesn’t use an actual past tense, so it doesn’t…
The Near Future tense, known as “Le Futur Proche” in French, is one of the easiest ways to talk about the future. If we take the English verb “to give,” an example of the Near Future would be “I am going to give.” The idea is that the action will happen fairly soon. Hence the…
“Compter les étoiles” is a French saying that means “to count the stars,” literally. But what does it really mean? It means to undertake an impossible action, or to try to accomplish something that is virtually impossible to achieve. The idiom in French dates back to the year 1531, but it comes originally from the Bible,…
“Lâcher la proie pour l’ombre” is a French idiom that literally means “to let go of the prey for the shadow.” It comes from a fable by the Ancient Greek author Aesop, which was then elaborated upon by the French writer of fables Jean de la Fontaine. In de la Fontaine’s version, a dog sees…
“En catimini” is a French expression that means furtively, stealthily, on the sly or discreetly. It dates back to the second half of the 14th century. The word “catimini” is often linked to the Greek word “katamenia” which means menstruation. The idea being that women of the era kept their menstrual status largely to themselves….