The French phrase faire des ravages is a common expression that translates literally to “to make ravages” or “to cause destruction.” The verb faire means “to make” or “to do,” while ravages is the plural noun meaning “damage,” “destruction,” or “havoc.” Literal meaning In its literal sense, faire des ravages describes actual destruction or damage…
The French phrase n’empêche pas comes from the verb empêcher, which means “to prevent” or “to stop” or “to hinder.” Broken down, n’ is the negative particle, empêche is the verb meaning “prevents,” and pas is another negative marker. Taken literally, it translates as “does not prevent” or “does not hinder.” But this phrase has…
The French verb sortir means “to go out” or “to come out” in a physical sense. The pronominal verb s’en sortir means “to manage,” “to cope,” or “to get through” a difficult situation. The difference is not just grammatical; it is a difference in meaning. Sortir is about movement from inside to outside. S’en sortir…
Laisser and lasser are two regular French verbs that look and sound almost identical, but they mean completely different things. Laisser means “to let,” “to leave,” or “to allow.” Lasser means “to tire” or “to weary.” The only difference in spelling is a single letter, which is why French learners often confuse them in writing….
Se tenir is one of the most flexible reflexive verbs in French. It comes from tenir (“to hold”), and adding the reflexive pronoun opens up a wide range of meanings, from physical posture to behaviour, to whether an argument makes sense. Because it covers so much ground, it is worth learning through its main categories…
The French adjective dernier means “last.” Its place in the noun phrase often tells you whether it means a past time period or the final item in a group. It changes form to match the noun: dernier (masculine singular), dernière (feminine singular), derniers (masculine plural), and dernières (feminine plural). In the masculine singular and masculine…
Huit jours and quinze jours are French time phrases meaning “a week” and “a fortnight” respectively. Literally they translate as “eight days” and “fifteen days,” but in practice they refer to seven and fourteen days. The mismatch is a long-standing feature of the language, with roots in Roman methods of counting and in legal and…
French has two common verbs for “to mean”: vouloir dire and signifier. Both get used every day, but they don’t always work the same way. Vouloir dire is the everyday choice, used in speech and in writing alike. Signifier leans more formal and shows up more in writing, in academic talk, and when discussing signs,…
The French verb aimer can mean both “to like” and “to love.” Its meaning depends on the person or thing that follows it, the article used with it, and the wider context. French also has several other ways to express fondness, strong interest, preference, attraction, and love. Aimer with people When aimer is used with…
Contre is a small French word with a wide reach. Its core meaning is “against,” but depending on the sentence it can also translate as “for,” “to,” or “however.” It works mainly as a preposition, though it also appears as an adverb and as a noun. Part of speech Contre can function in three ways:…
