In French, chanson simply means “song,” but la chanson française also designates a distinct musical category. As a genre, it prioritises lyrics, storytelling, and verbal nuance over production or rhythm. The voice is central, diction is clear, and themes often draw on personal experience, social observation, or poetic imagery. Instrumentation tends to support the text…
The French adjective farfelu describes someone or something that is eccentric, whimsical, odd, or unconventional. It can convey a lighthearted, playful sense of strangeness, or sometimes imply impracticality or silliness. The feminine form is farfelue, and it can also function as a noun to describe a person with these characteristics. Meaning and usage Eccentric or…
French words that end in -er fall into two groups. The first group sounds like é at the end. The second sounds like ère. The difference follows clear patterns. Verbs in the infinitive All French verbs whose infinitive form ends in -er are pronounced with the é sound. This applies to thousands of verbs across…
Bouder is a common French verb meaning to show displeasure by withdrawing, sulking, or deliberately refusing to engage. It is frequently used to describe emotional reactions by children and adults, and it also extends to situations where someone avoids an activity, a person, or an offer. Meaning and core use At its core, bouder describes…
Au moins, à moins de and à moins que are frequent French expressions built on the idea of a minimum, a condition, or an exception. They differ in grammatical function, required verb forms, and meaning. Accurate use depends on whether the expression modifies a quantity, introduces a condition with an infinitive, or introduces a subordinate…
In modern French, the letter combination ch can represent two different sounds: a soft sound pronounced [ʃ], as in chat, and a hard sound pronounced [k], as in chaos. The difference between architecte with a soft ch and archéologue with a hard ch is not random. It comes from the historical origin of the word,…
Faire la moue is a French expression meaning to pout or make a sulky face. It describes the physical act of pushing out the lips in displeasure, disappointment, or mock annoyance. The phrase appears in both literal contexts, describing an actual facial expression, and figuratively, suggesting someone is expressing dissatisfaction without necessarily making the face….
Tenir à is a common French verbal construction expressing importance, attachment, or insistence. It links the verb tenir to a person, thing, or action that the subject considers significant, valued, or non negotiable. Core meaning At its most basic level, tenir à means to care about something or someone, or to consider it important. The…
Se faire is a pronominal construction built on the verb faire. It is extremely frequent in modern French and covers several core functions: causing something to happen to oneself, having something done by someone else, undergoing an event, and forming many fixed idiomatic expressions. Basic structure Se faire agrees with the subject and is followed…
The verb suffire expresses the idea that something is adequate, enough or all that is needed. It is an intransitive verb and is most often used with il as an impersonal subject, although personal subjects are also possible. It is commonly followed by an infinitive, a noun, or à when specifying what something is sufficient…