quoi

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rel. pronoun, French

1. what
2. which

int. adv., French

1. what

interjection, French

1. you know
2. like (informal)

Now that you’ve learned that quoi means what, I’m going to totally through a wrench in the spokes.  In does mean what in sentences like:

Tu fais quoi ce week-end? - What are you doing this weekend?

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Quoi de neuf? - What’s new? [What's up?]

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On y va ou quoi? - Are we going or what?

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Quoi? - What?

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(This last one is quite informal and it’s best to say pardon if you missed what someone said.)

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Pretty simple, right?  Nothing too strange or intimidating about those phrases.

Now think about how many times an American speaker uses the word ‘like’ in a given minute; I’m talking outside the context admiration or direct comparison.  Is she really ‘like, your best friend’ or is she actually your best friend?  Its modern use stems from a sensible place–comparing two things in simile using ‘like’–but at this point, most people aren’t even conscious of how much they use the word.

This is a bit like quoi in French.  Its casual and frequent use must have started logically–’Are we going or what?’–but it’s come to be sprinkled into sentences without much literal meaning.  It is a placeholder.  It basically means, ‘you know.’

A typical sentence might translate as, ‘It’s not fair to blame the poor, what, when our government, what, isn’t providing for them, what.’

That’s not a real life example, but you get the idea.  Lest you think people are constantly asking you ‘what,’ it’s best to know that the quoi in question doesn’t really translate literally.  If, however, you were to replace every ‘what’ in the above sentence with ‘you know,’ it starts to sound a bit more familiar, if a bit redundant.  Every language has its quirks, and this happens to be one in French.

For your practice and pleasure, here are a few other useful phrases in which quoi does not quite translate as you’d think:

Il n’y a pas de quoi - You’re welcome; Not at all

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Il y a de quoi - No wonder!; With good reason!

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And finally, a couple of favorite dramatic phrases of mine involving quoi:

Quoi encore? - What now?

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À quoi bon? - What’s the use?

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I’d save the ‘you know’-style quoi for a more fluent date–you might get yourself in trouble sounding so good at casual French.  In the meantime, you can add some new, sensible quoi phrases to your repertoire.

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re a hopeless romantic or a hater of Hallmark for inventing the holiday, there’s no denying that it’s here (again), and it will be (again) next year on this date, and the year after that, it will make yet another appearance.

Now, most of your won’t be spending le jour de Saint-Valentin in France (unless you’re very lucky and/or have a private jet and some time to spare), but there’s no denying that French is la langue d’amour—the language of love.

Flowers and fancy dinners are nice, but what better way to boost the romance than to whisper sweet French nothings into someone’s ear this Valentine’s Day? Just make sure it’s someone you know. Preferably someone you wish to express your undying love to. The French don’t do things halfway.

Try these impassioned speeches on for size:

Man*:

Ma puce, mon petit chou, mon amour. Je suis fou de toi!

Woman:

Moi aussi, je suis folle de toi! O, mon chéri, tu es trop beu et trop bon. Je t’aime trop.

Man:

Moi aussi, je t’aime. C’est toi qui es trop belle. À cause de toi, je crois au coup de foudre.

Woman:

Mon cœur, tu es le seul pour moi. Tu es trop mignon. Je ne te quitterai jamais!

Man:

Moi non plus. Je resterai toujours avec toi.

*Genders employed only to point out which adjectives you should use as each speaker.

I may have gotten a little carried away with the voices.

For your reference, here is what those terms of endearment break down as:

*The gender of ‘my’ (ma, mon) always matches the object. Only in the case of chéri(e) is the person actually object (rather than a cabbage, for instance). ‘My (female) darling’ is ma chérie. ‘My (male) darling’ is mon chéri.

I know, I know, ‘flea’ as a term of endearment? But is ‘love muffin’ really any better? Not that I’ve ever used that one myself. Of course, the literal translation often doesn’t make sense. It’s the implication (and the sexy French language) that counts.

Now onto the longer phrases:

*Note that bonne can also mean “sexy” and even have a pejorative meaning when describing a woman, so be careful when you use it. Or just use it when you mean it!

I know it probably seems like lots of hyperbole, but the French love to say trop. It means ‘too’ or ‘too much,’ and to them (or at least the young among them) it’s just not enough to say ‘I love you.’ What did I tell you? They take it to the next level.

Of course, to the untrained ear, you could say, ‘J’ai envie de manger trios pamplemousses et un petit poisson rouge,’ and it would still sound sexy. Never mind that you want to eat three grapefruits and a small goldfish.

So with that in mind, do not be afraid to err! Go forth and woo.

Bonne Saint-Valentin!

French word: Café

Pronunciation: kah-fey

English translation: Bar

When you say ‘un café’ in French, it translates to ‘a bar’. Naturally, one of the many things that you will do when traveling to a French-speaking city or country is to hang out in bars and taste what the local brew or winery has to offer. You can also say ‘a bar’ in French like this: “un bar” and it will basically mean the same thing.

‘Un restaurant’ has the same pronunciation and meaning in English. Finally, ‘un bistro’ refers to a bistro or a restaurant. These are the places where you can hang out and meet new people while soaking in a bit of the French culture while learning the language at the same time.

French phrase/sentence: Avez-vous ___?

Pronunciation: ave vu

Translation: Do you have ___?

When ordering meals in a restaurant, you wouldn’t want to end up having a course which you would end up not eating later on. As such, it would help if you are familiar with the items on the menu.

If you would like to ask whether a restaurant has a particular French dish that you are craving for, you say “Avez-vous ___?” and then follow it up with the French term for meat, seafood or chicken.

For example, if you want to order steak, you say “Avez-vous du bifteck?” which translates to “Do you have steak?” in English.

The French term for lamb is de l’agneau, du poulet is chicken, du porc is pork, de la dinde is turkey – and for the watch out for des cuisses de grenouille if you don’t want to end up having frog’s legs for dinner!

French word: Petit ami, Petite Amie

Pronunciation: peh-tee ah-mee, peh-tee ah-mee

English translation: Boyfriend, girlfriend

Much like the words in Spanish, the French language has intricacies to it such as the nouns which refer to the male and female gender. Let’s say that you have found a significant other in a French-speaking capital. The French word to use for boyfriend is petit ami, while the female counterpart of the term is petite amie which literally translates to girlfriend.

French phrase/sentence: Où est le ___?

Pronunciation: ooh-ay leh

Translation: Where is the ___?

Perhaps one of the easiest phrases to learn when studying any language is how to ask directions. In French, if you would like to know where a particular place is, you say “Où est le ___?” and then follow it up with where you would like to go.
Here are a few examples:

Où est le bistro? – Where is the bistro?
Où est le café? – Where is the café?
Où est le restaurant? – Where is the restaurant?

French word: Ami, Amie

Pronunciation: ah-meeh, ah-meeh

English translation: Male friend, female friend

Perhaps you cannot immediately understand an entire word uttered in the French language especially if you are just starting to learn a language. But you can definitely pick out a few words that you understand – and one of them is Ami or Amie. These two French terms refer to a male friend and a female friend, respectively. So if someone introduces you as an Ami or Amie, it means that you are considered as a friend, however new the acquaintance is.

French phrase/sentence: Bonne journée

Pronunciation: bon jor-neh

Translation: Have a nice day.

Saying goodbye in French actually has different variations, depending on what you mean. You can say “Bon journée” if you want to say “Have a nice day!”
A simple “Au revoir” or “Salut” means goodbye and bye, respectively. Meanswhile, another variation of Bonne journée is Bonne soirée which means have a nice evening, or Bonne nuit which means goodnight.

French word: Adieu

Pronunciation: ah-dew

English translation: Farewell.

Remember that when you are traveling to a country or a city where French is the main language, you would have to exchange pleasantries with the locals. And the best way to go about doing it is by learning about the basic greeting terms and speaking them in the local tongue.

For example, after you finish hanging out with some French folks in a bar and you would like to retire to your room, you say Adieu or farewell – which is a more formal way of saying goodbye. ‘Salut’ is the term that you can use if you want to say goodbye in a more informal way.

French phrase/sentence: Je descende à ___.

Pronunciation: jeh day-sehn ah

Translation: I get off at ___.

When getting around in a French-speaking city, you sometimes would need to say where you would like to be dropped off. This is true whether you are taking public or private transportation.

You can communicate that you would like to get off at a particular place by saying “Je descende à” and then follow it up with the name of the place where you would like to be dropped off.