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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: tiens

"Tiens, tiens, tiens" -- it's impossible to avoid this five letter word when you're in France - but be careful, it has more than one (very common) meaning.

French Word of the Day: tiens
Photo: Depositphotos

Why do I need to know tiens?

Tiens is said all the time in France, particularly when someone is serving you food and drink, and while in certain situations it can be easy to guess what people mean when they say it, that isn't always the case. 

So, what does tiens mean?

One of the meanings of tiens is 'here you go' or 'there you go'. For example: Tu me pretes un stylo? – Tiens — Can I borrow a pen? – Here you go.

You'll hear this use of tiens, along with the plural form tenez, very frequently in places like cafes and bars as the server hands you your order. 

The plural form works in exactly the same way: Tenez, je vous ai acheté des fraises – 'Here, I bought you some strawberries.'

However tiens can also be used to indicate surprise. 

In this situation it would be the equivalent of someone saying 'damn', 'blast', 'well' or else 'darn' or shoot' in American English. 

For example, Tiens, je me suis encore trompé! (Damn, I got it wrong again!).

On top of that it can also be used to draw attention to something. 

So, for example, if you hear someone say Tiens, prends ce vase et pose-le là-bas. (Hey, take this vase and put it over there). 

All uses of tiens are very colloquial so it's important to avoid using it when you're in a formal environment. 

 

Pronunciation

Here's a handy YouTube video to help you get the right pronunciation of tiens.

 

For more French Expressions and French Words of the Day you can CLICK HERE to see our full list.

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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Expression of the Day: Caillou dans la chaussure

This one might come in handy when you’re complaining about French bureaucracy.

French Expression of the Day: Caillou dans la chaussure

Why do I need to know Caillou dans la chaussure?

Because, sometimes, you just need to tell someone about your frustration with life’s little, annoying, metaphorically painful niggles.

What does it mean?

Caillou dans la chaussure – roughly pronounced kay-oo don la shass-your – translates as ‘stone in the shoe’, is a phrase as old as time, and means exactly what it says.

You can use this in a literal sense, for example if you’re hiking and get gravel in your boots, but it’s more usually used as a metaphor.

When someone says they have a pebble in their shoe, it means that something is not right – and it describes the metaphorical feeling of something troublesome that is more painful than it really needs to be and is creating bigger problems than its size would suggest.

You can use it about your own problems, and it’s also used to describe something that is a big problem for someone else – in English you might say something is the ‘millstone around their neck’ to describe a big, weighty problem that won’t go away.

Use it like this

Nouvelle-Calédonie : le gros caillou dans la chaussure de Macron – New Caledonia is the millstone around Macron’s neck

Nous connaissons tous cette sensation désagréable d’avoir un caillou coincé dans notre chaussure – We all know that unpleasant feeling of having a stone stuck in our shoe.

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