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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: comment

It's one of the most commonly spoken French words... but do you know all of its meanings?

Published: 2 July 2019 16:44 CEST
French Word of the Day: comment
Photo: Depositphotos

Why do I need to know comment?

It's hard to escape the word comment in France… and it's a particularly useful one for language learners. 

So, what does it mean?

It's hard to underestimate the ubiquity of the French adverb comment.

One of the main ways it is used is to mean 'how' or 'in what way'. 

For example, Comment vas-tu? – 'How are you?'

Or, Comment as-tu retiré cette vis du mur? – 'How did you get that screw out of the wall?'

It can also mean, 'what', 'sorry', 'excuse me' and 'pardon'. 

So, particularly as a language learner in France, you might find the following phrase useful: Comment? Pouvez-vous répéter? Je n'ai pas bien compris. – Sorry? Could you repeat that? I didn't quite understand.

You could also say: Comment ça?   which means 'What's that?' or ''Excuse me?'  

You can also use comment in an exclamative tone. 

For example, Comment donc! – 'Of course! By all means!'

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.

Published: 25 June 2024 10:27 CEST
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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