French Phrases: 5 French Slang Words Anyone Can Use Without Sounding Awkward

Sound more confident and authentically French, with French slang used by all ages! A Parisian explains.
00:00 - Intro
00:52 - Chouette
02:03 - Faire gaffe
04:28 - Se marrer
05:21 - Vachement
6:29 - La nana
💾 Read, save and/or print the full written lesson here (free): www.commeunefrancaise.com/blo...
🎓 Join my Everyday French crash course (free): www.commeunefrancaise.com/wel...
French slang words aren’t only used by young people. In French, we have some common slang that’s used by all French people - no matter their age or level of education. And you can use them, too, even as a non-native speaker!
In today’s lesson, I’ll introduce you to 5 very common French slang words and explain how YOU can start using them in everyday conversation to sound more authentically French, without sounding awkward.
Take care and stay safe.
😘 from Grenoble, France.
Géraldine

[@maxducoudray]

Even native speakers don’t understand every word people use around them! Thanks for another great video.

[@chizobannaekpe8037]

This is what I call ' insider French'. Please keep them coming. Merci beaucoup.

[@kaitlinannwright24]

I'm a teacher in the US and we have a French exchange student. I've taken French at different times throughout my life, but it was only standard formal French from a textbook. Whenever I try to speak French with my student, he uses so many slang words that even though I'm pretty good at formal French conversation, I miss so much of what he says and end up with only big picture understanding most of the time. These videos are so helpful! Maybe eventually I can impress my student with my French slang 😅

[@martinneumann7783]

Yeah, same with me. If you don't know the street vocabulary (e.g. «Verlan»), you won't understand nothing at all. But it's big fun to learn this stuff and to understand a french movie so much better. Bonne chance, Kaitlin ! Ça marche ! Salut d'Allemagne ‹‹›› Martin

[@michaelcrummy8397]

Even if you’re just understanding the big picture, my advise would be “bon courage”, don’t give up, keep giving it your best. I studied French 4 years in high school, 4 years in college, and I spent a semester in France my junior year in college. When I returned from my semester in France, I was fluent. After college, I worked for a French company for about a year and used the language a lot. Then, at 23, I decided to study to become a priest. My life moved in a whole different direction and I hardly used French at all for 40 years. Then, about 1 1/2 yr. ago, I discovered these French channels online. I began brushing up on my French, and I know it has come back somewhat already. In all honesty, to become or remain completely fluent, I think one has to be immersed in a French speaking environment for a significant amount of time. I live in the States and can’t spend long periods of time in France, Québec, or another French speaking part of the world, but I have 4 or 5 French channels I follow now, and I’m improving. I also plan to spend about a week in Paris next summer. That will help with speaking French, not just listening to or writing it. Of course, what you do is up to you, but if you enjoy learning and speaking French, don’t get discouraged. If you’re basically understanding the big picture, you’re doing pretty well already. That’s sometimes what I have to do now, because when listening to spoken French, if I try to remember the translation of a particular word, I miss the next two sentences. Again, “bon courage”!

[@bambinaforever1402]

No, not because of slang words. This is french language for ya in general

[@bambinaforever1402]

@@michaelcrummy8397 i m immersed in french - live there for more than 7 years, noone speaks english. I speak all right, still do not understand anything, especially on tv

[@mfung7757]

Cette leçon est vachement chouette 😃.

[@igi7999]

If that was a love button I would click it for this lesson.

[@Marc-wl7wy]

Merci encore, tres utile!

[@dancarroll6349]

Fantastic lesson, Geraldine!

[@martinneumann7783]

C'était génial ! Merci Géraldine...

[@shantim4831]

So cool, Geraldine! Merci beaucoup pour le vidéo!

[@acquaura4404]

Vos vidéos sont vraiment les meilleures. Merci pour vos explications et tous vos efforts 🌟

[@sa21g22g23]

Merci beaucoup pour cette nouvelle et superbe vidéo de grammaire francaise pour apprendre mieux la magnifique langue française , thanks a lot for this new and great lesson of the week

[@fahrdienstleiter2701]

Vachement sympa, cette Géraldine.

[@garydoss4203]

Great content….now I have to watch this 100 times to get it down!!

[@divandivaparexcellence2436]

j´ ai bien l'idee que ma grandmere trouve ce lecon un cauchemare, on s'exprime pas comme ca! followed with a lengthy diatribe about manners, but despite all that actually j'ai pige presque tout.

[@bambinaforever1402]

I knew all except marrant. I thought une gaffe is a legitimate word for mistake, i did not know it was a slang of some sort

[@timbinder1966]

Vachement chouette littéralement traduit en anglais donne "cowly owl". histoire de rigoler xx

[@markbernier8434]

Perhaps you could clarify, what are the best usages for "funny" in the sense peculiar or unusual vs amusing?

[@ravelanone9462]

That bird, “chouette,” isn’t an “ole” in English. It’s pronounced more like “aoul”-“ow” rhyming with “now,” plus “L.”

[@microdesigns2000]

Some how I vachement trust your grandmother. =D

[@timbinder1966]

Bonjour Géraldine bonne année. Encore un mot d'argot - "canon" p. ex. elle est canon cette meuf = belle

[@Albatrosspro1]

Do French people find the same when visiting the US/UK?

[@billfromnic7093]

Do the French in France use : Tout de bon

[@dereknolin5986]

Ok, I'm really confused. "Je fais gaffe" means I am careful, but "J'ai fait une gaffe" means I made a mistake? Almost the opposite meaning just by adding "une"?

[@Commeunefrancaise]

Oui, c'est bien ça !

[@dereknolin5986]

@@Commeunefrancaise Merci!

[@HRAZZI]

Ce mec fait vachement gaffe = Ce mec fait tromper souvent. This guy makes a lot of mistakes. Amélie est super chouette on se marre beaucoup = Amélie est super cool on se rigole beaucoup. Amélie is so cool we laugh out so hard. Thank you for the time and effort

[@cyruschang1904]

ce mec fait vachement gaffe means this guy is very/extremely careful 🤓 You need an article if you want to say "make a blunder or blunders" ce mec fait une gaffe ce mec fait des gaffes ce mec fait beaucoup de gaffes

[@jacquelinewhite1046]

That's cowly funny!?...wha!

[@KylianTeam]

very soon speak fluently good near future

[@johnknight9150]

I guess vachement transliterates into "cowly".

[@robertcroft8241]

It means , very , a lot, much etc.

[@leegarnier9396]

Frankly, just keep to these words, chuck in the occasional 'trgular' word and Bob est ton oncle.

[@marcdautricourt4477]

un hibou = an owl

[@dereknolin5986]

Only masculine, though, right? If it's a female owl it's une chouette, I believe.

[@ericmills9839]

​@@dereknolin5986 They are actually different, and chouette can be male or female. It's the same as the differentiation in english as that between True Owls and Barn Owls. Smooth head, hibou, head plumage/tufts, chouette. It's not hard to find people/sites where they will use hibou as the general catch-all however.

[@dereknolin5986]

@@ericmills9839 Ah, I see. Sorry, which is the barn owl? I didn't follow.

[@ericmills9839]

@@dereknolin5986 the chouette is the barn owl type. Any species that has a super smooth head with no plumage sticking out is an hibou.

[@dereknolin5986]

@@ericmills9839 Wait a sec, barn owls are the ones with smooth heads. The other family, called true owls, have tufts of feathers on their heads, like Great Horned Owls.