What does Qu est-ce que literally mean?
Qu'est-ce que is a French way to start a question. Literally, it's built with three French words: Que + est + ce → “What + is + it/that?…” As a French question, it's a longer way to ask: “What… ?” It's correct French, but in real, everyday spoken French, we tend to ask shorter questions.
French phrase
: what is it? : what's that?
allons (v.i.) Form of aller (to go). 1. Let's go. Allons au festival!
- Battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud. ...
- Ce n'est pas la mer à boire. ...
- La nuit porte conseil. ...
- Comme on fait son lit, on se couche. ...
- Vouloir, c'est pouvoir. ...
- Impossible n'est pas français. ...
- Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard. ...
- L'habit ne fait pas le moine.
In English, if you didn't hear someone, simply saying “What?” would be considered informal or even rude, and the same goes for quoi.
- Question 1: Est-ce que tu es espagnol? =>Are you Spanish?
- Answer 1: Oui, je suis espagnol, => Yes, I am Spanish.
- Answer 2 :Non je ne suis pas espagnol. => No, I am not Spanish.
Though est-ce que is widespread in spoken French, it's much less common in writing because it's slightly informal. Remember that if you're in a formal situation, you should avoid it in favor of inversion.
The phrase est-ce que is used to ask a question. Word order stays just the same as it would in an ordinary sentence. Est-ce que comes before the subject, and the verb comes after the subject. So to turn the sentence Tu connais Marie (meaning You know Marie) into a question, all you need to do is to add est-ce que.
Qu'est-ce qui, when using this phrase, it will ALWAYS be followed by a verb whereas qu'est-ce que will be followed USUALLY by a noun or other subject in the same manner as que tu est triste instead qui est triste.
Aunts are Tante. Many names are shortened. I had an aunt named Euphrasie.
What do Cajuns call their grandmother?
MawMaw. With its French Cajun roots, "MawMaw" is widely used throughout Louisiana. Also consider the similar-sounding "MeeMaw" as a traditional Southern grandma nickname.
...
Louisiana French/Goodbyes.
Cajun French | English |
---|---|
Au revoir | Good-Bye |
Bye-bye | Bye-bye |
À plus tard | Later |
À demain | See you tomorrow |
Draguer – to flirt. If you fancy trying your hand at the French dating scene, draguer is the perfect word, it means flirting with or hitting on someone. You can decide to be upfront about it and say it directly to the person you fancy. Oui je te drague – Yes, I'm hitting on you.
The most important French greetings include bonjour (hello), enchanté(e) (nice to meet you), bonsoir (good evening/hello), salut (hi), coucou (hey), Ça fait longtemps, dis donc (long time no see), Âllo (hello), Ça va? (how are you?), tu vas bien? (have you been well?), quoi de neuf? (what's up?), au revoir!
One such slang term is "chouette", meaning cool. The French also say “cool” and its not uncommon to modify cool or chouette with a “hyper” or “super” to drive home the meaning.
- Putain.
- Merde.
- Bordel.
- Putain de merde / Bordel de merde / Putain de bordel de merde.
- Nom de dieu / Nom de dieu de merde.
- Ostie [Quebec]
- Tabarnak [Quebec]
- Crisse [Quebec]
- “You're French? ...
- “Your accent is sooooo cute!” ...
- “Ew, you eat that?” ...
- “So, what do you do for a living?” ...
- “I love your home/car/bag, it's so nice. ...
- “Everyone knows French people don't like to work.”
French people tend not to visit unannounced or uninvited. To do so is considered rude. When invited to a dinner, it is common for guests to ask their hosts if they are required to bring something on the day.
- ça ne fait rien (it doesn't matter)
- de rien (you're welcome) and il n'y a pas de quoi (you're welcome)
- jamais de la vie! (never! out of the question! not on your life!)
- pas du tout (not at all)
- pas encore (not yet)
- pas maintenant (not now)
- There are 3 main ways to ask a question in French: • Formal: (question word quand, où, etc) + verb + subject + ? ...
- • Neutral: (question word) + est-ce que + subject + verb + ? Est-ce que vous connaissez Victor Hugo ? ...
- • More informal: subject + verb (+ question word) + ?
Is it rude to not say hello in France?
Skipping Hello in France – A Big Mistake
In any case, whether you use the word “bonjour” or not, you should always take the time to greet people in France. It's considered quite rude to go ahead and ask a question without first saying hello in French. Oh! And please smile !!
Though it's a French acronym, RSVP is no longer used much in France, where it's considered formal and very old-fashioned. The preferred expression is réponse souhaitée, usually followed by a date and/or a method.
A second way to ask a “Yes / No” question is to use EST-CE QUE (pronounced 'ESS-kuh') before the statement. EST-CE QUE has no translation – it just acts like a question mark. We also use rising intonation at the end of the question when using EST-CE QUE.
Ce que is used as the direct object in a relative clause, for example: « Je ne comprends pas ce que tu veux. » Ce dont is used as the object for the predisposition "de", for example: « Je ne comprends pas ce dont tu parles. » It's easier to identify whether it's ce qui or ce dont when these expressions are at the ...
We use qui to replace the subject or indirect object* of a sentence. We use que to replace the direct object.
Remember: Que = that..., which/who. Qué = What/How.
Memere & Pepere. These are very popular French Cajun nicknames for grandma and grandpa !
Cajun Works: The Real Cajun Deal
🐊🐊Cocodrie -- "co-co-DREE" -- used for alligator, also a town in Louisiana located south of Houma near the Gulf of Mexico. Early French settlers called the alligators in the swamp cocodrie, not knowing the difference in species.
Nonc in Cajun French means Uncle.
What is a cool grandma name?
- Abba.
- Birdy.
- Bunny.
- Gaga.
- Gigi.
- Kitty.
- Mimi.
- Minnie.
The Cajuns were and are mainly Roman Catholic. Experts suggest that the traditional culture cannot be understood unless the central role of the Catholic church is considered. On the one hand, their Roman Catholic beliefs set the Cajuns apart from the surrounding population, which was mainly Baptist and Methodist.
papaw (plural papaws) (US, dialect, Southern US) Alternative form of pawpaw, a grandfather, especially one's paternal grandfather. (US, dialect, Southern US, less commonly) A father.
Fais do-do [fay doe-doe]: A Cajun dance party. (Also, an expression adults use when they want children to go to sleep.) “Will we see you at the fais do do?”
Boo. A term of endearment a parent or grandparent would call a small child, presumably Cajun in origin. Sometimes refers to your sweetheart, too.
23 French Nicknames For Your Girlfriend
Ma biche, ma bichette – my doe – yeah, I know it looks bad in English! Ma Puce – my flea (yes, I know, it's embarrassing) – also “Pupuce”… Very common love nickname in France…
“French men pay attention to things like women wearing make-up, perfume, dressing well, and they enjoy a woman's sensuality.” This doesn't mean they expect women to be mere 'eye candy,' though. To the contrary, explains Carol: “French culture appreciates both the sensual and the intellectual."
Expect Lots of Flirting
But whether you're single or not, in France, there is plenty of flirting regardless of marital status. To both sides, flirting is an art form. So you're going to see it thrown around a lot.
What is the proper response to bonjour? It's more than sufficient to simply say bonjour back in response to those who greet you, but if you want to go a step beyond, you can respond with comment allez-vous, which is the French equivalent of asking how it's going.
It is use for formal as well as informal greeting in French-speaking countries. There is also an other way of responding or greeting someone when replying to bonsoir.It is by responding "Salut". It means Hi.It is used to greet friends or well-known .
What is the prettiest French word?
- Douceur.
- Feuilleter.
- Onirique.
- Flâner.
- Chuchoter.
- Rêvasser.
- Éphémère.
- Émerveiller.
PARIS— The French have embraced a new expression to describe those who have it all: Bobo. The term is short for bourgeois and bohemian, two social castes no one ever expected to find mixed up together.
Que and its longer form qu'est-ce que are interrogative pronouns and are used as direct objects in a sentence. They are used to ask questions about things. Que is followed by the inversion of subject and verb, whereas qu'est-ce que is followed by normal subject-verb word order.
Qu'est-ce que c'est means “What (is it)” in French. Despite being a mouthful, it's an extremely common phrase in both everyday and formal French, and also has several somewhat subtle variants. What's the deal with qu'est-ce que c'est? Let's look into this inquisitive phrase!
- There are 3 main ways to ask a question in French: • Formal: (question word quand, où, etc) + verb + subject + ? ...
- • Neutral: (question word) + est-ce que + subject + verb + ? Est-ce que vous connaissez Victor Hugo ? ...
- • More informal: subject + verb (+ question word) + ?
Qu'est-ce qui, when using this phrase, it will ALWAYS be followed by a verb whereas qu'est-ce que will be followed USUALLY by a noun or other subject in the same manner as que tu est triste instead qui est triste.
Ils veulent – They wish, they want (m.) Elles veulent – They wish, they want (f.)
If you'd like to say “What is your name?” in French, you generally have two options. To pose the question formally, you'd say “Comment vous-appelez vous? Speaking informally, you can simply ask “Comment t'appelles-tu?”
What do you think? Qu'en penses-tu ? [fam.]
References
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