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Recently, I've been around native French speakers on a daily basis and constantly hear phrases like “Ah! d'accord, okay”, but from my (very basic) understanding of French, they mean the same thing.

So, why use them together like that? Is there any case when you'd use one over the other? (E.g. formally or informally?)

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  • C'est un des tics de langage a éviter. Tautologie à la mode aujourd'hui et peut-être disparue demain
    – Personne
    Apr 11, 2013 at 10:42
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    Trivia: the French version of Homer Simpson always says "OK d'ac" when he agrees (or doesn't understand). I'm not saying that the French speaker you heard had the same IQ, but I think Homer reflects the average human being, the French translators did a good job on that one!
    – SteeveDroz
    Apr 11, 2013 at 14:41
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    I think this is repeated only for emphasis.
    – Mohsen Gh.
    Aug 1, 2013 at 17:01

2 Answers 2

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There's no difference, really. Saying both, one after the other, is just a way to stress your agreement with what is being stated.

As for language level, d'accord is a bit more formal than OK, but in a very formal context, you would use expressions like

  • Vous avez raison
  • Absolument
  • Je suis d'accord avec vous
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7

OK is a common substitute in French for “D'accord” (I agree) or “C'est bon” (Alright).

But you may also hear “D'accord, OK” or “OK, c'est bon” and even “OK, OK” to combine (or avoid choosing between) agreement and acknowledgement.

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