14
votes
Is there a French phrase to say 'I wouldn't put anything past her'?
In a casual setting among friends, I'd probably say:
Si je me suis rendu compte de ce qu'elle manigançait, c'est grâce à un coup de chance, rien d'autre. Je ne m'étonne plus de rien de sa part / ...
- 20.1k
13
votes
Accepted
What is the best way to say, "It takes time"?
What is the best way to say, "It takes time"?
"Ça prend du temps" is entirely valid and is a literal translation of "it takes times". It's the most used.
"Il faut du temps" is closer to "You/It need/...
- 1,362
13
votes
Is there a French phrase to say 'I wouldn't put anything past her'?
Since it's "not anything formal", I would say it like this:
J'ai compris à quoi elle jouait purement par chance. Depuis, je sais qu'il faut s'attendre à tout venant d'elle.
- 388
10
votes
Accepted
Most idiomatic way to say "Could you repeat that?"
Plait-il ? / Plaît-il ? formal, outdated (or nowadays often humorous, ironical or sarcastic)
Pourriez-vous répéter [, s'il vous plait (or plaît)] ? is very formal
Pouvez-vous répéter [, s'il vous ...
- 141k
10
votes
Accepted
Translation of "sounds good"
What you asking for is essentially an informal synonym for d'accord. There are quite a lot of them, as you might imagine, but the most notable would be in my opinion
OK
Ça marche
Ça roule
Nickel
Or ...
- 19.8k
10
votes
Is there a French phrase to say 'I wouldn't put anything past her'?
Ce n'est que la chance, rien d'autre que la chance qui ait fait que je puisse me rendre compte de ses petits plans de supercherie; depuis je la crois capable de tout.
late addition as the result of ...
- 42.3k
9
votes
How to translate "Can't stop" to French?
Je ne peux pas arrêter de les regarder is correct French but probably not what you actually mean.
Usually, in English I can't stop means I cannot refrain myself from doing something, e.g. I can't ...
- 141k
9
votes
Accepted
What is the correct way to say "I have a bad accent" ?
You normally don't state you speak with an accent anglophone as it is not the accent which is anglophone but you.
The accent is English so you would say:
Je parle avec l'accent anglais (or américain ...
- 141k
9
votes
Accepted
8
votes
Normal way of saying "I'm sure you'd agree"
If you want something more idiomatic and less a word by word translation, I would suggest:
Vous conviendrez avec moi de l'importance de...
Otherwise, if you want to keep "I'm sure you", here is a ...
- 141k
8
votes
Accepted
Ways to express "what's happening", "what happened", or "what will happen" in French
You were close - "Ce qui se passe" and "Ce qui se passera" are both good, colloquial structures. You could also use "Ce qui va se passer" as an alternative.
"Ce qui ...
- 2,274
8
votes
How to say "Every five days" in French?
The correct translation is Tous les cinq jours.
Explanation :
Every : Tous for masculine plural or Toutes for feminine plural.
Five days : cinq jours.
Since jour (day in French) is a masculine ...
- 190
8
votes
French: You know you hate the whole thing as much as I do
This is correct except for the missing é in détestes. However, I wouldn't say toute la chose (it does not sound good). Here is my suggestion (because you use "tu", I consider that this is not a formal ...
- 5,565
8
votes
Translation of "sounds good"
I'm an intermediate learner in French myself. I'm not sure about the direct translation of that expression; If focusing on getting the meaning across, I'd go with "ça marche" (that works) or "bonne ...
- 775
8
votes
Accepted
“On” vs “nous” in spoken French
Do people prefer to use on in everyday speaking, even in formal situations?
On as a first person plural subject has almost replaced nous in everyday conversation but the more formal the context is, ...
- 141k
8
votes
À la recherche d'une expression qui veut dire "to not have a dog in this fight"
Une expression imagée approximative :
Ce ne sont pas mes oignons
- 203
7
votes
Dans une lettre de motivation: comment dire « Je suis quelqu’un qui… » plus professionnellement?
Je me passionne pour les nouvelles technologies.
Je suis passionné par les nouvelles technologies.
Je me passionne ==> motivation maximale, à condition que ce soit réel, et de bon niveau,
sinon, la ...
- 23.8k
7
votes
Accepted
It is satisfactory when... I feel satisfaction when
TL;DR
Oui
Je ressens de la satisfaction à…
Je trouve satisfaction à…
Je tire ma satisfaction de…
Bof
Il est plaisant quand…
Je me sens satisfait quand…
...
- 4,465
7
votes
How do you say “I'm leaving”?
I'm leaving
The most idiomatic way to say “I'm leaving”, appropriate in most contexts, is probably:
Je m'en vais.
or simply
J'y vais.
It's also common to say “I'm going to leave” rather than “I'm ...
- 1,117
7
votes
Accepted
How to express "just because ... doesn't mean ..." in colloquial French ?
Tout à fait correct ! A et B signifient la même choses dans les deux phrases retenues.
Dans les phrases A, proches du mot à mot, le mais est superflu : c'est un mais de défense que je ne détecte pas ...
- 23.8k
7
votes
Accepted
How to answer "ça a été ?" ?
Here are some suggestions but of course there may be plenty of other possibilities:
Very usual (at the restaurant, for example):
C'était très bon, merci.
Tout s'est bien passé, merci.
Common, ...
- 1,856
7
votes
Accepted
Is it natural to say “mon Français”?
Yes, we definitely use the same phrasing.
Beware that there is no capital in language names in French:
Mon espagnol n'est pas très bon.
J'essaie d'améliorer mon japonais.
- 141k
7
votes
Accepted
What is a natural French phrase for 'I've never seen you two apart'?
Some more suggestions:
Vous ne vous quittez plus.
Vous ne pouvez plus vous passer l'un de l'autre
On ne vous voit plus l'un sans l'autre
A teasing way to suggest a couple (or just anyone, more ...
- 17.1k
7
votes
What is a natural French phrase for 'You could do worse than'?
The closest translation I could come with would be:
il y a pire (que lui) comme modèle/exemple (après tout)
"Worse" translates pretty well to "pire" while the whole idea of "trying to be like ...
- 5,188
7
votes
Accepted
Comment traduire « First World problem » ?
Je ne pense pas que premier monde soit encore utilisé ni qu'il soit forcément compris.
La seule expression courante qui me vient à l'esprit est :
Problème de riche.
- 141k
6
votes
What is the correct way to say "I have a bad accent" ?
En français, on dit rarement qu'on utilise un mauvais accent (qu'est-ce que c'est d'ailleurs ?)
Version la plus courante:
Je parle français avec un accent (sous-entendu: accent étranger).
Si l'on ...
6
votes
How to say "mark the page that I reached"
J'ai corné la page pour marquer ou en suis-je
"ou en suis-je" n'est pas correct, il faut dire "où j'en [suis/étais]"
Dire "où j'en étais" sous entend que vous vous êtes arrêté(e) de lire, on marque l’...
- 5,951
6
votes
How to express “I’m looking forward to vacation”?
"J'ai hâte d'être en vacances"
or
"Je suis impatient d'être en vacances"
or their informal equivalent:
"Vivement les vacances!"
I personally would not specify "Summer" in the french translation
- 1,772
6
votes
How do you expect to --- ?
{Your version}: Comment peux-tu espérer arrêter une habitude avec une volonté seule que tu n'as pas pu pendant les trente dernières années ?
Unfortunately, your phrasing does not sound idiomatic ...
- 20.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Pommettes == Butt?
No,
I don't think "pommettes" is used as an idiomatic way to refer to someone in the same way as english speakers may use "ass" (by several orders of magnitude).
I'm pretty sure your hunch is ...
- 394
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