I am fascinated how we use different phrases and words in both English and French to fill out sentences. I recall a few years ago deciding I would sound more French if I used a few catch phrases and words. I am not sure why I decided that I could just magically sound more French (whatever that may mean).
I chose words and phrases that I believed I could reasonably pronounce (hence none with that pesky French 'r' that I will never master). Whenever I could, I would throw in an en fait, tout à fait, absolument, génial or a ça y est. This of course was all prior to knowing that really all I needed was one single word to sound French. Le mot indispensable en français
I was quite upset when one day a French friend indicated that tout à fait and absolument were the signs of an uneducated person. Oh dear ! Had I chosen the wrong words to build my 'Frenchness'? Was I just sounding more uneducated? It was interesting to then read and listen to Pierre Bénard's article 'Mais au fait, à quoi sert "en fait" ?' in his regular 'Faut-il le dire' programme on Canal Académie. Unfortunately the full article and podcast is only available for a limited time to non-paying newsletter subscribers. So that's it, I am just stalling for more time.
What words or phrases do you use as fillers or to sound more French?
What words or phrases do you use as fillers or to sound more French?
I'll be really interested to read the replies to this post.
RépondreSupprimerDid your French friend suggest any phrases that would be better to use?
He indicated that instead of 'tout à fait' and 'absolument' I should just say 'Oui' in the contexts that I was using both of these.
SupprimerWell, the "tout à fait" and "absolumment" are new ones on me! Considering that I mostly mix with educated people (!) and hear them using these expressions all the time, I'm a bit surprised, but I shall check it out with my French university friends. I can remember at the end of my first year in France, many, many long years ago, someone sighing and saying, "Oh dear, you've learnt all this student slang". I also remember practising "shais pas" instead of "je ne sais pas" because that's what all my admittedly student friends were saying. Everyone has "tiques de langage" as they say. One thing many Anglosaxons seem to pick up is "et tout ça" which I don't often hear the French using. This isn't the person that told you not to have a drink by yourself in a bar, is it?
RépondreSupprimerI haven't noticed the 'et tout ça'. I will keep an eye (ear) out when I am in France in a few months time.
SupprimerI think you are right about the 'tiques de langage'. It grates on my nerves when people reply to 'How are you?' with 'Good'. They are 'Well', not 'Good'. I caught myself doing it a couple of weeks ago. Quelle horreur!
It wasn't the same person who told me not to drink by myself in a bar. They do work together however. Perhaps both were a misunderstanding on my side due to my lack of French language prowess.
These things change over time. These days, the filler word seems to be Voila - whenever we watch French TV, the filler word that people being interviewed on news reports or in reality shows is always "Voila".
RépondreSupprimerThanks for your comments Pascal. I think you are correct that the words we use as fillers do change over time. As we hear more of one word we tend to adopt it ourself. I am guilty of a liberal sprinkling of 'voila' in my conversation.
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