These are expressions that we use in everyday life that are very common, sometimes colloquial. They are not necessarily expressions that you will learn in a traditional school, yet they are so important. You will sound much more natural in French with these expressions. Grab a notebook and let's go!
1. Salut
= to say hello in a familiar way, to use with people you know well (=Hi)
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2. Ça va ?
= to ask how the person is feeling (=How are you doing?)
3. Ouais
= instead of yes. It's familiar (=yeah)
4. Ça va
= to say that we are fine. (=I'm fine.)
It is very common in France to have this kind of discussion:
Ça va ?
Ça va et toi ?
Ça va.
5. Quoi de nouveau ?
= to ask for news.
We can also say:
5.1. Quoi de neuf
5.2 Qu’est-ce que tu racontes de beau ?
6. Rien de ouf
= nothing crazy, it's verlan (French back slang). It's used more by young people, I admit. "Rien de ouf" means nothing extraordinary. There's not a lot of new stuff in my life.
7. T’as vu ... ?
= is a good way to ask the person's opinion on something, to start a conversation.
T’as vu les actualités ? T’as vu la nouvelle série sur Netflix ? T’as vu que Rihanna a sorti une nouvelle chanson ?
= Have you seen the news? Did you see the new series on Netflix? Did you see that Rihanna released a new song?
8. Des balles
So, no, we're not talking about balls, but money. "Balles" is a colloquial word here, in this context, to replace "euros." It's used to refer to money.
1000 balles = 1000 bucks
9. Y a pas moyen !
= it means that it is not possible, it is not conceivable.
You'll notice that we don't say "Il n'y a pas moyen", but we say "Y a pas moyen". This is spoken French. And if you want to learn how to master spoken French, I invite you to download my free ebook : Maitriser le français parlé / Master Spoken French. It's free, there is a version in French and in English.
10. La meuf / Une meuf
= it is a colloquial word for a girl, woman.
11. C’est mort
= it's like "there's no way". It means it's not possible.
12. Kiffer
= it means to love.
13. Un mec
= Un mec, it's a man.
14. Se faire larguer
= to be left, when one is in a love relationship and that the person leaves us, involves the separation
15. C’est relou
= verlan (French back slang) of "it's lourd", it means that it's boring, annoying, not pleasant.
16. Se pécho
= verlan again de "se choper". In the sense here, to be in couple, to be officially together
17. De malade
= quelque chose de malade is something very good, something great.
18. Ah ouais ?
= This is a familiar way of asking for more information, more explanation of what the person is saying.
19. Des potes
= friends
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20. Se taper des barres
= laugh a lot
21. Être rigolo, rigolote
= be funny, amusing
22. Se marrer
= laugh a lot, have a lot of fun
23. Raconter des conneries
= it's the sense of telling a lot of jokes, funny things, even a bit stupid
In another context, "raconter des conneries" can mean "to bullshit".
24. Au fait
= allows you to introduce a new topic for discussion
25. Je suis deg
= "Je suis dégoûtée" means that we are disappointed.
26. Éclaté
= means something very lame.
27. J’avoue
= allows us to say that we agree with what our interlocutor says
28. Un truc de ouf
= something incredible, great
29. La même
= to say that we are in the same situation as the person, that we think the same way as him/her
30. Il m’a vénère
= (verlan) He pissed me off
31. Faire genre
= pretending
32. Teubé
= to be silly, stupid
33. La mine
= La mine, it's a familiar word for the face. Avoir bonne mine, to have a face that looks good, healthy.
34. Sérieux ?!
= allows to express the surprise
35. Franchement
= allows you to show that you are sincere.
36. C’est pas gégé
= it's not great.
37. Une tuerie
(colloquially) = it's something great, exceptional
38. Apprendre sur le tas
= learn alone without training, learn by doing
39. Tu vois... ?
= just allows you to question your interlocutor, check that the person understands what you are saying
40. Assurer
= to do well, to be good at what we do.
It's good to learn new expressions, but it's even better to practice them in real French conversations. I invite you to join my French conversation group, Ohlala French Coffee to practice these expressions in real life, to learn new vocabulary and to improve your grammar through feedback from the teachers.
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