Welcome to our guide on “25 Simple French Idioms Explained,” where we break down simple French expressions with their pronunciation, literal translations, and meanings.
25 Simple French idioms
Here are the 25 idioms:
Coûter les yeux de la tête
- Pronunciation: coo-tay lay zyuh duh lah tet
- Literal translation: To cost the eyes of the head
- Meaning: To be very expensive
Poser un lapin
- Pronunciation: poh-zay uhn lah-pahn
- Literal translation: To place a rabbit
- Meaning: To stand someone up
Être dans la lune
- Pronunciation: et-ruh dahn lah loon
- Literal translation: To be in the moon
- Meaning: To be daydreaming or spaced out
Mettre son grain de sel
- Pronunciation: met-ruh sohn gran duh sel
- Literal translation: To put one’s grain of salt
- Meaning: To give an unsolicited opinion
Avoir le cafard
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar luh ka-far
- Literal translation: To have the cockroach
- Meaning: To feel down or depressed
Passer une nuit blanche
- Pronunciation: pah-say oon nwee blonsh
- Literal translation: To spend a white night
- Meaning: To have a sleepless night
Être au septième ciel
- Pronunciation: et-ruh oh sep-tee-em see-el
- Literal translation: To be at the seventh heaven
- Meaning: To be extremely happy
Avoir un coup de foudre
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar uh(n) coo duh food-ruh
- Literal translation: To have a stroke of lightning
- Meaning: To fall in love at first sight
Tourner autour du pot
- Pronunciation: too-ray oh-too-r dew po
- Literal translation: To turn around the pot
- Meaning: To beat around the bush
L’appel du vide
- Pronunciation: lah-pel dew veed
- Literal translation: The call of the void
- Meaning: The instinctive urge to jump from high places
Faire la grasse matinée
- Pronunciation: fair lah grass mah-tee-nay
- Literal translation: To do the fat morning
- Meaning: To sleep in
Tomber dans les pommes
- Pronunciation: tom-bay dahn lay pom
- Literal translation: To fall in the apples
- Meaning: To faint or pass out
Rire jaune
- Pronunciation: rear zho-ne
- Literal translation: To laugh yellow
- Meaning: To give a forced, insincere laugh
Jeter de l’huile sur le feu
- Pronunciation: jet-ay duh loo-eel sewr luh fuh
- Literal translation: To throw oil on the fire
- Meaning: To add fuel to the fire
Avoir la gueule de bois
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar lah gool duh bwah
- Literal translation: To have a wooden face
- Meaning: To have a hangover
Battre le fer tant qu’il est chaud
- Pronunciation: bat-ruh luh fair tah(n) keel ay show
- Literal translation: To strike the iron while it is hot
- Meaning: To take advantage of an opportunity right away
Tirer le diable par la queue
- Pronunciation: tee-ray luh dee-abl par lah keuh
- Literal translation: To pull the devil by the tail
- Meaning: To have financial difficulties
Mettre de l’eau dans son vin
- Pronunciation: met-ruh duh loh dah(n) sohn va(n)
- Literal translation: To put water in one’s wine
- Meaning: To moderate one’s position
Couper la poire en deux
- Pronunciation: koo-pay lah pwahr ah(n) duh
- Literal translation: To cut the pear in two
- Meaning: To split the difference or reach a compromise
Avoir l’estomac dans les talons
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar le-sto-mak dah(n) lay tah-lo(n)
- Literal translation: To have the stomach in the heels
- Meaning: To be very hungry
Se mettre le doigt dans l’œil
- Pronunciation: suh met-ruh luh dwah dah(n) luh-yuh
- Literal translation: To put one’s finger in the eye
- Meaning: To be completely mistaken
Faire bouillir la marmite
- Pronunciation: fair bwah-yeer lah mar-meet
- Literal translation: To make the pot boil
- Meaning: To earn a living
C’est la fin des haricots
- Pronunciation: say lah fan day ah-ree-coh
- Literal translation: It’s the end of the beans
- Meaning: It’s the end of everything, a desperate situation
Monter sur ses grands chevaux
- Pronunciation: mon-tay sewr say grahn shuh-voh
- Literal translation: To climb on one’s big horses
- Meaning: To get angry or indignant
Faire d’une pierre deux coups
- Pronunciation: fair doon pee-air duh coo
- Literal translation: To make one stone two hits
- Meaning: To kill two birds with one stone
We hope this brief overview of 25 simple French idioms has enriched your understanding of the French language and its cultural expressions. Use these idioms to add flavor to your conversations and impress native speakers with your knowledge! Happy learning!