Québec French or le français québécois

This is an image taken at a lovely little corner on Rue St. Paul in Quebec city. Very French, mais non?
Well, although Quebec is the French province of Canada we have
 our own spin on the language at times that causes people to
wonder if they really do know even a word of French.

So, here is a quick guide to help you out with some of the local slang or perhaps I should say......expressions. Oh, and drop on over to my travel blog to learn a little more about the province of Quebec.  


Can you believe it?                                        Tatu déjovusa?
It looks that way                                            Saadlair 'assah
I tell you                                                         Ch' tedi
I'm so confused                                              Chutoute fourré
Let's say                                                         Mèton
I'm spaced out                                                Chudanlune
I was scared                                                   Jé eu à chienne
You're kidding me                                         Vadontoé
Me and You                                                    Moé pis Toé
See you later                                                   à tantôt
See you soon                                                  à bientôt

Below are some ways of using the language that often throw people off:

tu veux-tu .....something you will hear used often when asking someone if they want to do something, so an exemple would be
tu veux-tu faire quelque chose pour moi?  

Un vrai bijou:         roughly means exceptional, or a real gem for example, cette voiture est un vrai bijou.

Ah ben:                    Eh bien.... roughly means "And yes", example of use would be eh ben voila, ça c'est fait.....

Ben là:     Bien là, roughly means, Come on.... example, Ben là! Personne ne pourra croire cette histoire!  Which means, Come on! Nobody could believe that story!


Bon ben bonjour là!...... roughly means, okay, so, good-bye, as in this example,  Bon, ben bonjour tout le monde!

Ç'a pas d'allure!..... roughly means, it doesn't make sense as in this example, As-tu vu le prix de cette bague? Ç'a pas d'allure!


Ç'a se peux-tu.....roughly means, can that be possible?

Ç'a va faire là!.... roughly means, that will do! 
C'est assez là!.... roughly means,  that's enough!
C'est correct.......roughly means,   it's okay
C'est plate à dire, mais....... roughly means, it's too bad to have to say this but....

Écourant.....roughly means, incredible
Me niaises-tu ........ roughly means, are you kidding me?
Pantoute! ........ roughly means, nothing, at all, as in this example, J'ai rien compris pantoute à ce qu'elle disait ce matin!

more to come..... questions then just drop me an email......
anangloinqubec@yahoo.ca

or leave a comment below




5 comments:

  1. Nice blog you have going!
    One quick comment on what you say above regarding: "tu veux-tu." This IS grammatically correct. We don't speak European French. If you are interested in learning Quebec French, go to this awesome web site: www.ToutCanadien.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand what you are wanting to say about Québecois versus le français.... and I agree completely. I work in French and my children have been raised in Québec schools with a unilingual French education but there is still a disconnect here between the spoken Québecois of the nation and the schooling. Perhaps to you it appears simple but if you live here you may see it otherwise.

      Delete
    2. Hi! I just stumbled upon this web site and blog for the first time. I am francophone and yes I agree , there's a huge difference between the french we learn in school and our spoken language, BUT, the same goes for english or any other language for that matter! I personally speak four languages, went to both french and english school, and I can tell you that the differences between written and spoken language, are just as major in english or in french!!!!!

      Delete
  2. I agree with you, ananglo. The French taught in school is standard French, this is also the French spoken on TV on the news, for example, and how books are written. This is good, because then, we, as francophones, can communicate with any other francophone in the world. However, even other groups of francophones around the world will have many differences at the spoken level. Same with English, if you compare Canadian, American, Australian and British English. Heck, it even varies within a country, within a province, within a city. It varies between socio-economic classes too. Languages evolve constantly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so right and I find that it is also reflects the culture of that area, or country. Traveling around this province you will come across a variety of expressions and accents associated with that area. The Beauce has a particular flair as well as the Saguenay region. I love that. It makes us stop and think about who lives there, the history of that region and the lives lived. I would imagine this holds true in France, Africa, all the areas where French is spoken....and as you say, the same is true of English. It is all quite interesting.

      Delete

You can leave a comment....totally up to you....Yep, I do love it when you do!