This comprehensive French expressions guide was developed by David Issokson, a graduate of McGill University and professional French teacher since 2014. Grounded in real-world spoken French, these lessons are designed to help learners understand and use common French expressions, idioms and everyday phrases with clear meanings, literal translations and practical examples.
French expressions are common phrases and idioms whose meanings are often different from their literal translations. Some of the most useful are faire la grasse matinée (to sleep in), avoir le coup de foudre (to fall in love at first sight), poser un lapin (to stand someone up), and tomber dans les pommes (to faint).
Below are 40 essential French expressions you’ll hear in everyday conversation, with their English meanings and literal translations.
Essential Everyday French Expressions
These expressions appear constantly in everyday spoken French.
| French expression | Meaning | Literal meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ça marche ! | That works! / Okay! | It works |
| Bien sûr | Of course | Well sure |
| Ça y est ! | That’s it! / Done! | There it is |
| Pas de souci | No worries | No worry |
| Tout de suite | Right away | At once |
| On y va ! | Let’s go! | We’re going there |
| Laisse tomber ! | Forget it! / Never mind! | Let it fall |
| C’est parti ! | Here we go! | It’s gone / started |
Famous French Idioms
A French idiom is an expression whose overall meaning cannot always be understood by translating each individual word literally.
| French expression | Meaning | Literal meaning |
| Faire la grasse matinée | To sleep in | To do the fat morning |
| Avoir le coup de foudre | To fall in love at first sight | To have a lightning strike |
| Tomber dans les pommes | To faint | To fall into the apples |
| Poser un lapin | To stand someone up | To put down a rabbit |
| Avoir un chat dans la gorge | To have a frog in your throat | To have a cat in your throat |
| Avoir du pain sur la planche | To have a lot on your plate | To have bread on the board |
| Coûter les yeux de la tête | To cost a fortune | To cost the eyes from your head |
| Faire d’une pierre deux coups | To kill two birds with one stone | To make two hits with one stone |
Feelings, Moods & Reactions
French has dozens of vivid expressions for describing how you feel.
| French expression | Meaning | Literal meaning |
| Avoir la pêche | To feel great | To have the peach |
| Avoir la flemme | To feel lazy / not feel like doing something | To have laziness |
| En avoir marre | To be fed up | — |
| Avoir le cafard | To feel down / depressed | To have the cockroach |
| Être aux anges | To be over the moon | To be with the angels |
| Avoir les jetons | To be scared | To have the tokens |
| Péter les plombs | To lose your temper | To blow the fuses |
People, Relationships & Conversation
Use these expressions when talking about other people, relationships and social situations.
| French expression | Meaning | Literal meaning |
| Faire la tête | To sulk | To make the head |
| Se prendre un râteau | To get rejected | To take a rake |
| Avoir la langue bien pendue | To be very talkative | To have a well-hung tongue |
| Ne pas avoir la langue dans sa poche | To speak one’s mind | Not to have one’s tongue in one’s pocket |
| Casser les pieds à quelqu’un | To annoy someone | To break someone’s feet |
| Avoir une dent contre quelqu’un | To hold a grudge against someone | To have a tooth against someone |
| Mettre son grain de sel | To give an unsolicited opinion | To add one’s grain of salt |
Work, Problems & Everyday Life
These idioms are especially useful for talking about work, money, difficulties and everyday situations.
| French expression | Meaning | Literal meaning |
| Être à la bourre | To be running late | — |
| Être dans le pétrin | To be in a mess | To be in the dough |
| Ce n’est pas la mer à boire | It’s not that difficult | It’s not the sea to drink |
| Mettre les bouchées doubles | To work twice as hard | To take double mouthfuls |
| Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter | To have bigger fish to fry | To have other cats to whip |
| Manger sur le pouce | To eat quickly / on the go | To eat on the thumb |
| Il n’y a pas le feu | There’s no rush | There’s no fire |
Common Spoken French Expressions
Some phrases aren’t really idioms at all — they’re simply expressions French speakers use constantly in conversation.
| French expression | Meaning |
| Du coup | So / therefore / as a result |
| Dis donc ! | Wow! / Hey! / Well! |
| Figure-toi… | Guess what… |
| Je n’en reviens pas ! | I can’t believe it! |
| Oh là là ! | Oh wow! / Oh dear! |
| Peu importe | It doesn’t matter |
| À mon avis | In my opinion |
| Tout de même | Still / all the same |
French Expressions With Avoir, Être, Faire & Other Common Verbs
Many French expressions are built around a handful of extremely common verbs. Explore the complete lists here:
Avoir expressions
Learn common expressions with avoir (to have), including avoir faim (to be hungry), avoir peur (to be scared), avoir hâte (to look foward to), avoir l’air (to seem) and many more.
Être expressions
Learn useful expressions formed with être (to be), including être en forme (to be in shape), être de retour (to be back) and many idiomatic combinations.
Faire expressions
Faire (to do, to make) appears in a huge number of everyday expressions, from faire attention to colorful idioms such as faire la grasse matinée.
Aller expressions
Discover common expressions and constructions formed with aller.
Prendre expressions
Learn everyday expressions formed with prendre and see how their meanings change depending on context.
Want to understand French expressions in real conversations?
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