Published June 16, 2025 • Updated May 17, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson • Native Audio by Marie Assel Cambier
En fait is an expression meaning “actually” and “in fact”, and you’ll hear it all the time in spoken French. Learn its special pronunciation and how to use it naturally with native audio example sentences.
📘 En fait meaning
En fait is a common French expression that means “actually”, “in fact”, or “as a matter of fact” in English. Native speakers use it constantly in everyday conversation to clarify, correct, explain, soften statements, or add extra information. It also often serves as a filler word that French speakers use to make conversation flow more naturally.
🎧 En fait pronunciation
The pronunciation of en fait is /ɑ̃ fɛt/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “ahn fet”. Unlike il fait or elle fait (he/she does), the t in en fait is pronounced.
📝 En fait examples
Tu vas à la fête demain, n’est-ce pas ? – En fait, non. Je dois bosser.
You’re going tomorrow, right? – No. Actually, I have to work.
J’adore la littérature française. En fait, je connais très bien les œuvres de Molière.
I love French literature. As a matter of fact, I’m very familiar with the works of Molière.
Il semble très timide, mais en fait, il est très sociable.
He seems very shy, but actually he’s very sociable.
Alors, tu as pris une décision ? Euh… en fait, je suis un peu indécis.
Did you make a decision? – Um, actually I’m a bit on the fence.
See also:
👉 À vrai dire — actually, to tell you the truth »
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- à vrai dire — to tell the truth
- d’ailleurs — besides, moreover
- effectivement — indeed, actually
- au fait — by the way
- en réalité — in reality
- en vérité — truly, in truth
- pour dire vrai — truthfully
- ben — well (spoken filler word)
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