Published July 19, 2020 • Updated August 11, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Faire la grasse matinée meaning
Faire la grasse matinée is a common French expression meaning “to sleep in” or “to have a lie-in.” Its literal meaning is roughly “to have a fat morning,” with grasse suggesting a long, leisurely morning spent in bed. The verb faire is conjugated while la grasse matinée stays unchanged. For example, “Je vais faire la grasse matinée demain” means “I’m going to sleep in tomorrow.”
Faire la grasse matinée pronunciation
The IPA pronunciation of faire la grasse matinée is /fɛʁ la ɡʁas ma.ti.ne/, which sounds approximately like “fehr lah grahs mah-tee-nay.”
Faire la grasse matinée example sentences
Le dimanche je fais la grasse matinée et je me lève à dix heures.
On Sundays I sleep in and get up at 10 o’clock.
Il est rare que je fasse le grasse matinée car je préfère me lever tôt.
I rarely sleep in as I prefer to get up early.
👉 Next expression: Dormir sur ses deux oreilles (To sleep like a baby) »
Interested in speaking the “real” French you’d hear in Paris? I recommend À Moi Paris, an audio course by my personal friend Camille Chevalier.
If you purchase this course, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
📚 Related lessons
👉 Faire conjugation chart »
👉 Faire usage examples »
👉 Faire expressions »
🚀 Continue learning on FrenchLearner!
👉 French expressions »
👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French A1 lessons »
👉 French verb conjugations »
👉 French vocabulary lists »
👉 French song lyrics »
👉 French grammar lessons »
