avoir du pain sur la planche

The French expression “avoir du pain sur la planche” translates literally to “to have bread on the board”.

English meaning:

• to have a lot on your plate
• to have a lot to do
• to have your work cut out for you
• to be snowed under with work
• to have your hands full

French meaning:

• avoir beaucoup de travail à faire – to have a lot of work to do
• avoir beaucoup de tâches à accomplir – to have a lot of tasks to accomplish

Example sentence:

• Désolé, je ne peux pas te rejoindre ce soir. J’ai du pain sur la planche. Sorry, I cannot join you tonight. I have a lot of my plate.

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