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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