Today we’ll discover a fun French idiom: Avoir un chat dans la gorge, which means to be hoarse. The literal translation of this idiom is “to have a cat in the throat” and an English equivalent is “to have a frog in your throat”. Other French translations are the adjectives enroué (hoarse) and rauque (raspy).
avoir un chat dans la gorge
to be hoarse, to have a frog in your throat
Expression origin
he expression avoir un chat dans la gorge dates back to the 19th century. At that time, a maton referred to “a hairball which can obstruct orifices”. Over the years, the word became matou (tomcat), then chat (cat).
Example sentences
This first example sentence uses the negation form ne…plus, which means “no longer” or “anymore”. This lesson on our site explains the French negation rules in detail.
Après sept leçons de français, le pauvre prof a un chat dans la gorge et ne peut plus parler.
After seven French lessons, the poor teacher has a frog in his thoat and can not longer speak.
This next example sentence uses the past infinitive (l’infinitif passé) tense, which is used to express “after having”. The French structure is: après + infinitive of auxiliary (être or avoir) + past participle.
Après avoir fait un discours incohérent, Monsieur Politique avait un chat dans la gorge.
After having given an incoherent speech, Mr. Politic was hoarse.
This final example sentences uses the feminine noun pastille, which can also translate to lozenge. Prends is the second-person singular (tu) form of prendre (to take) in the imperative mood.
Prends une pastille si tu as un chat dans la gorge !
Have a cough drop if you have a raspy voice!
French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson
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