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En avoir marre – To be fed up, sick of it

En avoir marre – To be fed up, sick of it

If you travel to France you’ll inevitably hear an expression that almost never appears in the textbooks: En avoir marre. The translations of this expression are “to be fed up”, “to be sick of” and “to have had it”. This post will explore the expression en avoir marre in detail.

J’en ai marre !

I’m fed up !

French idiom: "En avoir marre" (to be fed up)

En avoir marre

The expression en avoir marre de can be followed by a thing or person. Here’s an example:

J’en ai marre de ces gens. Ils m’énervent.

I’m fed up with (sick of) these people. They’re bothering me.

As seen above, j’en ai marre can be used as a stand-alone exclamation. Here are two examples:

Ça fait une heure qu’on fait la queue. J’en ai marre !

We’ve been waiting in line for an hour. I’ve had it!

Si tu en as marre, rentre chez toi !

Go home if you’ve had enough!

In the following example en avoir marre de is followed by a noun.

J’en ai marre de cette pluie et j’ai envie de sortir.

I’m sick of this rain and I want to go out.

En avoir assez

In French, the expression en avoir assez is synonymous to en avoir marre, but comes across as softer or a bit less harsh. The word assez translates to “enough”.

J’en ai assez de vos commentaires. Taisez-vous pour une fois !

I’ve had enough of your comments. Shut up for once!

Example of how to use "en avoir marre".

French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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