Skip to Content

passer comme une lettre à la poste

“Passer comme une lettre à la poste” is a French expression that literally means to pass or go through like a letter at the post office. English meanings include the following:

  • to go off without a hitch
  • to work perfectly
  • smooth sailing

According to expressio.fr, a French-to-French translation is to pass or go through easily, without incident. According to the site, in the 19th century the expression often applied to the idea of digesting food easily.

example sentence:

  • Les prétextes que le président a donnés pour ses erreurs étaient des mensonges, mais ils sont passés comme une lettre à la poste. The excuses that the president gave for his mistakes were lies but they worked perfectly.

main expressions page

Sharing is caring!

Affiliate disclosure: Below you will find affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking the link, we will receive a small commission. To learn more please visit our full disclosure page. Merci!

Sign up to download your free trial of À Moi Paris a French course which I recommend to my personal students to help with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. After that, upgrade for access to 77 hours of audio lessons.

Read our full review of À Moi Paris and find out why we love it so much!

Are you struggling with French verb conjugations? Then we highly recommend French Today's French Verb Drills course. Get over 28 hours of audio exercises to build reflexes and dramatically improve your French level and confidence.

Read our full review of French Verb Drills and find out why we recommend this course!

David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six 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 online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

See all posts by