Un de ces quatre is a French idiom that translates literally to “one of these four” and means “one of these days” or “sometime soon”. The expression also appears as un de ces quatre matins, literally “one of these four mornings”. In conversational French, the expression sounds like un de ces quatre.
un de ces quatre
one of these days
Example sentences
In French, bouffer is a slang verb for “to eat” and the feminine noun la bouffe is slang for both food and meal. On se fait translates to literally to “shall we make for each other”. This sentence uses the pronoun on (meaning one or we) and faire (to to make, to do) in the reciprocal reflexive form.
On se fait une bouffe un de ces quatre ?
Shall we have a meal together one of these days?
This second sentence uses the futur simple, a commonly used French future tense.
Un de ces quatre, je pense que je gagnerai au loto !
I think I’ll win the lottery one of these days!
Expression origin
This expression first appeared at the beginning of the 19th century but the exact origin is unknown. It’s meant to suggest a short duration of time which is expected to be at an undetermined and approaching date.
Related lessons
French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson
