In today’s lesson, we look at the French interjection “Attention!” This common word means “Watch out!”, “Look out!”, “Careful!”, or “Caution!”—expressions you’ll hear often in day-to-day French.
Meaning
Pronunciation and Register
Example sentences
Related words
More French interjections
Meaning
The French interjection “Attention !” is primarily used as an interjection to warn someone to be careful or alert. English translations include “watch out!”, “look out!”, “careful!”, or “caution!” in English. L’attention (f) as a noun means “kind thought” or “kindness”.
Pronunciation and Register
Pronunciation: /a.tɑ̃.sjɔ̃/
Register: informal, neutral
Example sentences
For this first example, tu vas marcher (you’re going to walk) is an example of the futur proche, a commonly used French future tense. The verb marcher can translate to “to walk” and “to work (or function).
Attention ! Tu vas marcher dans le caca du chien !
Watch out! You’re going to walk in the dog doo!
As a noun, la marche means “step”, not to be confused with le marché (market).
Attention à la marche ! Tu vas tomber !
Look out for the step! You’re going to fall!
The structure faire attention à + noun/infinitive means “to pay attention to”, “to watch out for”, “to be careful of” or “to mind”.
Je fais toujours très attention à ma prononciation.
I always pay very close attention to my pronunciation.
Words related to “Attention !”
- la prudence – caution, carefulness
- le danger – danger
- l’alerte – alert
- regarde ! – look!
- soyez prudent(e) – be careful formal/plural
- veillez à – make sure to, watch out for
- prévenir – to warn
More French interjections
- fais gaffe ! – Watch out!
- Euh – uh, um, er
- Tant Pis – Too bad, oh well
- Bof – Meh, nah
- Zut – Shoot, Darn!
- Coucou – Hi there!
- Oh là là – Oh, wow, yikes!
