Level: A2 (Upper Beginner)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
Today’s French Word of the Day is bagnole — a fun slang term meaning car. In this lesson, you’ll also meet caisse (another slangy word) and the standard voiture, so you can see how all three work naturally in conversation.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
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📘 Bagnole meaning
Bagnole (feminine noun) is an informal French word meaning car. It’s common slang you’ll hear in everyday speech — for example, Ma bagnole est en panne (My car broke down). Keep it for casual settings and use the standard voiture in formal conversation.
🎧 Bagnole pronunciation
Bagnole is pronounced /baɲ.jɔl/, roughly “bahn-yol.” The gn makes the soft /ɲ/ sound, like the “ny” in canyon, and the final -e is silent, leaving a clear “yol” ending.
📝 French and English examples
Bagnole – car (slang)
Tu aimes ma nouvelle bagnole ? Elle est chouette, non ?
Do you like my new car? It’s great, isn’t it?
Jean-Luc conduit une vieille bagnole depuis des années.
Jean-Luc has been driving a clunker for years.
Je change de caisse tous les cinq ans.
I change cars every five years.
En général, je me rends au travail en voiture.
In general, I get to work by car.
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- la caisse — casual slang for “car”
- la voiture — the standard French word for “car”
- le char — “car” in Québécois French
- conduire — to drive
- rouler — to drive (informal)
🚀 Expand your French vocabulary!
Now that you’ve mastered bagnole, take a look at my lesson on mec, another super useful and common French slang word meaning guy.
👉 Learn mec here »
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