Today’s lesson explores the commonly used French interjection euh, which translates to uh, um and er. This is a filler word used to express hesitation, uncertainty or surprise before speaking. Today’s sentences are all examples of informal spoken French.
euh
uh, um, er
Pronunciation [ø]
Euh – uh, um, er
For this first sentence, donne-moi (give me) is the verb donner in the imperative mood, which is used for giving commands. Je donnerai (I will give) is donner in the futur simple tense.
Euh, oui, euh, c’est une bonne idée. Donne-moi un jour et je te donnerai la réponse.
Uh, yeah – it’s a good idea. Give me a day and I’ll give you the answer.
This second sentence uses the reflexive verb se trouver, meaning to be located. Tu peux me dire (you can tell me) omits est-ce que, which is used in yes-know questions. This is common in spoken French.
Euh, tu peux me dire où se trouvent les toilettes ?
Um, can you tell me where’s the bathroom?
This final sentence uses the pronoun on, which has many meanings including “we”. On verra (we’ll see) is the verb voir (to see) in the futur simple tense. Je sais pas omits the ne in the ne…pas negation.
Je sais pas, euh. Oui, peut-être. On verra, hein.
Uh, I don’t know. Yes, maybe. We’ll see, eh.
More interjections
- Hein – eh, huh, isn’t it?
- Bah ouais! – Yeah!
- Attention ! – Watch out!
- Coucou! – Hi there!
- Oh là là – Oh, wow, yikes!
- Zut – Shoot, Darn!
- Bof – Meh, nah
- Tant Pis – Too bad, oh well
References
Word of the Day archive | Lessons by David Issokson
