Level A2 (Upper Beginner)
Ever heard a French speaker punctuate their sentences with a quick “hein?” or use it when they didn’t quite catch something? The versatile interjection hein is a cornerstone of spoken French! This lesson will teach you its two main uses: to express confusion or to seek confirmation.
Meaning
Pronunciation with IPA
Example sentences
Meaning
The French interjection hein is a highly versatile and common filler word with two primary uses:
- Expressing lack of understanding: It can mean “eh?!”, “huh?”, or “what?” when you haven’t heard or understood something.
- Demanding confirmation: It can be used at the end of a statement to ask for agreement, translating to “isn’t it?”, “right?”, or “yeah?”
Pronunciation
Hein /ɛ̃/ (when used as question)
Hein /ɛ̃/ (demanding confirmation)
Example sentences
This first sentence uses capter, which is a slang synonym for comprendre (to understand). The negation ne…rien mean nothing or anything.
Hein, qu’est-ce que t’as dit? Je n’ai rien capté!
Huh? What did you say? I didn’t understand a thing!
Attention, hein ! Il faut bien réfléchir avant de répondre.
Watch out, eh! You need to think before answering.
For this sentence “Pourquoi tu ne l’invites pas” (why don’t you invite her?) omits est-ce que (is/are/do/does for yes-no questions). This is common in spoken French. The l’ (shortening of la) is a direct object pronoun meaning “her”.
Elle est belle, hein ? Pourquoi tu ne l’invites pas au resto ?
She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Why don’t you invite her out to eat?
More interjections
- Euh – uh, um, er
- 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
