B1 (Intermediate)
Today’s French Word of the Day is the fun adjective marrant (feminine marrante), meaning “funny” or “comical.” See how it’s used in our example sentences.
Meaning
Pronunciation with IPA
Example sentences
Meaning
The French adjective marrant (masculine) or marrante (feminine) is an informal term that means “funny,” “comical,” “strange,” or “ironic.” It’s used to describe something (or someone) that causes amusement. The related reflexive verb se marrer means “to have a good laugh.”
Pronunciation
Marrant, marrante /ma.ʁɑ̃/ and /ma.ʁɑ̃t/
Example sentences
This first sentence uses raconter, which means “to tell” in the context of telling jokes or lies. The verb for “to tell” or “to say” as in “What did you say?” is dire.
Sylvie est une fille très marrante. Elle adore raconter les blagues.
Sylvie is a very funny girl. She loves to tell jokes.
This second sentence uses the advanced past subjunctive mood. Here, the auxiliary verb for ils n’ont pas (they didn’t) is formed in the subjunctive: ils n’aient pas.
C’est marrant qu’ils n’aient pas répondu à notre question.
It’s strange that they didn’t answer our question.
This final sentence uses the pronoun on, which has many meanings including “we”. As a reflexive verb, se marrer means to giggle, laugh or have a good laugh.
J’adore passer du temps avec Jean. On se marre bien ensemble.
I love spending time with Jean. We have a good laugh together.
👉 See also: Passer conjugation »
Related expression
Se marrer comme une baleine – to laugh your head off
Related lessons
References
- fr.wiktionary.org (se marrer)
- cnrtl.fr (marrant)
