In today’s lesson, we’ll learn how to ask: “What does _ mean?” in French. The phrase used is Que veut dire. For example, Que veut dire «pomme»? (What does pomme mean?). While this might look slighly daunting and complicated at first, it is not. Let’s jump right into the lesson!
Que veut dire ?
What does _ mean?
Que veut dire – “How do you say” in French
Here’s an example using que veut dire.
Que veut dire ce mot ? Je ne comprends pas.
What does this word mean? I don’t understand.
Breakdown of que veut dire
Let’s have a quick look at how the phrase que veut dire is constructred. The literal translation of que veut dire is “what wants to say”.
Que means what in French. Veut is the third-person singular form of the verb vouloir (to want). Dire means “to say” in French. Hence, when you ask que veut dire, you’re asking “what does _ want to say?”.
More example sentences
Que veut dire le mot «pomme» ?
What does “pomme” mean?
“Ça veut dire quoi + word” is a much less formal way of using the phrase que veut dire. This example sentence using ainsi (like this), which we covered in another post.
Ça veut dire quoi, «ainsi que» ?
What does ainsi que mean?
In addition to que veut dire, you can also use the verb signifier to ask what something means.
Que signifie cette phrase ? Pouvez-vous la traduire?
What does this sentence mean? Can you translate it?
The phrase que veut dire can be used in other contexts besides asking what words mean. Here’s an example.
Le petit garçon a enfin appris ce que veut dire être honnête.
The little boy finally learned waht being honest means.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You now know how to use que veut dire in French! Now check out lesson which covers je veux (I want) in depth!
