Level B1 (Intermediate)
The French word of the day is the slang reflexive verb se planter, translating literally to ‘to plan oneself’ and meaning ‘to mess up’, ‘to make a mistake’, ‘to get wrong’ and ‘to screw up’.
se planter – IPA pronunciation /sə plɑ̃.te/
Example Sentences
For this first sentence, se planter à l’examen means ‘to fail’ or ‘to mess up an exam’.
Il s’est planté à l’examen de physique.
He messed up (failed) the physics exam.
For this second sentence, se planter means ‘to get wrong’.
Tu t’es planté dans toutes tes phrases.
You got all your sentences wrong.
Here, the expression se tromper de chemin means ‘to get lost’, ‘to lose one’s way’ or ‘to take the wrong road’.
Je me suis planté de chemin. Je suis perdu.
I took the wrong rode. I’m lost.
This usage of se planter is ‘to freeze’ or ‘to stop working’.
Ah zut ! Mon téléphone s’est planté encore !
Oh shoot! My phone crashed again!
Se planter present tense conjugation
Se planter is a regular ER reflexive verb.
Je me plante I mess up
Te te plantes You mess up (singular, informal)
Il, elle se plante He, she messes up
Nous nous plantons We mess up
Vous vous plantez You mess up (plural, formal)
Ils, elles se plantent They mess up
Continue learning French!
Now that you’ve mastered se planter, check our our lesson explaining se tromper, also meaning ‘to get wrong’ or ‘to mistaken’. This lesson provides a clear explanation of reflexive verbs.
