Published April 22, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson • Native Audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Tout de même is a common French expression that can translate to “still” or “anyway”. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use it in real spoken French with native audio examples and how it compares to the closely related expression quand même.
📘 Tout de même meaning
Tout de même means “anyway”, “still”, or “even so” in French and is used to express contrast or emphasis despite a situation. It often appears after mais (but) or at the end of a sentence to reinforce a point. In spoken French, it can also show surprise or mild criticism. It is very close in meaning to quand même, but slightly more formal. See examples below.
🎧 Tout de même pronunciation
The pronunciation of tout de même is /tu də mɛm/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “too duh mem”.
📝 Tout de même examples
Il pleut, mais on sort tout de même.
It’s raining, but we’re going out anyway.
C’est cher, mais c’est tout de même bon.
It’s expensive, but it’s still good.
C’est tout de même incroyable !
That’s still incredible!
Tu pourrais tout de même dire merci.
You could at least say thank you.
Quand même is the closest synonym to tout de même.
👉 Learn how to use quand même here.
💡Tout de même vs quand même — what’s the difference?
Tout de même and quand même both mean “anyway”, “still”, or “even so” in French, but quand même is far more common in everyday spoken language, while tout de même sounds slightly more formal or emphatic. In most situations, they are interchangeable — the difference is mainly tone and frequency.
You can usually swap them without changing the meaning:
➞ Il pleut, mais on sort quand même.
➞ Il pleut, mais on sort tout de même.
It’s raining, but we’re going out anyway.
➞ C’est cher, quand même !
➞ C’est cher, tout de même !
It’s expensive, still!/seriously!
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- quand même — anyway, still, all the same
- malgré — despite, in spite of
- pourtant — yet, however
- cependant — however, nevertheless
- néanmoins — nonetheless
- de toute façon — anyway, in any case
- n’empêche que — still, it doesn’t change the fact that
📚 Related lessons
👉 French connector words »
👉 Même (same, self, even) »
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