In today’s lesson we’ll have a look at the adverb vraiment, which translates to “really”, “truly” and “honestly”. We’ll also have a look at “Ah bon ?”, which corresponds with “Really?” in English.
vraiment
really
Word origin
The French adverb vraiment is comprised of the adjective vrai and the suffix -ment. Vrai comes from verus in latin. The French suffix -ment corresponds with -ly for English adverbs and comes from -mente in Latin.
Example sentences
For these first two example sentences, vraiment is being used as an adverb to mean “really” or truly”.
Elle est vraiment belle.
She is really beautiful.
Martin chante vraiment bien.
Martin sings really well.
For this sentence, vraiment can also translate to “honestly” or “truly”.
La nouvelle voiture m’a vraiment surprise.
The new car really surprised me.
To say “not really”, vraiment is preceded by pas to form pas vraiment.
Aimez-vous ce fromage ? – Pas vraiment.
Do you like this cheese? Not really.
To express “really?”, as in “Is it true?”, the French use the expression “Ah bon?”.
Ah bon ? Je ne savais pas qu’il parlait français.
Really? I didn’t knwo he spoke French.
Related lessons
Reference
