OffQc | Quebec French Guide

Macha from Tout sur moi has been going out on dates with the male doctors from her doctor’s office. Unlikely in the real world but, hey, Tout sur moi is just a comedy! One of the dates she goes on is with her… gynecologist. She tells her friends that she had her première date avec [...]

Read Full Post »

Ben is an informal pronunciation of bien. It sounds like the French word bain. Informally, ben is often used in the sense of “really.” Examples: C’est ben loin, ben chaud, ben difficile; j’aime ben ça, and so on. Sometimes, you’ll even hear ben used not once but twice in a row, like this: J’aime ben [...]

Read Full Post »

Valérie from Tout sur moi plays a butch character. She uses a lot of informal language and often loses her temper around other characters. In one scene, Valérie uses the informal expression fermer sa gueule to tell someone to shut up. Sometimes you’ll hear gueule pronounced as yeule in this expression, but not always. Examples: [...]

Read Full Post »

As a way of provoking in French, you might hear someone call another person chose. In a scene from Tout sur moi, that’s what Valérie said to another character in a moment of anger: Je commence à en avoir mon voyage de toi, chose! I’m starting to get fed up with you, guy [thing]! [Said [...]

Read Full Post »

Sometimes the French word merde (“shit”) is pronounced marde in Quebec. In a scene from Tout sur moi, an elderly man lying in a hospital bed describes his life as being une vie de marde. Even though this was said by an elderly character, you can hear younger people say marde too. A common expression [...]

Read Full Post »