Thank you everybody for your very kind messages of support following my accident.
Although it’ll be a while before I’m back up on my feet, your messages have made me eager to start writing again!
Some practical issues are slowing me down, however. If you’ve sent an email and I haven’t responded, I ask for your patience.
In the past few months, some of you have asked for help with smartphone vocabulary in French.
For this entry, I thought you might like to extend your knowledge of talking about data usage associated with a smartphone (un téléphone intelligent).
When you choose a plan with your service provider, you choose un forfait in French. This is an important word to learn. Un forfait de base is a basic plan.
Some things that you may do with your plan include changing it or cancelling it:
modifier mon forfait
to change my plan
annuler mon forfait
to cancel my plan
The French word for “data” is données. So un forfait de données is a data plan.
Some things you need data for are la navigation web, les courriels, la messagerie instantanée and les applications.
If your plan included, for example, 500 MB of data, you’d talk of 500 Mo de données in French, or 500 mégaoctets de données.
Keeping an eye on your data usage? Vous gardez un œil sur votre consommation de données. You could also speak of your utilisation de données.
If you’re almost at your limit, votre limite est presque atteinte!
Maybe you use a lot of data. In this case, you could say: j’utilise beaucoup de données.
On the other hand, if you’re unsure of your usage habits, you could ask for advice before choosing a plan: pouvez-vous m’aider à estimer la quantité de données dont j’aurai besoin?
If you discovered that your plan didn’t include enough data, you could be in need of some données additionnelles… or maybe une zone WiFi with free access!
Just noting that we say WiFi the English way — the French say “oui-fi”!
Thanks for drawing attention to that. Yes, the québécois pronunciation of WiFi matches the English one.
Isn’t it also the case that the phrase ‘sans fil’ is used for wifi in Canada? I see it written in French in Canadian sources anyway. Is it mainly written, or another option when speaking?
Also am curious to know the word for apps in French. Is the slang ‘applis’ used? That’s how they’re referred to in French on my bbZ10, for whatever that’s worth.
Thanks again for your help, I love your blog! 🙂
This example just occurred to me, hopefully in good french: Il faut fermer (éteindre?) les applis pour éviter la surconsommation de données.
James, WiFi is commonly used when speaking. If you go into public places where free WiFi is offered, you’ll also see signs that say “WiFi gratuit” or even just “Internet gratuit.”
For applications, I can think of three words: application, app, appli.
Awesome, thanks for the clarification. 🙂