OffQc | Québécois French Guide

We’ve seen before how both the expression avoir le goût and the verb tenter can be used in the sense of to want, to feel like, or like the expression avoir envie.

Ça m’tente pas.
J’ai pas l’goût.
J’ai pas envie.
I don’t want to, I don’t feel like it,
I’m not up for it, etc.

There are some informal contractions in the examples above, and you’ll want to be sure how to pronounce them.

Ça m’tente pas is an informal contraction of ça ne me tente pas. Instead of trying to pronounce m’tente on its own, move the m’ to the end of ça as though it were çam’ tente pas. Now you can say it easily. Ça m’ sounds like the first syllable of samedi.

Ça m’tente pas trop, là.
I don’t really wanna.

J’ai pas l’goût is an informal contraction of je n’ai pas le goût. To pronounce pas l’goût, move the l’ to end of pas, and you can pronounce it easily.

J’ai pas envie is an informal equivalent of je n’ai pas envie.

Both tenter and avoir le goût can be followed by de + a verb in its infinitive form. The same goes for avoir envie.

J’ai pas l’goût de cuisiner.
Ça m’tente pas de travailler.
J’ai pas envie de sortir.
I don’t feel like cooking, working, going out.

On this little sign that I saw in a supermarket in Montréal, we read:

Parce qu’on n’a pas toujours le goût de cuisiner.
Because you don’t always feel like cooking.

The sign is advertising a brand of milk and is placed right in front the breakfast cereals sitting on the shelves.

Can you suggest why the expression avoir le goût might have been chosen here instead of avoir envie?

See you again in #1000. 😀