• Home
  • OffQc
  • About
  • Start
  • Off-quoi?
  • Listen to Québécois French

OffQc | Québécois French Guide

For lovers of French + diehard fans of all things québécois!

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Je faisais la job d’un parent (#1011)
What do you call those cardboard coffee cup sleeves in French? (#1013) »

Are all usages specific to Québécois French informal? (#1012)

4 September 2015 by OffQc

By “informal,” I mean a word or expression far more likely to be found in normal, spontaneous, everyday language — between friends and family, for example — than in high literature or business correspondence or news reports.

In many posts on OffQc, you’ve no doubt noticed that I very often say that such-and-such a word or expression is an informal usage. Maybe you’ve even begun to wonder if all Québécois words and expressions are informal…

They’re not. There are many words and expressions unique to Québec that you’re just as likely to hear in everyday, spontaneous language as you are in a televised news report or formal language, in the same way that words like téléphone and café can cross language levels.

Below are some examples of both informal and level-neutral Québécois French.

Informal (between friends, for example)

  • pogner, to grab, catch
  • checker, to check
  • c’est-tu…?, is it…?, is that…?
  • capoter, to flip out
  • m’as, I’m gonna (+ infinitive)
  • c’est don’ bin cute!, is that ever cute!
  • pis là, and then
  • faque, so
  • enweille!, come on then!
  • un char, car

Level-neutral (not limited to one language level)

  • un cégépien, cégep student
  • faire l’épicerie, to go food shopping
  • magasiner, to shop, shop around for
  • une tête-de-violon, fiddlehead
  • la poudrerie, blowing snow
  • un melon d’eau, watermelon
  • une pourvoirie, grounds where you can hunt, fish, trap
  • à l’arrêt, at the stop sign
  • un téléroman, soap opera
  • un REER, retirement investment, pronounced ré-èr

It’s true that a lot of the language on OffQc falls more in the informal category than the level-neutral one. I do this because this is the language that’s more difficult to learn.

Informal words and expressions are less likely to appear in dictionaries and learning materials than the level-neutral ones. Informal usages are also sometimes “hidden” from learners by language instructors who judge them negatively or, outside of Québec, may be unknown to them if they aren’t familiar with the Québécois variety of French.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Posted in Entries #1001-1050 | Tagged arrêt, épicerie, ben, c'est-tu, capoter, cégépien, cégep, char, checker, cute, enweille, faire l'épicerie, faque, français québécois, m'as, magasiner, melon d’eau, pis là, pogner, poudrerie, pourvoirie, Québécois French, REER, téléroman, tête-de-violon | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on 4 September 2015 at 15:29 Charles

    Très bonne mise au point. À l’inverse, tout ce qui est informel n’est pas nécessairement québécois (contrairement à ce que plusieurs de mes étudiants ont souvent tendance à penser)… Par exemple, quand ils entendent “t’aimes”, “t’habites” ou “t’étudies”, ils ont le réflexe de dire : “c’est du québécois”, alors que la majorité des francophones peuvent faire cette contraction en situation familière!


    • on 7 September 2015 at 14:18 OffQc

      Oui, absolument vrai.


  2. on 4 September 2015 at 18:31 velotech

    I am so glad to find offQC. It’s so difficult to find education in “street French”. After all it is the language spoken in Montreal and Quebec and that is what we Anglos should be able to learn!


    • on 7 September 2015 at 14:17 OffQc

      Wouldn’t it be nice if beginners’ French courses focused more on normal, spoken language?


  3. on 7 September 2015 at 09:20 lost_in_translation

    It is so exciting to find your website! I’ve been trying to watch 19-2 on Netflix with closed captions in what they call “Canadian French” so I can better understand Montreal street language. I found your site when I did a Google search on the word “pogner” after Google Translate failed to provide any insights. OffQC is really helping me to understand things in context. Thanks for all your work on the site and for providing so many media culture examples. Ça me pogne au coeur.


    • on 7 September 2015 at 14:13 OffQc

      I’m glad you found OffQc! 😀


  4. on 11 October 2015 at 00:32 Steve Sauder

    Felix, this is a super site! I grew up speaking both languages in Northern Ontario, so the informal French I speak with my friends is the worst sort of “j’ai crashé mon char dans le ditch!” variety! Hehe but I do make some use of more formal French for my work, and I’ve found that, despite the prevailing sentiment from European French speakers that Québécois French is very anglicized, I’ve actually found that in many cases, standard Québec French that you hear on a daily basis has less anglicismes than Parisian French! A few examples from a recent business trip to Paris:

    “Parking” in Quebec is “Stationnement” but in Paris, it’s “Parking”
    “The weekend” in Quebec is “la fin d’semaine” but in Paris, it’s “le weekend”
    “E-mail” in Quebec is “courriel” but in Paris, it’s “l’email”.

    “Courriel” is a particular example of a Québécois word (a contraction of “courrier électronique”) that makes WAY more sense in French than the Parisien version. It’s a sore spot because I had to change the translation for the Parisian market in my software… Lol

    Anyway, bonne chance, and keep up the great work on the blog!
    Steve


    • on 18 October 2015 at 16:08 Neil

      I agree that there are anglicisms in France that wouldn’t be tolerated in Quebec. It’s all a matter of perception, rather than fact.



Comments are closed.

  • Books

    The OffQc bookshop is always open. See all titles here.

    Contracted French Put an end to not understanding spoken French by learning the most important contractions used in speech

    C’est what? Overview of common features of spoken Québécois French; pave the way for further independent study

    1000 Learn or review a large amount of everyday words and expressions used in Québécois French in condensed form

  • Follow OffQc by email. It's free. Enter your email address in the box below.

    Join 1,545 other followers

  • Read a random entry
    OffQc bookshop
    OffQc on Twitter
    OffQc on Pinterest
    • Listen to Québécois French: Almost 100 videos + transcripts
  • Number

    • Entries #1151-1200
    • Entries #1101-1150
    • Entries #1051-1100
    • Entries #1001-1050
    • Entries #951-1000
    • Entries #901-950
    • Entries #851-900
    • Entries #801-850
    • Entries #751-800
    • Entries #701-750
    • Entries #651-700
    • Entries #601-650
    • Entries #551-600
    • Entries #501-550
    • Entries #451-500
    • Entries #401-450
    • Entries #351-400
    • Entries #301-350
    • Entries #251-300
    • Entries #201-250
    • Entries #151-200
    • Entries #101-150
    • Entries #51-100
    • Entries #1-50
  • Month

    • June 2017
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.