On his TV show, Ricardo said this about something he had just cooked in front of his TV audience:
Ça, pour moi, là, c’est vraiment super.
What’s the là doing in there?
This là doesn’t mean there. We might be able to translate it instead as well in this example.
Ça, pour moi, là, c’est vraiment super.
This [what I made], to me, well, it’s really great.
As you listen to French, you’ll be hearing là used very frequently like this. It often comes at the end of statements, but not always — in the example above, it’s in the middle.
Ben, je sais pas, là.
Well, I dunno.
Faque qu’est-ce qu’on fait, là?
So what’re we gonna do then?
Moi là, j’aime pas ça.
Yeah well, me, I don’t like that.
Ben, c’est comme tu veux, là.
Well, whatever you want.
You’ll probably want to resist the urge to find a direct equivalent into English. The more you listen to spoken French, the less mysterious this use of là will seem to you — and you’ll probably want to start using it yourself!
This là is a very characteristic feature of the French spoken in Québec, so don’t be afraid to try popping it in every once in a while into your own French. Your Québécois listeners will love it. 😀
Thank you, thank you, thank you, I mean merci, merci, merci for this blog!!!!! It’s the only thing that’s helping me and my dyslexic 50 year old English brain. Because of you, maybe one day someone will hire me here in Montreal…
I second what Tessa said, this is a great blog! As a 44 year old dyslexic from Ontario, I’m having a rough time here in Drummondville. Cheers to you Felix for all the people you’re helping 😉