Le français interactif - French Accent Magazine

Nr 47 – February-March 2014
Le français interactif — How to Say Properly
Je t'aime in French?
An important question around La Saint-Valentin (Valentine's Day): How do you say I love
you, or I like you, in French? And more widely, what verb do you use when you want to
say that you like cheese a lot but that you like chocolate better? The following is a slightly
revised version of an article on the same topic that appeared in December 2008, with an
update on the new language used more and more by young French people.
Have you ever seen a child in France plucking the petals of a daisy one at a time while
saying “Je t’aime, un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, à la folie, pas du tout” (I love you, a
little, a lot, passionately, madly, not at all), the last petal determining your degree of love
for that person?
As you probably already know, using the verb aimer in reference to a person means “to
love” that person, but love can be expressed in varying degrees just like when you’re
plucking the petals of a daisy, and according to the adverb you choose to qualify your love,
it can actually end up meaning “to like” instead of “to love”. This is where it can become
confusing and tricky. How do we simply say to a friend “I like you”? Let’s clarify how the
verb aimer is used and also have a look at some other options:
I love Robert
When you wish to make declaration of love to someone, the verb aimer is most appropriate.
Examples:
Je vous aime OR Je t’aime ! = I love you!
J’aime Robert ! = I love Robert!
To say that you’ve fallen madly in love:
J’aime Robert à la folie. = I’m madly in love with Robert.
I like Robert
When you wish to express that you like someone, then you have a few options. To say that
you “like” or are “fond of” someone, it would then be appropriate to use aimer, BUT you
need to add an adverb, such as bien, or beaucoup. Strangely enough, these adverbs make
aimer less strong, so that they can be used with friends rather than family and lovers.
Examples:
J’aime bien Robert. = I like Robert.
J’aime beaucoup Robert. = I like Robert a lot.
Je t’aime bien. = I like you.
I like chocolate
When you wish to say that you like or love something, aimer will be appropriate to use
again.
Examples:
J’aime le chocolat. = I like chocolate.
Tu aimes la vie. = You love life.
Nous aimons cette ville. = We like this city.
Note that with aimer and other verbs of feelings such as préférer (to prefer), apprécier (to
appreciate), détester (to hate) you will always use the definite article (le, la, les) and not the
partitive article (du, de la, des).
You cannot say J’aime du chocolat when you’re just making a “like/love” statement.
Therefore, you can say J'aime le chocolat, je préfère le chocolat, je déteste le chocolat, etc.
If you wish to replace the word le chocolat by “it”, you can use the regular direct object
pronouns (je l’aime), but the French have a strong tendency to replace “it“ with the
indefinite demonstrative pronoun ça.
Examples:
Aimes-tu le chocolat ? Oui, j’aime ça ! = Do you like chocolate? Yes I like it.
Est-ce que tu aimes lire ? Oui, j’aime ça. = Do you like to read? Yes I like it.
Les cigarettes, je n'aime pas ça. = I don't like cigarettes.
I would like
The French tend to use je voudrais = “I would like” when they want to ask for something in a
polite way. Simply saying je veux can be a bit abrupt and less polite than je voudrais. The
French will also use aimer a lot in the conditional which also means “I would like”.
This is how we use it:
J’aimerais un verre d’eau avec mon café svp (s'il vous plaît) ! = I would like a glass of water
with my coffee please!
J'aimerais un kilo de carottes bio svp. = I'd like one kilo of organic carrots please.
Another popular alternative for “to like” = (se) plaire.
Plaire literally means “to please”, but in French it really means to like something or
someone. The French use it a lot as an alternative to aimer.
Here is how it is used and conjugated:
Tu me plais. = I like you.
Ça me plaît. = I like it.
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Il me plaît. = I like him.
Elle me plaît. = I like her.
Etc...
Examples:
Robert me plaît = Literally it means “Robert pleases me” but really what you’re saying is “I
fancy/like Robert” (it could be expressed either in a romantic or a friendly way).
La maison me plaît. = I like the house.
Le film me plaît. = I like the movie.
Nous nous plaisons ici. = We like it here.
Paris te plaît ? = Do you like Paris?
Mes parents se plaisent bien dans cette ville. = My parents like it in this city.
To adore/ to truly love
Adorer is used to express a true love for something but it is not quite as strong as aimer
when expressing love for/to people!
Examples:
J’adore ce peintre. = I truly love this painter.
J’adore la soupe. = I truly love the soup.
J’adore la mer. = I truly love the sea.
Mon mari adore prendre l'apéro dans ce bar. = My husband loves having an aperitif in this
bar.
J’ai adoré ce film. = I truly loved this film.
J’adore les romans d’amour. = I truly love romance novels.
J’adore Robert, il est drôle ! = I really like Robert, he’s funny!
BUT
J’aime Robert. = I love Robert (stronger than adorer).
To like better/best
The French rather tell you je préfère than j'aime mieux when they want to say that they like
someone or something better or best. Therefore, the meaning of this verb is slightly
different than “to prefer” in English.
Examples:
- J'aime bien le fromage, mais je préfère le chocolat. = I like cheese, but I like chocolate
better.
- Elle préfère son oncle à sa tante. = She likes her uncle better than her aunt.
- Mes fils préfèrent jouer au foot qu'au basket. = My sons like playing soccer better than
basketball.
- J'aime bien le vin mais ce que je préfère c'est le Champagne. = I like wine but what I like
best is Champagne.
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The news ways to say Je t'aime
Kiffer, which means to love, to like, to be crazy about someone or something, is a slang
expression from Arab origin mainly used by teenagers and young men and women,
especially the ones living in low-income housing developments or neighbourhoods.
Je te kiffe. = I love you.
Je te kiffe mortel, Je te kiffe grave. = I am wild/crazy about you.
Tu kiffes tellement les frites ? = You like French fries so much?
Love... Yes, like so many English words, the verb “to love” has entered the French
vocabulary, and, again, is mainly used by young people, especially those who are part of the
upper classes or who live in the chic parts of Paris or big cities.
Je te love. = I love you.
On peut voir que tu la loves, cette fille ! = We can see that you love this girl!
Céline Anthonioz
Scénario : Au marché
Dans un petit village, un Américain vient
faire ses courses dans la petite
fourgonnette du fromager, située au cœur
du marché le samedi matin.
In a small village, an American comes to do
his shopping at the small truck stand of the
cheese merchant that is right in the middle
of the Saturday morning market.
Le client : Bonjour, Madame, j'aimerais
quelques fromages pour ce soir s'il vous
plaît.
La fromagère : Bien sûr, Monsieur. Qu'est-ce
que vous aimez comme fromages ?
Le client : Ce que j'aime ?... Ça me fait
toujours bizarre que vous, les Français, vous
utilisez le même verbe pour dire que vous
aimez le fromage ou que vous aimez votre
mari ou votre femme !
La fromagère : Oui, ça c'est vrai !... Nous
utilisons le verbe aimer pour parler de
beaucoup de choses !... Bon, dites-moi,
qu'est-ce que vous préférez comme
fromages ?
Le client : Moi j'aime bien le Comté, mais ma
femme préfère les fromages de chèvre.
La fromagère : Vous pensez qu'un crottin
d'Ardèche bien moelleux, ça lui plairait ?
Le client : Oh oui, je crois qu'elle va adorer.
La fromagère : Et pour vous, je vous coupe
une petite tranche de Comté ?
Client: Good morning, Madam, I would like
some cheese for this evening, please.
Merchant: Of course, Sir. What kind of
cheese do you like?
Client: Ce que j'aime?... It always seems
strange to me that you French use the same
verb to say that you like cheese or that you
love your husband or your wife.
Merchant: Yes, that's true!... We use the
verb aimer to talk about many things!...
Well now, tell me what cheese you like best?
Client: I really like Comté cheese, but my
wife likes goat cheese better.
Merchant: Do you think she would like a
crottin d'Ardèche that is very soft?
Client: Oh, yes. I think she will love it.
Merchant: And for you, shall I cut you a
small slice of Comté?
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Le client : Parfait ! Vous êtes magnifique.
Est-ce que je peux dire que j'aime ma
fromagère ?
La fromagère : Eh attention, votre femme va
être jalouse !
Client: Perfect! You are wonderful. Can I
say that I love my cheese merchant?
Merchant: Hey, be careful, your wife will be
jealous!
Le coin des branchés : The Language of Love
This is an area in which the French language is particularly rich! In this short selection, we
present a few examples of the expressions used when you talk about falling in love - or
trying to catch the attention of the person who has caught your eye.
Draguer = to try and pick someone up; un dragueur = a womanizer; someone who tries a
little too often, with too many people, for whom draguer has almost become a game but
who is not serious about a relationship; more and more used also when talking about a
woman: une dragueuse.
Faire du gringue = to try to seduce someone.
Faire les yeux doux = idem; but more romantic.
Dire des mots doux = to whisper sweet nothings to someone.
En pincer pour quelqu'un = to be very attracted by someone (lit.: “to pinch” for someone…).
Faire une touche = to have someone suddenly be attracted to you; when someone falls for
you. Ex.: Tu n'as pas vu comme elle t'a regardé, cette femme ? Mon pote, t'as fait une
touche. = You didn't see how this woman looked at you? Buddy, you have it made with her.
Avoir un ticket = to understand, by the other persons actions and/or attitude, that he/she is
also attracted.
Taper dans l'œil = to feel suddenly attracted by someone (lit.: to hit on the eye).
Avoir un faible pour quelqu'un = to have a soft spot for someone.
Avoir un cœur d'artichaut = to be very sensitive and fall in love easily (lit.: to have the heart
of an artichoke).
Faire la cour = an expression used when a man courts a woman; old-fashioned today.
Déclarer sa flamme = to declare one's love to the person concerned, also a bit old-fashioned
(lit.: to declare one's flame).
Tomber amoureux = to fall in love. One can also on rare occasions read or hear tomber en
amour, but this sounds very old-fashioned or sophisticated, and used only in poetry or
literature.
Un coup de foudre = love at first sight (lit.: a bolt of lightning).
Flirter = to flirt.
Séduire = to please and pay attention to someone and make him/her feel that a relationship
with you may be nice (in French, séduire is a much more subtle attitude than “to seduce” in
English). Idem for the word séduction.
Sortir avec = to have a love and/or sexual relationship with. Ex.: Le président sort avec une
nouvelle nana = The president is going out with a new chic.
Rouler un patin, rouler une pelle = to give a French kiss (fam.); (lit.: to roll a skate, to roll a
shovel). Note than, in French, when we talk about a French kiss, we never say donner un
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baiser français or un baiser à la française (as we can wrongly read in dictionaries); we can
just say embrasser sur la bouche... which is more elegant than rouler un patin or rouler une
pelle!
Avoir un rendez-vous, avoir un rencart (fam.), avoir une date = to have a date. Note than in
avoir une date, the word date is pronounced in the English way.
Être au septième ciel = to be on cloud nine.
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