Stop translating: 5 English phrases French people say differently
Coffee Break French
Radio Lingua Network
4.6 • 4.9K Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Max breaks down five everyday English phrases that work completely differently in French, from "I miss you" and "I'm cold" to "it makes sense". Along the way, he explains why word-for-word translation leads learners astray and shows you the more natural French alternatives. Which of these have you been getting wrong?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, Sallu! |
| 0:02.0 | My, it's Max the Coffee Break French. |
| 0:05.0 | Bien in a new episode. |
| 0:08.0 | And today we are talking about something that blocks a lot of French learners, |
| 0:14.0 | and that is translating directly from English to French. |
| 0:19.0 | Because the truth is, if you translate word for word, you'll often sound a bit strange in French. |
| 0:26.6 | Not necessarily wrong every time, but at least not natural. |
| 0:31.3 | That's because French just expresses some ideas in a completely different way. |
| 0:37.4 | So in this episode, I'm going to tell you about five very common English phrases |
| 0:42.6 | and how French people actually say them. |
| 0:46.6 | Once you know these five, you'll stop translating them in your head |
| 0:50.3 | and your French will sound a lot more natural. |
| 0:54.7 | Allé, on commence. |
| 1:08.9 | Let's start with a classic mistake. I miss you. So in English you say I miss you. But in French we reverse the structure completely. We say, tu me |
| 1:26.4 | m monk. And literally it means something like you. we say, Tu me Monk. |
| 1:31.1 | And literally it means something like you to me are missing. |
| 1:34.0 | Tu me mock. |
| 1:36.1 | So let's have a look at an example. |
| 1:39.1 | Short one. |
| 1:39.9 | Tu me monk. |
| 1:41.5 | Toa also. |
| 1:43.1 | I miss you. I miss you. |
... |
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