French is not one single way of speaking. You adjust it to who you are talking to (register) and you hear it differently depending on where you are (regional variety). Calling an office about a summer job and calling a friend about tonight's plans use different verbs, pronouns and formulas — get them mixed up and you sound either rude or oddly stiff. Then there is geography: a student in Montréal and a student in Lyon both speak perfectly good French, yet one goes magasiner on la fin de semaine and the other goes faire du shopping during le week-end. Neither is wrong. Canadian French kept some older usages (the meal names déjeuner, dîner, souper were once standard in France too, and Belgium and Switzerland still use them) and created French words where France often borrowed English ones (courriel, magasiner). Knowing both lets you understand anyone and choose the right word for your reader. Comparing customs also calls for a Grade 10 tool: possessive pronouns (les nôtres, les leurs).
On the phone: formal and informal
| Formal (an office, an adult you don't know) | English | Informal (a friend, family) |
|---|---|---|
| Allô, bonjour. Ici Samuel Martin. | Hello. This is Samuel Martin. | Allô? Salut, c'est Sam! |
| Pourrais-je parler à Monsieur Leblanc, s'il vous plaît? | Could I speak to Mr. Leblanc, please? | Est-ce que Léa est là? |
| C'est de la part de qui? | Who's calling? (lit. on behalf of whom?) | C'est qui? |
| Ne quittez pas, un instant, je vous le passe. | Please hold, one moment, I'll put him through. | Attends, je te la passe. |
| Il est absent pour le moment. Voulez-vous laisser un message? | He isn't available right now. Would you like to leave a message? | Elle n'est pas là. Je lui dis de te rappeler? |
| Pourriez-vous rappeler plus tard? | Could you call back later? | Téléphone-moi plus tard! |
| Voudriez-vous venir ce soir? | Would you like to come this evening? | Veux-tu sortir ce soir? |
| Je vous remercie. Au revoir, monsieur. | Thank you. Goodbye, sir. | Merci! À plus! |
- Léa: Allô?
- Max: Salut Léa, c'est Max! Veux-tu sortir ce soir? Il y a un concert au parc.
- Léa: Ah, je peux pas, je garde mon petit frère.
- Max: Pas grave! Demain, peut-être?
- Léa: Oui, peut-être. Téléphone-moi plus tard, OK?
- Max: D'accord. À plus!
Translation: Léa: Hello? — Max: Hi Léa, it's Max! Do you want to go out tonight? There's a concert in the park. — Léa: Oh, I can't, I'm babysitting my little brother. — Max: No big deal! Tomorrow, maybe? — Léa: Yes, maybe. Call me later, OK? — Max: OK. Talk soon! Every informal signal is here: tu, the impératif téléphone-moi, the short pas grave and à plus, and je peux pas without ne. That last one is normal in casual speech, but in any written work — and in a formal call — keep the ne: je ne peux pas.
Tone, intonation and gestures
- Intonation: in a yes/no question without inversion, your voice rises at the end: Tu viens ce soir? ↗. Statements and commands fall: Je viens ce soir. ↘. A question that starts with a question word usually falls too: Où vas-tu?
- Tone on the phone: in a formal call, speak a little more slowly, say who you are right away, and end with a thank-you formula. You can't be seen, so your voice carries all the politeness.
- La bise: in France and Québec, friends and family often greet each other with light kisses on the cheeks; in France the number varies from region to region. In a formal or professional setting, shake hands: une poignée de main.
- Bof with a shrug and pushed-out lips: I don't really care / it's so-so.
- Mon œil! while pulling down the skin under one eye with a finger: I don't believe you!
- Counting on your fingers: in France, people usually start with the thumb for 1, so a thumb and index finger mean 2, not 1.
Canada vs France: everyday words
| English | Au Canada | En France |
|---|---|---|
| parking lot | le stationnement | le parking |
| weekend | la fin de semaine | le week-end |
| to go shopping | magasiner | faire du shopping |
| le courriel | l'e-mail, le mail (courriel is also the official term in France) | |
| corner store | le dépanneur | l'épicerie de quartier |
| cellphone | le cellulaire | le portable |
| winter hat | la tuque | le bonnet |
| breakfast · lunch · evening meal | le déjeuner · le dîner · le souper | le petit-déjeuner · le déjeuner · le dîner |
| car (informal) | un char (informal Québec French); une voiture, une auto | une voiture |
| my girlfriend (informal) | ma blonde (informal Québec French) | ma copine |
Comparing conventions: possessive pronouns
| Owner | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | le mien | la mienne | les miens | les miennes | mine |
| tu | le tien | la tienne | les tiens | les tiennes | yours |
| il / elle | le sien | la sienne | les siens | les siennes | his / hers |
| nous | le nôtre | la nôtre | les nôtres | les nôtres | ours |
| vous | le vôtre | la vôtre | les vôtres | les vôtres | yours |
| ils / elles | le leur | la leur | les leurs | les leurs | theirs |
Translation: Hi Camille! Thanks for your email. You ask whether our habits are like yours. Yes and no! At our place, dîner is at noon and souper is around 6 p.m. At your place, dîner is the evening meal, and you have it later. So our words are different from yours! My family spends its weekends at the cottage; what about yours? My cousins in Montréal have their own expressions: they say "mon char" for "my car". Their words are sometimes different from ours, and theirs always make me laugh. See you soon! Maya Each pronoun matches the noun it replaces: aux vôtres = à + vos habitudes; la tienne = ta famille (feminine singular); des nôtres = de + nos mots; les leurs = leurs expressions.