Chose - French Expressions
The French word chose is usually feminine and means thing. It is used in a number of idiomatic expressions, and can also be masculine, with a somewhat different meaning.
| la chose | thing | |
| la chose en question | the matter at hand | |
| la chose imprimée | printed word | |
| la chose jugée | (law) | final decision, res judicata |
| la chose publique | (politics) | nation, state |
| avant toute chose | above all else | |
| peu de chose | not much, very little | |
| toutes choses égales | all things being equal, all things considered | |
| C'est bien peu de chose. | It's nothing really. | |
| C'est une chose admise que... | It's a known/accepted fact that... | |
| C'est la chose à ne pas faire. | That's the one thing not to do. | |
| C'est chose faite. | It's done. | |
| Ce n'est pas chose aisée de... | It's not easy to... | |
| Ce n'est pas chose facile de... | It's not easy to... | |
| Chose curieuse, il... | Curiously enough, he... | |
| La chose est d'importance. | It's a matter of some importance. | |
| Chose étrange, il... | Strangely, he... | |
| Chose promise, chose due. | (proverb) | Promises are made to be kept. |
| De deux choses l'une : soit ..., soit .... | There are two possibilities: either ..., or .... | |
| (Infinitive) est une chose, (infinitive) en est une autre. | (Doing something) is one thing, (doing something) is another. | |
| Il n'y a pas une seule chose vraie là-dedans. | There isn't a single word of truth in it. | |
| Il va vous expliquer la chose. | He'll tell you all about it, He'll explain it to you. | |
| Je viens de penser à une chose. | I just thought of something. | |
| Tu lui diras / Vous lui direz bien des choses de ma part. | Give him my regards. | |
| Voilà une bonne chose de faite. | That's one thing done / out of the way. | |
| être la chose de qqun | to be someone's plaything | |
| être porté sur la chose | (informal) | to have a one-track mind |
| être tout chose | to feel a little strange, out of sorts, under the weather | |
| prendre bien la chose | to take it (e.g., bad news) well | |
| se sentir tout chose | to feel a little strange, out of sorts, under the weather | |
| les choses | things | |
| Au point où en sont les choses | The way things are at the moment. | |
| Ce sont des choses qui arrivent. | It's just one of those things, These things happen. | |
| C'est dans l'ordre des choses. | It's in the nature/order of things. | |
| Les choses se sont passées ainsi. | It happened like this. | |
| Les choses vont mal. | Things are going badly. | |
| Dans l'état actuel des choses | As matters/things stand right now | |
| En mettant les choses au mieux. | At best. | |
| En mettant les choses au pire. | At worst. | |
| Mettons les choses au point. | Let's get things straight/clear. | |
| par la force des choses | by force of circumstance, inevitably | |
| avoir un tas de choses à faire | to have a ton/bunch of things to do | |
| faire bien les choses | to do things well/properly | |
| faire de grandes choses | to do great things | |
| ne pas faire les choses à demi/moitié | to do things well, (UK) to not do things by halves | |
| parler de choses et d'autres | to talk about this and that | |
| prendre les choses à cœur | to take things to heart | |
| regarder les choses en face | to face up to things | |
| le chose | (informal) | thingie, contraption |
| quelque chose | something | |
| quelque chose de (bizarre, intéressant...) | something (strange, interesting...) | |
| Monsieur Chose | Mr. What's-his-name | |
| Eh ! Chose ! | Hey, you! | |
| Pauvre chose ! | Poor thing! | |
| le petit chose | young what's-his-name | |
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