French Proverbs - Proverbes français
Spice up your language with some French proverbs.
| French | English | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| À coeur vaillant rien d'impossible. | Nothing is impossible for a willing heart. | To a valient heart nothing impossible. |
| À l'impossible nul n'est tenu. | No one is bound to do the impossible. | |
| Après la pluie le beau temps. | Every cloud has a silver lining. | After the rain, the nice weather. |
| À quelque chose malheur est bon. | Every cloud has a silver lining. | Unhappiness is good for something. |
| L'arbre cache souvent la forêt. | Can't see the forest for the trees. | The tree often hides the forest. |
| Autres temps, autres moeurs. | Times change. | Other times, other customs. |
| Aux grands maux les grands remèdes. | Desperate times call for desperate measures. | To the great evils great remedies. |
| Aux innocents les mains pleines. | Beginner's luck. | Full hands for the innocents. |
| Avec des si et des mais, on mettrait Paris dans une bouteille. | If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for tinkers' hands. | With ifs and buts, one would put Paris in a bottle. |
| Aussitôt dit, aussitôt fait | No sooner said than done | Immediately said, immediately done |
| Battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud. | To strike while the iron is hot. | To hit the iron while it's hot. |
| Bien mal acquis ne profite jamais. | Ill gotten ill spent. | Goods poorly gotten never profit. |
| Bonne renommée vaut mieux que ceinture dorée. | A good name is better than riches. | Well named is more is worth more than golden belt. |
| Bon sang ne saurait mentir. | What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh. | Good blood doesn't know how to lie. |
| C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. | Practice makes perfect. | It's by forging that one becomes a blacksmith. |
| Ce sont les tonneaux vides qui font le plus de bruit. | Empty vessels make the most noise. | It's the empty barrels that make the most noise. |
| Chacun voit midi à sa porte. | To each his own. | Everyone sees noon at his door. |
| Les chiens ne font pas des chats | The apple doesn't fall far from the tree | Dogs don't make cats |
| Un clou chasse l'autre. | Life goes on. | One nail chases the other. |
| Comme on fait son lit, on se couche. | You've made your bed, now you must lie on it. | |
| En tout pays, il y a une lieue de mauvais chemin. | There will be bumps in the smoothest roads. | In every country there is a league of bad road. |
| Entre l'arbre et l'écorce il ne faut pas mettre le doigt. | Caught between a rock and a hard place. | Between the tree and the bark one shouldn't put a finger. |
| L'exactitude est la politesse des rois. | Punctuality is the politeness of kings. | |
| Heureux au jeu, malheureux en amour. | Lucky at cards, unlucky in love. | Happy in the game, unhappy in love. |
| Il faut casser le noyau pour avoir l'amande. | No pain no gain. | You need to break the shell to have the almond. |
| Il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée. | There can be no middle course. | A door must be open or closed. |
| Il faut réfléchir avant d'agir. | Look before you leap. | You have to think before acting. |
| Il ne faut jamais dire « Fontaine, je ne boirai pas de ton eau ! » | Never say never. | You should never say, "Fountain, I will never drink your water!" |
| Il ne faut jamais jeter le manche après la cognée. | Never say die. | One should never throw the handle after the felling axe. |
| Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard. | Leave nothing to chance. | Nothing should be left to chance. |
| Il n'y a pas de fumée sans feu. | Where there's smoke, there's fire. | There's no smoke without fire. |
| Il n'y a que les montagnes qui ne se rencontrent jamais. | There are none so distant that fate cannot bring together. | There are only mountains that never meet. |
| Il vaut mieux être marteau qu'enclume. | It's better to be a hammer than a nail. | It's better to be hammer than anvil. |
| Impossible n'est pas français. | There is no such word as "can't." | Impossible isn't French. |
| Les jours se suivent et ne se ressemblent pas. | There's no telling what tomorrow will bring. | The days follow each other and don't look alike. |
| Un malheur ne vient jamais seul. | When it rains, it pours! | Misfortune never comes alone. |
| Le mieux est l'ennemi de bien. | Let well enough alone. | Best is good's enemy. |
| Mieux vaut plier que rompre. | Adapt and survive. | Better to bend than to break. |
| Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir. | Prevention is better than cure. | Better to prevent than to cure. |
| Mieux vaut tard que jamais. | Better late than never. | Late is worth more than never. |
| Les murs ont des oreilles. | Walls have ears. | |
| Noël au balcon, Pâques aux tisons. | A warm Christmas means a cold Easter. | Christmas on the balcony, Easter at the embers. |
| On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des oeufs. | You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. | |
| On ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre. | You can't have your cake and eat it too. | You can't have the butter and the money from the butter. |
| On ne peut pas être à la fois au four et au moulin. | You can't be in two places at once. | One can't be at the oven and the mill at the same time. |
| On ne prête qu'aux riches. | Only the rich get richer. | One only lends to the rich. |
| Paris ne s'est pas fait en un jour. | Rome wasn't built in a day. | Paris wasn't made in a day. |
| Les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières. | Tall oaks from little acorns grow. | The little streams make the big rivers. |
| Quand on veut, on peut. | Where there's a will, there's a way. | When one wants, one can. |
| Qui aime bien châtie bien. | Spare the rod and spoil the child. | He who loves well punishes well. |
| Qui casse les verres les paie. | You pay for your mistakes. | He who breaks the glasses pays for them. |
| Qui craint le danger ne doit pas aller en mer. | If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. | He who fears dangers shouldn't go to sea. |
| Qui donne aux pauvres prête à Dieu. | Charity will be rewarded in heaven. | He who gives to the poor loans to God. |
| Qui dort dîne. | He who sleeps forgets his hunger. | He who sleeps eats. |
| Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire. | Once the first step is taken there's no going back. | When the wine is drawn, one must drink it. |
| Qui m'aime aime mon chien. | Love me love my dog. | He who loves me loves my dog. |
| Qui m'aime me suive. | Come all ye faithful. | He who loves me, follow me. |
| Qui n'entend qu'une cloche n'entend qu'un son. | Hear the other side and believe little. | He who hears only one bell hears only one sound. |
| Qui ne dit mot consent. | Silence implies consent. | He who says nothing consents. |
| Qui ne risque rien n'a rien. | Nothing ventured, nothing gained. | He who risks nothing has nothing. |
| Qui peut le plus peut le moins. | He who can do more can do less. | |
| Qui se marie à la hâte se repent à loisir. | Marry in haste, repent later. | He who marries in haste repents in leisure. |
| Qui sème le vent récolte la tempête. | As you sow, so shall you reap. | He who sows the wind reaps the storm. |
| Qui se sent morveux, qu'il se mouche. | If the shoe fits, wear it. | He who feels stuffy should blow his nose. |
| Qui s'y frotte s'y pique. | Watch out - you might get burned. | He who rubs against it gets stung. |
| Qui terre a, guerre a. | He who has land has quarrels. | Who land has, war has. |
| Qui trop embrasse mal étreint. | He who grasps at too much loses everything. | He who hugs too much holds badly. |
| Qui va à la chasse perd sa place. | He who leaves his place loses it/ Step out of line and you'll lose your place. | He who goes hunting loses his place. |
| Qui va lentement va sûrement. | Slowly but surely. | He who goes slowly goes surely. |
| Qui veut la fin veut les moyens. | The end justifies the means. | He who wants the end wants the means. |
| Qui veut voyager loin ménage sa monture. | He who takes it slow and steady travels a long way. | He who wants to travel far spares his mount. |
| Qui vivra verra. | What will be will be/ Time will tell/ God only knows. | He who lives will see. |
| La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure. | Might makes right. | The strongest reason is always the best. |
| Rien ne sert de courir, il faut partir à point. | Slow and steady wins the race. | Running is worthless, you have to leave on time. |
| Rira bien qui rira le dernier. | Whoever laughs last laughs best. | Will laugh well he who laughs last. |
| Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait. | Youth is wasted on the young. | If youth knew, if old age could. |
| Un sou est un sou. | Every penny counts | A cent is a cent |
| Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'à la fin elle se casse. | Enough is enough. | So often the pitcher goes to the water that in the end it breaks. |
| Tel est pris qui croyait prendre. | It's the biter bit. | He is taken who thought he could take. |
| Tel qui rit vendredi dimanche pleurera. | Laugh on Friday, cry on Sunday. | He who laughs on Friday will cry on Sunday. |
| Le temps, c'est de l'argent | Time is money | Time, that's money |
| Tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche | To think long and hard before speaking | To turn one's tongue in one's mouth seven times |
| Tous les goûts sont dans la nature. | It takes all kinds (to make a world) | All tastes are in nature. |
| Tout ce qui brille n'est pas or | All that glitters isn't gold. | |
| Tout est bien qui finit bien. | All's well that ends well. | |
| Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre. | All things come to those who wait. | All comes on time to the one who knows how to wait. |
| Toute peine mérite salaire. | The laborer is worthy of his hire. | All trouble taken deserves pay. |
| La vérité sort de la bouche des enfants. | Out of the mouths of babes. | The truth comes out of the mouths of children. |
| Vouloir, c'est pouvoir. | Where there's a will, there's a way. | To want, that's to be able. |
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