French Proverbs with Animals
Proverbes avec des animaux
| English | French | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| All cats are grey in the dark. | La nuit, tous les chats sont gris. | At night, all the cats are grey. |
| The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. | Les chiens ne font pas des chats. | Dogs don't make cats. |
| A barking dog does not bite. | Chien qui aboie ne mord pas. | |
| Beggars can't be choosers. | Faute de grives, on mange des merles. | Lack of thrushes, one eats blackbirds. |
| Better safe than sorry. | Souris qui n'a qu'un trou est bientôt prise. | A mouse that has ony one hole is soon caught. |
| Big fish eat little fish. | Les gros poissons mangent les petits. | |
| A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras.
Un chien vivant vaut mieux qu'un lion mort. |
One of yours is better than two that you will have
A live dog is worth more than a dead lion. |
| Birds of a feather flock together | Qui se ressemble s'assemble | Those who resemble assemble |
| A cat may look at a king. | Un chien regarde bien un évêque. | A dog looks well at a bishop. |
| Different strokes for different folks. | On ne marie pas les poules avec les renards. | One does not wed hens with foxes. |
| Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. | Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué. | You shouldn't seel the bearskin before killing the bear. |
| Don't jump to conclusions. | Il y a plus d'un âne à la foire qui s'appelle Martin. | There's more than one donkey named Martin at the fair. |
| Don't put the cart before the horse. | Il ne faut jamais mettre la charrue avant les boeufs. | One should never put the plow before the oxen. |
| Don't try to do two things at once. | Il ne faut jamais courir deux lièvres à la fois. | One should never run after two hares at the same time. |
| Every little bit helps. | Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid. | Little by little, the bird builds its nest. |
| Give a little to get a lot. | Il faut savoir donner un oeuf pour avoir un boeuf. | You have to know how to give an egg to get an ox. |
| Give an inch and he'll take a mile. | Qui vole un oeuf vole un boeuf. | He who steals an egg will steal an ox. |
| Give some and keep the rest. | Donne au chien l'os pour qu'il ne convoite pas ta viande. | Give the dog the bone so that he doesn't go after your meat. |
| The guilty dog barks the loudest. | C'est la poule qui chante qui a fait l'oeuf. | It's the chicken that sings who laid the egg. |
| If you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas. | Qui se couche avec les chiens se lève avec des puces. | |
| A leopard can't change his spots. | Qui naît poule aime à caqueter.
Qui a bu boira. |
He who was born a hen likes to cackle.
He who has drunk will drink. |
| Let sleeping dogs lie. | Ne réveillez pas le chat qui dort. | Don't wake the sleeping cat. |
| Like breeds like.
Like father like son. |
Bon chien chasse de race. | Good dog hunts [thanks to] its ancestry. |
| Nice guys finish last. | Qui se fait brebis le loup le mange. | He who makes himself a ewe the wolf eats. |
| Once bitten, twice shy. | Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide. | Scalded cat fears cold water. |
| One always goes back to one's roots. | Le loup retourne toujours au bois. | The wolf always goes back to the woods. |
| Talkers are not doers. | Ce n'est pas la vache qui crie le plus fort qui fait le plus de lait. | It's not the cow that moos the loudest who gives the most milk. |
| There's no substitute for experience. | Ce n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire la grimace. | It's not an old monkey that one teaches to make faces. |
| Tit for tat. | À bon chat bon rat. | To good cat good rat. |
| To each his own. | Les chiens aboient, la caravane passe. | The dogs bark, the caravan goes by. |
| What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh. | La caque sent toujours le hareng. | The herring barrel always smells like herring. |
| When the cat's away, the mice will play. | Le chat parti, les souris dansent. | The cat gone, the mice dance. |
French proverbs French expressions French clichés
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