| Dictionary of French Expressions - P |
| Idiomatic French expressions, phrasal verbs, and French formulas |
More than 2,000 French expressions, including idiomatic expressions, proverbs, phrasal verbs, and French formulas. Expressions are arranged alphabetically by the first word in the French expression, not including articles.
| Abbreviations | |||
| (fam) | familiar | (inf) | informal |
| qqun | quelqu'un | qqch | quelque chose |
| s.o. | someone | s.t. | something |
Dictionary of French Expressions
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| parcourir une rue de bout en bout | to go from one end of a street to the other | |
| par-dessous | under (with a sense of movement) | |
| par-dessous la jambe (inf) | carelessly, offhandedly | |
| par-dessus | over (with a sense of movement | |
| par-dessus bord | overboard | |
| par-dessus la jambe (inf) | carelessly, offhandedly | |
| par-dessus le marché | into the bargain, on top of that | |
| par-dessus tout | especially, mainly | |
| Par exemple | For example | |
| Paris ne s'est pas fait en un jour. | Rome wasn't built in a day. | |
| parler à | to talk to | |
| parler la bouche pleine | to talk with one's mouth full | |
| parler par la bouche de qqun d'autre | to use s.o. else as one's mouthpiece | |
| parler pour | to speak on behalf of | |
| par les temps qui courent | these days, nowadays | |
| par temps clair | on a clear day, in clear weather | |
| par sa bouche | by one's words, by what one says | |
| un parti pris | prejudice, preconceived notion | |
| partir dans (10 minutes) | to leave in (10 minutes) | |
| partir dans (les montagnes) | to leave for (the mountains) | |
| partir de | to leave | |
| partir de meilleure heure | to leave earlier | |
| partir pour | to leave for/be off to | |
| partir sans demander son reste | to leave without a murmur | |
| parvenir à + infinitive | to succeed in ___-ing | |
| Pas de nouvelles, bonnes nouvelles. | No news is good news. | |
| pas de quoi | don't mention it | |
| Pas mal | Not bad | |
| passer à travers champs | to go through/across fields/country | |
| passer de bouche à oreille | to be spread by word of mouth | |
| passer de bouche en bouche | to be talked, rumored about | |
| perdre du temps (à faire qch) | to waste time/waste one's time (doing something) | |
| passer le meilleur de sa vie à faire | to spend the best days/years of one's life doing | |
| passer le plus clair de son temps à rêver | to spend most of one's time daydreaming | |
| passer prendre qqun | to go pick s.o. up | |
| perdre son temps (à faire qch) | to waste time/waste one's time (doing something) | |
| passer tout son temps (à faire) | to spend all of one's time (doing) | |
| payer à la pièce | to pay for piecework / by the piece | |
| payer à l'heure | to pay by the hour | |
| payer comptant | to pay cash | |
| payer d'audace | to take a risk | |
| payer de mine | to look good, nice | |
| payer de qqch | to sacrifice s.t., give s.t. up | |
| payer de sa poche | to pay out of one's own pocket | |
| payer en espèces | to pay cash | |
| payer en nature | to pay in kind | |
| payer la casse | to pay for the damage; to pick up the pieces | |
| payer le déplacement | to pay traveling expenses | |
| payer le travail | to pay for the work | |
| payer les pots cassés | to pay for the damage; to pick up the pieces | |
| payer par chèque | to pay by check | |
| payer pour le savoir | to learn s.t. the hard way | |
| payer pour qqun | to pay for s.o.; to pick up the pieces | |
| payer qqch à qqun (inf) | to buy s.t. for s.o. | |
| payer qqun de paroles | to fob s.o. off with empty words | |
| payer qqun de promesses | to fob s.o. off with empty promises | |
| payer ses dettes | to pay one's debts | |
| payer ses impôts | to pay one's taxes | |
| pendant ce temps(-là) | meanwhile, in the meantime | |
| peu de temps avant/après | shortly before/after | |
| penser à | to think of / about | |
| penser de | to think about (have an opinion on) | |
| penser tout haut | to think out loud | |
| perdre confiance | to lose one's confidence | |
| perdre connaissance | to pass out, lose consciousness | |
| perdre courage | to lose heart, courage | |
| perdre du poids | to lose weight | |
| perdre du temps | to waste time | |
| perdre du terrain | to lose ground | |
| perdre espoir | to lose hope | |
| perdre la boule (inf) | to go crazy | |
| perdre la parole | to lose the power of speech | |
| perdre la raison | to go out of one's mind | |
| perdre la tête | to go crazy | |
| perdre la vie | to lose one's life | |
| perdre la vue | to lose one's vision | |
| perdre le fil (inf) | to lose the thread (of a conversation) | |
| perdre le goût de (travailler, manger) | to lose interest in, to not feel like (working, eating) | |
| perdre le nord (inf) | to get confused | |
| perdre l'équilibre | to lose one's balance | |
| perdre le souffle | to be out of breath | |
| perdre les pédales (inf) | to get mixed up | |
| perdre l'esprit | to go out of one's mind | |
| perdre l'occasion de | to miss the opportunity to | |
| perdre patience | to lose patience | |
| perdre pied | to be out of one's depth (literally and figuratively) | |
| perdre qqun de vue | to lose sight of s.o. | |
| perdre sa page (en lisant) | to lose one's place (in a book, etc.) | |
| perdre ses moyens | to crack up, go insane | |
| perdre son pantalon | to have one's pants/trousers falling down | |
| perdre son temps | to waste time | |
| perdre toute notion d'heure | to lose all sense of time | |
| perdre un ami de vue | to lose touch with a friend | |
| permettre à | to permit (s.o.) | |
| permettre de | to allow one to (do s.t.) | |
| persister à | to persist in ___-ing | |
| persuader de | to persuade to | |
| Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid. | Every little bit helps. | |
| un petit bout de chou/zan | (inf) | a little kid |
| un petit bout de femme | (inf) | a mere slip of a woman |
| un petit bout d'homme | (inf) | a mere scrap of a man |
| un petit chat | kitten | |
| Les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières. | Tall oaks from little acorns grow. | |
| Pierre qui roule n'amasse pas mousse | (proverb) | A rolling stone gathers no moss. |
| Pile ou face ? | Heads or tails? | |
| plaire à | to please / be pleasing to | |
| Le plein (gas, petrol) | Fill it up | |
| pleuvoir dans (la France) | to rain in (France) | |
| la plupart de son temps | most of one's time | |
| la plupart du temps | most of the time | |
| Plus ça change... (plus c'est la même chose) | The more things change... (the more they stay the same) | |
| Plus fait douceur que violence. | Kindness succeeds where force will fail. | |
| Plus on est de fous, plus on rit. | The more the merrier. | |
| plus ou moins | more or less, about | |
| plus que jamais | more than ever | |
| Point de nouvelles, bonnes nouvelles. | No news is good news. | |
| pointer le bout de son nez | to show one's face, peep around (the corner, door) | |
| porter qqchose à bout de bras | to struggle to keep something going | |
| Poser une question de but en blanc. | To ask a question point-blank. | |
| pour ainsi dire | so to speak | |
| Pour le meilleur et pour le pire. | For better or for worse. | |
| Pour ma part | For my part | |
| Pour moi | In my view | |
| Pour qui te prends-tu ? | Who do you think you are? | |
| pour tout dire | in fact | |
| pour un coup | for once | |
| pour un temps | for a while | |
| Pourrais-je parler à ___ ? | May I speak to ___? | |
| pousser qqun à bout | to push someone to the limit | |
| Pouvez-vous m'aider ? | Can you help me? | |
| préférer ne pas (avoir à) se prononcer sur | to prefer not to comment on | |
| préférer ne pas s'engager à | to prefer not to commit oneself to | |
| le premier de l'an | New Year's Day | |
| les premiers temps | at first, in the beginning | |
| prendre à droit | to turn right | |
| prendre à gauche | to turn left | |
| prendre au pied de la lettre | to take literally | |
| prendre au sérieux | to take seriously | |
| prendre bien la chose | to take s.t. well | |
| prendre des risques | to take chances | |
| prendre du bon temps | to enjoy oneself, to have a good time | |
| prendre du champs | to step/stand back | |
| prendre du poids | to gain weight | |
| prendre feu | to catch fire | |
| prendre fin | to come to an end | |
| prendre froid | to catch a cold | |
| prendre garde | to be careful, watch out | |
| prendre garde de (ne pas) + infinitive | to be careful not to | |
| prendre goût à qqun | to take a liking to s.t. | |
| prendre la chose bien | to take it well | |
| prendre la chose mal | to take it badly | |
| prendre la clé des champs | to run away | |
| prendre l'air | to get a breath of fresh air | |
| prendre le dessus | to get the upper hand | |
| prendre le frais | to get a breath of fresh air | |
| prendre le meilleur sur qqun | to get the better of s.o. | |
| prendre le parti de | to decide to | |
| prendre le temps de faire | to find/make time to do | |
| prendre mal la chose | to take s.t. poorly | |
| prendre (une) meilleure tournure | to take a turn for the better | |
| prendre modèle sur qqun | to model oneself on s.o. | |
| prendre qqch à qqun | to buy/get s.t. for s.o. | |
| prendre qqch dans (une boîte) | to take s.t. from (a box) | |
| prendre qqun en grippe | to take a disliking to s.o. | |
| prendre qqun la main dans le sac | to catch s.o. red-handed | |
| prendre qqchose par le bon bout | to handle/approach something the right way | |
| prendre qqun par (la main) | to take s.o. by (the hand) | |
| prendre qqun par son point faible | to take advantage of s.o.'s weak spot | |
| prendre rendez-vous avec | to make an appointment with | |
| prendre sa retraite | to retire (from work) | |
| prendre ses jambes à son cou | to run off | |
| prendre son courage à deux mains | to get up one's courage | |
| prendre tout son temps | to take one's time | |
| prendre une claque à qqch (figurative) | to get a slap in the face from s.t. | |
| prendre une décision | to make a decision | |
| prendre un rhume | to catch a cold | |
| Prends-ça du bon côté. | Look on the bright side. | |
| Prenez votre temps | Take your time | |
| prier de | to beg to | |
| Printemps, c'est pour les amants | Spring is for lovers | |
| profiter à | to benefit, be profitable to | |
| profiter de | to make the most of | |
| la profondeur de champs | depth of field | |
| promettre à | to promise | |
| promettre de | to promise to | |
| proposer de | to suggest ___-ing | |
| les provisions de bouche | provisions | |
Dictionary of French Expressions
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
French Dictionaries Expressions Index Verbs with Prepositions
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