| Dictionary of French Expressions - T |
| 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
| Ta bouche (bébé) ! | (fam) | Shut up! Shut your trap! |
| tâcher de | to try to | |
| tant et plus de | ever so much, many | |
| tant mieux | good, great, so much the better | |
| Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'à la fin elle se casse. | Enough is enough. | |
| tarder à | to delay / be late in ___-ing | |
| téléphoner à | to call | |
| téléphoner pour (le problème) | to phone about (the problem) | |
| Tel est pris qui croyait prendre. | It's the biter bit. | |
| Telle est mon opinion sur | That's my view of | |
| Tel père, tel fils. | Like father, like son. | |
| Tel qui rit vendredi dimanche pleurera. | Laugh on Friday, cry on Sunday. | |
| le temps d'accès | (computers) | access time |
| le temps d'antenne | airtime | |
| le temps d'arrêt | pause, halt | |
| le temps astronomique | mean/astronomical time | |
| le temps atomique | atomic time | |
| le temps composé | (grammar) | compound verb tense |
| le temps de cuisson | cooking time | |
| le temps différé | (computers) | batch mode |
| le temps faible | weak beat, low point | |
| le temps fort | strong beat, high point | |
| le temps frappé | (music) | downbeat |
| le temps de guerre | wartime | |
| le temps libre | spare time | |
| le temps littéraire | (grammar) | literary verb tense |
| le temps mort | stoppage, injury time; lull, slack period | |
| le temps de paix | peacetime | |
| le temps de parole | air time | |
| le temps partagé | (computers) | time-sharing |
| le temps de pose | (photography) | exposure/value index |
| le temps de réaction | reaction time | |
| le temps de réponse | response time | |
| le temps de saignement | (medicine) | bleeding time |
| le temps sidéral | sidereal time | |
| le temps simple | (grammar) | simple verb tense |
| le temps solaire vrai | apparent/real solar time | |
| le temps surcomposé | (grammar) | double-compound tense |
| le temps universel | universal time | |
| le temps de valse | waltz time | |
| Le temps c'est de l'argent | (proverb) | Time is money |
| Le temps est venu de | The time has come to, it's time to | |
| Le temps n'est plus où | Gone are the days when | |
| Le temps perdu ne se rattrape jamais | (proverb) | Time and tide wait for no man |
| Le temps presse | Time is short | |
| Les temps ont bien changé | Times have changed | |
| Les temps sont durs ! | Times are hard! | |
| tenez votre droite | keep to the right | |
| tenez votre gauche | keep to the left | |
| tenir à | to hold (s.o.) to / insist on ___-ing | |
| tenir à + infinitive | to be anxious to | |
| tenir à ce que + subjunctive | to be anxious that | |
| tenir à qqch | to cherish s.t. | |
| tenir bon | to hold one's ground | |
| tenir compagnie à qqun | to keep s.o. company | |
| tenir compte de | to keep in mind, to take into account | |
| tenir de (sa mère) | to resemble, take after (one's mother) | |
| tenir de bonne source | to have on good authority | |
| tenir de qqun | to take after s.o. | |
| tenir debout | to hold water (figuratively) | |
| tenir le bon bout | (inf) | to be on the right track |
| tenir le coup | to hold out, to make it through | |
| tenir qqun à l'oeil | to keep an eye on s.o. | |
| tenir qqun/qqch pour | to regard s.o./s.t. as | |
| tenir rigueur à qqun de ne pas | to hold it against s.o. for not | |
| tenir toujours sa parole | to always keep one's word | |
| tenter le coup | (inf) | to have a go, try one's luck |
| tenue de soirée | formal, evening dress | |
| tenue de soirée de rigueur | black tie | |
| tête-à-tête | head to head, private conversation | |
| Tiens! | Hey there! or Take this. | |
| Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras. | A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | |
| tiré de | taken, derived from | |
| se tirer | (fam) | to leave, push off, clear out |
| tirer à blanc | to shoot blanks | |
| tirer à boulets rouges sur qqun | to lay into someone tooth and nail | |
| tirer à ___ copies/numéros | to print ___ copies/issues | |
| tirer à la courte paille | to draw straws | |
| tirer à sa fin | to be drawing to a close, to be nearly over | |
| tirer à vue | to shoot on sight | |
| tirer au but | to take a shot, to shoot at the goal | |
| tirer au cul | (fam) | to shirk, skive |
| tirer au flanc | (inf) | to shirk, skive |
| se tirer d'affaire tout seul | to manage on one's own | |
| tirer dans les jambes/pattes de qqun | (inf) | to make someone's life difficult |
| se tirer de | to get oneself out of; to cope with | |
| tirer de l'argent | to earn/make/get money | |
| se tirer dessus | to shoot at each other | |
| se tirer des pattes de qqun | to get out of someone's clutches | |
| tirer en l'air | to fire into the air | |
| tirer les cartes à qqun | to read someone's cards | |
| tirer la fève | to win the charm | |
| tirer la jambe | to drag one's feet; to limp | |
| tirer le jus | to juice | |
| tirer la patte | to hobble along | |
| tirer les rois | to cut the Twelfth night cake | |
| tirer le verrou | to bolt | |
| tirer qqch au sort | to draw lots for something | |
| tirer qqch de qqun | to get something out of someone | |
| tirer qqun à l'écart | to pull someone aside | |
| tirer qqun (du prison, d'une situation) | to get someone out of (prison, a situation) | |
| tirer qqun d'affaire | to help someone out, pull someone through | |
| tirer qqun de côté | to pull someone aside | |
| tirer qqun du doute | to dispel someone's doubts | |
| tirer qqun d'embarras | to help someone out of a predicament | |
| tirer qqun de l'erreur | to disabuse someone | |
| tirer qqun du lit | to drag someone out of bed | |
| tirer qqun de (la misère) | to rescue someone (from poverty) | |
| tirer qqun de sa rêverie | to wake someone from his/her daydreams | |
| tirer qqun du sommeil | to wake someone | |
| tirer qqun de son travail | to drag someone away from his/her work | |
| tirer sans sommation | to shoot without warning | |
| tirer ses prix | to sell at rock bottom prices | |
| tirer sur | to pull at/on | |
| to shoot at | ||
| to criticize | ||
| to puff at, take a drag of (cigarette) | ||
| tirer sur la corde | (inf) | to push one's luck |
| tirer sur l'épargne | to draw on one's savings | |
| tirer sur la ficelle | (inf) | to push one's luck |
| tirer sur les rênes | to pull on the reins | |
| tirer un bord | (nautical) | to tack |
| tirer des bords, bordées | (nautical) | to tack |
| tirer une bordée | to go on a spree | |
| tirer une boule | to throw | |
| tirer une conclusion | to draw a conclusion | |
| tirer un coup | (slang) | to have sex |
| tirer un coup de revolver / feu | to fire a shot | |
| tirer un plan | to draw a plan (e.g., of a building) | |
| tirer un texte/auteur à soi | to translate a text/author to suit oneself | |
| une toilette de chat | quick wash, a lick and a promise | |
| tomber amoureux de | to fall in love with | |
| tomber au champ d'honneur | to be killed in action | |
| tomber en panne en route à | to break down on the way to | |
| Ton histoire m'a coupé l'appétit. | Your story made me lose my appetite. | |
| toucher un chèque | to cash a check | |
| tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler | to think long and hard before speaking | |
| tourner sur (l'église, la droite) | to turn (toward the church, right) | |
| tourner vers (la droite) | to turn to (the right) | |
| tous ces gens | all these people | |
| tous les deux jours | every other day | |
| tous les enfants | all the children | |
| Tous les goûts sont dans la nature. | It takes all kinds (to make a world). | |
| tous les jours | every day | |
| tout à coup | all of a sudden, suddenly | |
| tout au plus | at the very most | |
| tout de suite | right away | |
| Tout dépend de | It all depends on | |
| tout d'un coup | all of a sudden, suddenly | |
| tout enfant | every child | |
| Tout est bien qui finit bien. | All's well that ends well. | |
| Tout laisse à penser que... | There is every indication that... | |
| tout laisser en plan | to drop everything | |
| tout le temps | all the time | |
| Tout se paie | Everything has its price | |
| Tout soldat a dans son sac son batôn de maréchal. | The sky is the limit. | |
| Tout va le mieux du monde. | Everything is going beautifully. | |
| Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre. | All things come to those who wait. | |
| toute cette tristesse | all this sadness | |
| toute la journée | all day | |
| toute ma famille | my whole family | |
| Toute peine mérite salaire. | The laborer is worthy of his hire. | |
| toutes ces idées | all of these ideas | |
| traduire en (français) | to translate into (French) | |
| traduire vers (l'anglais) | to translate into (English) | |
| Le train entre en gare. | The train is coming in(to the station) | |
| transformer qqch en (qqch) | to change s.t. into (s.t.) | |
| transmettre ses remerciements à | to pass on one's thanks to | |
| le travail à temps choisi | flextime, flexitime | |
| le travail à temps partagé | job-sharing | |
| le travail bien payé | well-paid work | |
| le travail mal payé | poorly-paid work | |
| travailler à plein temps / à temps plein | to work full-time | |
| travailler à temps partiel | to work part-time | |
| travailler aux champs | to work in the fields | |
| travailler de jour (de nuit) | to work days (nights) | |
| travailler pour | to work for | |
| troquer qqch contre qqch | to swap s.t. for s.t. else | |
| trouver l'oiseau rare | to find Mr. Right | |
| Tu as beau dire, je ne te crois pas. | It doesn't matter what you say, I don't believe you | |
| Tu as envie de...? | Do you feel like...? | |
| Tu connais la meilleure ? | And do you know the best part? (e.g., of the story) | |
| Tu es toujours dans mon chemin | You're always in my way | |
| Tu l'auras cherché ! | You've been asking for it! | |
| Tu es libre ? | Are you free? | |
| Tu me casses les bonbons ! | (fam) | You're a pain in the neck! |
| Tu me gâtes ! | You're spoiling me! | |
| Tu mets le doigt dans l'oeil. | You're fooling yourself. | |
| Tu n'as rien de mieux à faire ? | Don't you have anything better to do? | |
| Tu ne mâches pas tes mots | You don't mince words | |
| Tu n'y perds rien ! | It's no great loss, You haven't missed anything. | |
| Tu parles ! | You must be joking! | |
| Tu penses toujours au pire. | You always assume the worst. | |
| Tu perds la raison ? | Are you out of your mind? | |
| Tu te rends compte ? | Can you imagine? | |
| Tu t'es levé du pied gauche ? | Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed? | |
| tuer le temps | to kill time | |
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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