Tout à coup

Expression: Tout à coup

Pronunciation: [too ta koo]

Meaning: all of a sudden

Literal translation: all at (a) blow

Register: normal

Notes: Tout à coup is a very common French expression which indicates that something happened abruptly and unexpectedly.

Examples

   Sans dire un mot, elle a tout à coup pris son sac et est partie.
   Without a word, she suddenly picked up her bag and left.

   Tout à coup, j'ai perdu l'appétit.
   All of a sudden, I lost my appetite.

Tout à coup is often used interchangeably—though technically incorrectly—with the French expression tout d'un coup.

Post your comments about the French expression tout à coup on my French blog - just hit "comments" at the bottom of the post.


More

• All about tout
• Expressions with à
• Expressions with coup
• Most common French phrases