Last month I mentioned one of my favourite French phrases for travel: c’est gentil*. It’s a phrase I heard a lot when I was living in France so decided to add it to my arsenal when thanking someone for a service. ‘Merci, c’est gentil’ means something like ‘Thank you, that’s kind of you’ and from my experience it goes down a treat. In fact, that’s not entirely true. It doesn’t provoke a huge reaction, and perhaps that’s why I like it so much. It’s more inclined to elicit a genuine smile and a nod from the person I’m speaking to, which in turn makes me feel like I fit in a bit more. I think we’re all striving for that to a degree when we’re travelling, non*?

So, sans plus tarder*, here are some other tried and true travel phrases that will take your French beyond ‘bonjour’, ‘merci’ and ‘je voudrais’. There’s nothing wrong with these phrases, by the way. Au contraire*, they’re extremely useful, but if you’re ready to up your skills, here are five that really pack a linguistic punch.

Literally meaning ‘that works’ this phrase is easy to say and can be used in a variety of situations. Concierge promises to contact you later in the day about a possible reservation? Ça marche. Even better: Merci beaucoup, ça marche. The next train is leaving in 10 minutes from voie* B? Merci, ça marche. A shop assistant tells you there are credits but no refunds for the item you’ve just purchased: ça marche. Even if you’ve been speaking English up to that point, it’s still a good idea to start to throw in these little French phrases where you can. It’s low risk and can work to increase your confidence.

Granted, this is a bit of a mouthful, but if you are able to master it (and it may take a few goes), I believe it will fundamentally change your French experience. It’s so polite: ‘I am sorry to disturb you’, and I find it really disarms French people for that reason. Of course you could use excusez-moi* (and if you’re just starting out this is a very helpful phrase indeed) but if you’ve mastered that and are ready to try something a little more sophisticated, this one’s for you.

To break it down, start with je suis*. Anyone who has done more than a term of French will know this phrase and will likely be able to use it confidently (je suis australienne*, je suis comptable*, je suis divorcée* etc). Now add the fact that you’re ‘desolate’ over having to interrupt your target person and you have je suis désolé(e). This is a useful phrase in itself (so I advise keeping that one sous le coude* for future use). I find the the final touch is fairly easy to remember as the word ‘déranger’ looks so much like ‘deranged’ and it’s a word that is very evocative to me. It brings to mind a person so bothered by the fact that a fellow human being is approaching them that their head starts to swivel around, their hair goes crazy and steam starts to shoot out of their ears. This image makes me laugh (I might be only one…) which takes some of the pressure off. ‘De vous déranger’, translates as ‘to you derange/disturb’ and sounds quite deranged in itself, but trust me when I say it really does lay the terrain for a calm and respectful exchange, so practise stringing it together and try it out. You can do it.

This is both interesting and contentious at once. It’s interesting as it is actually ‘je peux’ (I can) inverted and it’s the only verb in French that changes form when you reverse the order of the subject and verb.

Now for the contentious bit. As you may know, inverting the subject and the verb is the most formal way to ask a question in French. If you did French at school, it is likely you were taught to ask questions this way. Parlez-vous anglais?* is a classic example which many of us rote-learned all those years ago. The inversion technique, as it is known, is still a legitimate way to ask a question in French, however it is not used extensively anymore in everyday spoken French. It’s not wrong, in fact it’s very correct, almost too correct. Though it literally translates to ‘Can I’ because of the construction, in import it’s probably closer to ‘May I’ and while this is a lovely turn of phrase, it may not be appropriate for use in more casual situations.

That said, we discussed last month the idea of finding a phrase you like and using it over and over, so if you’re able to get this phrase out, use it! One of its benefits is that you can simply add a verb after it in its whole form and you’re away. For example:

Puis-je avoir - May I have
Puis-je voir - May I see
Puis-je demander - May I ask

Comme vous pouvez imaginer* the list goes on and on.

One of the first phrases you learn as a beginner is ‘j’aime’ (I like), quickly followed by its opposite ‘je n’aime pas’ (I don’t like).

While these phrases are certainly very handy, the negative version can come across as a little too direct, so adding the word ‘trop’ at the end can go a long way to softening your delivery.

’Je n’aime pas trop’ translates roughly to ‘I’m not a huge fan of’ of ‘I’m not fussed on’ and is particularly useful when you want to politely nix a suggestion. Imagine a waiter suggests you try the salmon. A simple ‘je n’aime pas trop le saumon’ is a gentle way of letting them know that you’d rather choose something else. Consider the difference in translations:

Je n’aime pas le saumon - I don’t like salmon
Je n’aime pas trop le saumon - I’m not a huge fan of salmon

Again, there is nothing wrong with a more direct approach but sometimes having the ability to soften your language can feel rather empowering.

If you’re a fan of le shopping*, add this one to your grab bag of favourite phrases tout de suite*.

If you’re keen to buy some time just browsing in a Parisian boutique, offer this phrase up when the shop assistant approaches you. Even if you’re not exactly sure of what he or she has said to you, it’s likely to be along the lines of ‘Can I help you?’ so replying that you’re just looking is a perfectly appropriate response that will enable you to carry on uninterrupted.

Alors, voilà*! I hope you find this mini-list helpful. I’d be very interested to hear of any phrases you rely on when you’re ‘on the ground’. Let us benefit from your experience by noting them in the comments. Merci et à bientôt.*

French travel phrases that really do the trick