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🇫🇷 French · Fluency Level 1

PART 3 · LESSON 27 OF 30 · 30 MINUTES

Mamie's Expressions

Learn the picture expressions the French use every day, with tomber dans les pommes, avoir la peche and couter les yeux de la tete, from a woman who has used them for ninety years.

Audio instruction: English

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THE STORY

Mamie's kitchen, a plum tart, and Marcel, who fainted at the market on Saturday.

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Words and phrases

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Marcel est tombé dans les pommes au marché, samedi.mar-sehl eh toh(n)-bay dah(n) lay pom oh mar-shay, sahm-DEEMarcel fell in the apples at the market on Saturday.
Dans les pommes ? Il y avait des pommes ?dah(n) lay pom, eel ee ah-veh day POMIn the apples? Were there apples?
Non. Tomber dans les pommes, c'est s'évanouir. Il faisait chaud, il avait pas bu.noh(n), toh(n)-bay dah(n) lay pom, seh say-vah-nweer, eel fuh-zeh shoh, eel ah-veh pah BEWNo. To fall in the apples is to faint. It was hot, he hadn't drunk anything. In spoken French.
Et maintenant, il va bien ?ay ma(n)-tuh-nah(n), eel vah BYA(N)And now, is he all right?
Il a la pêche. Il a la pêche, ça veut dire qu'il est en forme.eel ah lah pehsh, eel ah lah pehsh, sah vuh deer keel eh tah(n) FORMHe's got the peach. He's got the peach, that means he's in good form.
J'ai la pêche.zhay lah PEHSHI've got the peach.
Les pommes, la pêche. On est au marché, en fait.lay pom, lah pehsh, oh(n) neh toh mar-shay, ah(n) FEHTApples, peach. We're at the market, actually.
Et le médecin lui a dit de se reposer. Dans une clinique qui coûte les yeux de la tête.ay luh mayd-sa(n) lwee ah dee duh suh ruh-poh-zay, dah(n) zewn klee-neek kee koot lay zyuh duh lah TEHTAnd the doctor told him to rest. In a clinic that costs the eyes out of your head.
Ça coûte les yeux de la tête.sah koot lay zyuh duh lah TEHTIt costs the eyes out of your head.
Les yeux de la tête. Très cher, donc. Je note.lay zyuh duh lah teht, treh shehr, doh(n)k, zhuh NOTThe eyes out of your head. Very expensive, then. I'm taking notes.