Morning Rosemary…your post got me thinking..one can learn French FOREVER and still not really get it! So, when I have been saying, ever so sweetly to a waiter, ‘ oui, merci’…..I have been saying….YES, no thank you! hahaha , and when I have asked for assistance ‘exusez-moi, mais pouvez-vous m’aider, s’il vous plait?…they have been wanting to answer – yes I CAN help you, but I don’t want to… !! Its a good thing I gave up on French perfection a long time ago 🙂
Rosemary Kneipp
May 13th, 2013 at 9:44 am
I’m sure the waiter understood you were being polite. The most important one to remember is the “no thanks”!
Really good explanation. I use veuillez all the time, but only because I’ve observed that is what people do — I didn’t know the real technicalities behind it, only that it was the polite form. I knew about what would happen if you used oui merci very early on, not because I fell into the trap myself, but because an English friend told me a story about missing out on dessert having done exactly what your father did. I do use oui svp a lot though, and must get into the habit of using je veux bien. It is one of those things that is ok from foreigners though and makes you sound extra polite so it doesn’t really hurt.
I forgot to say — in my experience, wait staff in the north are just as likely to say Hop là when they put your plate down, which always made me giggle. It’s like they are producing a rabbit out of a hat.
Rosemary Kneipp
May 13th, 2013 at 9:46 am
I didn’t know about Hop là in that context. I’ve always found it amusing too.
Rosemary Kneipp
May 13th, 2013 at 9:45 am
No, there’s no harm in sounding extra polite. I perfectly agree.
Elisabeth
May 12th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Vérification faite en ligne sur le site http://www.cnrtl.fr/, “S’il vous plaît” peut s’employer “pour convier l’interlocuteur à s’étonner de la valeur ou de l’importance de ce qui est dit avec, selon le contexte, une intention ironique.” Ex : La jeune femme vint à sa rencontre vêtue – s’il vous plaît – d’un tailleur Chanel. On ne l’attendait certainement pas aussi élégamment vêtue ! Une tournure peut-être un peu ancienne…
Rosemary Kneipp
May 13th, 2013 at 9:15 am
Merci Elisabeth. Dans ce cas, on dirait “if you please” en anglais. C’est également un peu vétuste.
Excellent article. I run a French Language training business in the Seattle area, and will forward your post to my [adult] students. I know they will find it very interesting.
Well done. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
Rosemary Kneipp
May 14th, 2013 at 4:17 pm
Thank you very much! I’m delighted to know it is useful.
Matty Doherty
May 14th, 2013 at 5:31 pm
Thanks a lot for the helpful insights into the French language…… It’s a minefield for my schoolboy French taught some 40 yrs ago by a very bad teacher. More please…….
Wonderful and very helpful post Rosemary!
Cheers and thank you.
Hi Carolyn, you’ve welcome!
Great post – now I just need to remember it.
Ah, yes, the remembering is always the bug!
Morning Rosemary…your post got me thinking..one can learn French FOREVER and still not really get it! So, when I have been saying, ever so sweetly to a waiter, ‘ oui, merci’…..I have been saying….YES, no thank you! hahaha , and when I have asked for assistance ‘exusez-moi, mais pouvez-vous m’aider, s’il vous plait?…they have been wanting to answer – yes I CAN help you, but I don’t want to… !! Its a good thing I gave up on French perfection a long time ago 🙂
I’m sure the waiter understood you were being polite. The most important one to remember is the “no thanks”!
Really good explanation. I use veuillez all the time, but only because I’ve observed that is what people do — I didn’t know the real technicalities behind it, only that it was the polite form. I knew about what would happen if you used oui merci very early on, not because I fell into the trap myself, but because an English friend told me a story about missing out on dessert having done exactly what your father did. I do use oui svp a lot though, and must get into the habit of using je veux bien. It is one of those things that is ok from foreigners though and makes you sound extra polite so it doesn’t really hurt.
I forgot to say — in my experience, wait staff in the north are just as likely to say Hop là when they put your plate down, which always made me giggle. It’s like they are producing a rabbit out of a hat.
I didn’t know about Hop là in that context. I’ve always found it amusing too.
No, there’s no harm in sounding extra polite. I perfectly agree.
Vérification faite en ligne sur le site http://www.cnrtl.fr/, “S’il vous plaît” peut s’employer “pour convier l’interlocuteur à s’étonner de la valeur ou de l’importance de ce qui est dit avec, selon le contexte, une intention ironique.” Ex : La jeune femme vint à sa rencontre vêtue – s’il vous plaît – d’un tailleur Chanel. On ne l’attendait certainement pas aussi élégamment vêtue ! Une tournure peut-être un peu ancienne…
Merci Elisabeth. Dans ce cas, on dirait “if you please” en anglais. C’est également un peu vétuste.
Excellent article. I run a French Language training business in the Seattle area, and will forward your post to my [adult] students. I know they will find it very interesting.
Well done. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
Thank you very much! I’m delighted to know it is useful.
Thanks a lot for the helpful insights into the French language…… It’s a minefield for my schoolboy French taught some 40 yrs ago by a very bad teacher. More please…….
I’ll try, I’ll try!
[…] already talked about the fact that you don’t say oui merci in French but oui, je veux bien, but I didn’t think to mention […]