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Having a fat morning? – Sleeping Late In French

Les expressions (expressions, idioms) are fun windows into the culture behind a language.

Things like it’s raining cats and dogs does not make any sense to non-English speakers, but it also helps give English a fun flavour beyond all the grammar. 

Pendant l’hiver (during Winter) it can feel amazing to just sleep in and stay under the blankets. Those days when you can get a few extra hours of sleep, or just a few extra hours in bed, can make the rest of the week feel much better.

One day after a morning in bed, I went out to meet mon ami (my friend). We had a normal start to our conversation, but I was surprised by what he said when I told them I had slept in. 

Salut ! Ça va ?

Salut ! Ça va et toi ?

Ça va. Tu as fait quelque chose ce matin ?

J’ai resté au lit tout le matin. Je viens de sortir de mon lit !

Aah ! Tu as fait la grasse matinée ! 

Hi! How are you?

HI! I’m good and you?

I’m good. Did you do anything this morning?

I stayed in bed all morning. I just got out of bed!

Aah! You had the fat morning! 

Confused, I thought maybe la grasse matinée was a type of breakfast and answered accordingly:

Non, juste du pain et un café.

D’accord….

Et toi ? Tu as beaucoup mangé ce matin ?

Pas spécialement. Pourquoi ?

J’ai pensé que peut-être tu as eu une grasse matinée. 

No, just some bread and a coffee.

Alright…

And you? You ate a lot this morning?

Not especially. Why?

I thought you maybe had a fat morning. 

As usual in these situations, mon ami started laughing as they realised le malentendu (the misunderstanding). 

La grasse matinée est une expression ! Ça veut dire que tu as resté au lit tout le matin ! 

Fat morning is an expression! It means you stayed in bed all morning! 

It’s always slightly embarrassing when I learn new words and new idioms by making mistakes, but it definitely makes it harder to forgot them!

When using this expression it’s important to not think in English and remember that’s it’s faire la grasse matinée and not faire une grasse matinée.

Le terme (the term) grasse matinée can be found in the 16th century expression dormir la grasse matinée (to sleep the fat morning), while faire la grasse matinée isn’t attributed until the 20th century. The later terme is what’s used today dans les pays francophones (in French speaking countries) and is the one to use if you want to say to sleep in or to sleep late.

Why the adjective gras (fat) is used has two possible explanations:

Gras comes from le latin crassus, and in latin means épais (thick) rather than gras. The idea is that a fat morning is thicker or longer than other mornings.

Gras brings up thoughts of la paresse (laziness) and the soft, squishy feeling of lying in bed all morning.

It may be hard to find the time to enjoy la grasse matinée, but during these cold winter months, I definitely look forward to bundling up in bed when I can!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Hi Cle France, on my recent viewing trip I was very happy with the Cle France agent, she was very professional and a great help, I now have a short list of properties, and I will return here soon...

Thank you, Russell.

Buying a Chateau, Manor House, Farmhouse, Cottage, Holiday Home, Lake or just a Plot of land in France is easy with Cle France, You can do the same, it is easy for you because WE guide YOU through the French Property Buying Process from the very start to completion and beyond!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"!

In honour of the start of a new semester, I thought it might be useful to introduce readers to the French university system and, later, to French vocabulary used often in the academic setting. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up using this new vocabulary while registering for classes in France!

In France, degrees are divided up into License, Master, and Doctorat levels. The License level is equivalent to a Bachelor’s program, although it typically takes three years of study instead of the four in the United States. The Master level is a two-year graduate program.

However, students still get credit for passing just the first year of courses in many cases (which is called un Master 1).

The Doctorat level (equivalent to a doctorate degree) is an additional three years of—typically, largely independent—study (and terminating with a work of original research, or dissertation, known as une thèse).

Most universities in France are public. These schools are referred to informally as la fac. Prices for these schools are typically heavily subsidised by the French government and students typically pay only several hundred euros in fees per year. Private schools are more expensive, of course.

Then, there are also les grandes écoles. These schools are highly competitive and elite; typically students can only be accepted into these schools if they pass rigorous entrance exams. Although there is no real equivalent of these schools in the UK or the United States, they might be compared to ivy league schools. Les grandes écoles are also typically more expensive than la fac. 

The French university schedule is very similar to other universities across Europe and the US. However, universities typically start a bit later in France than in the United States, with fall semesters beginning often in late September or early October and spring semesters extending until July.

University students have many advantages in France, from access to cheap movie tickets, subway and train tickets, museum passes, and even special restaurants that cater to university students and only cost several euros for full meals. Students in big cities like Paris also have access to student housing for discounted rates.

International students who are interested in studying in France can check out the government website at Campus France for more information about applying for student visas and universities.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Buying A Glass In French – Oh, Don’t Forget The Drink!

Firstly - Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when you speak French!

Not knowing how to say simple words like mattress or shorts have put me in some strange situations, but if I had been too afraid to speak, I would never have learned les nouveaux mots (the new words) at all!

Between looking at someone dans les yeux (in the eyes) and learning the importance of l’eau (water), I’ve learned a lot au café. 

Another fun experience learning new words au café happened when I was out with mon ami (my friend) and wanted to buy them a drink as a friendly gesture. I wasn’t sûr à cent percent (one hundred percent sure) and ended up thinking in English as I smiled at mon ami...

Je t’achète un verre ! 

D’accord… pourquoi ? 

Tu es mon ami, donc je veux t’acheter un verre ! 

Pourquoi pas ! 

I’ll buy you a glass! 

Okay… why? 

You are my friend, so I want to buy you a glass! 

Why not! 

Mon ami was nice enough to play along even if he didn’t really understand what I wanted to say. When le barman (the bartender) came over and I placed an order, mon ami immediately understood what I originally tried to say. 

Aaah ! Tu voulais dire que tu veux me payer un verre ! 

Aaah! You wanted to say that you want to buy me a glass! 

It was my turn to be confused because it sounded like he pretty much said exactly the same thing, only using the word payer (to pay) instead of acheter (to buy). 

Alors, c’est quoi la différence entre ce que tu viens de dire et ce que j’ai dit ? 

Si tu dis que tu vas m’acheter un verre, ça veut dire que tu vas vraiment m’acheter un verre et pas la boisson ! 

So, what’s the difference between what you just said and what I said? 

If you say that you’re buying me a glass, that means you are going to really buy me a glass and not the drink! 

I quickly understood my mistake and realised how funny my original statement must have sounded to mon ami.

The difference between payer un verre and acheter un verre has since stuck with me, but that wasn’t the last time a small error made my French sound strange.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Maybe you’re buying property in France or maybe you’re just curious about the vocabulary. Whatever it is, it doesn’t hurt to know these French terms.

The first term to come to mind when buying a house is the mortgage. In France, as elsewhere, there are different kinds of mortgages. The standard kind of mortgage is known as un prêt amortissable or un prêt classique. In this mortgage, you finance typically 80% of the home value and pay back the principle plus interest over a set amount of years.An interest-only mortgage is known as un prêt in fine.

There are also different terms of repayment and financing, including un prêt modulable, or a “flexible mortgage” in which your repayment plan changes depending on your financial circumstances.

Un prêt à taux révisable cape is a certain kind of mortgage that offers varied interest rates, typically capped at around 2 or 3%.

In France, the annual percentage rate (APR) of your loan, or the real rate that you have to pay back your principle, is known as le Taux Effectif Global (TEG). 

When you enter into a contact on a property, this is known as the promesse de vente or a compromis de vente. A survey is known as un diagnostic immobilier. Of course, as elsewhere, there are fees that need to be paid when closing on a house that are not related to the mortgage or interest. In France, these fees are known as les frais de notaire, and they can be substantial. These include certain registration taxes, called droits d’enregistrement, and other taxes.

As you can see, in many ways buying a home in France is similar to buying a home in the UK or the United States, for example. But there are also many differences. 

Our "Buying Process" pages go into much more detail and are worth a read but it may be a challenge to read all of them in a month, so any particular questions you have just ask away using our "Ask Alex" service for free or send us an email / Contact Us form.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.