Some French expressions with numbers 0 to 9

0 Zéro

Avoir la boule à zéro. -----> Being bald or shaving your head. (Être chauve ou se raser la tête.)

Avoir le moral à zéro. -----> To be depressed.

Remettre les compteurs à zéro. -----> Cancel and restart everything.

1 Un

Un "tiens" vaut mieux que deux "tu l'auras". -----> We use this expression when we want to dissuade someone to take some risks, or to teach someone to be happy with what he already possess.

Un homme averti en vaut deux. -----> We someone is aware about some risks, and / or has knewledge, we say that this person is worth twice.

Tomber sur un os. -----> To find and face a difficulty : it can be some abstract, like a problem, or a it can be a person.

2 Deux

Couper la poire en deux. -----> It means sharing, distributing something fairly. It is also used to decide on a compromise.

Être assis entre deux chaises. -----> This a metaphora which means to hesitate a lot to make a choice.

Faire d'une pierre deux coups. -----> This expression is attested to by Montaigne in the 16th century, but it is likely that it existed in one form or another long before. The metaphor is extremely simple to understand: if someone, with a single stone throw, succeeds in hitting two different targets, he kills two birds with one stone.

3 Trois

Être haut comme trois pommes. -----> To be small, like a child.

Trois pêlés et un tendu. -----> In an assembly or meeting, very few people, and only people of little consideration, uninteresting.
Jamais deux sans trois. -----> If something happens twice, it usually happens again (a third time.)

4 Quatre

Se saigner aux quatre veines. -----> To deprive yourself of something or go to great lengths to get it.... The metaphor conveyed by this "vein" indicates the idea of extreme deprivation because cutting one's veins is like bleeding out and losing one's life.
Faire les quatre volontés de quelqu'un. -----> Accepting someone's every whim, complying with their demands.

Se couper les cheveux en quatre. -----> Be too precise or too meticulous.

5 Cinq

Recevoir quelqu'un cinq sur cinq. -----> To perfectly ear and understand what someone says.
Le monton à cinq pattes. -----> A person is looking for something rare that is impossible to find, or designates someone exceptional or out of the ordinary
Un rendez-vous galant de cinq à sept. -----> A date at the end of the afternoon.

6 Six

A six pieds sous terre. -----> This expression dates back to the 16th century. Indeed, it was around this time that strict rules began to emerge regarding burial and cemetery. It was then decided that, to avoid dogs disturbing the coffins, they had to be buried at a legal depth of 1m80, or six feet.

Le tournoi des six nations. -----> Rugby-15 competition, played each year in February and March by teams from England, Scotland, France, Wales, Ireland and Italy.

À la six-quatre-deux -----> With an extreme speed.

7 Sept

Être ravi au septième ciel -----> To be in one's seventh heaven.

La semaine du travailleur a sept jours, la semaine du paresseux a sept demains...
-----> French proverb


8 Huit

Faire les trois huit. -----> Work scheduling system which consists of rotating three shifts on the same workstation for eight consecutive hours, in order to ensure continuous operation over 24 hours.

Exécuter un huit sur la glace. -----> Art executed on the ice.

Monter dans le grand huit. -----> Going up in the roller coaster.


9 Neuf

La preuve par neuf. -----> A technique for verifying a mental or "manual" calculation.

Neuf fois sur dix. -----> Very often.
Une grossesse de neuf mois. -----> The 9 months pregnancy.
6 de diciembre de 2019
Profile Picture
10 US$
USD/h

Yoann Est ici

security_checked
4.9
10 US$
USD/h
Flag
Francés
globe
Francia
time
27
Habla:
Francés
Nativo
,
Inglés
C1
,
Español
B2
,
Polaco
A2
,
Georgiano
A1
,
Italiano
A1
My experiences I have been teaching French for 4 years in classes (in France, in Georgia, in Peru and in Poland) and for 2 years online. I can adapt my way to teach according to your profile and your objectives. I had different student profiles: children, people in love who met a French woman or French man, persons who want to study in a French speaker country, retired people or just people who love French language. My way to teach online. When you study with me, you will notice that I respect your rhythm. We choose one topic together. We can study many documents on the same topic. The amount of time that we spend on the topic is variable, it’s up to you. During the class, you talk as much as you want. When we are done with one topic, we can study the same topic, in the upper level, or we can just change of topic, it’s up to you. Between 2 classes, I will always give you some homework to do (studying on oneself is also important). You will make the exercises on our common noteb...
Flag
Francés
globe
Francia
time
27
Habla:
Francés
Nativo
,
Inglés
C1
,
Español
B2
,
Polaco
A2
,
Georgiano
A1
,
Italiano
A1
My experiences I have been teaching French for 4 years in classes (in France, in Georgia, in Peru and in Poland) and for 2 years online. I can adapt my way to teach according to your profile and your objectives. I had different student profiles: children, people in love who met a French woman or French man, persons who want to study in a French speaker country, retired people or just people who love French language. My way to teach online. When you study with me, you will notice that I respect your rhythm. We choose one topic together. We can study many documents on the same topic. The amount of time that we spend on the topic is variable, it’s up to you. During the class, you talk as much as you want. When we are done with one topic, we can study the same topic, in the upper level, or we can just change of topic, it’s up to you. Between 2 classes, I will always give you some homework to do (studying on oneself is also important). You will make the exercises on our common noteb...
Mi vida antes del Covid- 19 (IMPERFECTO) A-2
Profile Picture
Alejandra Santiago
7 de agosto de 2020
팔랑귀
Profile Picture
Abby H
7 de agosto de 2020
The Origins of popular English Idioms
Profile Picture
Jen Mc Monagle
7 de agosto de 2020