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Ten Things that Make Different Noises in French

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Hear the sounds in French (opens with QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player)

clock French classesYou may already know that some animals make different noises in French (frogs go: côa côa;  duck go: coin coin), but do you know that objects also make different sounds in French? Even you make different noises in French. Rather than going “achoo” for a sneeze, you say “atchoum” in French.  (And yes, please remember to add the “m” when sneezing in Paris!)

Here are ten more sounds that are different in French!

  • To make a drinking sound, it’s not “glub, glub” in French but “glou glou.”
  • To say “quiet” or “shhh”, it’s: “chut
  • Roosters say: “ Cocorico” not “cock-a-doodle-doo!”
  • Clocks: Forget “tick tock” it’s “tic-tac.”
  • Doorbells don’t go “ding-dong” but “dring!
  • If you stub your toe, you wouldn’t yell “Ow!” but “Aie.
  • Babies don’t play peek-a-boo, they play “coucou.”
  • When something falls, it doesn’t just go “boom” but “bada boum.”
  • Car horns don’t go “beep beep” but “tut tut.”
  • Fire trucks go “pin-pon,” (but this is because they actually do make a unique sound in France).

Plus here are two silly jokes in French about sounds:

• Quel bruit fait un singe qui sonne a une porte ?
King kong

Les pompiers fait “pin-pon, pin-pon.” Les policiers fait “pin-pon-pin, pin-pon-pin.” Et les boulangères fait “pain, pain, pain, pain.”

Hahaha, right?  Or rather:  héhéhé!

Interested in learning more about French culture and traditions while improving your language skills? Call or contact us here to organize a private French lesson in Paris with a French tutor in Paris.

(Photo of the clock at the Musee D’Orsay by Lorena Montrose.)