Textbook French is polite, complete and a little stiff. Real spoken French is full of short expressions and fillers that carry a lot of meaning. Learn these fifteen and you'll understand far more of what you hear in cafés, on the street and on French TV.
Agreeing and reacting
Ça marche.Sounds good / OK, will do. (literally: that works)
Carrément !Absolutely! Totally!
Grave.Totally, definitely. (very casual, among young people)
Bof.Meh. (indifference, with a shrug)
N'importe quoi !Nonsense! Rubbish!
C'est pas vrai !No way! You're kidding!
Ça marche is everywhere: a waiter takes your order with ça marche, a friend agrees to meet at eight with ça marche. Use it instead of d'accord now and then.
Linking ideas
Du coup…So… / As a result… (the most common filler in modern French)
En fait…Actually… / In fact…
Bref…Anyway… / Long story short…
Quand mêmeStill, all the same / really (adds emphasis)
Il pleuvait, du coup on est restés à la maison.It was raining, so we stayed at home.
En fait, je ne suis pas d'ici.Actually, I'm not from here.
C'est cher, quand même !That's really expensive!
Everyday situations
Ça te dit ?Do you fancy it? (Ça te dit, un café ? Fancy a coffee?)
Je n'en peux plus.I can't take any more / I'm exhausted.
J'ai la flemme.I can't be bothered.
Ça vaut le coup.It's worth it.
Pas de souci.No problem / No worries.
Putting it together
— Ça te dit, un ciné ce soir ?— Fancy the cinema tonight?
— Bof, j'ai un peu la flemme. Je suis crevé.— Meh, I can't really be bothered. I'm shattered.
— Allez ! C'est le nouveau film de Céline Sciamma. Ça vaut le coup.— Come on! It's Céline Sciamma's new film. It's worth it.
— Bon, d'accord. Mais du coup, on mange avant ?— OK, fine. But in that case, shall we eat first?
— Carrément. 19 heures à la pizzeria ?— Definitely. 7 pm at the pizzeria?
— Ça marche !— Sounds good!
Register: when to hold back
Grave, j'ai la flemme and crevé are casual. They're fine with friends and colleagues you know well, but avoid them in a job interview or a formal email. Ça marche, du coup, en fait and pas de souci are acceptable almost everywhere in speech.
Want to try them out? Practise a casual conversation with Lina in French and she'll tell you which expressions sounded natural and which ones were a bit too formal for the situation.