French Expressions and Idioms
Have you heard of “idiomatic expressions”? These are figurative expressions specific to French, that are usually not translatable directly, as each language uses its own references! Therefore, you need to learn them directly in the language, as well as learning French equivalents to the ones you use in English! Knowing idiomatic expressions is key when learning a new language and it will definitely help you sound like a true Français 😊
✍️ Today’s French expression is:
“Trembler comme une feuille”
🎧 Here’s a podcast about it!
Want to learn more about this fun expression, what it means, and hear some in-context examples? Then listen to Aurélie and Céline‘s related podcast below:
🍂📚 Some context
The French expression trembler comme une feuille (literally “to tremble like a leaf”) – historically also phrased as trembler comme la feuille – dates back centuries: it was even recorded in the very first edition of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française in 1694! This highly visual metaphor draws on the image of a leaf fluttering and trembling in the wind. Today, trembler comme une feuille describes shaking or shivering uncontrollably, most commonly caused by intense fear, anxiety or stress, though it can also be brought on by extreme cold. It captures the exact same imagery as its English equivalent “to shake like a leaf”.
👀 How about some examples?
To help you commit this expression to memory, here are some useful examples of how to use it in context:
- Avant de monter sur scène pour donner son premier concert, le jeune pianiste tremblait comme une feuille.
- Ce film d’horreur m’a terrifiée ! J’en tremble encore comme une feuille !
- Après être restée deux heures dehors sous la pluie glaciale, Clara tremblait comme une feuille.
- Au moment de découvrir les résultats de mon examen final, je tremblais comme une feuille.
🤩 Enjoy a special Fill-in-the-Blanks exercise!
With this great Fill-in-the-Blanks exercise featuring our new expression, you get to practise your French grammar while getting another in-context use of the expression“trembler comme une feuille” to help you remember it 🤗 Que demander de plus ?
- Un temps frisquet (Mixed A1 to B1 Grammar Practice)
🙌 Now is your time to shine!
Challenge yourself to use these expressions in a French conversation or piece of writing, and let us know what you thought of this expression, share your idiomatic sentences, and tell us how your French friends reacted to it – en français bien sûr – in the comments below ☺️
À toi de jouer !
Author info
Aurélie is our resident French Expert. She has created most of the wonderful content you see on the site and is usually the person answering your tricky help questions. She comes from a small village near Chartres in Central France, country of cereal fields and not much else. She left (in a hurry) to study English at the world-famous Sorbonne in Paris, before leaving France in 2007 to experience the “London lifestyle” - and never looked back! She's worked as a professional French teacher, translator and linguist in the UK since. She loves to share her love of languages and is a self-professed cinema and literature geek!
For over ten years now, Céline has been teaching French and Italian to students of all ages and abilities in the UK. This French native speaker comes from Brittany, and likes crafts, Breton dance (of course!) and Breton music which she actually played for four years. She also has a fondness for European cinema and British History.