Très bon pour pratiquer mon français et sembler fluide.
Have you heard of “idiomatic expressions”? Those 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.e 😊
✍️ Today’s French expression is:
“Quand les poules auront des dents”
Literally: “When hens have teeth”
Figuratively: never
English equivalent: “When pigs fly”
Figuratively: never
English equivalent: “When pigs fly”
👂 Here’s a mini-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 mini-podcast below:
👀 How about some examples?
To help you commit this expression to memory, here are some useful examples of how to use it in context:
- “Elsie rangera sa chambre quand les poules auront des dents !”
- “Mon mari baissera la cuvette des toilettes quand les poules auront des dents !”
- “Je parlerai couramment le français quand les poules auront des dents !” (Mais non !)
🙌 Now is your time to shine!
Challenge yourself to use this expression in a French conversation or piece of writing, and let us know how your French friends reacted to it on our Forum 🙂
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.
Comments: 8
Merci beaucoup JosAzriel ! Nous sommes heureuses que vous trouviez ce podcast utile :)
’Quand les poules auront des dents’ c’est une excellente façon de se rappeler cette règle de grammaire selon laquelle “après ‘quand’ au futur, on utilise le futur, contrairement à l’anglais”. Merci!
Un excellent mini podcast. J'adore ! Merci beaucoup. Ma phrase.........Ma maison sera finie quand les poules auront les dents ! ou mon mari arrivera à l'heure quand les poules auront les dents !
Merci à vous Jane, on est ravies que ce podcast vous ait plu !
Vos phrases sont super, hahaha ! Just "attention", c'est "quand les poules auront desdents ;)
Merci encore de votre feedback !
En Ecosse, on dit “…and pigs will fly…”, pas “when pigs fly”. Peut-être le même en Angleterre.
Aussi, à l’epoque (e.g. ma mère) on peut dire “that's as rare as hen’s teeth!”
Merci
JL
C'est très intéressant John, j'habite désormais à Edimbourg, donc j'ai hâte de pouvoir utiliser ces expressions correctement, grâce à vous ! C'est fascinant de voir que les "poules à dents" avaient traversé les frontières :)
Merci à vous !