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Pâques à fond

lkl — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:00:10 +0000

En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil

lkl — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 14:00:33 +0000


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French Proverb

Meaning	In April, weather can be capricious, don’t take off your warm clothes
Literally	In April, don’t take off a thread (of clothing)
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[a(n) nah vreel neuh teuh day koo vr(eu) pah doo(n) feel]
IPA		[ã na vril nə tə de kuvʁə pa dœ̃ fil]

Usage notes: En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil is a French proverb equivalent to "Ne’er cast a clout til May be out." Both caution against being overly optimistic: even though it’s officially spring and the weather is warming up, it’s still too early to shed your warm clothes ("clout" is an archaic word for clothing).

The French proverb is often extended with En mai, fais ce qu’il te plaît (literally, “In May, do what pleases you”) and sometimes even a third line, such as

En juin, de trois habits n’en garde qu’un – In June, keep only one of three pieces of clothing
En juin, n’écoute personne – In June, don’t listen to anyone
En juin, tu te vêtiras d’un rien – In June, you’ll be dressed in nothing
Et encore je ne sais – And beyond that, I don’t know

Variations

Au mois d’avril, ne t’allège pas d’un fil, mais en mai, fais comme il te plaît.
Au mois d’avril, ne quitte pas un fil, au mois de mai, pas guère, juin juillet août, tout.
Au mois d’avril, garde tes vêtements, au mois de mai, quitte-les.
En avril, n’ôte pas un fil, en mai, mets ce qu’il te plaît.
Pendant tout le mois d’avril, ne t’allège pas d’un fil.

Related expressions

En español

Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo

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Œufs de Pâques

lkl — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:00:50 +0000

French listening practice with side-by-side translation

Listening comprehension: See the links at the bottom for lessons related to the phrases in italics.

D’où viennent les œufs de Pâques ?	Where do Easter eggs come from?
Bonjour. Pâques célèbre la résurrection du Christ, mais en fait, pourquoi célèbre-t-on cette fête avec des œufs, la plupart du temps en chocolat ?	Translation Hello. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ, but in fact, why do we celebrate this holiday with eggs, usually made of chocolate? [collapse]
Depuis l’antiquité, l’œuf est un symbole de vie et de renaissance ; les Romains, les Perses et les Égyptiens décoraient des œufs et se les offraient pour célébrer le retour du printemps.	Translation Since ancient times, the egg has been a symbol of life and rebirth; Romans, Persians, and Egyptians decorated eggs and gave them to each other to celebrate the return of spring. [collapse]
Au IXe siècle, l’église catholique interdit la consommation d’œufs durant le carême, la période de privation juste avant Pâques. Cependant, comme les poules continuaient de pondre, les gens se retrouvaient avec des œufs en trop. Ils prirent donc l’habitude de décorer les œufs qui n’étaient plus consommables et de se les offrir entre eux.	Translation In the 9th century, the Catholic church forbid the consumption of eggs during Lent, the period of deprivation just before Easter. However, since hens continued to lay, people found themselves with too many eggs. So they got into the habit of decorating eggs that were no longer edible and giving them to one another. [collapse]
Au XVIIIe siècle, les commerçants allemands et alsaciens eurent l’idée géniale d’associer le chocolat à Pâques afin de fêter la fin des privations du carême. Ils confectionnèrent donc des œufs en chocolat.	Translation In the 18th century, German and Alsatian merchants had the brilliant idea of associating chocolate with Easter to celebrate the end of Lent’s deprivations. So they made chocolate eggs. [collapse]
En France, ce sont traditionnellement les cloches qui amènent les œufs de Pâques. Dans les pays germaniques et anglo-saxons, c’est le lapin de Pâques. Et en Australie, c’est un petit marsupial en voie de disparition, le bilby.	Translation In France, traditionally it’s church bells that bring Easter eggs. In Germanic and Anglo-Saxon countries, it’s the Easter bunny. And in Australia, it’s a small, endangered marsupial, the bilby. [collapse]
Joyeuses Pâques à tous !	Translation Happy Easter to all! [collapse]
Video courtesy of Pratiks.	Translation by LKL

Listening comprehension

Vocabulary

Grammar

cette fête – demonstrative adjective
avec des œufs, en chocolat – prepositions
les Romains … décoraient, les poules continuaient – imperfect
se les offraient, se retrouvaient – pronominal verbs in the imperfect
se les offraient – direct object
célébrer, pondre – infinitives
l’église interdit, Ils prirent – passé simple
se les offrir – pronominal verb in the infinitive
entre eux – stressed pronoun

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French Help

lkl — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:00:55 +0000


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Aide en français

No matter how motivated and self-reliant you are, you can’t learn French entirely on your own. For those times when you just can’t figure out a particularly tricky French phrase or grammatical construction, here are some places to get help.

Find a lesson

First things first: try searching Lawless French. There’s a good chance you’ll find what you need right here among the 3,500+ pages of

If you still have questions, try one of these options.

Progress with Lawless French Q+A Forum

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LanguaTalk Tutoring (1st lesson free)

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Poisson d’avril

lkl — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:00:51 +0000


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Holiday French Expression

Meaning	April fool’s trick
Literally	April fish
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[pwah so(n) dah vreel]
IPA		[pwa sɔ̃ da vril]

Usage notes: Poisson d’avril is the French equivalent of April fool’s. In France, the idea is for a kid to attach a paper fish to someone’s back without them noticing right away. Later, when the trick is discovered, the perpetrator gets to yell Poisson d’avril !

For adults, participation typically consists of jokes and humorous or shocking "news."

The RATP (Paris métro operator) has occasionally demonstrated tremendous creativity and playfulness by modifying métro station names.

In 2016, they temporarily renamed métro stations, such as Château de sable (Sand castle) for Château d’Eau (Water Tower).
The following year, they added text to station names to create jeux de mots like Une Bastille pour la gorge (une pastille = lozenge).
In 2024, there was an Olympics Poisson d’avril, when they gave 15 stations sports-themed names like Victor Judo.

Poisson d’avril origins

The original tradition dates back to 1564, when King Charles IX changed New Year’s Day from early April to the 1st of January. In response, citizens decided to make the 1st of April a day of jokes, tricks, and fake gifts. Source: Histoire du Poisson d’Avril

Expressions

Poisson d’avril ! – April fool’s! I got you!
faire un poisson d’avril à quelqu’un – to play an April fool’s trick on someone
Tu m’as eu ! – You got / tricked me!

Audio article: Poisson d’avril

Themed Quizzes

Test yourself on some French verb conjugations with these themed fill-in-the-blanks exercises:

Poisson d’avril à la LKL

I’ve been known to create some fake news for April fool’s day – take a look:

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French holiday vocabulary

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Prepositions with Regions, Departments, Provinces, States, and Counties

lkl — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:00:37 +0000

Prépositions avec régions, départements, provinces, états, comtés


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As with other other geographical names, French prepositions with regions, departments, provinces, states, and counties depend on the gender* and first letter of the name, plus of course whether you’re coming or going.

Going to / Being in a region, department, province, state, or county

1) Masculine

a. Name begins with a consonant or aspirated h: dans le

Je vais dans le Limousin.		I’m going to Limousin.
Il est dans le Nebraska.		He’s in Nebraska.

Exceptions: au Nouveau-Mexique, au Québec, au Texas

b. Name begins with a vowel or mute h: dans l’ or en

Elle va dans l’Ain / en Ain.		She’s going to Ain.
Nous habitons dans l’Ontario / en Ontario.		We live in Ontario.

2) Feminine: en

Ils sont en Cornouailles.		They’re in Cornwall.
On va en Alsace.		We’re going to Alsace.

Coming from a region, department, province, state, or county

1) Masculine

a. Name begins with a consonant or aspirated h: du

Je viens du Limousin.		I’m from Limousin.
Il arrive du Nebraska.		He’s arriving from Nebraska.

b. Name begins with a vowel or mute h: de l’ or d’

Elle vient de l’Ain / d’Ain.		She’s from Ain.
Nous rentrons de l’Ontario / d’Ontario.		We’re returning from Ontario.

2) Feminine: de (d’)

Ils sont de Cornouailles.		They’re from Cornwall.
On arrive d’Alsace.		We’re arriving from Alsace.

* See lesson on geographical gender

Geographical Prepositions Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on French geographical prepositions with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

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Passer à l’heure d’été

lkl — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:00:16 +0000


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Annual French Expression

Meaning	to begin daylight saving time, turn the clocks forward
Literally	to pass to summer time
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[pah say ah leur day tay]
IPA		[pa se a lœʀ de te]

Usage notes: Daylight saving time* is a twice annual, manual time change that occurs in about half of the world. The dates and details vary slightly by country** but the basic idea is the same: in the wee hours of a spring Sunday – in March or April – clocks are set forward by one hour, stealing 60 minutes of sleep from citizens that morning.

Par exemple…

Quand est-ce qu’on passe à l’heure d’été cette année ?		When do we set the clocks forward this year?
N’oublie pas qu’on va passer à l’heure d’été dimanche matin !		Don’t forget to set your clock forward Sunday morning!

The corresponding fall time change is much more welcome, as it restores that stolen hour of sleep.

Le passage à l’heure d’été marks the beginning of daylight saving time, which has three possible names in French:

		Literal translation
l’heure d’été		summer time
l’heure avancée		advanced time
l’horaire d’été		summer timetable

* Yes, saving. Despite its omnipresence, the phrase "daylight savings time" is incorrect.

** In Metropolitan France, daylight saving time begins at 2 am on the last Sunday in March and ends at 3 am on the last Sunday in October – find out the dates. For other countries, see Daylight saving time around the world.

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Professions Quiz

lkl — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:00:54 +0000

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