Learn French With Emily in Paris Season 3
In late December 2022, season 3 of Emily in Paris was released on Netflix. Just like season 1 it has been a huge hit in the States and throughout Europe (especially in France!).
By watching Emily in Paris, French learners like you can pick up new expressions, pronunciation tips, and vocabulary. There are actually a lot of useful linguistic points if you are learning French. Let’s explore how students can learn French with Emily in Paris season 3. This week we will be exploring some French quotes from episodes 1 and 2.
Every week we will analyze 2 episodes at a time, up until episode number 10 (the final episode of season 3). Let’s dive in!
Emily in Paris season 3 in French: French or English version?
If your French level is intermediate or advanced, my first recommendation is to watch the show in French. Emily and Mindy frequently intersperse English words and expressions with French, but we still encourage you to choose the French version.
However, be careful with the French subtitles which don’t really reflect the dialogues very well. So if you can, try not to turn on the subtitles unless you would like to confirm the meaning of a scene or if you think you have missed something.
If your level of French is beginner or elementary, watching the show in French will be too hard for you and it is more accessible to watch it in English, but do try to pick up French words or expressions.
Although the majority of the show is spoken in English, most of the cast is actually French and they speak French in a realistic and normal manner.
Spoken French expressions & French slang : Episode 1
24.17 - Emily to Gabriel regarding her lunch at Mc Donalds :
« C’est un petit kif » - « It’s a little treat »
Un kif : a treat, indulgence.
The verb kiffer in French slang means: to like,or to love. It can be used for a person or a thing: J’ai kiffé la soirée - I loved the party, Je le kiffe - I fancy him. It is a more emphatic way to say like, to appreciate someone or to be attracted to someone. It can also be a noun: someone’s kif is their favorite thing.
Kiffer is a derivative of kif, which comes from Arabic meaning hashish, figuratively the sensation of pleasure (due to hashish !).
9.32 - Sylvie to Emilie regarding their work together:
« On est dans le même bateau toutes les deux »
Être dans le même bateau : to be in the same boat in English. It means to share the same experience as someone else and/or to have a lot in common.
7.47 - The boss of the cabaret La Trompette Bleu to Mindy reminding her of the late show:
« Alors vous vous êtes éclatées sur scène l’autre soir ? »
S’éclater in French slang means to have some fun, to have a great time. It’s used here with the past participle and it is a reflexive verb.
4.53 - Sylvie to Emily about the fact that she has not actually resigned from Savoir and works at the same time for Sylvie’s new agency Grateau:
« Tu voulais le beurre et l’argent du beurre » literally « You wanted butter and the money from the butter » which is wrong !
Vouloir le beurre et l’argent du beurre is an idiomatic expression. In English this expression actually means To have your cake and eat it too. In French it means to want everything, just like Emily who works for two agencies at the same time.
4.40 - Sylvie to Emily:
« Tu es virée » - « You are sacked »
Viré is an adjective which means in French slang: to be fired. There is also a verb virer that means to fire someone.
Spoken French expressions & French slang : Episode 2
29.15 - Alfie to Emily:
« Je suis débordé, j’ai un nouveau job » - « I am very busy at work, I have a new job »
Débordé is an adjective that means (in this context) to be overworked. It can also mean to have too much to do in general, more than you can do.
20.01 - Emily to Alfie:
« Et moi je te manque? » - « Do you miss me? »
The verb manquer à in French means to be missed by someone or something (emotionally)
It is tricky and causes no end of confusion due to a strange turnaround it requires in a certain construction.
Literally Je te manque? is translated by Do I miss you? And it is a wrong translation. Emily actually means Do you miss me?
In French, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing who is missed, and the preposition à precedes the person or thing who is doing the missing and feeling the lack.
22.16 - Mindy to Emily regarding her date with Alfie in Gabriel’s restaurant:
« Je suis tombé sur Camille qui m’a dit que vous étiez tous les deux à la cafétéria de son mec » - « I came across Camille who told me that you were both in her boyfriend's cafeteria »
Tomber can mean to fall but tomber sur quelqu’un means to bump into someone.
Mindy explains here that she bumped into Camille who said that Emily and Alfie were at her boyfriend’s restaurant.
21.28 - Emily to Mindy regarding her indifference towards Alfie:
« Je sais, j’ai eu tort » - « I know that I was wrong »
Avoir tort : to be wrong versus avoir raison : to be right.
21.19 - Mindy to Emily about her recent break-up with Alfie:
« Il va falloir que tu te battes si tu veux le récupérer » - « You will have to fight if you want to get him back »
Se battre pour quelque chose: to fight for something. The reflexive verb se battre can also mean to have a physical fight but in this context, it is not followed by a complement.
19.39 - Luc to Emily who quit Savoir agency:
« Tu m’as manqué » - « I missed you »
Just like in episode 2 ( 20.01) the verb manquer à is used again here.
The subject of the sentence is the person or thing who is missed ( Tu here : Emily) and the preposition à precedes the person or thing who is doing the missing and feeling the lack ( m’ here : Luc)
19.21 - Luc to Emily about the fact that the agency lost most of their clients:
« On a bossé comme des fous pendant des années pour fidéliser nos clients » - « We worked like crazy for years to create our customers loyalty »
Bosser in French slang means to work.
Originally the term bosser implied a strongly negative connotation and could be translated as to slog/slave away, but nowadays it’s often used to just say to work.
Comme des fous - like crazy.
10.46 - Sylvie to Luc about the fact she declined to work with Madeline:
« Tu plaisantes? » - « You are kidding? »
Plaisanter - to joke. The noun une plaisanterie (or une blague) : a joke.
7.42 - Sylvie to Luc about her offer to join the JVMA agency:
« T’en penses quoi Luc? » - « What do you think about that Luc? »
With the relative pronoun quoi placed at the end of the sentence, it is a spoken French turn of phrase and Sylvie could also have used the more correct sentence Qu’est-ce que tu en penses Luc?
4.33 - Emily to Mindy regarding her declaration of love to Alfie in public on a stage:
« Je veux me jeter à l’eau » literally « I want to throw myself in the water »
In a figurative sense: Se jeter à l’eau means to take the plunge, jump in at the deep end.
Used as an idiomatic expression, in a figurative sense se jeter à l’eau : to dare doing something, just like Emily who finally dared to declare her love by singing on a stage in front of an audience.
On the footsteps of Emily in Paris
Explore the iconic fiming location & improve your conversational French
If you are an “Emily in Paris” addict and would like to discover the iconic filming locations of the series and practice your French with a French tutor, why not embark on the adventure of our latest tour In the footsteps of Emily in Paris.
This French à la Carte private tour will lead you from the left bank of Paris where Emily lives, to the right bank where Emily works. This tour will end with a drink at Le Valois, the Parisian café just downstairs from Savoir.