INTERJECTIONS

• Annoying situations

  Aïe ! = Ouch !
  Pronounced like "eye".
  
  Ouïe ! Ouille ! = Ouch!
  Pronounced "oo-y".
  
  Holà ! = Hey! Whoa!
  As in "Whoa! Hold your horses, be careful, etc."
  
  Ouf ! = Phew!
  Sometimes you escape annoying situations, just about. Ouf can also be used in another expression:
  Je n'ai pas eu le temps de dire ouf.
  I didn't even have time to catch my breath.
  
  Oups ! = Oops!
  Probably comes from its English equivalent, only the spelling has changed.
  
  Zut ! = Blast!
  A classic. Although very old and very "proper", zut is still very popular.
  
  Merde ! = Shit!
  Vulgar word.

• Noises

  Et toc ! C'est bien fait pour toi ! = Serves you right!
  
  Toc, toc ! = Knock knock!
  Can also be used in a totally different context as above.
  
  Boum ! = Boom! Bang!
  Very handy as it designates heartbeats as well as explosions, slammed doors and many other loud noises.
  
  Pan ! = Bang!
  Even French guns have an accent.

• Food

  Miam miam ! = Yum yum! A must in "ze" country of food.
  
  Beurk ! Berk ! = Yuk!
  Unfortunately, you may come across terrible food as well.

• Handy words

  Ho ! = Wow! Admiration
  Ho ! = Hey! Calling somebody.
  Hé ! Same use as Ho !
  
  Hein ? = Eh? What?
  Hein ? punctuates a lot of sentences and is often the equivalent of English question tags.
  C'est chouette, hein ? = Great, isn't it?
  
  Bon ! = Right, so, well, etc.
  Often acts as a transition between two sentences.
  
  Ben...euh... = Well, er...
  Probably the most famous French interjection. Particularly useful when you hesitate or when you don't have anything particular to say but don't want to say nothing.

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French Grammar