Language/French/Vocabulary/Express-Surprise

When something unusual happens, French have their own casual and fun expressions like in the examples below:

Common Expressions

Ça, alors !

• My goodness!

C'est pas possible !

• I can't believe this!

The correct sentense would be: "CE N'est pas possible" but French often omit the "N" in the spoken and familiar language.

C'est magnifique !

• Magnificent!

Génial !

• Great!

Impressionnant !

• Awesome!

Incroyable !

• Amazing!

Mon Dieu !

• Oh my God!

Oh la la !

• Oh my God!

Ouf !

• Phew!

Quel malheur !

• What a disgrace!

Comme c’est beau !

• How beautiful!

Quel travail !

• What work!

Quel travail ! Il a nettoyé toute la maison (what work! He has cleaned the whole house)

Quelle chance !

• What a Luck!

Quelle chance ! tu as décroché le poste (What a luck! You got the job)

Quoi ?

• What?

Quoi ? Il a fait ça? (What? He did that?)

C'est pas vrai ?

• No way!

N'importe quoi!

• Whatever

Je n’en crois pas mes yeux !

• I can’t believe my eyes!

Slang Expressions

Trop bien !

• Awesome!

Oh la vache !

• holy cow!

Mince alors ! / zut alors !

• Ah, heck!

Surprise with a certain degree of disappointment.

Putain !

• f**k!

Among young French people, "putain" is so common, it may even be used as often as the word "oui". Its nearest equivalent in English is probably “f**k!”. It can be used to express anger, but can also be used to describe something amazing : "C'est un putain d’artiste!" (it's a f****ing! artist).

Merde !

It has the same meaning as "Putain !". A combination of the two words and often used as in "Putain, merde !".

• Putain, merde ! C'est pas possible (f**k! I can't believe this!)