Here are three overheard phrases in French contributed by some unsuspecting strangers in Montréal.
1. Non, non, non, c’est correct.
No, no, no, it’s okay.
Correct is frequently used in the sense of OK. You’ll often hear it pronounced “correc” in everyday language. In this example, you can imagine a situation where someone is apologising to another person. That other person, who wants to reassure that it’s no big deal and not necessary to apologise, might say non, non, non, c’est correct.
2. C’est juste pour savoir.
I’m just curious.
Maybe you want to ask someone a question — it’s not really an important question, but you’re curious to know the answer anyway. You might say something like c’est pas vraiment important, c’est juste pour savoir.
3. Bonjour, ça va être un petit café.
Hi, can I get a small coffee?
A customer ordered a small coffee from the person at the cash by using the expression ça va être. This is a somewhat laid-back way of ordering. You might prefer instead to use je vais prendre in this case. Bonjour, je vais prendre un petit café (s’il vous plaît).
