During a conversation in French last weekend, a young woman in her 20s used three expressions over and over while speaking:
1. Là, j’étais comme…
2. Moi là…
3. Fait que là…
Here’s what they mean (because you’ll definitely be hearing them during French conversations):
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Là, j’étais comme…
This is similar to the English “so I was (just) like…” used by certain people when telling a story about something that happened.
She pronounced j’étais informally as j’tais. When j collides with t, the j makes a ch sound.
Là, j’étais comme : « De quoi tu parles?? »
So I was like, “What are you talking about??”
-
Moi là…
She often gave her opinion about something by starting off with moi là. It’s similar to saying “personally” or “as for me” in English.
Moi là, j’aime pas ça.
Personally, I don’t like it.
Sometimes it’s also said with pis (an informal pronunciation of puis) when relating events. It’s just an informal way of saying “and.”
Pis moi là, j’étais comme : « De quoi tu parles?? »
And me, I was like, “What are you talking about??”
-
Fait que là…
This is similar to saying “so then” in English, where fait que means “so” and là means “then.”
Fait que là, j’ai dit : « De quoi tu parles?? »
So then I said, “What are you talking about??”
She always said fait que là with three syllables, but you’ll also hear it said with two: fak là.
