Clé France

It’s Springtime! – Open Windows in French.

Le printemps est arrivé (Spring is here) and the longer days, changing seasons, and changing clocks bring up thoughts of le grand nettoyage de printemps et les fleurs épanouies (spring cleaning and blooming flowers). The end of the cold months means that people will start opening up their houses and letting in l’air frais (fresh air).

A great time of the year to Visit France to view some of the stunning houses Cle France have for sale across 80% of the country from Coastal Cottage to Countryside Chateaux and from Town Houses to Village Farmhouses, the choice is vast just click or call Cle France and we will lead you through the entire French Property Buying Process and beyond step by step.

I didn’t realise I had a big whole in my vocabulaire français until I was chez mon ami (at my friend’s place) and we were going to take a picture but le soleil (the sun) was too strong. I had an interesting conversation with mon ami:

Je peux fermer les stores.

Les stores ?

Oui les stores. Pour le soleil.

Et comment ça s’écrit ?

Les stores. S-T-O-R-E-S.

Ah d’accord ! Je ne connaissais pas le mot pour les stores !

I can close the blinds.

The shutters?

Yes the shutters. For the sun.

And how do you spell it?

The blinds. B-L-I-N-D-S.

Ah okay! I didn’t know the word for shutters!

I then realised that je ne connaissais pas many of the word for shutters, curtains, and other window related vocabulary. I started asking mon ami how to say all kinds of words, but left still confused about how to say some things.

Une fois à la maison (once I was home), I looked up the words I could remember, making sure I would never have trouble saying:

Est-ce que tu peux fermer les stores ?

Can you close the blinds?

One thing is for sure, I’ll be happy to profiter de (enjoy) the warmer season, possibly even enjoying une bière sur la terrasse (a beer outside)!

Voici un petit vocabulaire de la fenêtre :

La fenêtre – Window

Le rideau – Curtain

Les rideaux – Curtains

Les stores – Blinds

Le volet – Shutter

Le balcon – Balcony

Le patio – Patio

La véranda – Lanai

L’air frais – Fresh air

Le rebord de fenêtre – Windowsill

Le carreau – Window pane

La vitre –  Window glass

La terrasse – Terrace (or generally “outside”)

Le brise-soleil – Awning

L’appentis – Lean-to.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.