Québécois vs European French: The Words, Sounds and Expressions That Differ
Québec French and French from France share one grammar and most words. Learn standard French for the TEF and TCF, and learn to recognise the Québec words you will hear: char, fin de semaine, magasiner, bienvenue, frette.
Neither is wrong. Where the two differ, standard French is safe in an exam, and Québec words are what you will meet at the shop, at work and in the listening tests.
Getting Started
About eight million people speak French in Québec, and there are francophone communities in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and elsewhere. If you move to Canada, most of the French you hear will be Canadian French, and many textbooks only teach the French of France.
The good news: the grammar is the same, the written standard is almost the same, and people understand each other perfectly well. The differences are mostly everyday vocabulary, pronunciation and informal expressions, like the difference between Indian and British English, or between Punjabi from Majha and from Doaba.
1. Everyday words
| Québec | France | English |
|---|---|---|
| le char, l’auto | la voiture | car |
| la fin de semaine | le week-end | weekend |
| magasiner, le magasinage | faire du shopping | to shop, shopping |
| le courriel | l’e-mail, le mail | |
| le cellulaire, le cell | le portable | cell phone |
| le stationnement | le parking | parking |
| le dépanneur | l’épicerie, la supérette | corner store |
| la blonde | la copine | girlfriend |
| le chum | le copain | boyfriend (also a male friend) |
| le déjeuner / le dîner / le souper | le petit-déjeuner / le déjeuner / le dîner | breakfast / lunch / dinner |
| la tuque | le bonnet | winter hat |
| les mitaines | les moufles | mittens |
| les bas | les chaussettes | socks |
| la gomme | le chewing-gum | chewing gum |
| le breuvage | la boisson | drink |
| la piastre, la piasse | (le dollar) | dollar (informal) |
| jaser | bavarder | to chat |
| l’épicerie | les courses | grocery shopping |
| présentement | actuellement, en ce moment | currently |
Road signs show the policy best: in Québec a stop sign says ARRÊT; in France it says STOP.
2. Polite words that differ
| Situation | Québec | France |
|---|---|---|
| Answering the phone, or a casual hi | Allô ! | Allô ? (phone only), Salut ! |
| You’re welcome | Bienvenue ! / Ça fait plaisir ! | De rien. / Je vous en prie. |
| Happy birthday | Bonne fête ! | Joyeux anniversaire ! |
| Goodbye, see you | Bonne journée ! / À tantôt ! | Bonne journée ! / À tout à l’heure ! |
In Québec, tu is used more quickly than in France, including with colleagues and in shops. Follow the other person’s lead; see Tu vs Vous.
3. Expressions you’ll hear every day
| Québec expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| c’est plate | it’s boring / too bad | C’est plate, le magasin est fermé. |
| c’est le fun | it’s fun | C’était le fun, ta fête ! |
| il fait frette | it’s freezing | Il fait frette à matin ! |
| pantoute | not at all | J’ai pas faim pantoute. |
| être tanné | to be fed up | Je suis tanné de l’hiver. |
| avoir de la misère à | to have trouble doing | J’ai de la misère à comprendre. |
| niaiser | to kid around, to waste time | Arrête de niaiser ! |
| ça a pas d’allure | that’s ridiculous / unacceptable | Le prix, ça a pas d’allure ! |
| se faire chicaner | to get told off | Je me suis fait chicaner par mon boss. |
| à matin, à soir | this morning, tonight | On se voit à soir ? |
| ben là ! | come on! / really? | Ben là, c’est trop cher ! |
| pis | and, and then (from puis) | J’ai mangé, pis je suis parti. |
These are informal. Use them to understand people and to connect with them, but not in a TEF/TCF essay.
4. Pronunciation
- t and d before i and u become “ts” and “dz”: tu → “tsu”, petit → “p’tsi”, dire → “dzire”, mardi → “mar-dzi”. This is the single most noticeable feature of Québec French.
- Long vowels are often stretched or diphthongised: père can sound like “paère”, fête like “faète”.
- Nasal vowels differ a little: an can sound closer to “in”, and in closer to “an”, compared with Paris.
- Informal pronouns: moi, toi can be “moé, toé”; il is often “y” (y’est parti); elle is “a” (a’est fine); je suis is “chu”.
- The question -tu: C’est-tu loin ? (Is it far?), Tu veux-tu un café ? (Do you want a coffee?). It just marks a yes/no question.
For all the other ways sounds drop in fast speech, see Connected Speech.
5. False friends between Québec and France
A few words mean something different, or are rude, on the other side of the Atlantic:
- la blonde: in Québec, a girlfriend (of any hair colour). In France, a blonde woman.
- le dîner: lunch in Québec, dinner in France.
- la suce: in Québec, a baby’s pacifier (la tétine in France).
- les gosses: in France, a common word for kids; in Québec it’s vulgar slang for testicles. Say les enfants in Québec.
- gêné: in Québec, shy; in France, mainly embarrassed or bothered.
6. Which French should you learn?
- For the exam: use standard French. It is correct everywhere, and the examiner does not mark you down for leaning European or Canadian. Avoid slang in either variety.
- For listening: get used to Canadian accents. Radio-Canada (ICI Première), Télé-Québec and Québec podcasts are ideal; they use standard Québec French, not heavy slang.
- For life in Canada: learn to recognise the words and expressions in this lesson. Using a few (fin de semaine, courriel, bienvenue) will make you sound local, and people appreciate it.
And outside Québec: Acadian French in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and Franco-Ontarian French each have their own flavour too, but everything in this lesson will still help.
Practice
A. What would a Québécois say? Write the missing word
- le week-end → la ______
- faire du shopping → ______
- mon portable → mon ______
- De rien ! → ______ !
- Il fait très froid. → Il fait ______ !
Answers
A. 1. fin de semaine · 2. magasiner · 3. cellulaire / cell · 4. Bienvenue / Ça fait plaisir · 5. frette
Your Turn: What Does It Mean?
Read each sentence aloud, then say what it means in standard English or French.
- Ma blonde a magasiné toute la fin de semaine.
- C’est-tu loin, le dépanneur ?
- J’ai de la misère avec le français, mais c’est le fun !
Answers
1. My girlfriend went shopping all weekend. · 2. Is the corner store far? · 3. I have trouble with French, but it’s fun!
What’s Next
FAQ
Which French should I learn for the TEF or TCF Canada?
Learn standard French for writing and speaking; it is understood and accepted everywhere, and examiners grade it the same whether it leans European or Canadian. For listening, get used to Canadian accents too, because recordings for the Canadian exams include them.
Will people in France understand Québec French?
Standard Québec French, as used on the news and at work, is understood without trouble. Very informal speech, with its own slang and fast pronunciation, can be hard for people from France at first, just as a strong regional accent can be in any language.
Why does Québec say 'courriel' and 'fin de semaine' instead of 'e-mail' and 'week-end'?
Québec, surrounded by English, deliberately protects French vocabulary. The Office québécois de la langue française proposes French words for new things, so where France borrows English (parking, shopping, e-mail), Québec often has a French word (stationnement, magasinage, courriel).
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