Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and there has never been a better time to learn some love expressions in the most romantic language in the world: French. If you’ve binge-watched the popular Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris’ you will know it is a complete rollercoaster of drama, love, lust, romance, heartbreak and passion. Everything you would expect whilst living in Paris- la ville de l’amour (the city of love), right?
Polish your French with Emily in Paris season 2 & 3
There are now 3 seasons and it’s hard to count how many different love interests Emily and several other of the characters have had! It can all get a bit confusing. Anyway, back to French learning. Although the majority of the show is mainly spoken in English, there are bits and bobs of spoken French throughout (and the French IS very well spoken by the French cast) so you can benefit from listening to it and learning some new vocabulary.
Since the most romantic day of the year is coming up, we have put together some French expressions related to l’amour from the ‘Emily in Paris’ series. Whether you are in a relationship or single, it doesn’t matter, you can learn some French love quotes to express your feelings to the people who mean a lot to you (not just on Valentine’s Day, but on every day of the year!).
French à La Carte teaches you our favorite French love quotes along with their English translations from seasons 2-3:
Season 2
Episode 1
-Camille to Sylvie regarding Gabriel:
« Je n’ai pas de liaison avec Gabriel » - « I don’t have an affair with Gabriel »
Avoir une liaison avec quelqu’un : to have an affair with someone
-Gabriel to Emily :
« Je n’arrête pas de penser à toi » - « I keep thinking about you »
Ne pas arrêter de faire quelque chose : to keep thinking about someone
-Matthew to Emily regarding Gabriel (he is disappointed)
« Tu as couché avec lui avant d’avoir accepté d’aller à St Tropez avec moi » - « You had sex with him before accepting to go to Saint-Tropez with me »
Coucher avec quelqu’un: to have sex with someone
-Matthew to Emily regarding Gabriel:
« Tu es amoureuse de lui ? » - « You are in love with him »
Etre amoureux de quelqu’un: to be in love with someone. A common mistake among English native speaker is to say “ être en amour avec quelqu’un” which is the literal translation and not correct.
Episode 2
-Emily to Mindy regarding Camille:
« J’ai peur de dire dans un brunch que j’ai fait l’amour avec son petit-ami » - « I am scared to say during a brunch that I am love with her boyfriend »
Faire l’amour: to make love
Un petit(e)-ami(e): boyfriend or girlfriend
Episode 3
-Gabriel to Emily explaining the meaning of the idiomatic expression Love at first sight:
« On parle aussi coup de foudre » - « We also speak about love at first sight »
A thunderstorm gives Gabriel a good opportunity to teach Emily what a Coup de foudre is: literally a stroke of thunder which means love at first sight when it is related to a romantic situation. This is why Gabriel grabs this opportunity to unveil his deep feelings to Emily.
-Camille’s friends to Emily at the Turkish baths regarding Camille’s brother:
« C’est toi qui as baisé avec son petit frère? » - « Is it you who had sex with her younger brother? »
Baiser avec quelqu’un: to have sex with someone
-Camille’s friends at the Turkish baths regarding her breakup with Gabriel:
« Mais vous avez déjà rompu avant cette fois non ? » « But you already broke up before this time, right? »
-Rompre avec avec quelqu’un: to break up (relationship) Rompu is the past particle of the verb rompre. The noun is une rupture : a breakup
Episode 5
-Emily to Gabriel:
«Toi et moi c’est un fantasme » - « You and me, it’s a fantasy »
Un fantasme: fantasy
Episode 6
-Mindy to Julien and Emily regarding the fact that Etienne was dumped by his boyfriend:
« Etienne s’est fait larguer par son mec » - « Etienne was dumped by his boyfriend »
Se faire larguer par quelqu’un: to be dumped by someone
Episode 7
Mindy to Emily regarding Alfie:
« Toi, tu as craqué pour lui » - « You have a crunch on him »
Craquer pour quelqu’un: to have a crunch on someone, to fall for someone
Season 3
Episode 2
20.01 Emily to Alfie:
« Et moi je te manque? » - « Do you miss me? »
The verb manquer à in French means to be missed by someone or something (emotionally)
It is tricky and causes no end of confusion due to a strange turnaround it requires in a certain construction.
Literally Je te manque? is translated by Do I miss you? And it is a wrong translation. Emily actually means Do you miss me?
In French, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing who is missed, and the preposition à precedes the person or thing who is doing the missing and feeling the lack.
Episode 6
18.04
Camille to Sofia regarding her relationship with Gabriel:
« Je tiens à lui »
The verb tenir à, can be used for a person or for an object.
Tenir à quelque chose: to cherish something
Tenir à quelqu’un means to care about someone. It can be used in a romantic way just like in the context of the relationship between Gabriel and Camille.
When Camille says Je tiens à lui, this sentence is translated to I care about him.
Episode 7
14.30 - Mindy to Emily regarding the open-air movies at the parc de la Villette which is up to her the best place to flirt as movies are screened in the dark:
« Un de ses amis m’a dit que c’était un coin hyper connu pour pêcho » - « One of them told me that it is a notorious hook-up spot »
Pêcho is a slang verb derived from pêcher to fish in French. Mindy means here that the open-air movies at la Villette represent a great opportunity to catch girls and flirt with them.
9.20 - Nicolas to Mindy regarding her outfit in red latex:
« Tu as un look incroyable, tous les mecs te mataient » - « You look incredibly stylish and all the guys were staring at you »
In this sentence there are two slang words: les mecs and the verb mater.
Un mec: guy
Mater: to stare at someone. It is used in the sense of a sexual attraction.
Episode 8
14.56 - Gabriel showing the pictures of Camille in Greece with boys around her:
« Ils la chauffent ça se voit » - « They turn her on »
The literal translation of chauffer means to heat but here it is connected to flirting.
Chauffer quelqu’un: to turn someone on .
14.12 - Gabriel to Emily, sitting by the Canal St Martin:
« Je suis tombée amoureux de toi tout de suite dès que je t’ai vue » « I fell in love straight away when I saw you »
Tomber amoureux de quelqu’un: to fall in love with someone.
Another word with a close meaning is the adjective amoureux de / amoureuse de: to be in love with.
Conclusion:
So there you have it, a variety of different love quotes from ‘Emily in Paris’. Now you can practice expressing your love and affection in French- Cool! If you want to hear the audio version of all these expressions, you can watch (or even re-watch) the Emily in Paris series. This is one of the best ways to practice your pronunciation.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Joyeuse Saint Valentin!
