How to Use ‘Plaire’ Instead of ‘J’aime’ in Everyday French
In today’s episode, we are learning how to upgrade your conversational French by switching from the basic “j’aime” to the natural expression “ça me plaît”
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#1 How to use 'Plaire' instead of 'like'
Plaire doesn’t mean ‘to please’ in everyday French. In this section, we’ll learn how to use the verb ‘plaire’ (to like) in present tense in French when you mean ‘I like’…
Using this little hack will make you sound like a French native.
Let’s start and repeat after me :
- Replace ‘J’aime’ by ‘ça me plait’
- Replace ‘I liked’ by ‘ça m’a plu’
- Replace ‘Je n’aime pas’ by ‘ça ne me plait pas’
- Replace ‘Je n’ai pas aimé ‘ by ‘ça ne m’a pas plu‘
- Asking for an opinion: Do you like it? : ‘Est-ce que ça vous plait ?’ or ‘Est-ce que ça te plait ?’
- Did you like it? : ‘Est-ce que ça vous a plu ?’ or ‘Est-ce que ça t’a plu ?’
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#2 Examples 'Plaire' in French in present and past tense
In this second section, we’re going to practice with a few examples:
- Vous êtes dans un magasin, essayant une chemise et le vendeur vous demande votre avis (you’re at a store, trying on a shirt and the salesperson asks your opinion):
- ‘Est-ce que ça vous plait ?’ It’s either ‘ça me plait’ or ‘ça ne me plait pas’
- Vous êtes allés dans un restaurant et vous voulez partager votre avis avec votre ami (you went to a restaurant and you want to share your opinion) =
- Est-ce que ça t’a plu ? ‘ça m’a plu’ or ‘ça ne m’a pas plu’.
