Say Yes in French

The basic way to say “yes” in French is “oui,” but there are multiple affirmative responses you can give when you intend to say “yes.” Read on for a few of the essentials.

Steps

Basic Yes

1. Say “oui.” This translates into a simple “yes.”
   • This statement is the basic way of saying “yes” and can be used in just about any circumstance, regardless of how formal or informal the conversation is.
   • Pronounce this French word as wee.
   • If you want to make this response more polite, you can add the French equivalent of “mister,” “missus,” or “miss” to the end of the term.
     • Monsieur, pronounced muh-see-euh, translates into “mister.” Oui, monsieur.
     • Madame, pronounced mah-dehm, translates into “missus.” Oui, madame.
     • Mademoiselle, pronounced mah-dehm-mwah-zel, translates into “miss.” Oui, mademoiselle.
2. Politely offer “oui, merci.” This phrase means “yes, thanks.”
   • Merci means “thanks” or “thank you.”
   • Pronounce this French phrase as WEE, mare-SEE.
3. Reply with “oui, s'il vous plaît.” This is another polite phrase. It means “yes, please.”
   • As a phrase, s'il vous plaît translates into “please.” More literally, it means, “if you please.”
     • S'il means “if.”
     • Vous means “you.”
     • Plaît” means “please.”
   • This French phrase should be pronounced as WEE, sill voo PLEH.

Slang Yes

1. Casually respond with “ouais.” This is the French equivalent of the English “yeah.”
   • This French slang term should be roughly pronounced as oo-way.
2. Use “ouaip” instead. This is the French equivalent of the English “yep.”
   • Roughly pronounce this French slang term as oo-wayp.

Firm Affirmations

1. State “évidemment.” This translates into “obviously.”
   • Pronounce this French word as eh-vee-dah-mo(n). N is silent!
2. Say “certainement.” In English, this means “definitely” or “surely.”
   • You should pronounce this French term as sir-ten-mo(n). N is silent!
3. Respond with “carrément.” This word translates into the English word “firmly.”
   • This French word should be pronounced as kah-ray-mo(n).
4. Reply with “tout à fait.” This phrase means “quite,” “completely,” or “altogether.”
   • Tout means "all" or "whole."
   • The French à means "with," "to," "by," or "in" when translated into English.
   • Fait means "fact," "event" or "occurrence."
   • Pronounce this French phrase as too tah feh.
5. Answer with "en effet." This translates loosely into “indeed” or “in fact.”
   • En means "in."
   • Effet means "effect."
   • Pronounce this French phrase as on -ay-feh.
6. Exclaim “bien sûr!” This phrase loosely translates into “of course!”
   • Bien means “good” or “well.”
   • Sûr means “sure” or “certain.”
   • This French phrase should be pronounced as byahng soor.

Other Affirmative Answers

1. Offer a polite “très bien.” Use this phrase to say “very well.”
   • Très means “very.”
   • Bien means “well” or “good."
   • Pronounce this French phrase as tray byahng.
2. State “C'est bien.” This phrase means “that's fine” in English.
   • C'est means “it is.”
   • Bien means “well” or “good.”
   • This French phrase should be pronounced as say byahng.
3. Say “Ça va.” Use this phrase to offer a simple “okay.”
   • Ça means “it.”
   • Va is derived from the French verb aller, meaning “to go,” “to do,” or “to be.”
   • When pronouncing this French phrase, pronounce it as sah vah.
4. Reply with “d'accord.” The English equivalent of this French term is “agreed.”
   • This French phrase should be pronounced as dah-korr.
5. Exclaim “volontiers!” This phrase means “willingly!”
   • You should pronounce this French phrase as vol-on-tee-yay.
6. Excitedly answer with “avec plaisir!” In English, this phrase means “with pleasure!”
   • Avec means “with.”
   • Plaisir means “pleasure.”
   • You should pronounce this French phrase as ah-vehk play-zear.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Conjugate Avoir
• Conjugate Tenir
• Learn French Fast
• Conjugate French Verbs into Passé Composé
• Say I Miss You in French
• Speak Basic French
• Learn French for Beginners
• Learn French
• Speak French
• Tell Time in French

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