Don't Say "Mon Plaisir"

05 Jan 2011
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Don't Say "Mon Plaisir"
A lot of my students make this common mistake. When being thanked for something nice they've done, they want to say “my pleasure” and go for the literal translation: "Mon plaisir." This does not sound good in French.

We have a very formal expression which is "Tout le plaisir était pour moi." (literally, "All the pleasure was for me"), but if a man was to say this to a woman, it could be seen as a bit flirtatious.

To express that idea, we would say either "Je vous en prie/ Je t’en prie" (You're welcome - don't forget to do the glidings on these shvoo zan pree, shtan pree), "Il n’y a pas de quoi" (It was nothing, also glides a lot ya pad koa), or "J’étais heureux de le faire" (I was happy to do it). You could also say "ça m'a fait plaisir" (I was happy to do it) but I would avoid using the word "plaisir" just because it would be too easy to fall back on the English construction "my pleasure"...


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Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 19 years in the US, France, and to people around the world over the phone and by Skype . My method is proven and unique, and, based on my students' goals and needs, I've developed  high quality French audiobooks and French audio lessons for all levels.
Good luck with your studies and remember, repetition is the key!

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