100 French Texting & Abbreviations 💬

Nowadays, it is so common to use Abbreviations in French, particularly when writing French in an informal situations : emails, notes and now of course texting – sending a text message via your phone.

Texting in French has actually become a language of its own. It can be overwhelming when you don’t know it, yet fun and useful when you’re typing fast. I’ll show you examples below.

Let’s start with common French abbreviations : these were around way before texting. They are commonly used when giving a definition, as in a French dictionary.

Top French Abbreviations

1. Adv. = adverbe = adverb
2. Adj. = adjectif = adjective
3. ADM. = administration
4. Apr. = après = after
5. Auj. = aujourd’hui = today
6. Av. = avant = before
7. Bât. = bâtiment = building
8. Bcp = beaucoup = very much
9. Bjr = bonjour = hi
10. Bsr = bonsoir = have a good night, hi (in the evening)
11. Cad = c’est à dire = it means
12. Cdlt = cordialement = yours truly (at the end of a French letter)
13. Déf. = définition = definition
14. Dr = docteur = doctor
15. Ex. = exemple = example
16. Ex. = exercice = exercise
17. Expr. = expression = expression
18. Fam. = familier = familiar
19. F. = féminin = feminine
20. Géo. = géographie = geography
21. Hist. = history = histoire
22. Inf. = infinitif = infinitive
23. Irr. = irrégulier = irregular
24. J.C. = Jésus Christ = Jesus Christ
25. Math. = Mathématiques = Maths
26. N. = nom = name
27. N.f. = nom féminin = feminine name
28. N.m. = nom masculin = masculine name
29. P.C. = passé composé = perfect tense
30. P.P. = participe passé = past participle
31. Pl. = pluriel = plural
32. Prép. = préposition = preposition
33. Psy = psychologue = psychologist
34. QQ = quelque = some
35. QQ’un = quelqu’un = someone
36. QQ ch = quelque chose = something
37. S. = siècle = century
38. Sing. = singulier = singular
39. Subj. = subjonctif = subjunctive
40. V. = verbe = verb
41. Vulg. = vulgaire = vulgar

French Texting contractions

What is texting exactly? Texting consists of a series of abbreviations, which allow you to say more within the 160 characters the SMS format allows.

It’s a faster language, easier to type on the 10 keys of the cell phone (un portable).

Since this texting language is so popular, it’s now being part of the everyday French scene: you’ll find text abbreviations featured in ads, but this written language also sometimes affects spoken French.

For example, someone may say “Jé té Aim” to say I love you in French : pronouncing all the letters of the text message JTM… It has become a trend.

For foreigners, understanding this new language based on French pronunciation is a real challenge !

Here is a list of very common French texting abbreviations :

1. A+ = à plus tard = talk/see you soon
2. B1 = bien = good
3. bcp = beaucoup = a lot
4. bz = bise, bisou = kiss
5. c = c’est = it’s
6. ct = c’était = it was
7. dmd = demande or demander = ask or to ask
8. dsl = désolé(e0 = sorry
9. é = et ou est = and or is
10. frR = frère = brother
11. g = j’ai = I have
12. Jlé = je l’ai = I have it
13. J’tdr = je t’adore = I adore you
14. JTM = je t’aime = I love you (I’m in love with you)
15. ki = qui = who
16. keske = qu’est-ce que = what
17. keskec = qu’est-ce que c’est = what is it
18. koi = quoi = what
19. kom = comme = as
20. l = elle = she/it
21. l8 = lui = him
22. mdr = mort(e) de rire = LOL
23. mm = même = even
24. mnt = maintenant = now
25. ms = mais = but
26. msg = message
27. mwa = moi =me
28. nan = non = no
29. osi = aussi = too
30. pk = pourquoi? = why?
31. qd= quand = when
32. lkl = lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles = which one
33. qq1 = quelqu’un = someone
34. r1 = rien = nothing
35. slt = salut
36. sry = sorry (used in French by the youngs)
37. t = tes ou tu es = your or you’re
38. twa = toi = you
39. v1 = viens = come
40. vrmt = vraiment = truly
41. vs = vous = you
42. we = weekend
43. xlt = excellent = great
44. ya = il y a = there is, there are

French Numbers and signs are also used in texting in French to replace words

• 1 = un = a
• 2 = de = of, from, about
• 7 = cet or cette = this
• 9 = neuf = new
• 100 = sans = without
• – = moins = minus, less
• + = plus = add, more

Together, these end up forming a real language.
Here are some examples

1. kekina = qu’est-ce qu’il y a? = what’s going on?
2. kestufé = qu’est-ce que tu fais? = what are you doing?
3. @2m1= à demain = see you tomorrow
4. j’tapLDkej’pe = je t’appelle dès que je peux = I call you as soon as I can
5. GT ché L = j’étais chez elle = I was at her place
6. cpab1 = c’est pas bien = it’s not good.
7. AT souè = à tes souhaits = bless you (when someone sneezes)
8. ta éT voir koi o 6né =  tu as été voir quoi au ciné ? = what did you see at the movies?
9. tu vi1 7 aprem = tu viens cet après-midi? = are you coming this afternoon?
10. LA fé 1 gato = elle a fait un gateau = she made a cake

As you can see, these French text messages use some interesting twists on French pronunciation…

If you are interested in traditional French phone vocabulary, I wrote a whole article about it.

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