🙂↩️

How to Say ‘I'd still rather’ in French

Je préférerais quand même

zhuh pray-fay-ruh-RAY KAHN MEM

[zhuh pray-fay-ruh-RAY KAHN MEM]

💬 Usage Tip: Préférerais is the softer "would" form, which makes a request politer than je préfère. Quand même adds "all the same", a polite way to hold your ground.

Phrase Breakdown

Je préférerais

zhuh pray-fay-ruh-RAY

I would prefer

This is the conditional of 'préférer'. Say it as 'pré-fé-re-rè'. The final 'ais' sounds like 'è', and the middle 'e' is often swallowed.

Example

Je préférerais un thé.

I'd prefer a tea.

Words in this phrase

[zhuh]

Pronoun used by the speaker to identify themselves.

Example

Je suis content.

I am happy.

préférerais

[pray-fay-ruh-RAY]

would prefer

Conditional of « préférer », a polite way to state a preference.

Example

Je préférerais du thé.

I would prefer tea.

quand même

KAHN MEM

all the same / still

'Quand' is nasal, like 'kahn' without the 'n'. 'Même' sounds like 'mem'. The phrase adds insistence.

Example

Merci quand même !

Thanks anyway!

Words in this phrase

quand

[KAHN]

all the same (with même)

In « quand même », it means anyway / still.

Example

Il est venu quand même.

He came anyway.

même

[MEM]

anyway (with quand)

Completes « quand même », meaning all the same.

Example

Merci quand même.

Thanks anyway.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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