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How to Say ‘Mardi Gras, it smells like spring!’ in French

Mardi Gras, ça sent le printemps !

mar-DEE grah sah sahn luh pran-TAHN

[mar-DEE grah sah sahn luh pran-TAHN]

Phrase Breakdown

Mardi Gras,

mar-DEE grah

Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday),

The 's' in 'Gras' is silent: 'mar-dee grah'. In France, the day is celebrated with costumes and crêpes.

Example

On fête Mardi Gras demain.

We're celebrating Mardi Gras tomorrow.

Words in this phrase

Mardi

[mar-DEE]

Tuesday

The second day of the week; not capitalised in French.

Example

On se voit mardi.

See you on Tuesday.

Gras

[grah]

Fat (as in Fat Tuesday)

Means 'fat'; with Mardi it names the carnival day before Lent.

Example

On mange des crêpes à Mardi Gras.

We eat crêpes on Mardi Gras.

ça sent le printemps !

sah sahn luh pran-TAHN

spring is in the air!

Literally 'it smells like spring', meaning spring is coming. Say it as 'sah sahn luh pran-tahn'.

Example

Il fait beau, ça sent le printemps !

It's nice out, spring is in the air!

Words in this phrase

ça

[sah]

that / it

Demonstrative pronoun used in everyday French to mean 'that' or 'it.'

Example

Ça me plaît quand une entreprise parle clairement.

I like it when a company speaks clearly.

sent

[sahn]

smells (of)

Form of 'sentir'; 'ça sent' means it smells like, or figuratively it feels like something is coming.

Example

Ça sent bon ici.

It smells good here.

[luh]

the

Used as a function word to indicate a noun and to mark the noun as definite.

Example

Le chat noir.

The black cat.

printemps

[pran-TAHN]

spring

Masculine noun for the season after winter.

Example

Le printemps arrive bientôt.

Spring is coming soon.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.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.

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