Wrist watches: At the boutique level chatting with clients about their watches and repairs

💬 In negatives, plus usually means "any more" or "no longer," as in ne fonctionne plus. Here the final s is normally silent.

💬 French often says "not ... anymore" where English just says "isn't working": ne fonctionne plus. You can reuse that with other verbs, like je ne sais plus for "I don't know anymore."

🇫🇷 In service settings, this is a natural short response meaning "got it" or "I understand." It sounds attentive and professional, not cold.

💬 Depuis combien de temps is the fixed way to ask "how long has it been?" for something continuing up to now. You can follow it with a full sentence, like Depuis combien de temps elle ne marche plus ?.

💬 Cette is the form of "this" used before a feminine singular noun, like cette montre. Compare ce bracelet and cet appareil.

💬 Ça fait is a very common way to talk about how long something has been going on: Ça fait deux ans, Ça fait une semaine. It does not literally mean "it makes" here.

💬 In time expressions, ans means years, and the final s is silent. Cinq ans is said roughly like (sank ahn).

💬 Ça fait + length of time is a very French way to say "it's been ..." Use the same pattern with other spans: Ça fait trois mois, Ça fait dix minutes.

💬 Il se peut means "it may be" or "it might happen," and it is normally followed by que. You'll often see it in il se peut que ... for a cautious, non-committal statement.

💬 Qu' is just que shortened before a vowel sound, so it must stay joined to the next word: qu'elle, qu'il. Ait besoin is the usual way to say "needs" after il se peut que.

🇫🇷 This sounds careful and professional: the speaker is suggesting a likely diagnosis without promising certainty. That cautious tone is very natural in repairs and estimates.

💬 D'un is de + un combined into one chunk, so you say d'un service, d'un devis. It changes shape automatically before masculine singular nouns.

💬 Est-ce que is a very common way to turn a statement into a question without changing the word order. You can reuse it easily: Est-ce que la montre marche ?

💬 Prendre un choc means getting hit, knocked, or jolted — not literally "take a shock" in the electrical sense. In watch talk, a pris des chocs ? asks about bumps or impacts.

🇫🇷 A repair person asking this is trying to narrow down the cause, not accuse you of mishandling the watch. It is a normal diagnostic question in a boutique or workshop.

💬 Que je sache literally means "that I know," so Pas que je sache is a set phrase for "not that I know of." It is a natural, slightly careful answer when you don't want to claim total certainty.

💬 Pensez-vous uses flipped word order to make a formal question. This pattern is common in polite service French: avez-vous, voulez-vous.

🇫🇷 This sounds fairly formal and respectful, suitable with customers you don't know. In a boutique, staff often prefer this kind of phrasing over more casual question forms.

💬 Que becomes qu' before a vowel, but here it stays full because ça starts with a consonant sound. Que ça can stand on its own as a fragment; only qu' cannot.

💬 Va être is a very common near-future pattern: ça va être, il va falloir, je vais appeler. In speech it often runs together as (va netr), with the e of être barely heard.

💬 Final r is pronounced in cher, unlike many French final consonants. Compare cher (expensive/dear) with chère for feminine: same sound, different spelling.

💬 Ça va être + adjective is a handy pattern for saying how something is going to be: Ça va être long, Ça va être compliqué. Here ça does not mean a specific it so much as "this/the situation."

💬 In je vous ferai un devis, vous means "for you" or "to you," not literally the object of make. French often uses faire where English uses "give": Je vous ferai un reçu.

💬 Un devis is a cost estimate or quote, not an invoice. For the final bill you would hear une facture.

💬 French often says faire un devis where English says "give a quote." That same faire + noun pattern shows up a lot: faire une réparation, faire un contrôle.

🇫🇷 In a shop, offering un devis usually suggests a normal, professional step before paid work, especially if the price may be high. It reassures the client that they will hear the cost first.

💬 After après, French uses avoir + past action to mean "after doing": après avoir vérifié, après avoir nettoyé. It is a very reusable pattern in service situations.

💬 The final é tells you this sounds like (eg-zah-mee-nay), not like the infinitive examiner. In careful speech, x here is pronounced gz.

💬 Après avoir + past action means "after doing ...": après avoir examiné, après avoir ouvert, après avoir testé. It is a set pattern worth learning whole.

💬 French negatives often wrap around the verb: ne prendra pas. In casual speech, people often drop the ne and just say ça prendra pas longtemps.

💬 Longtemps means "for a long time" or "long," but in this phrase it works naturally where English says "long." You can reuse it in Ça ne dure pas longtemps.

💬 French usually says prendre du temps or prendre longtemps for how much time something takes. Here cela is a more formal-sounding ça.

💬 Vous here means "with you / to you," and the actual thing being left is la. French often stacks these little words before the verb: Je vous la laisse.

💬 In la laisse, final s of laisse is silent. Alors here means something like "then / in that case," not always a dramatic "so."

💬 French puts both small object words before the verb: Je vous la laisse = "I leave it with you." This order is very common: Je vous le montre, Je vous les apporte.

🇫🇷 A client saying this in a repair shop sounds natural and practical: they are agreeing to leave the item for service. Alors softens it a little, like "in that case, I'll leave it with you."

💬 In questions like va-t-il, the extra -t- is just there to make pronunciation smoother between two vowel sounds. You will also see it in a-t-il and ira-t-elle.

💬 Combien de temps ... va-t-il prendre ? is a formal question pattern with the verb flipped around. In everyday speech, many people would ask Ça va prendre combien de temps ?

🇫🇷 A customer could say this in a boutique, but the flipped form sounds a bit more careful or polished than everyday spoken French. Staff would understand either version immediately.

💬 Prochain often means "next/upcoming," so les prochaines heures is "the next few hours." French uses the plural here where English often adds "few" naturally.

💬 Dans + time period often means "within / in": dans une heure, dans quelques jours. Here dans les prochaines heures means within the next few hours, not physically "inside" them.

💬 The ending -ai here marks the future: je contacterai = "I will contact." Do not confuse it with contacterais "I would contact," which sounds the same in speech.

💬 Je vous contacterai uses vous as "you" in the polite or plural sense. The future ending -ai is common in service promises: je vous rappellerai, je vous enverrai.

🇫🇷 In France, this is a standard professional way for a shop to promise follow-up. It sounds more polished than a casual je vous appelle.

💬 Dès que means "as soon as," and it is usually followed by a future idea in the next part: Dès que j'ai des nouvelles, je vous appelle. The s is pronounced here, unlike in many French final consonants.

💬 J' cannot stand alone; it is just je shortened before a vowel, here before aurai. J'aurai means "I will have," with future meaning from aurai, not from j'.

💬 Before a vowel, de becomes d': plus d'informations. In speech it links smoothly as (ploo dan-for-ma-syon).

💬 J'aurai is future: "I will have," even if the English translation here is simplified. A very useful service pattern is dès que j'aurai plus d'informations....

🇫🇷 Merci beaucoup is warm and standard in shops without sounding over-the-top. It works well with staff, repairers, or salespeople you do not know.

💬 Votre is the polite or plural "your." In a boutique, this is the normal choice with staff you do not know well.

🇫🇷 De rien ! is a normal, friendly reply to thanks in shops. A staff member might also say Je vous en prie for a slightly more polished tone.

💬 Ferons is the future of faire: nous ferons = "we will do." French often uses faire in set phrases where English uses a more specific verb.

💬 De notre mieux means "as best we can," not literally "of our better." It is a fixed phrase: faire de son mieux, faire de notre mieux.

💬 Faire de son mieux is a set expression meaning "to do one's best." Just swap the owner word: de mon mieux, de votre mieux, de notre mieux.

🇫🇷 In customer service, this sounds reassuring but still a little non-committal: it promises effort, not a guaranteed result. That is normal and not evasive by itself.

💬 Pour que is followed by a different verb shape than plain pour, as in pour que cela soit résolu. Learn it as a chunk for "so that ... may/can ..."

💬 Soit is a form of être used after pour que. You will often hear this pattern in formal service language: pour que tout soit prêt, pour que ce soit réglé.

💬 After pour que, French usually uses soit, not est: pour que cela soit résolu. You can reuse that pattern with other verbs too, like pour qu'il soit prêt.

💬 The final t in bientôt is silent, so it sounds like (byen-toh). In à bientôt, the à is just part of the fixed goodbye phrase, not a separate to.