Salut! Comment ça va?
Labor Day’s coming up! Are you wondering how to use work-related Labor Day vocabulary in French for your cours de français? Today, I’ll share my list of some of the essential vocabulary and slang when talking about work.
TRAVAIL – work/job
Travail is a masculine noun so you need ”le”, ”un” or ”au” ( à + le) before it, depending on the structure. Here are some example sentences:
J’ai trouvé un travail! Je commence lundi. ( I found a job! I start on Monday.)
Je (ne) peux pas rester longtemps car je dois partir au travail. ( I can’t stay long because I have to go to work).
Travailler – to work
Travailler is a regular verb ending in -er, so you can treat it accordingly.
Personne ne travaille le weekend-end. (Nobody works on the weekend.)
J’ai travaillé toute la journée, je me sens fatiguée. ( I worked the whole day, I feel tired.)
Les horaires- work hours
Les horaires is the plural of l’horaire, but we usually use the word in plural.
Quels sont tes horaires d’ouverture? (What are your opening hours?)
Mes horaires varient du jour au lendemain. ( My work hours depend on the day.)
Le salaire – salary
Est-ce que tu es satisfait(e) de ton salaire? (Are you happy with your salary?)
Quand est-ce qu’on reçois notre salaire? (When do we get our salaries?)
La journée de travail – work day
Notice how ”work” comes after the word ”day”, literally, it would translate as ”day of work”.
Les docteurs ont des journée de travail longues. (Doctors have a long work day.)
Combien elle dure ta journée de travail? ( How long is your work day)
La grêve – strike
Qui a organisé la grêve d’aujourd’hui? (Who organized today’s strike?)
Le congé – holiday/day off
FYI: We use this word to talk about ”maternity leave” for example ( le congé de maternité) as well.
Combien de jours de congé as-tu? ( How many days off do you have?)
Gagner de l’argent – earn money
Je dois travailler pour gagner de l’argent. ( I need to work in order to earn money.)
Le CV – résumé ( Le CV is in French!)
How weird that the French actually usually le CV and not résumé, which is also a French word but means something else!
If you’d like to know more words in English that the French don’t use, check out: https://accentavocado.com/5-french-words-in-english-that-are-used-differently-in-french/
Il faut fournir le CV et une lettre de motivation. (You need to submit a résumé and a motivational letter.)
If you want to sound cool, here’s some slang:
Le boulot – work
Il n’y a pas besoin de venir la semaine prochaine, il y aura pas de boulot. ( No need to come next week, there won’t be any work to do.)
Bosser – to work
Dis moi quand tu finis de bosser, d’accord? (Let me know when you get off work, OK?)
Avoir du pain sur la planche – To have a lot of work.
J’a du pain sur la planche. (I have a lot of work.)
Le blé/le fric – money
On n’as pas assez de fric pour aller au *restau. ( We don’t have enough money for a restaurant.)
*restau – restaurant (informal French)
Le richard – a rich man
Il (ne) le semble pas, mais c’est un richard. (He doesn’t look like it, but he’s rich.)
Le smic – the minimum wage
Il faudra augmenter le smic. (The minimum wage should be raised.)
Être viré – to be fired
Je n’ai jamais été viré. ( I’ve never been fired.)
Would you like to make your own sentences? Feel free to do so in the comments below! I’ll be more than happy to read them and comment back.
Á la prochaine!
