Don’t just use Google Translate for your DALF C1 French exam

Recently, we received an email at TeachableSkills.com asking us to help explain French idioms, or expressions, because the learner was having great difficulty in understanding several French expressions.

As fate would have it, we came across this post from Francais Authentique which explained the French expression <<avoir le bras long>> .

If you use DeepL or Google Translate then you will read the literal translation – << to have a long arm >>. Oooopps! That is not quite right!

Let’s take a look at what Francais Authentique has shared with everyone trying to improve their French conversational skills.

https://www.francaisauthentique.com/avoir-le-bras-long/

<<Quand on parle de quelqu’un qui a le bras long, on parle de quelqu’un qui a des contacts, de l’influence. Une personne qui a le bras long, tu entends, je n’ai pas dit « qui a le bras long », on le verra dans la prononciation, je l’ai prononcé à la française, « quelqu’un qui a l’bras long », c’est quelqu’un qui a beaucoup de contacts, qui a un grand réseau ou qui a de l’influence. Donc, qui est capable d’agir de façon assez large grâce, non pas à sa force physique, mais ici à ses contacts et à son réseau tout simplement.>>

“When we talk about someone who has a long arm, we are talking about someone who has contacts, influence. A person who has the long arm, you hear, I didn’t say “who has the long arm”, you’ll see it in the pronunciation, I pronounced it in the French way, “quelqu’un qui a l’bras long”, it’s someone who has a lot of contacts, who has a big network or who has influence. So, who is able to act in a rather large way thanks, not to his physical strength, but here to his contacts and his network quite simply.”

So next time that you want to refer to a co-worker, an employer, or a coach then consider using the phrase <<Elle a le bras long.>> to express that she has a lot of influence. This will sound more chic than simply saying <<beacoup d’influence>>.

Don’t forget to add two to three French expressions to your French oral exam personal learning plan and let us know if you learn what <<Retourner sa veste>> or <<Faire d’une pierre deux coup>> actually means as a French expression.