How to Agree or Disagree in French & Voice Your Opinion

In a heated debate between French friends, you might be called to pitch in and give your opinion, or to tell them whether you agree or disagree. Do you know how to express your opinion in French quickly, when you’re put on the spot?

In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some of the different ways you can agree or disagree with your conversation partner in French.

C’est parti !

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1) Agreeing in French

There are many things you can say to indicate that you agree in French. You can say:

  • OK. [“Okay”] → It’s basic, but it works in French too!
  • Je suis d’accord. = I agree.
  • C’est vrai. = That’s true.

French people tend to be quite disagreeable (stereotypically speaking, of course), so they’re not so used to simply hearing “I agree”. If you do say that you agree, it can be endearing! (Being nice can be your superpower in French conversation.)

2) Praise

Another common (and somewhat true) stereotype is that French people aren’t very enthusiastic, in general. It depends on the person, of course.

But it means that if you do something fantastic, or make an excellent point, a French person might simply tell you: Pas mal. (= Not bad.) That’s high praise!

Terrible ! can also mean “great!”… or, depending on the context, “that’s so sad.”

However, Pas terrible always means “mediocre.”

3) Disagreeing

Sometimes you will want to disagree with your French conversation partner on things.

You can use:

  • Je ne suis pas tout à fait d’accord. (= I don’t totally agree.) → Tactful
  • C’est un peu plus compliqué que ça (= It’s a bit more complicated than that) → Always appropriate.
  • Je ne suis pas d’accord. (= I disagree.) → Standard.
  • Je ne suis pas du tout d’accord. (= I strongly disagree.) → Strong.
  • C’est faux. C’est pas vrai ! (= That’s false. That’s not true!) → Simple but effective!

And just so you know, disagreeing with someone can be the start of a long conversation. French people don’t have a common, easy translation for “let’s agree to disagree” !

For advanced learners, let’s practice your French oral comprehension! In a short text for French radio, the comedian and poet François Morel explores the power of the expression, “C’est un peu plus compliqué que ça.” Click here to check it out.

Now, of course, agreeing and disagreeing is important… but that’s not the first thing you should learn when improving your spoken French. Be sure to master the basic greetings and some words of French politeness, first! Here are some extra lessons that can help you do just that:

À tout de suite.
I’ll see you in the next video!

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→ If you enjoyed this lesson (and/or learned something new) – why not share this lesson with a francophile friend? You can talk about it afterwards! You’ll learn much more if you have social support from your friends 🙂

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Join the conversation!

  • Le Truck en + François Morel m’a fait rire. C’ést in peu difficult de comprendre pour moi, mais j’ai compris le sens. L’expression “C’est un peu plus compliqué que ça” est une expression utile.

  • Salut Geraldine! Merci beaucoup! J’aime vos videos and vos textes. J’apprends toujours quelque chose d’eux.

  • Bonjour Geraldine. Merci beacoup pour encore une leçon très intéressante. J’aime vos vidéos! Ils sont pas mal -😊 Surtout les expressions drôles, comme par exemple Terrible! cette fois et dans autre vidéo il y avait l’expression T’inquète. Tous les deux avec un sens inattendu, signifiant le contraire de ce que vous auriez pu penser. 😊

  • Bonjour Geraldine,
    Je suis tout à fait d’accord avec les autres commentaires. 🙂
    J’adore tes vidéos et ton approche. Il y a toujours des sujets intéressants que je trouve plus utiles que les textes de français pour apprendre à utiliser la langue de tous les jours. Ton sourire est contagieux. Merci beaucoup!

  • Bonjour Geraldine thank you for your really good videos and emails I’ve learned a lot more french from these emails feel free to comment on this

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