Learn Fast Spoken French from Netflix Show ‘Lupin’

Actually, the characters speak in informal spoken French. So their pronunciation is different – they eat a lot of letters, for instance!

For example, a lot of “e” or “uh” sounds disappear in naturally spoken French, especially in small words like Je, Ce or Que, even before a consonant:
Je → J’
Ce → C’
Que → Qu’

These are real spoken French pronunciation rules. In school, you might have seen correct French and the proper grammar you need to read French newspapers and write essays, but you have to realize the spoken French you hear in French streets, cafés, and media is almost a different language with its own rules. You need to practice both to feel confident in any situation and keep speaking French and making better connections.

Let’s break down the scene again to talk about their everyday spoken French, line by line. This new transcript better reflects how the characters actually speak.

C’est parti.

Assane : Je sais qu’tu m’en veux. Je sais c’que vous vivez avec Raoul…
Assane: I know you’re mad at me. I know what you’re going through with Raoul…

→ “Tu m’en veux.” (silent x) = You’re mad at me, You’re resentful, You blame me for something, you’re holding a grudge. (It’s not an informal expression.)
The “en” (= “some”) is important! Tu me veux. = You want me. Beware the embarassing mistake!
→ Qu’tu m’en veux. → eating the “e”. In spoken French, “Je sais que tu m’en veux.” (= I know you’re mad at me.) quickly becomes “Je sais qu’tu m’en veux.”
In this “spoken French” transcript, I deleted some “e”s to match their actual pronunciation. That’s for this lesson only; in real life, we would keep them anyway, at least for anything more official than a text message.

Claire : Ah bon, tu sais ? Tu sais quoi ? Tu sais la peur ? La honte ? (Assane : “Claire… J’te jure…”) Tu sais les regards méprisants ? Tu sais Raoul qui s’réveille en pleine nuit en hurlant ? Nan ! Me dis pas qu’t’es désolé parce que t’es désolé de rien du tout. Tu penses qu’à ta gueule Assane, c’est tout.
Claire: Oh really, you know? What do you know? Do you know fear? Shame? (Assane: “Claire… I swear…”) Do you know the contemptuous looks? Do you know Raoul waking up in the middle of the night screaming? No! Don’t tell me you’re sorry because you’re not sorry at all. You’re only thinking about yourself, Assane, that’s all.

→ Informal Nan instead of Non, eating letters, eating the ne in negations, and informal questions:

• Que sais-tu ? (very formal) = What do you know?
• Qu’est-ce que tu sais ? (less formal) = What do you know?
• Tu sais quoi ? (informal) = You know what? – a very common way to ask informal questions in French.

Click here to learn more:

• Why You Should Never Say “As-tu ?” in Spoken French
• Understand Fast Spoken French: Questions Aren’t Obvious

→ Tu penses qu’à ta gueule. = You only think about yourself. (informal)
= “Tu ne penses qu’à toi.” (not informal)
Informal French comes from: Eating the “ne” from the negation + La gueule = an animal’s mouth (formal French) = a face, a mouth (informal rude French). It gives weight to Claire’s frustrations.

La honte = shame, Honteux / honteuse = shameful.
La culpabilité = guilt. Coupable = guilty.
Le mépris = contempt. Méprisant = contemptuous

Le truc en plus:

• Memorize This Fast Spoken French Rule: Drop the “ne” (Comme une Française lesson)
• Le Mépris (1963) by Jean-Luc Godard

Assane : On s’en va, Claire ! Raoul, toi et moi. On quitte la France. On s’barre loin. Là où personne nous connaît. J’ai pris un aller simple sur un cargo qui quitte Marseille dans quarante-huit heures.
Assane: We’re leaving, Claire! Raoul, you, and me. We’re leaving France. We’re running away, far away, where no one knows us. I’ve booked one-way tickets on a cargo ship leaving Marseille in forty-eight hours.

Un aller simple = a one-way trip. Un aller-retour = a round trip.

Here, we have three expressions for the same idea:

1. On s’en va. = We’re leaving. (correct French)
2. On quitte la France. = We’re leaving France. (correct French)
3. On se barre. = On se casse. = We’re leaving. (spoken French)
   The verb “se barrer” is the synonym of the verb “se casser” (= to leave) in informal French. “Se casser” literally means “to break oneself” in English.
   – Je me casse. = Je me barre. (informal) = I’m leaving.
   – Je m’en vais.= Je pars. (formal) = I’m leaving.
   – Se barrer = se casser = s’en aller = partir = to leave.

Click here to learn more:
10 Popular French Slang Words for Everyday Life

Claire : J’viens d’comprendre un truc, là. T’es fou, en fait ? T’es réellement fou ? Tu crois que Raoul et moi, on va tout quitter pour te suivre ?
Claire: I just realized something. You’re crazy, right? Are you actually crazy? Do you think Raoul and I will leave everything to follow you?

Un truc (very common, informal) = une chose = quelque chose = a thing.

This construction Venir de + infinitif = passé immédiat is a verbal construction called Le passé immédiat = Immediate Past or Le passé récent = Recent Past.
Comprendre = to understand, to realize.
J’viens d’comprendre. = I just realized, I only now realized.

Click here to learn more:

• My Top 5 Tips to Be Better Understood When Speaking French (from a Native Parisian)
• How to master le passé composé when speaking French

Assane : Mais on s’ra ensemble. On s’ra une famille.
Assane: But we’ll be together. We’ll be a family.

Claire : On s’ra pas une famille, on s’ra en cavale. C’est ça qu’tu veux pour ton fils ? Qu’il passe sa vie à regarder par-dessus son épaule ?
Claire: We won’t be a family. We’ll be fugitives on the run. Is that what you want for your son? To spend his life looking over his shoulder?
…Tu veux vraiment arranger les choses ?
…Do you really want to make things right?

Assane : Chuis prêt à tout pour ça.
Assane: I am ready to do anything for that.

Je suis → “Chuis”
In informal spoken French, the pronunciation of Je suis = I am, often simply becomes “Chuis”.
Je suis là. → “Chuis là.” = I’m here.

Claire : Alors livre-toi à la police. C’est la seule solution.
…C’est bien c’que j’pensais. T’es pas un héros Assane. T’es un lâche.
Claire: Then turn yourself in to the police. That’s the only solution.
…That’s what I thought. You’re not a hero, Assane. You’re a coward.

In real spoken French, the singular “you” for friends and family loses the “u” before the vowel.
Tu es → “T’es” = You are.

Un lâche = a coward.
Un couard (with the silent “d” at the end) = a coward.
Attention! This word is too formal and outdated. Don’t use it in everyday conversations. Use “un lâche” instead.
Lâche = week, loose.
Lâcher = to let go, to give way.

Now you can try your hand at other scenes of this show, including on my channel, or learn with me with another famous French series: Dix pour Cent.

Or you can keep learning about understanding fast-spoken French with me!

Click here to get your next lesson:

• Understand Fast Spoken French with Netflix’s ‘Call My Agent’
• Learn French with Netflix: Listening Practice with Famous French Film Intouchables (2011)
• Learn French With Netflix: Emily in Paris (2022)
• Understand Fast Spoken French: Netflix’s A Very Secret Service
• Best French TV Shows to Learn French: Engrenages (Netflix)

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