21 Mar 2015

Seasons: les saisons


France has four seasons (la saison) as she is in the temperate zone (la zone tempérée).
To celebrate the return of spring, let's learn how to say the seasons in French: le printemps, l'été, l'automne et l'hiver.

The gender for all of them is masculine.

In the Northern hemisphere (l'hémisphère nord), Spring (le printemps) starts on March 21.
Summer (l'été) starts on June 21.
Autumn (l'automne) starts on September 21.
Winter (l'hiver) starts on December 21.

In the Southern hemisphere (l'hémisphère sud), Spring (le printemps) starts on September 21.
Summer (l'été) starts on December 21.
Autumn (l'automne) starts on March 21.
Winter (l'hiver) starts on June 21.

5 Mar 2015

French idioms: "Avoir plusieurs cordes à son arc"


"Avoir plusieurs cordes à son arc". The equivalent in English is "to have several strings to one's bow". And it's also the word for word translation. The expression in both languages have the same meaning: to have more than one skill or to have several ways to reach a target.

This expression comes from the time when archers needed to have several strings for their bow in case it snapped.