Had enough?
On a French exchange, one of my friends was having dinner with her French family. At the end of the meal, they asked her if she would like any more, to which she replied Non merci, je suis pleine, thinking she was saying 'No thanks, I'm full'. Not surprisingly, her host family were a little concerned as she'd effectively said 'No thanks, I'm drunk'! This was compounded by the fact that she'd had a slight sickness bug when she arrived and had been sick on the first two mornings of her stay. The host family were concerned and wanted to contact the accompanying teacher immediately - the girl was only 15! But they eventually worked out what was going on without having to make the call!
Editor's note: Such an easy mistake to make! Plein/e does indeed mean 'full', but in the context of feeling full after a meal, use the phrase J'ai assez mangé.
Sent by: Patrick
Comments
During a meal with a French family many years ago, our hostess asked my husband if he would like a second helping of dessert. Knowing that when he wanted to fill the fuel tank of the car he used the word 'plein' he replied 'Non merci, je suis plein.' Our hostess hastily said 'Ce n'est pas possible, Monsieur !' Of course, he had just told her he was pregnant, and what he should have said was 'Non merci, j'ai déjà trop mangé'.
Elle est pleine is how a farmer would say that the cow is in calf, so maybe they thought she had morning sickness!
Actually, J'en ai assez means 'I'm fed up with it', which is not very polite thing to say to your host.
I had a similar experience when I was on exchange in New Caledonia when I was 16. The family just laughed when I said Je suis pleine and suggested I use J'en ai assez, I've had enough. Since arriving in France, I've been told that the second phrase isn't much good either.
Non merci is all you need to say!
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