Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Word of the Day: Cadre

You might be familiar with this term in English, but the French version has several very different meanings (one of which can affect your salary and holiday time).

Published: 19 September 2024 12:18 CEST
French Word of the Day: Cadre
Ben McPartland Wed, 22 Jan 2020, 14:54 to Ingri, me Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know cadre?

Because it has several very different meanings in French, ranging from home furnishings to latest news.

What does it mean?

Cadre – roughly pronounced cah-druh – actually has several meanings in everyday French, but it’s rarely heard in the context that it is used in English, as a word for a group, usually one with some kind of specialist skill eg the new cadre of civil servants.

Its most straightforward meaning is as a frame, perhaps for a picture or a mirror, and several of its more complex meanings also come from this idea of a thing or a situation being contained within a metaphorical frame.

You’ll often hear “dans ce cadre” which means ‘within this context’ or ‘as a consequence of this situation’.

Meanwhile you light hear it to mean a place or situation eg Habiter dans un cadre agréable – living in pleasant surroundings.

It also has a fairly long list of more technical meanings – eg the playing surface of a billiards table, the frame in which beekeepers collect honey or a type of electrical circuit – all of which follow its basic meaning of something enclosed or square.

But the other important meaning of cadre is within the workplace, where it means someone who has a job at a rank of middle manager or above. 

It’s especially significant because certain major pieces of workplace legislation apply differently to salariés (employees) and cadres (managers) – for example France’s famous 35-hour working week does not apply to cadres.

If you read your company convention collective (and you really should, there are all sorts of perks lurking in there) you will likely find that some of the rules are differentiated between cadres and the rest of the workforce.

You might also hear cadres used as a shorthand for managers if, for example, business leaders are responding to a proposed new law, or as a demographic tool – eg saying that not many cadres vote for far-right parties.

Use it like this

Pour un salarié, hormis les cadres dirigeants, la durée légale de travail ne doit pas dépasser 10 heures par jour – for employees, with the exception of senior executives, work must not exceed 10 hours per day

Michel Barnier mène sa “dernière journée de consultations” en vue de former un gouvernement. Dans ce cadre, le Premier ministre a reçu ce matin la présidente de l’Assemblée nationale – Michel Barnier is holding his ‘final day of consultations’ with a view to forming a government. Within this context, he met this morning the president of the Assemblée nationale

M Bricolage offre 10 pourcent de réduction sur tous les cadres et miroirs – M Bricolage [France’s biggest DIY store chain] has 10 percent off on all picture frames and mirrors

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Phrase of the Day: Faire sa toilette

This French expression can be used for both people and their pets.

Published: 16 September 2024 11:28 CEST
French Phrase of the Day: Faire sa toilette

Why do I need to know faire sa toilette?

Because this expression might come up when discussing your pet’s daily habits.

What does it mean?

Faire sa toilette – roughly pronounced fair sah twa-let – translates as ‘to do one’s toilet’.

In reality, it does not have to do with urinating, but rather it means to ‘wash with water and soap’ or clean/groom/preen  yourself. 

This meaning may ring a bell for those familiar with old-fashioned English phrase ‘to be at one’s toilette’ – which can found in novels by authors ranging from Jane Austen to Agatha Christie.

Although the English phrase has largely fallen out of use, the French expression – sometimes shortened to faire toilette – is still used, though it is a bit traditional, and thus more likely to be used by older people.

Instead, you might hear people use se laver (to wash) or prendre une douche (to take a shower).

As for the origins of the expression, we can look to the original meaning of the word toilette (which eventually led to the English word ‘toilet’).

In the mid-16th century, a toilette was a ‘cloth or wrapper’, initially used as a “cloth cover for a dressing table”. Later, it went on to refer to washing oneself, and by the 19th century it referred to a dressing room or washing area.

These days you are most likely to hear faire sa toilette when referring to animals (particularly cats) grooming or cleaning themselves. 

Similarly, the expression toilettage means ‘grooming’ for cats and dogs, so if you want to have your animals’ fur professionally brushed or trimmed, then you would pay for a toilettage.

This comes from the verb toiletter, which nowadays is used when discussing the cleaning or brushing of domestic animals. It has a second, colloquial meaning too. You might see toiletter used when discussing a slight modification to a law or legislative text.

Use it like this

Maman doit faire sa toilette avant l’arrivée des invités. – Mum needs to freshen up before the guests arrive.

Le chat fait sa toilette tous les matins. – The cat grooms himself every morning.

SHOW COMMENTS