🇫🇷 How to Translate “To Meet” in French ? #35

Effing French Words Series #2

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Salut les Francophiles ! 🇫🇷🔥

We’re back with the second edition of Effing French Words—because let’s be honest, some French words just refuse to translate neatly into English. Last time, we tackled “busy”, and discovered the sneaky nuances that make French both frustrating and fascinating.

This week, we’re diving into another deceptively simple word: “to meet.” Seems easy, right? Until you realize that one wrong verb could turn a casual meet-up into a first romantic encounter. 😅

Mais pas de problème, I’ve got clear explanations, common mistakes to avoid, and a quiz to make sure you never mix them up again. Oh, and don’t forget—there are audio answers to the quiz so you can practice your listening, too!

On y va ? Let’s meet... the right way this time. 😉

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Effing French Words for: “To Meet”

Ever tried making plans with a French person? Then you know that actually meeting at the agreed-upon time can be trickier than conjugating le subjonctif (we’ll save le quart d’heure de politesse for another day). But punctuality isn’t the only challenge—figuring out which verb to use for “to meet” in French can be just as perplexing. Let’s break it down!

📍 retrouver → Meeting up (again) at a planned place Think "Let's meet up later," planned reunion or rendezvous.

• Let’s meet at the bar at 8 PM. → On se retrouve au bar à 20h.

🚶‍♂️ rejoindre → Going to the same place to meet someone Think moving towards someone to meet them somewhere. (= to join / to join up with)

• I’ll meet you in front of the cinema. → Je te rejoins devant le cinéma.

While mixing se retrouver with se rejoindre won’t cause any harm in a conversation, be careful with the next one—it has a different meaning and can lead to misunderstandings if used in the wrong context.