To end this series on board games, here are some useful verbs and expressions related to board games, but not only. Even if you never touch a deck of cards, you’ll hear them all the time at work, in arguments, in the news.
Let’s start with the 10 verbs.
If you are on the Substack App and you click on 'Listen', you will get this crappy robotic voice since this is not a podcast. I did record some sentences in French below.
I picked a photo of people playing cards with a glass of wine. Turns out my posts perform better when alcohol is involved.
10 essential verbs
1. jouer — to play
The obvious one, but worth a note: jouer à for games and sports (jouer aux cartes, jouer au foot), jouer de for instruments (jouer du piano). Mix them up and French people will still understand you, but you may get a funny look.
On joue à quoi ce soir ? → “What are we playing tonight?”
2. gagner — to win
This verb also means “to earn.” In French, winning and earning share the same word.
Gagner une partie (to win a game) / gagner sa vie (to earn a living).
3. perdre — to lose
Irregular in the present tense (je perds, tu perds, il perd), but you will survive. Beyond the game board: perdre du temps (to waste time), perdre patience (to lose patience).
J’ai perdu deux fois de suite, je suis nul(le) ! → “I lost twice in a row, I’m terrible at this!”
Tip: add “à chier” if you want to sound like the street — Je suis nul(le) à chier (a bit vulgar, but you will hear it a lot).
4. tricher — to cheat
If someone hides a card up their sleeve, il/elle triche and becomes un tricheur/une tricheuse. Also used for exams, taxes, and relationships. Let’s not judge; we’ve all cheated at one time or another.
5. piocher — to draw (a card, a tile, a domino)
Comes from une pioche, the draw pile. Literally, it’s a pickaxe. In everyday French, piocher dans means to dig into something, often money: piocher dans ses économies (to dip into your savings).
Tu dois piocher une carte si tu (ne) peux pas jouer. → “You have to draw a card if you can’t play.”
6. miser — to bet, to stake (money, chips...)
Beyond the table, miser sur quelqu’un/quelque chose means to bet on someone or something in the sense of believing in them.
Le gouvernement mise sur cette réforme. → “The government is banking on this reform.”
7. parier — to bet, to wager
Very close to miser, but parier is the one you will hear more often in everyday conversation, way beyond games:
Je parie qu’il va encore être en retard. → “I bet he’s going to be late again.”
8. bluffer — to bluff
Yes, it’s basically an English word with a French accent, coming from poker. Now it’s used for anyone pretending to be more confident, more competent, or richer than they actually are.
Il bluffe, il (n’)a jamais mis les pieds au Japon. → “He’s bluffing, he’s never set foot in Japan.”
9. lancer (le dé) — to roll (the die)
Lancer on its own just means “to throw” or “to launch” a ball, a rumor, a product, a business. The dice are just one very small example.
À toi de lancer le dé ! → “Your turn to roll the die!”
10. mélanger (les cartes) — to shuffle (the cards)
Literally “to mix.” And outside games, you will hear it all the time: mélanger les torchons et les serviettes (to mix things that shouldn’t be mixed, literally “dish towels and napkins”), or just tu mélanges tout (you’re mixing everything up / getting confused).
On mélange pas les torchons et les serviettes ! → We don’t mix dishcloths and napkins!
What it really means: don’t put different things (or people) in the same basket. Especially when one is seen as lower quality or lower class than the other. It’s often used about social class (”we don’t mix with ‘them’”), but also just about not mixing things that don’t belong together in general. My advice: use it only ironically if you don’t want to sound too snobbish.
Expressions that came from the game table
French has borrowed a lot of everyday expressions from cards and board games. Here are some of the best ones:
Jouer cartes sur table — to lay your cards on the table, to be completely honest about your intentions.
Jouer le jeu — to play along, to go along with something (even a rule or a situation you don’t love).
Jouer franc jeu — to play fair, to be straightforward with someone.
C’est de bonne guerre — “that’s a fair move”. It’s used when someone plays a smart, slightly ruthless, move.
À qui le tour ? — “Whose turn is it?”. Used at the table, but also in a queue, a meeting, anywhere people are waiting for their turn.
Passer son tour — to pass, to sit one out. Also used generally: Je passe mon tour can mean “I’ll skip this one,” about anything from a round of drinks to a conversation topic.
Jouer un tour à quelqu’un — to play a trick on someone.
Avoir plus d’un tour dans son sac — to have more than one trick up your sleeve.
Jouer gros — to play for high stakes, to take a big risk.
Tenter sa chance — to try your luck.
Un coup de bluff — a bluff (the noun version, if you need it: c’était juste un coup de bluff).
Bonus: I always thought this next one was a real expression, but after digging around, I couldn't find it anywhere, so I guess it’s just a family thing. When someone asks whose turn it is, and it turns out to be theirs, we say: Toujours à l'âne qui braie, literally, "always to the donkey that brays." In other words: the one making all the noise (asking whose turn it is) turns out to be the one who should have known it was their own turn all along. Useful? I don’t know but you learned a new verb.
— C’est à qui de jouer ?
— Toujours à l’âne qui braie.
That’s it for the board games series. Next game night, you will have more to say than just “c’est à qui ?”
If you like the topic, check my premium Podcast #57 : Jeux de société et tour de Paris, version Monopoly and the Spoken French Episode on the short film Jeu de Société.
À plus !
Timo
Hey, I’m Timothée.
I write about the French language the way it’s actually lived: through cafés, music, awkward conversations, old expressions, cultural rituals, and all the small things textbooks usually forget.
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Alors, maintenant de trouver trois autres personnes qui parlent français, et qui jouent aux cartes.....