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French Expression of the Day: Entre guillemets

The Local France
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French Expression of the Day: Entre guillemets
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

It might sound like someone giving you directions, but in fact in-between guillemets is not a place.

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Why do I need to know Entre guillemets?

Because you might want to quote someone while speaking French at some point.

What does it mean?

Entre guillemets – pronounced ahn-truh ghee-may - literally means ‘in or between quotation marks,’ because the word ‘guillemet’ in French refers to this punctuation symbol " known in English as the quotation mark.

It is used in the same way the English word “allegedly” or “quote, unquote” might be, as it is meant to assign a part of your oral sentence to someone else. You might also use this interchangeably with the English term “so-called” to shed some doubt on a situation or to distance yourself from a quote that is not your own.

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You probably will not see the phrase entre guillemets written, as it is almost exclusively used for spoken language.

In the sense that entre guillemets, depending on the context, could be used to express doubt or distance the speaker from the next phrase, you might hear someone use this expression to subtly express disagreement.

If you're still a bit lost for when to use this expression, just think about when you feel tempted to add air quotes to something you want to say, and then go from there.

Use it like this

Oui, “on a le droit à un compte bancaire,” entre guillemets, mais il est en fait très difficile d'obtenir qu'une banque vous accepte en tant qu'Américain en France. – Yes, we have ‘the right to a bank account’ allegedly, but in reality it is quite difficult to get a bank to accept you as an American in France. 

Il est, entre guillemets, “interdit de se baigner dans le canal,” mais les gens le font assez souvent. –  It is allegedly forbidden 'to swim in the canal,' but people do it often.

You can find a full explanation of French punctuation terms here.

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contact_60488d273b166 2022/08/02 17:42
I thought that guillemets referred to the punctuation symbols «quote» not "quote" or 'quote'.

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