Québécois French vs. French in France: 17 Important Differences, from Pronunciation to Unique Words

You step off the plane in Montréal and hop on a bus to your hotel, only to notice that the French sounds a little different from the French you know.

Québécois French has its own quirks and characteristics, and this post will explain what some of those are.

And, to understand why québécois French is the way it is, we’ll also delve into the dialect in general and its brief history.

Aweille ! (Let’s go!)

Contents

• What Is Québécois French?
• A Brief History of Québécois French
• What Makes Québécois French Different from the French in France?
• • 1. There are some special nouns and verbs
  • 2. The eating time vocabulary is different
  • 3. The accent is different, too
  • 4. There are different pronunciations 
  • 5. Questions are asked a bit differently
  • 6. Québécois French uses tu a lot more
  • 7. Québécois French has tried to erase English
  • 8. Québécois French does use some English verbs, however
  • 9. Québécois French also uses words influenced by English
  • 10. French Canadians use on, not nous
  • 11. Là is used liberally as an informal marker
  • 12. Ben is very common
  • 13. Fin has many more meanings in québécois
  • 14. Bienvenue is way more common than you’d think
  • 15. Being sociable sounds a bit different
  • 16. There are different money words 
  • 17. Canadian French has its own unique idioms
• And one more thing...

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What Is Québécois French?

Québec French, also commonly referred to as québécois French, is based on the French that was spoken in Paris during the 17th and 18th centuries. It’s the most well-known of the several dialects of Canadian French, along with the likes of Acadian French and Métis French.

A Brief History of Québécois French

During the 17th and 18th centuries, when France was expanding its colonial reach throughout the globe, Québec became the center of the Francophone world as new settlers grew the local population.

Notably, many of the settlers in Québec (then known as “New France”) used the standard French spoken by France’s royal and aristocratic classes. After the British took over the Canadian colonies according to the stipulations of the Articles of Capitulation of Montreal in 1760, the French speakers in Québec became isolated from their European counterparts.

However, in 1867, Québec began to industrialize and open up to outside trade. Because business transactions were often conducted in English, Québec French had to incorporate vocabulary from Canadian and American English to make up for any linguistic gaps.

During the 20th century onward, Québec French continued to evolve with the political and economic climate of the province. Laws were passed to govern the use of French in the province, with the  Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Board of the French Language) created for this purpose.

Today, French is the native tongue for 85.5% of Québec’s population as of 2021. English and French even have equal legal status in the government, though be forewarned: Discussions about the lingua franca in Québec can be highly charged, to put it mildly.

What Makes Québécois French Different from the French in France?

While both Québec and France use the same grammar rules, verb conjugations and sentence structures, there are big differences in the accent, pronunciation and vocabulary.

1. There are some special nouns and verbs

Here are some of the most prominent vocabulary terms used in Canadian French but not the French from France:

Check out this video to see a comparison of words used by a French speaker from France vs. Québec:

It’s worth mentioning that Canadian French also has its own unique set of religion-related swear words that may be confusing to French speakers from France. For example, tabarnak normally means “tabernacle” (an ornate box where the Communion host is kept), but in Québec, it’s a very profane swear word. 

2. The eating time vocabulary is different

Eating time vocabulary in Québec is quite different from that used in France:

3. The accent is different, too

People say that the québécois accent is chantant (sing-songy) compared to other Francophone accents. 

Like any language, there’s no standard Canadian French accent, as every city and town has its own particular way of talking and unique slang. 

4. There are different pronunciations 

Il

One characteristic of québécois French is the replacement of il (him or it) with the sound/letter y. It’s common to hear Y’est malade (he is sick) or maybe Y fait bon  (it’s nice out).

Elle

You may hear  elle  (she or it) replaced with the letter a and an extended a sound: a mal au ventre (her stomach hurts).

Je suis

The chu sound to replace je suis (I am) is quite charming. You’ll hear Québécois saying chu fatigué (I am tired) or chu en retard (I am late).

T and D

A really distinctive feature of québécois is that, before the letters i and e, the consonants t and d are pronounced differently. 

T becomes ts, and d becomes dz.

So, dîner (lunch) might sound like “dzîner” and canadien (Canadian) might sound like “canadzien.”

Vowels

Québécois retains many of classical French’s original pronunciations, which no longer exist in France.

Here are some examples. Listen carefully to the differences in pronunciation:

You can learn about some of the different variations in pronunciation, as well as some other differences between the French spoken in France and québécois French in this video:

5. Questions are asked a bit differently

When asking questions in formal settings, Québec French uses vous (formal “you”) and says it exactly as you would in any other French-speaking area.

When kicking back or talking with one another in casual settings, there’s a little spin on sentence structure when asking questions.

See if you can spot the pattern:

Notice the additional tu (you) at the end of the question.

6. Québécois French uses tu a lot more

Unlike in France, québécois French is far more likely to use the informal form in non-business transactions. These include ordering drinks at a bar or speaking to a supermarket cashier.

However, if in doubt, use vous (formal “you”) and follow the other person’s lead.

7. Québécois French has tried to erase English

As we’ve mentioned earlier, the issue of language is quite political in Québec as the Québécois tend to be very protective of French.

Québec really focuses on preserving French, sometimes resulting in the adoption of new words to offset the influence of the heavily Anglo environment.

For example:

8. Québécois French does use some English verbs, however

But, despite the state’s protection of French, English couldn’t be completely eradicated from the dialect.

It’s common to hear Québécois conjugate English verbs into French sentences. For example, in Québec you might hear:

9. Québécois French also uses words influenced by English

The pressure to avoid importing English words leads to American phrases being translated directly into French. These are called calques , or loan translations.

Here are a few:

10. French Canadians use on, not nous

The impersonal pronoun on (one) replaces nous  (we) in pretty much all informal Canadian French conversations. 

On (one) is followed by the third person singular of the verb:

On est à la plage. ( Nous sommes à la plage. ) — We are at the beach.

11. Là is used liberally as an informal marker

Là literally means “there,” but in québécois it appears at the end of many sentences as a marker of emphasis or an exclamation. It’s like adding “eh” or “yeah” to an English sentence.

12. Ben is very common

Ben (really) is a great word in Canadian French, and you’ll hear it all the time in informal speech.

It comes from the word bien (well), and here are some examples of how you might hear it:

13. Fin has many more meanings in québécois

In France, the word fin (which means “end” as a noun and “fine” or “thin” as an adjective) is used literally. However, in French-speaking Canada, it takes on another meaning.

It describes someone’s personality as kind, similar to the French word sympa (nice).

So, if you hear someone talking about you and they say, “Elle est ben fine”  (“She is really nice”), that’s a true compliment!

14. Bienvenue is way more common than you’d think

In Canada, after you’ve said merci (thank you) to someone, the person will reply with bienvenue (welcome, as a greeting).

Bienvenue is the normal way to say “you’re welcome” in Canada!

15. Being sociable sounds a bit different

These are some good terms to know if you want to meet up with friends:

16. There are different money words 

As with most languages, French has a ton of slang words for all things cash.

17. Canadian French has its own unique idioms

Just like France has its particular expressions and phrases, so does Québec!

Here are a couple:

As you’ve seen above, there are many differences between québécois French and the French spoken in France. One of the best ways to learn these differences is to immerse yourself in authentic French content so you can see how the language is used. For example, you could watch French Canadian TV shows on the language learning platform FluentU.

Learning the differences between québécois French and the French spoken in France is not only important for travel and communication, but it’s also fun!

Now that you know the differences between québécois French and French from France, you’ll be able to sound like a true Québécois! 

Check out this post next for a closer look at some other types of French:

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And one more thing...

If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)