The Differences Between French in Québec and France

15 min video

Learn the differences between French in Québec and France, and pick up some cool expressions along the way.

On this page

Part 1: The History of Canadian FrenchModern Day Canadian FrenchPart 2: THE DIFFERENCESGrammarVowelsVocabularyPronunciationInformal ConversationsSlang Words and Idiomatic Expressions

Reading time:  10 minutes

[You can also listen to this article plus additional information in this podcast episode here.]

French in metropolitan France and Québec French are related varieties of the same language, with differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and some informal grammar. Québec French is one variety of Canadian French; Canadian French also includes varieties such as Acadian French.

The size of the difference depends on the speaker, region and level of formality; there is no single agreed ranking against British and US English or European and Brazilian Portuguese. Before examining the differences, let’s review how French came to be spoken in Canada.

Part 1: The History of Canadian French

During the Age of Exploration, King Francis I (François Ier) commissioned a western expedition to find another route to China. In 1534, Jacques Cartier, the leader of the expedition, landed in the Gaspé Peninsula, planted a cross,  and claimed ‘New France’ for the King. French settlers began to colonise the new territory, which subsequently expanded  across large areas of North America.

The French colonists continued to settle in New France during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, bringing with them Classical French, along with a smattering of the type of French that is spoken north of Paris, and of langues d’oïl during the era. Some linguists believe that, during this time, several French varieties became merged in the new colony of New France.

The British conquest of Canada was completed in 1760, and France ceded Canada to Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Contact with France became more limited, and French in Canada and France continued to develop differently. Canadian French also came into greater contact with English.

Modern Day Canadian French

The late 1800s saw a shift towards industrialization in the Canadian Confederation. This increased the interaction between French Canadians, English-speaking Canadians, and the United States. English was prominent in business, and contact with it encouraged borrowing, including terms from manufacturing, trade, law, and government. Such borrowing does not necessarily mean that French lacked an equivalent word.

The Quiet Revolution in the 1960s saw a major drive towards embracing their cultural identity among French Canadians. This also promoted a sense of Québec nationalism that is still present even today, with some Quebeckers still wanting to become an independent state from Canada. In 1977, the Charter of the French Language was drafted by the Parti Québécois and its objective was to protect French in Québec. The Charter of the French Language established French as the official language and the normal language  used in business in Québec, and, moreover, severely limited the use of English in public signs. French is the principal language of Québec. Ontario also has Franco-Ontarian communities, while New Brunswick includes a large Acadian French-speaking population.

Part 2: THE DIFFERENCES

Both varieties have evolved from their earlier forms and have borrowed words from other languages. English has influenced informal Québec French, but French in France also uses English borrowings, sometimes where Québec French prefers a French term.

It is almost a given that the two varieties of French, when spoken, will have different accents and intonations; just like British and American English. Curiously, the written, as well as the formally spoken Québec French, shares, with minor differences, the same structure and grammatical rules as Metropolitan French. It is when Québécois is spoken informally that the differences between the two varieties of French become obvious. A French Canadian will generally have no problem communicating with anyone speaking Metropolitan French, though he or she may have to adjust his accent somewhat to be understood.

European French speakers, for their part, will probably understand formal spoken Québécois, but may get confused with informal spoken Québécois. The reason for this is that informal Québec French uses idioms, words, cultural references, and expressions that are unfamiliar to those who speak Metropolitan French.

The following are some of the differences between Metropolitan French and Québec French. Let’s see Canadian French vs French!

Grammar

Some informal Québec speech uses regional constructions that differ from standard written French. For example, you may hear J’ai trouvé le document que j’ai de besoin, while the standard form is J’ai trouvé le document dont j’ai besoin. These informal forms are not used by every Québec speaker.

You may also hear an informal construction such as J’ai un enfant à m’occuper, where standard French would use J’ai un enfant dont je dois m’occuper or J’ai un enfant de qui je dois m’occuper. Learn to recognize regional speech, but use the standard construction in formal writing.

In informal Québec French, on commonly replaces the subject pronoun nous for “we”, just as it does in informal French in France. This does not replace the object pronoun nous. Some prepositions also contract in casual speech: s’a for sur la, dins for dans les, and s’es for sur les. These spellings represent informal pronunciation rather than standard written forms.

Vowels

Vowels are among the most noticeable pronunciation differences. Québec French generally preserves the distinction between the nasal vowels in brun and brin, which many, but not all, speakers in France merge. The nasal vowels can have different sound qualities across the two varieties; it is not a general rule that Québec an becomes the same sound as in in France.

The high vowels i, u and ou often have shorter, more relaxed variants in Québec French, especially in closed syllables ending in consonants such as t, k or l. This does not apply to every closed syllable. Québec French also preserves vowel-length and quality distinctions in pairs such as pâte/patte and maître/mettre that many speakers in France merge; pronunciation in France varies by region and speaker.

Other differences in the vowel usage between spoken Metropolitan French and Québec French include the intonation of the vowels, and the speed at which the vowels are pronounced in sentences.

Vocabulary

Québec French vocabulary is distinctive from Metropolitan French; primarily due to the strong influence of the English language upon it. Also called Anglicisms, the borrowed  English words are even more obvious in spoken Québec French. With the Quiet Revolution however, the burgeoning sense of Québec nationalism made French Canadians try to consciously limit the use of Anglicisms in more formal forms of speech. When Québec French uses too many Anglicisms when spoken, it is usually considered as franglais-a derogatory term.

The borrowed words in Québec French are not limited to English. Some come from Indigenous languages encountered by early settlers. Examples include carcajou (wolverine), atoca (cranberry), manitou (a spirit; figuratively, an influential person or “big shot”), and micouenne (a large wooden spoon).

There are words in Québec French that are particularly associated with French Canadian culture. Some examples of these words are poutine, tuque, and dépanneur. The word dépanneur, does exist in Metropolitan French but it is used to refer to a mechanic or an electrician who makes house calls, whereas the word refers to a “small grocery or corner store” in Québec French.

The vocabulary of Québec French also gives evidence of its isolation from France during the British rule in the 1700s. Some words in Québec French appear to have evolved differently in New France. Examples include barguiner, pogner, and magasiner which have remained common in informal Québec speech while their usage differs in France.

Pronunciation

The vowel differences have already been discussed. Another feature is the pronunciation of “R”: a uvular “R”, made at the back of the mouth, is common in both present-day France and Québec. An apical “R”, rolled or tapped with the tongue tip, survives in some regional or older Québec speech; it is not the usual metropolitan pronunciation contrasted with a uniquely Québec uvular “R”.

A distinctive Québec feature is that t and d commonly become “ts” and “dz” before the sounds i and u (French /i/ and /y/), as in petit and du. This pronunciation is also normal in careful Québec speech; speakers do not need to imitate France’s accent to speak formally.

Fun tip: Want to hear the differences in how Canadian French and Standard European French are spoken? Try watching a lot of French movies! Get your recommendations here plus tips on how to learn French with movies.

Informal Conversations

Québec French speakers often use the second person pronoun tu more often and in a greater variety of situations than speakers of Standard European French do. While this does not pose much of an issue in French speaking Canada, using it with someone who expects vous can be viewed as impolite in France. Even in Québec however, an elderly person might get insulted if the word tu is used when addressing them, especially when it comes from someone serving them. Using tu with someone who expects vous can be regarded as rude. In customer service and official exchanges, vous is a safe starting point until the other person invites you to use tu.

In day-to-day conversation, Québec French is also starkly different from Metropolitan French. As mentioned earlier, a Metropolitan French speaker may get confused if ever they find themselves in an informal conversation with a French Canadian speaker. The reason behind this can involve accents as well as the Québec French speaker’s use of idiomatic expressions, vocabulary, slang words, and cultural references that will be unfamiliar to the Metropolitan French speaker.

Examples of the phrases, slang words, and idiomatic expressions associated with Québec French are cited in the next section.

Slang Words and Idiomatic Expressions

Slang words and idiomatic expressions are where the major difference between spoken Québec French and Metropolitan French lies. This is primarily because Québec French has a large collection of unique slang words and idiomatic expressions that are not present in European French, and may therefore be unfamiliar to a Metropolitan French speaker. In fact, the number is so great that several reference books dedicated to the subject have been, and still continue to be, written.

Here are some of the expressions and slang words used in Québec French. The examples below range from being weird to straight-up funny, even to a non-French speaker.

1. Mon chum. This means “my friend” among French speaking Canadians and it is also a clear example of an Anglicism-“chum” is actually an English word. What makes this expression sort of confusing, even for French Canadian speakers, is that “chum” can also mean boyfriend, so it has the potential to create awkward situations between the sexes.

1. Ma blonde. Similar, in some ways to the previous example, this expression means “my girlfriend” for a Québec French speaker, whereas it will literally mean “my blonde” to a Metropolitan French speaker, which will not make much sense.

1. Baise-moué l’ail. Literally means “kiss my garlic.” It has been linked to an English insult about kissing a certain part of the human anatomy, but that proposed origin is unconfirmed. Treat it as an unusual example rather than a phrase used by all French-speaking Canadians.

1. Avoir mal aux cheveux. Literally “to have pain in one’s hair”, this means having a headache after drinking too much alcohol. It is also used in France, so it is not uniquely Québécois.

1. Être tiguidou. Everything is just dandy. No problem here! A-Ok! (I love this expression and wish we could have it here in France).

1. Bonjour-Hi. This bilingual greeting can signal that a shop assistant can serve you in French or English. It has been debated in Québec politics. French is Québec’s official language, and customers have a right to service in French.

1. Se laisser manger la laine sur le dos. Meaning, to “let someone eat the wool off your back” means that you are letting someone make a fool out of you or swindle you. I personally think that this is one of the more creative expressions from the Québec French variety.

1. J’ai la langue à terre. Literally “my tongue is on the floor”, this describes being exhausted or at the end of one’s resources. A wonderfully dramatic way to say you are worn out!

1. Lâche pas la patate! Literally “don’t let go of the potato”, this means “keep going” or “hang in there”. Usito traces it to Louisiana French, made familiar in Québec through a popular song. It is an encouraging expression, not generally a threat.

1. Gosses. In France, gosses is an informal word for children. Ça va, les gosses ? means “How are you, kids?”, while Comment vont tes gosses ? asks someone how their kids are doing. In Québec, gosses can mean “testicles”, so this word can lead to an awkward misunderstanding.

An additional video from Langfocus.

At about 10:26, the video says “open syllables”, but its examples fête and père are closed syllables. Vowel length and diphthongization depend on the sound and context. See the OQLF explanation of vowel length.

I have to admit that it is quite impossible to mention most, if not all of the differences between Metropolitan French and Québec French. However, I believe that the differences that were covered here will pretty much give you an overview of the unique qualities of Québec French in relation to Metropolitan French.