La veille: watch out for this word in French

If you have come across the expression la veille (pronounced ‘la vay’), it is likely to have been in the context of a celebration or notable event, as it usually means ‘the day or evening before’.

Consequently, if someone mentions a wedding guest who is arriving la veille, it will be the day before the big event, while la veille de Noël refers to Christmas Eve.

In writing, it is easily confused with the feminine form of the adjective for ‘old’, vieille, although this is pronounced ‘vee-ay’.

You might notice the linguistic connection between la veille and surveillance, which brings us to another sense of the word, as it is also associated with keeping watch (je veille jusqu’à minuit).

Veiller à ce que means ‘to watch over’ or ‘to see to something’. It carries a sense of vigilant, ongoing attention, such as a boss ensuring you do your work (mon patron veille à ce que je fasse bien mon travail).

From keeping watch to standby mode

Developing from the notion of being on watch, if you are en état de veille it means you are awake and conscious. And if a machine or computer is en veille, it is essentially on standby mode.

However, knowing all of this does not always clarify what you might hear.

A puzzling expression in French is ce n’est pas demain la veille, which literally translates as ‘it is not tomorrow the day before’.

At first glance this makes no sense at all. However, it is used to suggest that whatever you are hoping for is not likely to occur any time soon, as we are not ‘on the eve’ of that event.

The equivalent would be ‘don’t hold your breath’ or ‘I wouldn’t count on it’ – a rather cynical but lighthearted reminder that you should not get your hopes up!