Curiosities of the French language: The jolly month of mai

The month of May is easy for English speakers to pronounce, but can you think of other words that sound the same?

The most obvious is mais, meaning ‘but’ and its meaning is nearly always clear from the context. 

Frequently heard just after you hope someone is going to agree with you (oui, mais..), it also appears in French at the start of a phrase in a way that you might not expect. 

Read more: Curiosities of the French language: How to say Happy New Year?

An exasperated parent asking ‘what on earth are you doing?’ often starts with a ‘but’: “Mais tu fais quoi, là?”

Next is mes, the plural version of ‘my’ that you probably learned early on. 

If you have one dog, you talk about mon chien, but if you have two or more, it becomes mes chiens, which is not complicated and at least there is no fuss about masculine and feminine.

Now, mets is a little more complex as it splits into two. The one we hear most often comes from the verb mettre (to place, to put or to put on), as with the instruction mets la table (set the table) or the delightful il met son grain de sel (he’s sticking his nose in). 

One you hear less often is the noun, un mets, referring to a dish. It is similar to un plat. A meal consisting of various dishes would be un repas composé de plusieurs mets. If you have not seen that word before, it can certainly be perplexing!

To round this all off, mémé means ‘nan’ or ‘granny’ in French, so if your granny is hurrying you to get ready and go out, and you want to say, “But Gran, I’m just putting on my shoes!” then you can legitimately call: “Mais Mémé, je mets mes chaussures!”