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French Expression
| Meaning | French, in the French fashion/manner/style | |
| Literally | in the French | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  | [ah lah fra(n) sehz] |
| IPA | [a la frã sɛz] | |
Usage notes: You know that the French equivalent of the adjective "French" is français, but did you know that it can also be à la française? The longer phrase doesn’t imply outright ownership the way français does, but rather serves as a sort of softened variation, a shortened alternative to à la façon, manière, or mode française.
Par exemple…
| Aimez-vous les films à la française ? | Do you like French movies? | |
| Un bel exemple de la démocratie à la française. | A nice example of French-style democracy. |
Note that façon, manière, and mode are all feminine and therefore française remains so even when they are dropped – regardless of what noun the phrase as a whole is modifying. Similarly, française is still an adjective modifying the omitted noun and is therefore always lower case.
Set expressions
| la fenêtre à la française | casement window | |
| le format à la française | portrait (photo, document) | ≠ format à l’italienne (landscape) |
| un habit à la française | suit with coat, vest, and breeches | (18th- and 19th century men’s fashion) |
| le jardin à la française | formal garden | ≠ jardin à l’anglaise (landscaped garden) |
| l’ouverture à la française | French overture | (Baroque music) |
| le pain à la française | French bread | |
| le parc à la française | formal garden | ≠ parc à l’anglaise (landscaped garden) |
| le plafond à la française | French ceiling | (exposed beams) |
| la reliure à la française | hardcover binding | |
| la robe à la française | sack-back gown | (18th-century women’s fashion) |
| le service à la française servir à la française | simultaneous serving of dishes to serve at the same time | ≠ service à la russe (sequential service) |
| le vin à la française | sweet wine served in a bowl |
À la française in action
Examples of à la française in real-life videos from Lawless French Immersion:
| Dehors il peuvent admirer les jardins à la française | Outside they can admire the French-style gardens | |
| Video: What’s the Palace of Versailles? | ||
| Station F veut incarner le dynamisme de l’innovation à la française. | Station F wants to embody the dynamism of French-style innovation. | |
| Video: Station F: the world’s largest startup campus opens in Paris | ||
Related expressions
You can follow the same format with other adjectives that describe people, culture, or places (city, region, country, continent):
- à l’africaine – African-style
- à l’américaine – American-style
- à l’anglaise – English-style
- à l’anglo-saxonne – British/American/Canadian/Australian-style
- à la bretonne – Brittany-style
- à la caraïbe – Caribbean-style
- à l’espagnole – Spanish-style
- à l’européenne – European-style
- à la japonaise – Japanese-style
- à la parisienne – Parisian-style
- à la provençale – Provençal-style
- à la russe – Russian-style
etc.
Related lessons
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