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French Expression
| Meaning | (just) in case | |
| Literally | in the case where | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[oh kah oo] (forbidden liaison) |
| IPA | [o ka u] | |
Usage notes: Au cas où is one of those ubiquitous French expressions you need to learn "just in case." (See what I did there?) The normal way to use it is in front of a clause with a verb in the conditional.
Par exemple…
| J’apporte un parapluie, au cas où il pleuvrait. | I’m bringing an umbrella in case it rains. | |
| Au cas où tu dépenserais tout ton argent, je te donne ma carte de crédit. | In case you spend all of your money, I’m giving you my credit card. |
Variation: juste au cas où
Synonyms
- dans le cas où
- des fois que
- pour le cas où
Informally, au cas où is added to the end of a sentence as a sort of filler when the reason doesn’t need to be stated explicitly.
Par exemple…
| J’apporte un parapluie, au cas où. | I’m bringing an umbrella, just in case. | |
| Je te donne ma carte de crédit au cas où. | I’m giving you my credit card, just in case. |
Synonym
- à tout hasard
Related lessons
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Learn how to translate French infinitives, imperatives, and participles into English.
Is your French as rusty as an old can? Did you live in France years ago or study it in high school—and promptly forget everything upon leaving? The fact is that language ability fades with lack of practice. If you used to know French but haven’t spoken it in years or decades, the bad news is that it probably won’t come rushing back all at once. But the good news is that you can relearn it much more quickly than if you were starting out without that previous knowledge.