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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 pleurait. | 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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The example “J’apporte un pull, au cas où” given above, should it not be ” J’emporte un pull?” The sweater is inanimate and it is staying with me.
Merci
Technically yes, you’re right. But in reality, the French tend to use amener in place of apporter, emmener, and emporter.