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Formal French Expression
Meaning | of course, obviously | |
Literally | well understood | |
Register | formal | |
Pronunciation | [by(eh) na(n) ta(n) du] | |
IPA | [bjɛ̃ nɑ̃ tɑ̃ dy] |
Usage notes: During a formal conversation, it’s common to ask questions to which the expected answer is "of course." The polite way to answer these is with the expression bien entendu.
Par exemple…
– Pourriez-vous m’aider ? – Bien entendu, Madame. |
– Could you help me? – Of course, Ma’am. |
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– Avez-vous fini le travail ? – Bien entendu ! |
– Did you finish the work? – Of course! |
In reference to something obvious or expected, you can use bien entendu within a sentence:
Par exemple…
Il est, bien entendu, nécessaire d’engager un avocat. | Obviously, we need to need to hire a lawyer. | |
Après l’assemblée générale des actionnaires, bien entendu. | After the shareholders’ general meeting, of course. | |
Bien entendu, elle a dû démissionner. | She had to resign, of course. |
When it means "agreed, understood," bien entendu can be cut down to simply entendu:
Par exemple…
– C’est fini, on n’en parlera plus. – Entendu. |
– It’s over, we won’t talk about it again. – Agreed. |
|
C’est tout ce que j’ai à dire sur ce sujet, entendu ? | That’s all I have to say about this, understood? |
Il est bien entendu que … means “of course it must be understood / it is understood that …”
Par exemple…
Il est bien entendu que ceci reste strictement entre nous. | Of course it’s understood (you understand) that this is strictly between us. | |
Il est bien entendu que ce projet est confidentiel. | It must be understood that this project is confidential. |
Par exemple…
Tu m’as bien entendu ! | You heard me! | |
Je ne me suis jamais bien entendu avec mon cousin Philippe. | I never got along well with my cousin Philippe. |
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