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Essential French Expression
| Meaning | of course | |
| Literally | very sure | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  | [byeh(n) sur] |
| IPA | [bjɛ̃ syʀ] | |
Usage notes: When you want to say "of course," the French expression you usually need is bien sûr. It’s most commonly used in response to a question or statement.
Par exemple…
| – Tu aimes ton nouveau petit frère ? – Bien sûr ! | – Do you love your new baby brother? – Of course! | |
| – Patientez, s’il vous plaît. – Bien sûr. | – Please wait. – Of course. |
In addition, bien sûr can be used to join two clauses or ideas:
Par exemple…
| Je cherche un architecte ; il doit bien sûr pouvoir commencer cette semaine. | I’m looking for an architect; of course, he’ll have to be able to start this week. | |
| Viens dîner chez nous ce soir, tu peux bien sûr amener ton copain. | Come have dinner at our house tonight; and of course you can bring your boyfriend. |
Bien sûr can also be used ironically:
Par exemple…
| Je m’étais enfermé dehors, et bien sûr la pile de mon portable était à plat. | I’d locked myself out, and of course my cellphone battery was dead. | |
| Le film commence dans cinq minutes, et Thomas n’est pas encore là, bien sûr. | The movie starts in five minutes, and of course Thomas isn’t even here yet. |
Bien sûr can be emphasized with que oui, or negated with que non.
Par exemple…
| – Tu aimes la vue ? – Bien sûr que oui. | – Do you like the view? – I certainly do. | |
| – Ne veux-tu pas sortir ? – Bien sûr que non. | – Don’t you want to go out? – Of course not. |
Bien sûr can also be used with que in front of a subordinate clause:
Par exemple…
| Bien sûr que tu viens avec nous. | Of course you’re coming with us. | |
| Bien sûr qu’il a réussi à l’examen. | Of course he passed the test. |
Bien sûr in action
Examples of bien sûr in real-life videos from Lawless French Immersion:
| Alors ça j’aimais bien, bien sûr, faire apparaître des nouveaux mots. | I liked that, of course, revealing new words. | |
| Video: Rapper MC Solaar talks about his relationship with words | ||
| Je crois qu’il faut affranchir l’homme de la bêtise, de la stupidité, et de l’ignorance bien sûr. | I think we have to free mankind from foolishness, stupidity and ignorance of course. | |
| Video: Aimé Césaire, thinker of “blackness” | ||
| Mais bien sûr, bien sûr ! | But of course, of course! | |
| Video: If the President were a YouTuber | ||
| Non, bien sûr, non. | No, of course not. | |
| Video: French cinema archives: Romain Duris’ first audition | ||
Synonyms
- assurément – assuredly, most certainly
- bien entendu – of course, certainly
- certainement – certainly
- certes – certainly, admittedly, of course
- en effet – indeed
- évidemment – obviously
- forcément – necessarily, inevitably
- naturellement – naturally, of course
- sûrement – surely
Related lessons
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