Proper French Expression
 |
|
| Share / Tweet / Pin Me! | |
| Meaning | properly, correctly, respectably | |
| Literally | as it must | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[kuh meel foh] |
| IPA | [kɔ mil fo] | |
Usage notes: When etiquette counts, you can request respectability with the French expression comme il faut. The impersonal verb falloir means "to be necessary," so comme il faut means “as (it) is necessary” or, more idiomatically, “correctly, respectably.”
Par exemple…
| Conduis-toi comme il faut. | Behave, Be on your best behavior. | |
| Personne ne s’habille plus comme il faut. | No one dresses respectably any more. | |
| C’est chez eux que les enfants apprennent à se comporter comme il faut. | Kids learn to behave (properly) at home. | |
| Je n’ai jamais appris à écrire comme il faut. | I never learned to write correctly. |
Synonyms
- bien
- convenablement
- correctement
Comme il faut can be used as an adjectival phrase.
Par exemple…
| des écoliers très comme il faut | very well-behaved students |
Synonyms
- bien éduqué
- sage
Comme il faut can also mean “as it should” or “like it’s supposed to”:
Par exemple…
| Toutes les machines fonctionnent comme il faut. | All of the machines are working normally. |
Synonyms
- comme prévu
- normalement
En anglais
Comme il faut is used in English with a somewhat pretentious nuance that doesn’t necessarily exist in French.
It’s not comme il faut for guests to wear white to a wedding.
Related lessons
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
Magnetic poetry is a fun little tool you can use to learn and practice French. 500 magnets with words and parts of words help you to express yourself in a unique and creative way.
There’s no secret recipe for fluency; indeed, it’s difficult to even find consensus on what “fluency” actually means. Is it the ability to have a conversation, or language proficiency equivalent to that of a native speaker?