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Gassy French Expression
| Meaning | to fill up the tank | |
| Literally | to do the full | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[fehr leu pleh(n)] |
| IPA | [fɛʀ lə plɛ̃] | |
Usage notes: If you ever drive or go boating in France, faire le plein is a useful expression: it means "to fill up the tank," which is always a good idea when traveling.
Par exemple…
| Bonjour, Monsieur. Faites le plein de gazole, s’il vous plaît. | Hello, sir. Fill it up with diesel, please. | |
| J’ai fait le plein deux fois cette semaine. | I’ve filled the tank twice this week. |
It’s also used for other liquids:
- faire le plein d’eau – to fill / top up the water
- faire le plein d’huile – to top up the oil
By extension, faire le plein can be used with other nouns to mean "to be full of, get a good dose of, stock up on."
Par exemple…
| La réunion, samedi, a fait le plein de public. | The meeting on Saturday was full of people. | |
| Je vais à la plage, je veux faire le plein de soleil. | I’m going to the beach, I want to get a good dose of sun. |
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