Faire le plein

Faire le plein d'essence
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Gassy French Expression

Meaning to fill up the tank
Literally to do the full
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Pronunciation French sound files [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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Faire le plein

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