Lever le masque

Revealing French Expression


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Meaning	to unmask; to reveal one’s true colors, tell the truth
Literally	to lift the mask
Register	normal
Pronunciation		[leu vay leu mahsk]
IPA		[lə ve lə mask]

Usage notes: The French expression lever le masque (and its many variations*) is used figuratively, to refer to the dropping of a persona or secret identity that a person "wears" to hide their true self or bad intentions.

Par exemple …

Il a enfin levé le masque.		He finally revealed his true colors.
Appelle-moi quand tu seras prêt de lever le masque.		Call me when you’re ready to unmask yourself (to let me see who you really are).

When talking about physically removing a literal mask, such as after a costume party, enlever is used instead.

Par exemple …

J’ai hâte de enlever mon masque.		I can’t wait to take off my mask.
Enlève ton masque, je veux te donner un bisou.		Take off your mask, I want to give you a kiss.

* Variations

Many different verbs can be used in place of lever (click for conjugations):

arracher le masque
déposer le masque
enlever le masque
faire tomber le masque
jeter le masque
ôter le masque
poser le masque
quitter le masque
retirer le masque
tomber le masque

You can also replace the definite article le with the indefinite article un or a possessive adjective, depending on whether you want to say the, a, or my / your / his ….