Texting

French texting abbreviations
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Textos / SMS

There are many varieties of French ranging from formal to slang, but perhaps one of the most elusive is French texting: the bewildering assortment of informal abbreviations, acronyms, and even symbols used in email, text messaging (SMS), social media, chatrooms, forums, and protest signs.

By its very nature, this vocabulary – if that’s the right word for it – is constantly evolving and growing, so it’s impossible to make a complete list. Here are some classic French texting words and phrases to help you communicate via text, followed by some helpful tips and pointers. If you think of any essential text abbreviations that I missed, please let me know!  🙂

French Meaning English
12C4 un de ces quatre one of these days
1posibl impossible impossible
1trec interessé interested
2 ri 1 de rien you’re welcome
2van devant in front of, facing
5pa sympa nice
6né ciné movie theater
     
A+
@+
À plus L8R, later
CUL8R, see you later
A12C4 À un de ces quatre See you one of these days
a2m1
@2m1
À demain CU2moro, see you tomorrow
AC2N assez de haine no more hate
ALP À la prochaine TTFN, ta ta for now
AMA À mon avis IMO, in my opinion
AMHA À mon humble avis IMHO, in my humble opinion
AP
APLS
À plus TTFN, ta ta for now
askip à ce qu’il paraît apparently
ASV Âge, Sexe, Ville ASL, age, sex, location
a tt à tout
tout de suite, à tout à l’heure
)
see you soon
auj aujourd’hui today
ayé ça y est that’s it, it worked, it’s done
     
b1 bien good
b1sur bien sûr of course
BAL boîte aux lettres mailbox
BAP bon après-midi have a nice afternoon
bcp beaucoup a lot
bi1to bientôt RSN, real soon
biz bises kisses
bjr Bonjour Hello
bsr Bonsoir Good evening
     
C C’est It is
C1Blag C’est une blague It’s a joke, Just kidding
CAD C’est-à-dire That is, i.e.,
cb1 C’est bien That’s good
cc coucou hi
C cho C’est chaud It’s hot
C’est It is
Ché Chez
Je sais
 
(assimilation)
At the home of
I know
Chu
Chui
Chuis
Je suis (assimilation) I am
C koi C’est quoi  
C mal1 C’est malin That’s clever, sneaky
com dab comme d’habitude as usual
C pa 5pa C’est pas sympa That’s not nice
CPG C’est pas grave INBD, it’s no big deal
ct
c tt
C’était
C’est tout
It was
That’s all
     
D100 Descends Get down
d’ac
dak
D’accord OK
DSL Désolé IMS, I’m sorry
DQP Dès que possible ASAP, as soon as possible
     
EDR Écroulé de rire LOL, laughing out loud
ENTK
EntouK
En tout cas IAC, in any case
é twa et toi ? and you?
exQzé excuser, excusez excuse
     
FAI Fournisseur d’accès internet ISP, internet service provider
FDS Fin de semaine WE, Wknd, weekend
fo (il) faut
faux
we have to
false, wrong
     
G J’ai I have
G1id2kdo J’ai une idée de cadeau I have a great idea
GHT J’ai acheté I bought
GHT2V1 J’ai acheté du vin I bought some wine
G la N J’ai la haine H8, hate
GspR b1 J’espère bien I hope so
Gt J’étais I was
     
HT acheter, acheté to buy, bought
     
id idée idea
ir hier yesterday
     
J’ai I have
Je c Je sais I know
Je le saV Je le savais I knew it
Jenémar J’en ai marre I’m sick of it
Je t’M Je t’aime ILUVU, I love you
Je vé
J’vé
Je vais I’m going
jms jamais NVR
jr jour day
jsg Je suis génial I’m (doing) great
jsp je sais pas IDK, dunno
jtm Je t’aime I love you
jvb Je vais bien I’m well
     
K29 Quoi de neuf ? What’s new?
K7 cassette cassette tape
kdo cadeau gift
Kan
Kand
Quand When
Ke Que that, what
Qu’est What is
Kel Quel, Quelle Which
Kelle Qu’elle That she
Keske Qu’est-ce que What
kestufou
Ksk t’fu
Qu’est-ce que tu fous ? What the hell are you doing?
Ki Qui Who
ki c qui c’est ? who is this?
Kil Qu’il That he
Koi Quoi What
Koi29 Quoi de neuf ? What’s new?
     
lakl laquelle which one
lekl lequel which one
Lckc Elle s’est cassée She left
L’s tomB Laisse tomber Forget it
Lu
Lut
Salut Hi
     
M Merci Thanks
mdr
mdrrr
mort de rire rofl, lol
loool
mais but
mr6 merci thx, thanks
msg message Msg, message
     
now maintenant ATM, at the moment
nn non no
nptk n’importe quoi whatever, nonsense
nrv énervé annoyed, nervous
ns nous we, us
nsp ne sais pas IDK, dunno
     
o au in the, at the
Ok1 Aucun None, not one
OKLM Au calme Calm down
OQP Occupé Busy
OSEF On s’en fout We don’t give a damn, Who cares
Oué Ouais Yeah
     
p2k pas de quoi URW, you’re welcome
parske parce que COZ, because
pb problème problem
pdr pété de rire ROFL, rolling on the floor laughing
LMAO, laughing my ass off
p-ê
pitit
peut-être maybe
PK parce que because
Pkoi pourquoi Y, why
Po
pas not
pq* pourquoi why
ptdr Pété de rire ROFL, rolling on the floor laughing
LMAO, laughing my ass off
     
q-c q
queske
Qu’est-ce que What
qch
qqch
quelque chose something
qd quand when
qdn Quoi de neuf ? What’s new?
qq Quelques Some
qqn Quelqu’un Someone
     
r29 Rien de neuf Nothing’s new
raf rien à faire nothing to do
ras rien à signaler nothing to report
rdv rendez-vous date, appointment
RE (Je suis de) retour, Rebonjour I’m back, Hi again
ri1 rien 0, nothing
     
sa va ?
sa va
Ça va ?
Ça va
How are you?
Fine
savapa Ça va pas ? Is something wrong?
slt salut hi
snif sniff (J’ai de la peine) I’m sad
ss (je) suis I am
stp/svp S’il te/vous plaît PLS, please
     
T T’es (Tu es) You are
tabitou T’habites où ? (Tu habites …) Where do you live?
tata KS T’as ta caisse ? (Tu as …) You have your car?
tds tout de suite right away
tfk tu fais quoi ? what ru doing?
tg ta gueule shut up
ti2 T’es hideux (Tu es …) You’re hideous.
tjs toujours always, still
tkc T’es cassé (Tu es …) You’re tired.
tkt T’inquiète DW, don’t worry
tle +bo T’es le plus beau (Tu es …) You’re the most handsome
TLM Tout le monde Everyone
T nrv ? T’es énervé ? (Tu es …) Are you irritated?
TOK T’es OK ? (Tu es …) RUOK? Are you OK?
TOQP T’es occupé ? (Tu es …) RUBZ? Are you busy?
T ou T’es où ? (Tu es …) Where ru?
tps temps time, weather
Tt
tt
T’étais (Tu étais)
tout

You were
all, every
     
V1 Viens Come
vazi vas-y go
vdm vie de merde crappy life
VrMan vraiment really
vrt vraiment really
vs vous you
     
WE week-end weekend
     
X crois, croit believe
XLnt Excellent XLNT, excellent
     
y a
ya
Il y a There is, there are

 * I don’t recommend using pq because before texting was ever a thing, pq already stood for papier cul (toilet paper). So I recommend sticking with pk instead.

French Texting Rules

The idea of texting is to use as few characters as possible. There are three basic techniques:

  1. Abbreviate, like ALP for À la prochaine
  2. Use letters and numbers that are pronounced like the desired sounds, like 12C4  for un de ces quatre
  3. Drop silent letters, especially at the end of a word, like pa for pas

Capitalization is pretty arbitrary; ALP and alp mean exactly the same thing.

Common patterns

    Replaces
1   un, en, in
2   de
C   c’est, sais, s’est, etc.
É   ai, aie, ais, etc.
G   j’ai
K   qu, ca
O   au, aux, eau, etc.
T   t’es, tes

  Conseil concis

If you just can’t figure it out, read the letters and numbers out loud.  🙂

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French SMS abbreviations

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1 Response

  1. sathyavelu palanivelu 28 December 2017 / 6:40

    awesome . your website is boon for every french learner .. I am running short of words to praise you ..merci mille fois

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