10 French expressions to say you’ve had enough!

Well, we all get to the point where we’ve had enough of something. So let’s develop 10 ways of expressing this in French, both formally and less formally. 

You want to know how to say them and in which context? In this mini-lesson, you will learn:

• 10 ways to say you’re fed up
• Polite ways
• Familiar ways

But what are these expressions to show you’ve had enough?

Here they are:

• Je suis fatigué(e) de

• Je suis las (se) de

• Ça y est!

• Ça suffit!

• Je n’en peux plus.

• J’en ai assez de

• J’en ai marre de

• Assez de

• Marre de

• Basta!

In the following sections, we will be focusing on each one of them.

How to you say “tired of” in French.

Do you know how to say “tired”? Oui? Then you know it’s “fatigué(e)”. Simply add the preposition “de” and you have the expression “tired of” in French.

You can find the difference between these 2 in this detailed post:

Tired and tired of something in French

For our mini-lesson today, I have just an example for you:

• Je suis fatigué de toutes ces réunions >>> I’m tired of all these meetings.

The formal way of “tired of” in French.

Let’s have a look at the formal version of  “fatigué(e) de”. It works exactly the same: “las(se) de”. Concerning the pronunciation, ignore the “s” for the masculine, and be sure to say it for the feminine!

You’ll see or hear something like this:

• Je suis lasse de chasser ces chats >>> I’m tired of chasing all these cats.

How to express your limit in French.

Now, let’s talk about an idiomatic phrase. In other words, if you translate word for word, it wouldn’t mean anything…

And this expression is “ça y est!”. We usually say it when something is finished or when you’ve managed to do something after waiting, after effort… In a way, you’ve had enough but now, finally, you can carry on.

Here’s an example of it:

• Ok. Ça y est, j’ai fini. >>> Ok. That’s it, I’m done.  

You can other untranslatable expressions in these articles:

“My bad!” in French - 3 Ways to translate it!  

‘No biggie’ in French - 7 different ways for you to say it! 

The expression “that’s enough” in French.

Too much noise? Too much food? Too many people? Too much work? When it’s too much for you and need to express your resentment, say: “ça suffit !” Never say the final letter. This impersonal expression means “It’s enough”. 

This is how you do it:

• Ça suffit! On s’arrête là.  >>> That’s enough. We’ll stop there.

By the way, impersonal verbs are verbs where there’s no subject. In English, there’s a pronoun for this: “it”. In French, it can be confusing because we have the same pronoun “il” for he and it.

Think about the weather forecast:

• Il pleut >>> It’s raining
• Il fait beau. >>> It’s a nice weather

Another alternative for impersonal verbs is the word “ça” which corresponds to the formal “cela” (it).

• Ça marche >>> It’s working. It works.
• Ça fait mal >>> It hurts.

• Ça fait longtemps >>> It’s been a while.

• Ça va bien >>> I’m good.

Learn how to express your despair in French.

Imagine you are on the verge of exhaustion and you want to say it in French.

What can you say? There’s a great expression: “Je n’en peux plus”. Don’t even try to translate literally. It means “I can’t stand it anymore”.

Let’s see it with an example:

• Encore une nuit blanche. Je n’en peux plus. >>> Another sleepless night. I can’t take it any more. 

This structure requires the verb pouvoir (can). If you happen to have forgotten this irregular verb, here’s its conjugation:

• Je peux >>> I can
• Tu peux >>> You can
• Il / elle peut >>> S/he can 

• Nous pouvons >>> We can
• Vous pouvez >>> You can
• Ils / elles peuvent >>> They can 

Simply change the subject and conjugate it properly. The rest is the same…

When you can’t stand it anymore… in French.

Another similar structure with the pronoun “en”. It’s close to the English expression “to have enough” because “assez” means enough in French.

A complete sentence with it would be:

• J’en ai assez. >>> I’ve had enough. 

In case you stick only to “assez de” followed by a noun, you highlight the object of your irritation.

Here are some examples:

• Assez de ces idées folles. >>> Enough of these crazy ideas. 
• Assez de cette grève. >>> Enough of this strike.
• Assez de ton mauvais comportement. >>> Enough of your bad behaviour.  

How do you say “sick of” in French?

At a certain stage, you are not afraid any more and clearly speak your mind. You are literally sick of something but you pick the familiar version like Alizée’s song: “J’en ai marre” .

If you have already mentioned what makes you sick, just use the pronoun “en” like this:

• J’en ai marre. >>> I’m sick of it.

On the contrary, if you wish to elaborate and introduce the object of your sickness, add the preposition “de” and the noun like the following: 

• J’en ai marre de ses problèmes.  >>> I’m sick of his/her problems.
• J’en ai marre de son colloc. >>> I’m sick of his/her roomy.

As you saw in the previous section, you also can have the word “marre de” with the noun with questions like these:

• Marre de ce vacarme? >>> Sick of this racket?
• Marre de cette chaleur? >>> Sick of this heat?

One French word to put an end to something.

Let’s finish with one quick effective word “basta”. Actually, it’s not French but…Italian! It’s the equivalent of “enough”.

If you want to play with, here’s an idea:

• Je veux qu’il s’arrête. Basta de tout ce baratin. >>> I want him to stop. Enough of all this blablabla. 

In conclusion, you have seen 10 solutions to express your annoyance, irritation…You can do it with full sentences, some idiomatic expressions, and just one word.

Let’s review them:

• Je suis fatigué(e) de >>> I’m tired of…

• Je suis las (se) de >>> I’m tired of…

• Ça y est! >>> That’s it

• Ça suffit! >>> That’s enough

• Je n’en peux plus. >>> I can’t take it any more

• J’en ai assez de >>> I’ve had enough

• J’en ai marre de >>> I’m sick of… (familiar)

• Assez de >>> Enough of…

• Marre de >>> Sick of…
• Basta! >>> Enough of…

Ça y est ! You know all about it. Choose the ones that reflect your personality, the ones you remember the most, and play with them. Whenever you feel any frustration, take it as an opportunity to practice your French and express it in this language! 

Please don’t keep any doubts or questions about this topic and contact me so I can explain it in a way you understand better.