10 great moon expressions in French

 Don’t you just struggle to recall on demand those fun idiomatic expressions in French that would nicely colour our daily language?

We love metaphors and interesting ways of speaking.  

But recalling them on demand when we’re not using them every day can really chew up our confidence.

So I prepared a mini-lesson to help them stick in your mind where you will discover:

• 10 great moon expressions in French
• A simple explanation of what the black moon is
• How to learn idiomatic expressions we don’t use every day

How do you say “to do the impossible” in French? 

If you ever hear this expression, it means that you or someone else is doing the impossible:

• Parler chinois, c’est comme décrocher la lune ! >>> Speaking Chinese is like to do the impossible!

The regular French verb décrocher means to unhang and the word crochet means a hook. You would hear this verb a lot when somebody wins a medal: décrocher une médaille.

In this case, it refers to obtaining something.

Learn how to say “to ask the impossible” in French.

This is a fun expression to say whenever you feel like someone is asking you the impossible:

• Elle me demande de nettoyer la chambre. C’est demander la lune ! >>> She wants me to clean the bedroom. It is like asking the impossible!

This French expression when you are in the clouds.

You know when you are daydreaming, in your thoughts...in English, you are in the clouds but in French, you are in...the moon!

Let's see an example:

• Elle a du mal à se concentrer. Elle est dans la lune ! >>> She struggles to focus. She has her head in the clouds!

A fun French expression to promise something.

Either you or a person who is very romantic may promise something big like spending your whole life with someone, buying a house etc…

This is when you promise someone the Earth. In French, it becomes the moon like in this example:

• Quand on s’est marié, il m’a promis la lune ! >>> When we got married, he promised me the Earth!

A French moon expression to describe your mood.

The moon has different phases just like our mood. One day we can feel happy and on the other day sad. There’s exactly an expression to express our state of emotion:

• Aujourd’hui, elle est bien lunée et sourit beaucoup ! >>> Today, she’s in a good moon and smiles a lot! 

Here’s the opposite:

• Il est mal luné ce matin. Il s’est levé du pied gauche ! >>> He’s in a bad moon this morning. He got up on the wrong foot!

How do you translate “honeymoon” in French?

This one is super easy because it’s very similar to English. The expression “honeymoon” in French is a moon of honey: “lune de miel”.

• Nous sommes allés à Paris pour notre lune de miel >>> We went to Paris for our honeymoon. 

A moon phase in French.

Surely you are familiar with the various phases of the moon. There are 8 moon phases. But let’s see the main ones:

• La nouvelle lune >>> New moon
• Le premier croissant >>> Waxing crescent
• La pleine lune >>> Full moon
• Le dernier croissant >>> Waning crescent 

In a normal context, you could hear something like this:

• Demain c’est la pleine lune >>> Tomorrow it’s full moon.

A rare moon phase…

To continue with moon phases, there’s a phenomenon called the dark moon. It’s the last visible crescent of a waning moon. In French, we say “la lune noire”.

• Ce week-end on peut observer la lune noire. >>> This weekend we can observe the dark moon.

One of the most famous French nursery rhymes. 

Do you know any French nursery rhymes? The most famous ones are: “Frère Jacques”, “A la claire fontaine” and…”Au clair de la lune”.

The translation would be something like this: by moonlight.

Here are the first paragraphs in French:

“Au clair de la Lune

Mon ami Pierrot

Prête-moi ta plume

Pour écrire un mot

Ma chandelle est morte

Je n'ai plus de feu

Ouvre-moi ta porte

Pour l'amour de Dieu”

And the English translation:

In the light of the moon, Pierrot, my friend

Loan me your pen to write something down

My candle's dead, I've got no flame to light it

Open your door, for the love of God!

In the light of the moon, Pierrot replied

I don't have a pen, I'm in bed

Go to the neighbour's, I think she's there

Because someone just lit a match in the kitchen.

In the light of the moon, likeable Harlequin

Knocked on the brunette's door, and she responded immediately

Who's knocking like that? And he replied

Open your door, for the God of Love!

A French adjective coming from the moon.

To finish, let’s learn an adjective that comes directly from the word “moon”: lunatic in English. In French, it’s the same pronunciation but the spelling differs:

• Julien est très lunatique. Il peut changer d’humeur très facilement.>>> Julien is very lunatic. His mood can easily change.

Do you have to memorise everything?

Non, non, non…

Never try to learn everything at once or you’ll overload your brain. Pick your favourite ones. When you are capable of playing with them naturally, add more to your range of vocabulary.

Most importantly, be patient with yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is your French vocabulary!

I hope you had fun while discovering exciting French expressions with the moon. Use visuals, audio or other prompts so you can memorise these new expressions.

Do you still have questions? No problem! Contact me and let’s talk!