An overview of the FRENCH word SALIR - to dirty

Learning a word in isolation can be quite challenging when you want instant recall for it in a real conversation. It happens all the time - you learn a list of new vocabulary you want to use, but it just won’t pop out when you most want it. 

That’s because the way you learnt it is not effective. 

There are tons of ways to learn new words and here I offer a way to look at a word by exploring it with associated words. 

It’s a good way to learn because higher-level thinking occurs when you apply knowledge and get creative, rather than just learn a flat list of words. 

Our brains want to be told it’s essential, and to remember the word it needs some work on it in various ways. 

I invite you to use the style of making a word family with a word in my video so that the processing of a word family can give more depth to your learning and facilitate that sought-after instant recall. 

In this mini-lesson, you’ll discover:

• How to pronounce and use the French words DIRT, DIRTY, DIRTILY, TO DIRTY and TO GET DIRTY 
• Great examples in this word family to help you learn
• Idiomatic expressions in French related to DIRT

The French word for dirty and its family.

Let me introduce you to the word “sale” in French and not the English word “sale”! Ignore the last letter and you have “saaaaal” meaning dirty.

Here are the 5 words deriving from it:

•  the noun: la saleté >>> dirt
•  the reflexive verb: se salir >>> to get dirty

•   the verb: salir >>> to dirty

•  the adjective: sale >>> dirty
•  the adverb: salement >>> dirtily

In the following sections, you will discover how to play with each option.

How do you use the French adjective dirty?

Not sure how to say dirty in French? You will see it with examples. The direct translation of dirty is sale. Since it’s an adjective, you should pay attention to the gender and number. Indeed, add an “e” for the feminine and an “s” for the plural.

Here are real examples for you:

• Mon chien est sale >>> My dog is dirty.
• Ta robe est sale >>> Your dress is dirty.
• Tu as les mains sales >>> Your hands are dirty.

How do you say dirt in French?

Now, let’s have a look at the noun. Dirt in French is saleté. It’s feminine and you ignore the “e” in the middle. It’s more like “salté”. 

This is what you would say:

J’ai dû nettoyer la voiture pendant des heures pour enlever toute la saleté accumulée. >>>I had to clean the car for hours to get rid of all the accumulated dirt.

An explanation of how to use the French reflexive verb “se salir”.

Time to deal with the 2 verbs. The first one is reflexive. In other words, the action is on yourself.

Here’s how to conjugate it:

• Je me salis >>> I get myself dirty
 
• Tu te salis >>> you get yourself dirty
• Il / elle se salit >>> s/he get her/himself dirty 
• Nous nous salissons >>> we get ourselves dirty 
• Vous vous salissez >>> you get yourself dirty
• Ils / elles se salissent >>> they get themselves dirty 

In context, you would see this: 

• Il s’est sali les vêtements en travaillant sur la voiture >>> He got his clothes dirty while working on the car.

Note that as a passé composé with a reflexive verb, you should have an agreement (feminine or plural). But here, we take into account the object “vêtements” and no agreement is required. Bottom line: it’s easier!  

I have 3 other mini-lessons about reflexive verbs for you:

Douter and se douter are completely different  

Réaliser or se rendre compte: what’s the difference?

Se débrouiller or s’en sortir? What do they mean?

How do you conjugate the French verb “salir”?

This time, the action is not on yourself but on someone or something else. The conjugation gets easier like this:

• Je salis >>> I dirty
• Tu salis >>> you dirty
• Il / elle salit >>> s/he dirties

• Nous salissons >>> we dirty
• Vous salissez >>> you dirty
• Ils / elles salissent >>> they dirty

And I have this example for you:

• Il a sali la nappe quand il a servi le vin >>> He dirtied the tablecloth when he was pouring the wine.

What does “salement” mean in French?

To finish, you will see how the adverb works. As a reminder, an adverb gives information about the action or the verb. Therefore, salement is the French translation of dirtily.

So, you would say this: 

• Il s’est comporté salement envers son collègue >>> He treated his colleague badly.

Usually, salement refers to a bad way of doing things or not doing things in a clean way.

6 French expressions with the word “

You should be able to use the noun, the verbs, the adjective, and the adverb. Let’s get things more exciting and discover 6 expressions.

The following expression describes a monkey business, something illegal or morally wrong:

• avoir les mains sales >>> to have dirt on your hands.

This French expression is pretty similar to the English one:

• Laver son linge sale en public >>> to hang out your dirty washing in public.

In case you have never heard of this expression, it means when you talk about your problems in front of everybody.

This expression is pretty common in French when you describe someone with a strong personality: 

• avoir un sale caractère >>> to have a dirty character.

If you are moody all the time, you have un sale caractère!

Here’s a fun expression for you:

• un coup de balai ne fait pas de mal >>> a little sweep up won’t harm.

 If a place isn’t clean and needs some tidying, this expression is ideal.

This one is similar to having un sale caractère. However, this time refers to your appearance. Apply it if someone is wearing dirty clothes or lacking of hygiene:

• être sale comme un cochon >>> to be dirty as a pig.

Imagine you are dealing with a hard time and you have the courage to move on.  

The following expression depicts you:

• sale temps pour les braves >>> a dirty time for brave people.

My last observation for you is to remind you of the importance of accents. With the word sale, meaning dirty, if you put the accent, you have a completely different word: salé translated as salty!

Here’s an illustration:

• Ce repas est trop salé ! >>> This meal is too salty!

Hopefully, you can navigate between sale, saleté, se salir, salir, salement, the 6 expressions with them and the word with the accent salé.

It shouldn’t be a mystery for you…

Reading this mini-lesson is fantastic. But applying your knowledge is what matters!

If you still have some questions and doubts, I would be delighted to clear up things for you. So, contact me!