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B2 · Grammaire11 / 12
Les registres de langue
familier, courant, soutenu — knowing which to use when
What you’ll learn
French has three main registers: familier (informal, spoken), courant (standard, neutral), and soutenu (formal, literary). At B2, you need to recognize all three, switch between them appropriately, and understand that choosing the wrong register can be as jarring as a grammar mistake.
Explanation
The three registers in practice
The same idea expressed in all three registers:
| Familier | Courant | Soutenu |
|---|---|---|
| bouffe | nourriture | mets |
| boulot | travail | labeur |
| flic | policier | agent de l'ordre |
| bouquin | livre | ouvrage |
| nana | femme / fille | jeune femme / demoiselle |
| piquer | voler | dérober / subtiliser |
| Il a pas compris. | Il n'a pas compris. | Il n'a point compris. |
Familier drops 'ne' in negation, uses on instead of nous, contracts heavily (j'sais pas, t'as vu). Soutenu uses passé simple, inversion, and literary vocabulary.
Practice · 4 exercises
1
Associe les éléments :
bouquin (fam.)→ ?
boulot (fam.)→ ?
flic (fam.)→ ?
bouffer (fam.)→ ?
2
Which register is 'Il n'a point compris' ?
3
Register courant for 'J'ai pas de thunes' : Je n'ai pas ___.
4
In which situation would you use registre soutenu?