Get prepared to find out all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic French sentence "Bon courage". Including a detailed definition of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. But wait, we also added some useful things like slow pronunciation audio, synonym, dialogue example and more!
Translation : Hang in there
Register : Neutral - Basic
Slow
Normal
IPA : / bɔ̃ kuʁaʒ /
The closest meaning in English is "Hang in there" or "You can do it" or "Be strong". But we often see it translated as "Good luck" which is making people confusing it with "Bonne chance" (The actual way to say "Good luck" in French).
They are similar, but yet quite different: "Bon courage" is something you say to offer support before (or during) a test, an exam or any laborious task. It means that the success of this task depends on how hard the person is working and not giving up.
While "Bonne chance" (Good luck) is something you wish to someone when luck is involved or when the success of the task relies on external factors. In short: when it doesn't depend on work/courage, or just partially.
Let's see some examples on how to use both of them!
A friend of yours is having an important exam next week, then you wish her "Bon courage !". Because her success depends on how hard she will work during the days to come and how much she will do her best during the exam.
The next week, your friend tells you she failed the exam, quit studying and then decided to play the lottery. This time, you wish her "Bonne chance !" because her success depends purely on luck and has nothing to do with courage/work.
↓ Example in a story with French audio ↓
Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.
Compter en français
Count in French
10%
The story just started!
Get full access to 365 texts and quizzes, including this one.
Discover more Already a member? Full story and quiz here.
MANUAL
Mode
SHOW
Translation
