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Everything about the French sentence "Calme toi"

Get prepared to learn everything you have to know about the basic sentence "Calme toi". Including a complete explanation of what it is and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. Along with the useful stuff we sprinkled like dialogue example, synonym, slow pronunciation audio and more!


French to English translation

  • Translation : Calm down

  • Register : Informal - Basic

How to pronounce it

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / kalmə twa /

aesthetic french quote calme toi

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What does calme toi mean?

Definition

It literally means:

In the context it means "Calm down" and can also be translated as "Chill" or "Relax".

People use it to recommend someone to chill and depending on the tone used, it could be more or less bossy.

How to use it

Scenario 1: someone is very stressed about something and you want to help this person to relax, you might say: "Calme toi tout ira bien." (Calm down, it will be alright.)

Scenario 2: you are involved in an argument and want to order the other person to relax immediately, you might say: "Calme toi tout de suite !" (Calm down right now!)

Plot twist: the person is more likely to be even more angry in the second scenario... that's why it's important to dose the tone carefully and pay attention to context. Or a gentle piece of advice can end up putting you in trouble, unless that's precisely what you want...

It's also interesting to note that, because this is an imperative sentence, it works only with the pronoun "toi". You can't say "Calme-elle" or "Calme-ils" etc. Because you can't give a direct order to someone you are not directly talking to.

Fun facts

There are also a few very vulgar ways to say it like: "Pètes un coup" (Farts once) or "Détends-toi le string" (Loosen your thong/G-string).

But it's very familiar and not "workplace friendly"!

Synonyms / Related

↓ Example in a story with translation ↓

Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.

L'accident de voiture

The car accident

Emily appelle Philippe, en larmes.
Emily calls Philippe, in tears.
Sa voix était hystérique.
Her voice was hysterical.
Philippe ne comprenait rien de ce qu'elle disait...
Philippe did not understand what she was saying...
PhilippeEmily, tu peux m'expliquer clairement ce qu'il se passe, s'il te plaît ?
Emily, can you explain clearly what's going on, please?
Et elle recommence à parler de façon incohérente...
And she starts to speak incoherently again...
PhilippeEmily, calme toi et parle lentement...
Emily, calm down and speak slowly...
Emily respire et dit :
Emily breathes and says:
EmilyJ'ai eu un accident de voiture...
I had a car accident...
Philippe était terrifié !
Philippe was terrified!

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