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Discover the French idiom "Ferme-la"

We are going to teach you all the things you need to know about the funny expression "Ferme-la". To be more specific, this includes a full definition of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. Plus, we also added super useful stuff like dialogue example, synonym, slow pronunciation audio and more!


English translation

  • Translation : Shut up

  • Literal meaning : Close it

  • Register : Informal - Funny - Swear

Pronunciation guide

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / fɛʁməla /

aesthetic french quote ferme la

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What does ferme-la mean?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

How to use it

There are many ways to say "Shut up" in French and even if it's never a pleasant thing to say, some ways are (much) more harsh than others.

You can find all the possibilities in the section "Synonyms" below, but basically if you want to say it "Politely" you can say: "Arrête de parler" or "Chut" or "Silence".

To say it "Vulgarly" use instead: "La ferme" or “Ferme-la” or "Ta gueule" or "Ferme ta gueule"

But... What about "Tais-toi"? Well, it's right between these two groups: neither super polite, nor very vulgar. That's why it's better to use it with people you are comfortable with and definitely not in a work environment.

Synonyms / Related

↓ Example in a story with French audio ↓

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

Chasse nocturne

Night hunting

Rémi se réveille au milieu de la nuit à cause de son chien qui aboie...
Rémi wakes up in the middle of the night because of his barking dog...
RémiPutain ! C'est quoi ça ?!
Fuck! What is that?!
Rémi était très énervé...
Rémi was very upset...
RémiOh
ferme-laLiterally: Close it
! Il est trois heures du matin !
Oh shut up! It's three in the morning!
Rémi se dirige vers son chien.
Rémi heads towards his dog.
RémiPourquoi tu fais autant de bruit ? Qu'est-ce que tu as vu ?
Why are you making so much noise? What did you see?
Et tout d'un coup, Rémi voit un perroquet voler devant lui... et son chien recommence à aboyer...
And all of a sudden, Rémi sees a parrot flying in front of him... and his dog starts barking again...
RémiWow ! Qu'est-ce que tu fais là toi ?
Wow! What are you doing here?

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