Ready to learn everything you need to know about the funny expression "J'ai la patate"? To be more specific, this includes a detailed guide of what it is and how you can use it in everyday life with an audio example. But, we also added super useful stuff like dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio, synonyms and more!
Translation : I'm full of energy
Literal meaning : I have the potato
Register : Informal - Funny
Slow
Normal
IPA : / ʒe la patat /
With its round shape, the potato was said to look like a head during the 20th century. So saying "Avoir la patate" implies "Avoir une bonne patate" (To have a good potato) → To look good/full of energy.N.B. "patate" is actually the informal way to say "potato" in French. The formal way is "Pomme de terre" which literally means: "Apple of the mud"
Whenever someone asks you how you feel and you feel super good, you can use: "J'ai la patate !" (I feel great!).
A more conversation friendly way would be "Aujourd'hui, j'ai la patate ! Et toi ?" (Today I feel great! And you?).
And don't forget that this is a familiar expression, not fitted to most work environments. In this case you should use instead: "Je suis en pleine forme" (I feel great).
You don't like potatoes? No worries, you can replace it by "J'ai la pêche" (I have the peach) or even by "J'ai la frite" (I have the French fry).
You can also use "J'ai la banane" (I have the banana) but in this case the meaning is slightly different.
In fact, the "banana version" is more about being smiling (because bananas are smile-shaped) than being full of energy. Even though most of the time these things are linked...
Dialogue
Tu as l'air en pleine forme !
You seem to be in great shape!
Merci ! J'ai la patate !
Thanks! I have the potato!*
Super !
Great!
Learn French with Audio Stories
Learn French the easy way with our French - English
parallel texts with slow French audio
Start Learning 
