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We are going to teach you all the things you ever wanted to know about the funny French idiom “J’ai la patate”.
Are included a complete guide of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. Along with the cool informations we sprinkled like dialogue example, synonyms, slow pronunciation audio and more!
Oh and before I forget, you can also find more idioms guides like this one on this page plus the ultimate list of all our French words pages on this page. Ready to learn? Let’s go!
Slow pronunciation
Normal pronunciation
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 audio
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