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You are in the right place to find out all the things you want to know about the basic proverb “Les chiens ne font pas des chats”.
It includes a full definition of what it mean and how to use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. Along with the cool informations we added like literal meaning, slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!
If you want, more of these proverbs are available on this page plus the ultimate list of all our French words guides on this page. Wishing you a good learning!
Slow pronunciation
Normal pronunciation
Even though we can be very different, we all tend to have few similar features with our parents. These genetic common traits can be physical, about character or even about tastes and likes.
That’s why two teachers are more likely to have a child who becomes a teacher than non-teachers couples. And why (obviously) dogs are not making cats.
This proverb is a dangerous weapon that can save you as much as it can hurt you, here is how to use it:
For children: if your parents are mad at you about something you do and they actually do the same thing, remind them “Les chiens ne font pas des chats“.
I mean, this is not your fault after all. They started first and transmitted it to you, right? (*wink*)
But be careful, parents can also use it against you…
For parents: if you are proud of a certain quality of your child, use this proverb to brag about it. If they have this quality, it’s 100% because you are so good that you ended up transmitting it to them. (*wink again*)
Ideally, keep this trick in case your child is using the technique above against you.