Get ready to learn all the things you want to know about the basic French saying "L'herbe est toujours plus verte chez le voisin". To be clear, this includes a full explanation of what it mean and how you can use it in a dialogue with an audio example. Together with the cool stuff we sprinkled like slow pronunciation audio, synonym, dialogue example and more!
Translation : What we don't have is always more appealing than what we have
Literal meaning : The neighbour's grass is always greener
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IPA : / lɛʁb‿ ɛ tuʒuʁ ply vɛʁtə ʃe lə vwazɛ̃ /
The literal meaning is:
This expression means that appearances can be misleading and that we should be happy with what we have.
The allusion to the greenness of the grass is a sign of abundance and prosperity. Also, the adverb "always" is used ironically to insist on the fact that things are never as we imagine them.The origin of this expression remains blurry and seems born from a deceptive optical effect, giving the grass a perfect shine when observed from a distance. But seen up close, not so much.
Use this expression when someone imagines that the situation in another place (often undetermined) is better than the one he/she is living in right now.
It's very similar to the English expression "The grass is always greener on the other side"
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