Learn French
with Audio Stories

Try for Free

HOME > FRENCH PHRASES

Discover the French sentence "Quel dommage"

On this page, we are going to explain you everything you ever wanted to know about the basic sentence "Quel dommage". To be more specific, this includes a detailed definition of what it is and how you can use it in a casual conversation with an audio example.In addition, we also added super useful stuff like synonym, slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!


French to English translation

  • Translation : What a pity

  • Register : Formal - Basic

How to pronounce it

Slow

Normal

  • IPA : / kɛl dɔmaʒ /

aesthetic french quote quel dommage

Learn French
with Audio Stories

Try for Free

What does quel dommage mean?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

French people use it to express a feeling of regret or disappointment, just like: "Too bad" or "What a pity" in English.

How to use it

Use it when you want to express your disappointment or when you have regrets about something. You can use it just like this or add more precisions about what you are disappointed about.

For example, your best friend didn't come to your party. When talking about that the day after he/she says: "Désolé(e) je n'ai pas pu venir" (Sorry, I couldn't come). You might answer: "Quel dommage" (What a pity) because you really wanted her/him to be there.

Now if you want to be more precise, you can use: "Quel dommage que tu ne sois pas venu(e)" (What a pity that you didn't come). Or even "Quel dommage, j'avais préparé ton gâteau préféré" (What a pity, I had prepared your favorite cake.)

Finally, you can also use "Dommage" alone to express "Too bad" but it's a bit more informal.

Synonyms

↓ Example in a story with English translation ↓

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

Changement de plan !

Change of plan!

Philippe et Emily étaient ensemble quand Philippe a reçu un message de son ami.
Philippe and Emily were together when Philippe received a message from his friend.
Il regarde rapidement...
He looks quickly...
PhilippeOh non !
Oh no!
Philippe semblait énervé...
Philippe seemed upset...
EmilyQuoi ? Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ?
What? What's wrong?
PhilippeTu te souviens que nous avions un concert le vingt juin ?
Do you remember that we had a concert on June 20?
EmilyOui, bien sûr, pourquoi ?
Yes, of course, why?
PhilippeIl est annulé...
It is canceled...
EmilyOh non ! Quel dommage...
Oh no! What a pity...
Ils étaient tous les deux très déçus par cette mauvaise nouvelle...
They were both very disappointed with this bad news...

10%

The story just started!

Get full access to 365 texts and quizzes, including this one.

Discover more

Already a member? Full story and quiz here.

← PREVIOUS

Je lui en veux

BACK

To vocabulary list

NEXT →

Enchanté

Go to previous text Go to previous phrase
Play or pause audio
Go to next phrase Go to next text

x1

Speed

MANUAL

Mode

SHOW

Translation