The French phrase "J'en ai ras le bol" explained

We are going to show you all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic French expression “J’en ai ras le bol”.

To be more precise, this includes a complete explanation of what it is and how to use it in a dialogue with an audio example. Along with the useful stuff we added like slow pronunciation audio, synonyms, dialogue example and more!

If you want, you will also find more of these expressions guides like this one on this page and the complete directory of all our French words guides on this page. Ready to learn? C’est parti ! (Let’s go!)

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French to English translation

Pronunciation

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean exactly?

Definition

It’s one of the many ways to say in French, “I’m fed up / I’m sick of“. It literally means: “My bowl is full“.

How to use it

When something or someone makes you angry, you can use: “J’en ai ras le bol !“. For example: “J’en ai ras le bol de la pluie” (I’m sick of the rain)

Plot twist: if you want to sound like a true French, use instead: “Ah putain ! J’en ai ras le bol de cette merde !” (Oh fuck! I’m fed up with this shit!)

Synonyms and similarities

  • J’en ai ras la casquette. (“I am fed up“)
  • J’en ai marre. (“I am fed up“)
  • Je suis énervé. (“I am angry“)
  • Je suis furax. (“I am furious“)(Slang)
  • Je suis en pétard. (“I’m hopping mad“)
  • Ça me soule. (“It pisses me off“)
  • Ça m’énerve. (“It makes me angry“)
  • Ça me vénère. (“It makes me angry“)(Slang)
  • Ça m’vénère. (“It makes me angry“)(Slang)
  • Chui vénère. (“I am angry“)(Slang)

Example in a story with English translation

Now, let’s see a complete example of this idiom in a story with slow French audio and the English translation below.
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Try something new
___
Ce vendredi soir, Emily était avec Philippe.
This Friday night, Emily was with Philippe.
Ils dinaient ensemble.
They were having dinner together.
Emily:   On fait quelque chose ce week-end ?
J’en ai ras le bolLiterally: My bowl is full
de ne rien faire.
Let’s do something this weekend? I’m fed up of doing nothing.
Philippe soupira.
Philippe sighed.
Philippe:   Ouais, moi aussi ! Mais qu’est-ce qu’on peut faire ?
Yeah me too! But what can we do?
Et ils commencèrent à réfléchir…
And they began to think…
Mais ils avaient l’impression d’avoir déjà tout fait…
But they felt like they already did everything…
Ils ont visité tous les musées, toutes les expositions, ils ont essayé tous les bons restaurants…
They visited every museum, every exhibition, they tried all the good restaurants…
Puis Emily dit :
Then Emily said;
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