The French expression "Je tombe de haut" explained

Get ready to learn all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic idiom “Je tombe de haut”.

To be clear, this includes a detailed definition of what it is and how to use it in a dialogue with an audio example. But wait, we also sprinkled some super useful stuff like dialogue example, synonym, slow pronunciation audio and more!

Oh and you can also find our others idioms explained on this page and all our French words explained on this page. Enjoy!

Table of Contents

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Translation in English

Pronunciation example

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean?

Definition

  • Tomber → To fall
  • de haut→ from high

Just like “Tomber des nues“, this expression carries the feeling of being surprised by something. As surprising as suddenly falling from high altitude.

How to use

You can use this expression when you hear something very unexpected, like something shocking in the news. Or when something unexpected happens to you.

For example: someone just tells you extremely surprising news, then you would say: “Je tombe de haut !” (I’m flabbergasted!). Like if the surprise was so intense that you felt dizzy, like if you were free falling.

Synonyms

  • Tomber des nues. (“To fall from the clouds“)
  • Tomber des nuages. (“To fall from the clouds“)
  • Tomber de sa chaise. (“To fall from your chair“)
  • Tomber du ciel. (“To fall from the sky“)

Dialogue example

Audio dialogue from French people

Dialogue audio

Dialogue script

” Ton ex vient de se marier “
” Your ex just got married “
” Sérieux ? Je tombe de haut ! “
” Seriously? I fall from high!* “
” Sérieux ! “
” Seriously! “
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