All about the French expression "Tu me tues"

We are going to explain you all the things you need to know about the basic expression “Tu me tues”.

To be more specific, this includes a complete explanation of what it is and how you can use it in a dialogue with an audio example. And because learning a new language is a big deal, we also sprinkled useful things like dialogue example, literal meaning, slow pronunciation audio and more!

Oh and in case you are interested, you will find more expressions tutorials like this one on this page and the ultimate directory of all our French words pages on this page. Have fun!

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Translation in English

How to pronounce it?

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does tu me tues mean?

Definition

It might sound surprising to have a word related to death, to express something as joyful as laughing. But we do use “Tu me tues” to express “You make me laugh a lot“. Just like in English they say “You are killing me“.

The classic image is someone laughing so much that he can’t breathe anymore, literally dying of laugh. (Please don’t)

How to use it

Keep this one for hilarious situations, when you are really cracked up! If the situation is funny but “not enough to die for it” use instead “C’est drôle” / “C’est marrant” (That’s funny) or “Tellement drôle !” (So funny!) or “haha” / “Excellent” (Same as English).

You can also use “Tu me tues” to express to someone that he / she is making you laugh a lot in general, that this person always surprises you. For example, you can say it during a conversation, but not especially during a funny situation.

In both cases, this is a very nice compliment to say to someone, but keep in mind that this is very casual and informal. Not adapted to formal situations like a workplace, for example.

Fun stuff

A super quick and texting friendly way to say it would be ” Mdr” which means “Mort De Rire” (“Dying of laugh“). This is the French “Lmao” (Laughing My Ass Off).

Synonyms and similarities

  • Tu m’as tué. (“You made me laugh a lot“)
  • Tu me fais rire. (“You make me laugh“)
  • Tu me fais tellement rire. (“You make me laugh so much“)
  • Tu es à mourir de rire. (“You make me dying of laugh“)
  • Il me tue. (“He makes me laugh a lot“)
  • Elle me tue. (“She makes me laugh a lot“)
  • Ils me tuent. (“They make me laugh a lot“)
  • Elles me tuent. (“They make me laugh a lot“)

Example in a story with 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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Le bain moussant
The bubble bath
___
Théo prend un bain moussant.
Théo is taking a bubble bath.
Soudain, une idée lui vient…
Suddenly, an idea occurs to him…
Théo:   Olivia, tu peux venir s’il te plaît ?
Olivia, can you come please?
Olivia:   Oui, pourquoi ?
Yes, why?
Théo:   Ne pose pas de questions, viens !
Don’t ask questions, come!
Olivia:   Tu as besoin d’une serviette ou de quelque chose d’autre ?
Do you need a towel or something else?
Théo:   J’ai dit, pas de questions. Viens.
I said, no questions. Come.
Olivia:   Ok. Je finis quelque chose et j’arrive.
Ok. I’m finishing something and I’m coming.
Théo:   D’accord.
Alright.
Deux minutes plus tard, Olivia entre dans la salle de bain…
Two minutes later, Olivia enters the bathroom…
Elle voit Théo entièrement recouvert de mousse !
She sees Théo completely covered in foam!
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