Ouais ?

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Permalink Reply by Marc Vonhalmen on July 18, 2009 at 4:37pm

It should be "Ouais, c'est le bon sens."
It can have several meanings. What is the context?

Possible translations:
Yeah, this is common sense.
Yeah, this is the good direction.
etc.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on July 18, 2009 at 5:07pm

Hi Marc,

I asked the writer of his message;

Aucune phrase n'est bonne
I guess it means "none of the sentence is good' ? (I asked)

His reply;
Ouais, c'est le bon sens.


B.R.
satimis

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Permalink Reply by Marc Vonhalmen on July 18, 2009 at 5:56pm

Hi,
Well, it's still hard to understand the context, since I don't know what's the subject of the conversation, but I guess that the only possible meaning in this case is: "Yeah, this is common sense". (OR the common sense?)
Does it make sense? If no, tell me more about the context, otherwise I don't think I can help you more :(

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on July 18, 2009 at 6:22pm

HI Marc,

Your guess is correct - "Yeah, this is common sense"

Thanks

satimis

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Permalink Reply by Frank on July 19, 2009 at 5:12pm

It could be "yeah, this is common sense", but also "yeah, this is the correct meaning". It all depends on the context.

In spoken French, "ouais" is almost always used in place of "oui". And "nan" is often used in place of "non". But none should ever be written nor said in a very formal conversation.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Liu on July 19, 2009 at 5:25pm

Hi Frank,

Now I see. It is similar to yep/yeah = YES in English.

It is purposely speaking it off the proper/correct pronunciation. I have been looking around the word "ouais" in French dictionary and couldn't find. I'm clear now. Thanks

B.R.
satimis

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on July 20, 2009 at 11:22am

Just wanted to mention for the benefit of others: the form ouais (both the pronunciation it represents and this particular spelling) are really quite common. Just as "yep", "yeah" in English, it's not a mystery-- it's a really basic part of the informal language. Any decent dictionary should list the form. If yours doesn't, and you're really serious about learning French, buy a new dictionary that does.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on July 20, 2009 at 12:19pm

You might also hear a lot "mouais" ("yeah, right...") and "ouaip" ("yep").

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on July 20, 2009 at 12:42pm

This is true, although with a form like "mouais", it's a bit more difficult for a dictionary, because people tend to write it with varying spelling ("mmmouais"....), so it's difficult to decide which form to actually list. A similar thing occurs in English: do you list "yyyes" or "yeeees" etc....

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