Merci | Meaning & Examples & Pronunciation - All About French

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All about the French quote "Merci"

Are you ready to find out all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic French word "Merci"? Including a complete explanation of what it is and how to use it in a dialogue with an audio example. But that's not all, we also added useful informations like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example, synonym and more!

French to English translation

Translation : Thank you
Register : Neutral - Basic

How to pronounce

Slow

Normal

IPA : / mɛʁsi /

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What does merci mean?

Definition

"Merci" is the most common way to say "Thank you" in French. In slang, it becomes "Cimer"

How to use it

Use it exactly like "Thanks" in English, it's fine in every situation. So if you just want to learn the basics for now, no need for more. But if you want to sound like a French native, here are some tips:

→ If you want something more formal, use: "Merci à vous" or "Je vous remercie".

→ For the slang version, use: "Cimer"

→ And finally if you want to show extra gratitude, when a simple "Merci" isn't enough, use: "Merci beaucoup" (Thanks a lot) or "Un grand merci" (A big thanks)

(More details in the "Synonyms" section below)

Fun facts

Why is the slang version "Cimer" ? Simple! Take the syllables of the word "mer-ci" and reverse them → "ci-mer".

This mechanism is called "verlan" and is very common in slang contexts.

(The word "ver-lan" being itself a "verlan" of the word "à l'envers" which means "Reversed"...)

Synonyms

Normal gratitude:

Merci → Thanks
Cimer → Thanks (Slang)
Merci à toi → Thank you
Merci à vous → Thank you (Formal and/or plural)
Je vous remercie → Thank you (Formal and/or plural)

Extra gratitude:

Merci pour tout → Thanks for everything
Merci bien → Thanks a lot
Un grand merci → A big thanks
Mille mercis → Thousand thanks
Merci mille fois → Thanks a thousand times
Merci du fond du coeur → Thanks from the bottom of my heart
Merci infiniment → Infinite thanks

↓ Example in a story with French audio ↓

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

Le musée du Louvre

The Louvre museum

Aujourd'hui, Joe a enfin décidé de visiter le musée du Louvre.Today, Joe finally decided to visit the Louvre Museum.Il était impatient de découvrir ce célèbre musée.He was impatient to discover this famous museum.Il avait hâte de voir les fameuses oeuvres du musée et, bien sûr, la Joconde...He couldn't wait to see the famous works of the museum and, of course, the Mona Lisa...Il s'arrête à la station de métro "Palais Royal Musée du Louvre" et se dirige vers le musée.He stops at the subway station "Palais Royal Musée du Louvre" and heads for the museum.Il trouve l'entrée du musée : c'est la fameuse pyramide de verre du Louvre...He finds the entrance of the museum: it's the famous Louvre's glass pyramid...

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