Great French idiom n°1 :Avoir le coup de foudre

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Le coup de foudre

Avoir le coup de foudre = “to be struck by lightning ” ! ⚡️

What do you think this means ?

We have a few clues on the picture, namely :

Thunder ⚡️ = “la foudre”
Heart ❤️ = “le coeur”
the hit 🥊 = “le coup”

Could this be love ?

Yes, “to be struck by lightning” in French means “to fall in love” ! ❤️

Le coup de foudre example in French

“J’ai rencontré mon mari à une soirée avec des amis et le coup de foudre fut immédiat ”
🇬🇧 “I met my husband at a friends’ party and I immediately fell in love”

But sorry boys or girls, it is not only about you ! 😅

“J’ai le coup de foudre pour le nouveau sac de Louis Vitton”
🇬🇧 “I am in love with Louis Vitton’s new bag”

Le coup de foudre origin

This French expression appears in the XVII century, lightning is considered as a sudden and unpleasant event which generates a lot of emotion : fear and stupefaction.😫

“Le coup” which is the point at which the lightning strikes and makes a loud noise is therefore brutal and impressive. ⚡️ It is then associated to feelings and emotions.

“La foudre” which is the actual lightning is associated to rapidity for the speed at which it strikes but also the fire that it creates. 🔥 Fire is synonym of passion. The two together makes up the expression “avoir le coup de foudre” as to fall in love is a sudden event that creates a lot of emotions 👍

Le coup de foudre translation in English

A suitable Le coup de foudre translation in English would be :

Love at first sight ❤️

French GCSE idioms

Here is an example of how you could use this French idiom ‘Avoir le coup de foudre‘ to get a top mark at your French GCSE exam :

French edexcel theme : Identity and culture : school : school subjects

The French GCSE question is : Quelle est ta matière préférée ? What is your favourite subject ? This is what you could say :

French GCSE answer : ‘J’aime beaucoup les mathématiques. J’ai eu le coup de foudre pour les mathématiques quand j’ai lu le livre de Stephen Hawking sur l’origine de l’univers’

I like Mathematics very much. I fell in love with mathematics after reading the book of Stephen Hawking on the origin of the universe.

Le coup de foudre poem in French

This is a poem of my writing to illustrate this very nice French expression : ‘avoir le coup de foudre’

En ce jour d’automne
Les oiseaux chantaient à tue-tête
L’esprit distrait et le regard morne
Tu me revins en tête
Ton doux sourire
Et ton tendre visage
Mon esprit illuminèrent
Mon coeur battit la chamade
Rien qu’en pensant à toi
Oh mon amoureuse
Ce jour là naquit un bel émoi
Celui où j’ai eu le coup de foudre 
À jamais dans mon coeur ma tumultueuse
Mon coeur est à toi pour toujours
Lara Streel

On this autumn day
The birds were singing at the top of their lungs 
With a distracted mind and a gloomy gaze 
You came back to my mind 
Your sweet smile 
And your tender face 
My mind lit up 
My heart was racing 
Just thinking of you 
Oh my sweetheart 
That day was born a great emotion The one where I fell in love at first sight 
Forever in my heart my tumultuous My heart is yours forever 
Lara streel

Le coup de foudre in video

Other French idioms related to emotions

• Avoir le cafard : to feel blue
• Avoir la flemme : Not feeling like it
• En avoir marre : to be fed up
• Avoir une peur bleue : to be scared to death
• Etre soupe au lait : to over-react

Voilà, this was today’s idiom, I hope you liked it.

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