{"id":31037,"date":"2019-01-23T19:35:03","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T18:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=31037"},"modified":"2019-01-31T19:45:06","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T18:45:06","slug":"tool-trouble-hinging-on-a-good-nights-sleep-hardware-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/tool-trouble-hinging-on-a-good-nights-sleep-hardware-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Tool Trouble Hinging On A Good Night’s Sleep – Hardware In French"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the best vocabulary tests in the world is urgently needing to explain something important<\/a>. When there’s no time and no room for les fautes<\/strong> (mistakes), the reality of vocabulary limitations becomes inescapable.<\/p>\n

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Image from Pixabay. Licensed under CC0.<\/p><\/div>\n

Not too long ago mon lit<\/strong><\/a> (my bed) broke in the middle of the night. It was a pretty simple fix, but would mean going to the hardware store and finding the right tools. When the morning came I needed to get it repaired d\u00e8s que possible<\/strong> (ASAP) if I wanted to avoid les petits yeux<\/a> (small eyes)!<\/p>\n

Le probl\u00e8me<\/strong> was that I had no idea how to say what I needed in English, never mind en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Une \u00e9querre<\/strong> – A flat angle bracket, shelf bracket<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I knew it was something like une charni\u00e8re<\/strong> (a hinge), but not exactly that. Apr\u00e8s tout<\/strong> (after all), I needed to fix un lit<\/strong> and not une porte<\/strong> (a door), but I figured it would be a good place to start looking.<\/p>\n

When I got to le magasin de bricologe<\/strong> (the hardware store) and asked un employ\u00e9<\/strong><\/a> (an employee) where I could find them, I was instantly blind sighted by a surprise vocabulary test:<\/p>\n

Excusez-moi, je cherche les charni\u00e8res.<\/strong>
\nAh oui, elles sont dans la section de quincaillerie au 3\u00e8me \u00e9tage<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excuse me, I’m looking for hinges.<\/em>
\nAh yes, they’re the the quincaillerie<\/strong> section on the third floor.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The dumb look<\/a> on my face made it clear I didn’t fully understand so l’employ\u00e9<\/strong> tried to make it easier to understand.<\/p>\n

Allez au troisi\u00e8me \u00e9tage et puis allez \u00e0 la gauche. Vous verrez les charni\u00e8res au fond du couloir.<\/strong>
\nD’accord, merci !<\/strong><\/p>\n

Go to the third floor and then go to the left. You will see hinges at the end of the hallway.
\nAlright, thanks!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I then knew where I needed to go now, but I was still confused<\/a> by the word quincaillerie<\/strong>. The word by itself sounded odd to me and when I got to the 3rd floor and finally saw it written out, it looked even stranger:<\/p>\n

QUINCAILLERIE<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My confusion aside, I soon confirmed what I really needed was in fact not une charni\u00e8re<\/strong> and I needed to ask for help<\/a> again:<\/p>\n

Excusez-moi, je cherche quelque chose comme cette charni\u00e8re, mais tr\u00e8s rigide.<\/strong>
\nD’accord…<\/strong>
\nEn fait c’est un support pour mon lit. J’en ai besoin parce que l’ancien a cass\u00e9 hier soir.<\/strong>
\nAh oui je vois, c’est juste \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9. Suivez-moi, s’il vous pla\u00eet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excuse me, I’m looking for something like this hinge, but very rigid.<\/em>
\nOkay…<\/em>
\nActually it’s a support for my bed. I need one because the old one broke last night.<\/em>
\nAh yes I see. It’s right next to here. Follow me, please.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I followed l’employ\u00e9<\/strong> to the next row of tools and there it was!<\/p>\n

C’est bien \u00e7a que vous cherchez ?|<\/strong>
\nOui !<\/strong>
\nAlors vous avez besoin des vis aussi ?<\/strong>
\nDes quoi ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is what you’re looking for?<\/em>
\nYes!<\/em>
\nSo you need screws as well?<\/em>
\nWhat?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It took me a couple seconds, but I suddenly realized I had the same conversation years ago and I should have already known the word for screws<\/em><\/a>! Never mind the fact that avec le contexte<\/strong> (with context), it’s pretty clear what was being asked.<\/p>\n

How To Find A Hardware Store in French<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n