{"id":33363,"date":"2021-02-09T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T04:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=33363"},"modified":"2021-02-10T13:19:30","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T12:19:30","slug":"diy-french-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/diy-french-style\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY French Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many people around the world, people in France have used their time at home during the pandemic to make home improvements with a little DIY French Style.<\/p>\n

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DIY French Style<\/h3>\n

According to one poll<\/a>, as early as the first confinement last spring<\/a> almost 1\/3 des fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> (31%) said they were doing more travaux d\u2019entretien<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>maintenance work(s)<\/em><\/span> and bricolage<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>from the verb bricoler, to tinker <\/em>or fiddle about<\/em><\/span>. Grace aux tutoriels vid\u00e9os sur Internet<\/strong>3<\/a><\/sup>thanks to internet video tutoriels<\/em><\/span>,\u00a0some of the activities they planned to knock out during their down time include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Changer une ampoule\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Change a lightbulb<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Proc\u00e9der \u00e0 un grand nettoyage de printemps\u00a0<\/b>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Do the spring cleaning<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Monter un meuble\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Put a piece of furniture together <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Repeindre les murs\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Repaint the walls<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Changer la serrure d\u2019une porte\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Change the lock on a door<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Faire de la plomberie<\/strong>4<\/a><\/sup>la plomberie<\/em> shares a root with the French word for lead<\/em> … le plomb<\/em><\/span>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Do some plumbing<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Installer des syst\u00e8mes domotiques pour la maison\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
Install smart home systems<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Quincaillerie ou magasin de bricolage<\/h3>\n

For many, the two are synonymous. But une quincaillerie<\/strong> is a more traditional hardware store<\/em> (and they have been around for generations) while un magasin de bricolage<\/strong> is a bit of a newer concept. They usually will sell de la quincaillerie<\/strong>5<\/a><\/sup>hardware<\/em><\/span> \u2026 et des outils<\/strong>6<\/a><\/sup>tools<\/em><\/span> \u2026 but also sell more. Essentially everything you need to complete those little DIY projects around la maison ou le jardin<\/strong>7<\/a><\/sup>the house or garden<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Go to either though, and you\u2019re likely to find \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
La boite <\/strong>\u00e0 outils\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
toolbox<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le marteau\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
hammer<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le clou<\/strong><\/a>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
nail<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le tournevis <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
screwdriver<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le vis <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
screw<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la cl\u00e9 <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
wrench<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la pince <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
pliers<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le boulon <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
bolt<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u2019\u00e9crou <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
nut<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la scie <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
saw<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la perceuse <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
drill<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la peinture <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
paint<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le pinceau <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
paint brush<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le rouleau \u00e0 peindre <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
paint roller<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le niveau <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
level<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u2019\u00e9chelle <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
ladder<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u2019escabeau <\/strong>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>\n
step ladder<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Check out this great video<\/a> highlighting some Covid confinement bricoleurs and see how they’re getting the DIY done French style!<\/p>\n

\n

Pour approfondir votre vocabulaire<\/h3>\n

A few weeks ago in a post about the recent neige en France<\/strong><\/a> I shared this video<\/a> showing some of the highlights. At about 55 seconds the reporter uses an expression that was new to me … but fits nicely with this week’s topic.\u00a0Le syst\u00e8me D\u00a0<\/strong>in which the ‘D’ stands for the word\u00a0d\u00e9brouille.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From the French verb d\u00e9brouiller<\/strong> (to disentangle, to unravel<\/em>) (but also se d\u00e9brouiller<\/strong>\/to manage, to cope, to handle<\/em>), d\u00e9brouille<\/strong> means “to make do, to improvise to get by<\/em>“. So le syst\u00e8me D<\/strong> refers to any situation where you’re resorting to what’s available to accomplish a task (like cooking outside on your camping stove during une panne d’\u00e9l\u00e9ctircit\u00e9<\/strong>8<\/a><\/sup>a power outage\/power failure<\/em><\/span>!).<\/p>\n

\n

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