B1IntermediateSpoken Quebec French · Point 40 / 40
magasiner, dépanneur, char, blonde / chum, c’est correct, tantôt
A few words come up every day in Quebec and behave like ordinary words in the sentence.
| Word | Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| magasiner | — | to go shopping, to compare prices |
| dépanneur | — | small corner store |
| char | — | car |
| blonde / chum | — | girlfriend / boyfriend |
| c’est correct | — | it’s fine, it’s okay |
| tantôt | — | a little earlier or a little later |
“Magasiner” conjugates like “parler”; “dépanneur”, “char”, “blonde” and “chum” take an article or a possessive. “C’est correct” can stand alone or take “pour + stressed pronoun”: “c’est correct pour toi ?”.
Examples from our dialogues 5 · 4 with audio
- Listen
Ça me convient, je magasine souvent ici de toute façon. Le crédit est valide combien de temps ?
That works for me, I shop here often anyway. How long is the credit valid?
Check The Full DialogueReturning a purchase
- Listen
Pas pressé. Demain ou après-demain, c'est correct aussi.
No rush. Tomorrow or the day after is fine too.
Check The Full DialogueBorrowing a drill from a neighbour
- Listen
Donne-moi ton numéro, je te texte le lien tantôt. Et viens-tu, je vais te présenter à Diane, qui organise la fête.
Give me your number, I'll text you the link later. And come on — I'll introduce you to Diane, who's organizing the party.
Check The Full DialogueIntroducing yourself to strangers at a block party
- Listen
Hahaha, pantoute ! C'est juste que l'ouvrage me rentre dedans ces temps-ci.
Haha, not at all! It's just that work has been swamping me lately.
Check The Full DialogueChatting with a neighbour
Ma blonde est passée au dépanneur avec le char de mon chum.
My girlfriend stopped by the corner store with my buddy’s car.
Common mistakes
Je vais magasiner au dépanneur pour trois heures.Je vais faire un tour au dépanneur, puis magasiner au centre commercial.
You “magasine” in stores or by comparing offers; at a dépanneur you drop in quickly for one or two things. The word is not wrong, but the picture does not fit.
C'est pas correct pantoute ? — Oui, c'est correct pas du tout.C'est pas correct pantoute ? — Non, c'est correct.
“Pantoute” goes with the negation (“pas … pantoute”) and is not combined with “pas du tout”, which it replaces. To say things are fine, just answer “c’est correct”.
Practise speaking
Les achats et commercesShopping and commerce
Shopping, paying, returning an item — the French of stores and customer service.
These dialogues use this point. They open on the dialogue page (audio, vocabulary to save).