excellent travail
excellent travail is the French way to say "excellent work".
This phrase is used to praise someone for completing a task with a high level of quality. While excellent travail is grammatically correct, Beau travail ! is a more common and natural idiomatic exclamation used to praise someone's performance.
Which one should you use?
excellent travail is a stronger superlative than bon travail, which is the standard way to say "good work".
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase is a noun phrase that can be preceded by the indefinite article 'un' when referring to a specific piece of work.
Did you know?
- The word travail has a dark history, originating from the Latin word for a 'torture device' consisting of three stakes. It originally described physical suffering and pain rather than professional productivity.
- French speakers often use the word boulot as a very common slang alternative to travail in casual settings.
- While English uses 'work' for both a job and a piece of art, French distinguishes between travail for labor and œuvre for a masterpiece.
Examples in context
- Ton excellent travail me donne des complexes.Your excellent work puts me to shame.This sentence shows how excellent travail can be used to describe work that causes someone to feel inferior.Tatoeba #11742404 by lbdx, translation #17379 by Zifre
- Il fait de l'excellent travail.He does excellent work.This sentence demonstrates how to use excellent travail to describe the work someone performs.Tatoeba #11718721 by Fenrir, translation #13966418 by Leglaine
- Vous avez fait un très bon travail lors de cette présentation.You did a very good job during this presentation.
- Votre contribution à ce projet est une superbe réalisation.Your contribution to this project is a superb achievement.
- Ta performance était incroyable ! Bon boulot !Your performance was incredible! Good job!
- Bravo pour ton exposé, tu as vraiment bien travaillé !Bravo for your presentation, you did really well!
- Ton dernier article est génial ! J'ai beaucoup apprécié la lecture.Your latest article is fantastic! I really enjoyed reading it.
Example conversation
A manager is reviewing a project report with an employee.
- ManonHugo, j'ai lu ton rapport.Hugo, I read your report.
- HugoEst-ce que tout est correct ?Is everything correct?
- ManonOui, c'est un excellent travail.Yes, it is excellent work.
- HugoMerci beaucoup, Manon !Thank you very much, Manon!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries excellent, travail, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
