voilà mademoiselle
The English phrase 'here miss' is translated into French as voilà mademoiselle.
voilà mademoiselle is used as a polite way to present or hand an object to a young woman. Other formal ways to express similar sentiments include Voici, mademoiselle to say 'Here, miss', Permettez-moi de vous présenter cela, mademoiselle to say 'Allow me to present this to you, miss' or Mes excuses, mademoiselle to say 'My apologies, miss'.
Which one should you use?
To say 'here sir' instead of 'here miss', replace mademoiselle with monsieur to form voilà monsieur.
Did you know?
- In official French government documents since 2012, the term mademoiselle has been banned in favor of madame regardless of a woman's marital status.
- The word voilà is a combination of the verb voir meaning 'to see' and the word là meaning 'there'. It literally tells the listener to 'look there'.
- The term demoiselle in mademoiselle shares a root with the English word 'damsel', both deriving from the Latin word for 'young girl'.
Examples in context
- Voici, mademoiselle, votre livreHere, miss, your book
- Voilà mademoiselle, votre café.Here you go, miss, your coffee.
- Voilà mademoiselle, le menu.Here is the menu, miss.
- Voilà mademoiselle, votre sac.Here is your bag, miss.
Example conversation
A waiter returns a lost item to a customer in a cafe.
- LucasExcusez-moi, vous avez oublié votre écharpe.Excuse me, you forgot your scarf.
- EmmaOh, merci beaucoup !Oh, thank you very much!
- LucasVoilà mademoiselle.Here you go, miss.
- EmmaC'est très gentil, merci.That is very kind, thank you.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries mademoiselle, voilà, CC BY-SA 4.0.
