Je suis fou
The French phrase for "I am crazy" is Je suis fou.
This phrase is a statement used to say that one is mentally ill or behaves in an irrational way. If you add the preposition de after the adjective, the meaning changes to being crazy about something or being madly in love with someone, such as in the idiom fou de [quelque chose].
Which one should you use?
The form of the adjective must agree with the gender of the person speaking: use fou if the speaker is a man and folle if the speaker is a woman.
How does it change in a sentence?
If the speaker is female, the adjective changes from fou to folle to ensure the form agrees with the gender of the person speaking.
Did you know?
- The word fou comes from the Latin word follem, which referred to a bellows or a windbag.
- French has several slang terms for being 'crazy' like cinglé or barjot that are used in casual conversation instead of the standard fou.
- The phrase faire le fou means 'to act the fool' or 'to show off', regardless of the speaker's actual mental state.
Examples in context
- Je suis fou de toi.I am crazy about you.This sentence is useful for showing how to say one is crazy about someone using Je suis fou.Tatoeba #3959 by TRANG, translation #2621186 by Olya
- Je suis fou/folle. Rien ne va comme je le voudrais.I am crazy. Nothing is going as I would like.
- Je suis fou, je ne comprends rien.I am crazy, I don't understand anything.
- Si je fais ça, je suis fou ?If I do that, am I crazy?
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas admits he is acting irrationally during an argument.
- LucasJe suis fou, pardon Chloé.I am crazy, sorry Chloé.
- ChloéCe n'est pas grave, Lucas.It is not a big deal, Lucas.
- LucasJe ne sais pas pourquoi j'ai crié.I don't know why I shouted.
- ChloéOn oublie tout maintenant.Let's forget everything now.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries fou, je, suis, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
