donner un coup de pied à
To kick in French is donner un coup de pied à. Wiktionary also lists botter.
Meaning: strike with or raise the foot or leg (verb)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| donner un coup de pied à | |
| botter | /bɔ.te/ |
The verb is used to describe the action of striking someone or something with the foot or leg.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase donner un coup de pied à literally translates to 'to give a blow of foot to'.
Which one should you use?
donner un coup de pied à is the standard, neutral way to express the action of kicking. In contrast, botter is more forceful or colloquial.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun for a single kick is un coup de pied.
Did you know?
- The word coup in donner un coup de pied comes from the Ancient Greek word kólaphos, which referred to a slap on the cheek.
- While donner un coup de pied is neutral, botter can be used in idiomatic expressions to mean 'to kick out' or 'to dismiss' someone.
Examples in context
- Je vais te botter le cul !I'm going to kick your ass!Tatoeba #8701029 by Aiji, translation #2900674 by Hybrid
- Je vais te botter le train !I'll kick your butt!Tatoeba #1224719 by sacredceltic, translation #1224675 by CK
- Je vais lui botter les fesses.I’m going to kick his butt.Tatoeba #11733963 by lbdx, translation #5130941 by honestlang
- Il a frappé le ballon avec force.He kicked the ball forcefully.
- Le joueur a frappé le ballon du pied droit.The player kicked the ball with his right foot.
- Il a donné un coup de pied à la porte.He kicked the door.
- Le joueur a donné un coup de pied au ballon pour marquer un but.The player kicked the ball to score a goal.
- Il a tapé dans le ballon.He kicked the ball.
- J'ai tapé le ballon de toutes mes forces.I kicked the ball with all my strength.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “kick” translations and entries botter, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries botter, coup, de, donner, pied, un, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
