pas de lait
The English phrase "no milk" is translated into French as pas de lait.
pas de lait is a phrase used to indicate that there is no milk available.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase pas de lait, the word de is used instead of the partitive article du because of the negation.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly say pas du lait instead of pas de lait when expressing that there is no milk.
Did you know?
- The word pas in pas de lait originally meant 'a step'. It evolved from the literal idea of 'not a step' to mean 'not at all' or simply 'not'.
- While pas de lait is literal, a French person might say je suis à sec (I am dry) to jokingly imply they have run out of essentials like milk or money.
- In some regions, the phrase pas de lait might be replaced by y' a plus de lait in casual speech, where y' a is a contraction of il y a.
Examples in context
- Il n'y a pas de lait dans le verre.There's no milk in the glass.This sentence shows the use of pas de lait to state there is no milk in a glass.Tatoeba #748543 by Cocorico, translation #6167399 by CK
- Il n'y a presque pas de lait dans le verre.There's almost no milk in the glass.This sentence demonstrates how to say there is almost no milk in a glass using pas de lait.Tatoeba #11614274 by Aiji, translation #3461459 by CK
- Un café sans lait, s'il vous plaîtA coffee without milk, please.
- Je suis allergique au laitI am allergic to milk.
- Il n'y a pas de lait dans le frigo.There is no milk in the fridge.
Example conversation
Manon and Lucas are in the kitchen in the morning.
- ManonTu veux du café, Lucas ?Do you want some coffee, Lucas?
- LucasOui, s'il te plaît.Yes, please.
- ManonOh mince, il n'y a pas de lait.Oh shoot, there is no milk.
- LucasJe vais en acheter.I will go buy some.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, lait, pas, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
