jean déchiré
The English phrase "ripped jeans" is translated into French as jean déchiré.
This phrase refers to denim pants that have holes or tears in the fabric.
Which one should you use?
You can also use un jean troué, which literally means "a holey jean" to describe denim that is full of holes.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word jean is a masculine noun in French. Because jeans is treated as a plural noun in French, the adjective déchiré must take an s at the end when referring to them in the plural, as in jeans déchirés. When referring to a single pair, you use the masculine singular form un jean déchiré.
Did you know?
- French distinguishes between jean déchiré and jean destroy, the latter being a trendy Anglicism used in fashion boutiques to describe heavily distressed denim.
- The word déchiré comes from the verb déchirer, which is the same word used to describe a person's heart being 'torn' or 'broken' in poetic French.
- In France, if you describe a piece of clothing as déchiré, it can sometimes imply that it is actually broken or ruined rather than just being a fashionable style.
Examples in context
- Les jeunes préfèrent porter des jeans déchirés pour être à la mode.Young people prefer to wear ripped jeans to be fashionable.
- Il porte un jean déchiré.He is wearing ripped jeans.
- Elle a acheté un jean déchiré.She bought a pair of ripped jeans.
Example conversation
Gabriel and Emma are shopping at a clothing store.
- GabrielRegarde ce jean déchiré, il est cool !Look at these ripped jeans, they are cool!
- EmmaJe ne sais pas, Emma n'aime pas ça.I don't know, Emma doesn't like that.
- GabrielMais c'est très à la mode maintenant.But it is very fashionable now.
- EmmaD'accord, Gabriel, essaye-le pour voir.Okay, Gabriel, try them on to see.
