profiter de
To say take advantage of in French, use profiter de. It covers both making good use of something and exploiting someone.
profiter de is very often positive, meaning to enjoy or to make the most of a moment or a situation. It can also mean to exploit a person, as in the first two examples.
Meaning: make use of (verb)
Which one should you use?
Tirer parti de means take advantage of in the sense of making use of something, and it is slightly more formal than profiter de.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb is always followed by de before its object. With a person, de is followed by a stressed pronoun such as toi, as in profiter de toi.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often leave out de before the object. Keep it, as in profiter de cette occasion.
Did you know?
- While 'profiter de' can mean to exploit someone, the noun profiteur is a heavy social insult. It describes a person perceived as a parasite or a 'moocher' who lives off the generosity of others.
- French speakers often use profite bien ! as a standalone greeting, which functions as a warm wish rather than a command to take advantage of something.
- The verb profiter shares its root with the English word 'profit', which is why it can carry both a sense of financial gain and a sense of enjoying a pleasure.
Examples in context
- Je ne veux profiter de personne.I don't want to take advantage of anyone.Here profiter de means to exploit people, and personne means anyone.Tatoeba #7414085 by lbdx, translation #2026885 by CK
- Ne le laisse pas profiter de toi.Don't let him take advantage of you.profiter de toi shows the stressed pronoun toi after de.Tatoeba #3662060 by THURET, translation #2258190 by _undertoad
- Tu dois profiter de cette occasion.You must take advantage of the opportunity.This sentence uses profiter de in its positive sense of making the most of an opportunity.Tatoeba #845906 by U2FS, translation #20488 by CK
- Nous devons profiter de cette opportunité pour améliorer notre productivité.We must take advantage of this opportunity to improve our productivity.
- Nous devons tirer parti de nos ressources pour atteindre nos objectifs.We need to take advantage of our resources to achieve our goals.
- Comment pouvons-nous exploiter les nouvelles technologies pour améliorer notre service client ?How can we take advantage of new technologies to enhance our customer service?
- Tu devrais profiter de tes vacances pour te reposer.You should take advantage of your vacation to rest.
- 8 more sentences on Tatoeba
Sources
- Wiktionary, “take advantage of” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, profiter, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
