perdre du temps
To waste time in French is to perdre du temps.
Perdre du temps is a common and neutral way to express the idea of allowing time to elapse in an unproductive manner. You may also use the more descriptive phrase passer son temps à ne rien faire to say you are spending one's time doing nothing, or the colloquial term glander to mean lazing around or loafing.
Meaning: allow time to elapse in an unproductive manner (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase perdre du temps literally means to lose some time. It is composed of the verb perdre (to lose), the partitive article du (some) and temps (time).
Which one should you use?
While perdre du temps refers to wasting time in a general sense, the variation perdre son temps is frequently used to mean wasting one's own time on a specific, futile activity.
How does it change in a sentence?
When you want to say you are wasting time doing a specific action, use the structure perdre du temps à followed by an infinitive verb.
Did you know?
- The colloquial term glander used for lazing around originally referred to the action of gathering acorns, as gland means 'acorn' in French.
- The word temps is a homonym that means both 'time' and 'weather'. In some contexts, perdre du temps could be jokingly confused with losing a particular kind of weather.
- In French, the concept of 'wasting time' can be expressed through tuer le temps, which literally means 'to kill the time'. This is used specifically when one is waiting for something and wants the time to pass faster.
Examples in context
- Je ne veux pas perdre du temps à parler à Tom.I don't want to waste time talking to Tom.This sentence shows how to use perdre du temps when expressing a desire to avoid a specific unproductive activity.Tatoeba #3667373 by trotter, translation #2033771 by CK
- Je déteste perdre du temps en réunions sans but.I hate wasting time in pointless meetings.
- J'ai passé ma journée à glander devant la télévision.I wasted my whole day lazing around in front of the television.
- Arrête de perdre du temps avec ton téléphone.Stop wasting time with your phone.
- On ne doit pas perdre du temps en route.We must not waste time on the way.
Example conversation
Lucas and Emma are trying to find a specific store in a mall.
- LucasOn devrait demander le chemin à quelqu'un.We should ask someone for the way.
- EmmaJe pense que c'est juste après ce tournant.I think it's just after this turn.
- LucasOn va perdre du temps si on se trompe.We will waste time if we make a mistake.
- EmmaTu as raison, demandons à ce monsieur.You are right, let's ask that gentleman.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
