blanc
/blɑ̃/
In French, white out is blanc.
The term for white out refers to the correction fluid used to cover mistakes made in ink on paper. The standard way to refer to the product is correcteur or correcteur liquide.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Canada, Belgium and Switzerland, the term correcteur is commonly used to refer to white out.
How do you pronounce it?
/blɑ̃/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Be careful not to use the adjective blanc (white) to refer to the correction fluid itself. In French, blanc refers only to the color.
Did you know?
- In French, the phrase un blanc refers to an awkward silence in a conversation, literally calling the gap a 'white' space.
- The French word blanc is a linguistic survivor of the Frankish language, which was spoken by the Germanic tribes that settled in Gaul.
- While blanc means 'white', the French have a specific word blanchiment that describes both the process of whitening something and the illegal act of money laundering.
Examples in context
- L'école a interdit aux élèves d'utiliser du blanco.The school banned students from using white-out.This sentence shows how to express that a school has banned the use of blanc.Tatoeba #13643231 by menaud, translation #13643241 by menaud
- Hey, tu aurais du Tipp-Ex ?Hey, do you have any Tipp-Ex?
- Tu peux me prêter un peu de blanc ?Can you lend me some white out?
Example conversation
Chloé and Nathan are studying together in a library.
- ChloéNathan, est-ce que tu as du blanc ?Nathan, do you have any white out?
- NathanOui, je l'ai dans mon sac.Yes, I have it in my bag.
- ChloéMerci, j'ai fait une tache d'encre.Thanks, I made an ink stain.
- NathanTiens, prends-le.Here, take it.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry blanc, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
