ouah
/wa/
The French way to say "whoa" is ouah.
ouah is an exclamation used to express surprise.
Meaning: expression of surprise (intj)
Which one should you use?
While it translates to the English "whoa", note that ouah is used to express surprise and is not used to command a horse to stop.
How do you pronounce it?
/wa/
When do people say it?
Another common way to express surprise, astonishment, admiration or dismay in French is the expression Oh là là.
Did you know?
- To achieve the same result as the English 'whoa' when riding a horse, a French speaker would use holà or ho.
- In French graphic novels and comics, you might see ouaaaaah written with many extra 'a' characters to visually represent how long the person is gasping.
- Using ouah in a professional French environment can be perceived as childish or overly informal.
Examples in context
- Ouah !Whoa.This sentence is useful for seeing how to use ouah as an exclamation.Tatoeba #11535700 by letsgolanguages, translation #11240552 by shekitten
- Waouh, c'est incroyable!Wow, that's incredible!
- Ouah, c'est énorme !Whoa, it's huge!
- Ouah, quel beau paysage !Whoa, what a beautiful landscape!
Example conversation
Lucas shows Léa a large painting he made.
- LucasRegarde mon nouveau tableau, Léa.Look at my new painting, Léa.
- LéaOuah, c'est impressionnant, Lucas !Whoa, it's impressive, Lucas!
- LucasMerci, j'ai travaillé dur dessus.Thanks, I worked hard on it.
- LéaOn voit que tu as du talent.We can see that you have talent.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry ouah, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
