tu es incroyable
The English phrase "you're amazing" can be said in French as tu es incroyable.
This expression is used to tell someone that they are impressive or wonderful. While incroyable is often used to mean amazing, its literal meaning is "incredible" or "unbelievable", which can sometimes carry a nuance of disbelief depending on the context.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Tu es incroyable is an informal way to say someone is amazing. For a formal situation, you should use Vous êtes incroyable. Other informal options include T'es vraiment génial(e). to mean "You're really great" or T'es trop fort(e)! which translates to "You're really strong!" In casual settings, tu es génial (masculine) or tu es géniale (feminine) is also a very common way to express that someone is awesome.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Parisian French, young people may use the variation T'es trop fort(e), grave! to express high admiration.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase tu es incroyable uses the singular informal subject tu, so it should only be used with friends, family or peers.
Did you know?
- In certain French-speaking regions, adding the word grave at the end of an admiring phrase like T'es trop fort, grave! acts as a powerful intensifier, similar to saying 'totally' or 'seriously' in English.
- In modern casual French, the word trop, which literally means 'too much', is frequently used as an intensifier to mean 'very' or 'extremely' in phrases like t'es trop fort.
- In the phrase tu es incroyable, the subject tu is a direct relative of the German word du and the Russian word ты. They all share a common ancestor from the Proto-Indo-European language.
Examples in context
- Tu es incroyable.You're amazing.Tatoeba #1109988 by sacredceltic, translation #1109958 by Scott
- Pierre, t'es vraiment génial en maths. Comment fais-tu ça?Pierre, you're really great at math. How do you do it?
- Merci beaucoup pour ton aide. Tu es incroyable!Thank you so much for your help. You are amazing!
- Tu es incroyable avec les enfants.You're amazing with children.
- Pour ce que tu as fait, tu es incroyable.For what you have done, you're amazing.
Example conversation
Nathan and Chloé are at a concert.
- NathanChloé, tu es incroyable sur scène !Chloé, you're amazing on stage!
- ChloéMerci Nathan, c'est très gentil.Thank you Nathan, that's very kind.
- NathanTu as un talent fou.You have an incredible talent.
- ChloéTu me fais rougir.You're making me blush.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries incroyable, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
