What does “avoir de la misère” mean in Quebec French?
Beauté, entraînement et rôle de sexe symbole
B1 French listening practice · Québec French · Curated for intermediate learners
Quebec French uses avoir de la misère (à) to mean “to have trouble” or “to have a hard time” doing something. J’ai pas de misère à croire (“I don’t have trouble believing it”), j’ai de la misère à comprendre (“I’m having a hard time understanding”). The Quebec sense surprises France French listeners, who associate misère with extreme poverty or wretchedness. France French would say j’ai du mal à for the same idea. The Quebec version is a reliable dialect tell, alongside en masse, écœurant (used positively in Quebec), and présentement (“currently”).
In this clip, a Quebec interviewer talks to a male model about training and body image: “J’ai tellement pas de misère à croire” (“I have no trouble at all believing it”).
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this B1 French listening practice listening practice?
General French frequency
Spoken French frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s B1 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · Lexique 3.83 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Quebec talk shows and interviews (Tout le monde en parle, Salut Bonjour)
- ▸In Quebec sitcoms (District 31, Les Pays d’en haut)
- ▸In Quebec pop music (Cœur de Pirate, Charlotte Cardin)
- ▸In Quebec parenting and family-life content
- ▸In Quebec workplace and customer-service everyday conversations