What does “avoir de la misère” mean in Quebec French?
Beauté, entraînement et rôle de sexe symbole
B1 French listening practice · Québec French · Picked for people who know some
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”).
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this B1 French listening practice video?
How common in written French
How common in spoken French
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than B1. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · Lexique 3.83 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸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