# I owe you one



## leeweiching

Hello!  I want to find out if there is an expression in french to say "I owe you one".  

Say someone has done me a favour and I want to say thanks and "I owe you one".

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## Kimmy81

Hi leeweiching,

I think that it would be:
"*Je te le revaudrai*" or "*Je te dois bien ca*"...


Greetings,
Kimmy


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## LV4-26

We also say
_à charge de revanche
_(I don't know why)

It often comes after a "merci"
- _Merci beaucoup. A charge de revanche._
meaning
Thks very much for helping me, next time I'll help you.
which is, I think, the exact meaning of _I owe you one._


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## Susan Grodsky

"A charge de revanche" appears to mean "I have the burden of returning [the favour]".

A perfect translation, IMHO.


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## LV4-26

Entendu hier soir, dans une série télé, le calque "_tu m'en dois une".
_Personnellement, je n'aime pas. Reste à savoir jusqu'à quel point c'est répandu et, par conséquent, s'il va falloir se résigner à l'entendre.


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## FrançoisXV

I owe you one = à charge de revanche, general meaning
other possibility = un service en vaut un autre (less common use)

je t'en dois une / tu m'en dois une est parfaitement français sur les cas concrets, par exemple si je vous dépanne d'une cigarette.

[...]


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## willeman3

Bonjour à tous,

Vous n'avez donc pas pensé à ce fameux _"Je te dois une fière chandelle" _?
A moins qu'il ne convienne pas ici, je dois avouer que je ne m'en sers jamais...
Hope that helps


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## LV4-26

willeman3 said:
			
		

> Bonjour à tous,
> 
> Vous n'avez donc pas pensé à ce fameux _"Je te dois une fière chandelle" _?
> A moins qu'il ne convienne pas ici, je dois avouer que je ne m'en sers jamais...
> Hope that helps


 Ce n'est pas vraiment que ça ne convienne pas. Mais il me semble que c'est un peu trop emphatique par rapport à l'expression anglaise. D'autre part, dans l'expression anglaise (à moins que je me trompe, auquel cas ma proposition _à charge de revanche_ ne tient plus) il y a l'idée que le locuteur prévoit de "renvoyer l'ascenceur", de rendre un service en retour. Je ne vois pas cette idée dans _devoir une fière chandelle._


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## kirakuni8

I was watching a TV show from Québec yesterday (Une grenade avec ça) and one of the employees at the restaurant needed someone to take his shift. When one of the other workers said he could work that night and replace him so that he could go watch a sports game, he said "merci, je t'en dois une". As he wasn't given anything concrete like "une cigarette", would this be considered a calque or anglicism or is it correct french ?

Merci d'avance


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## titi22

Hi!
"A charge de revanche !" is the best for me!
"Je t'en dois une belle !" seems to become more and more common, even if you haven't been given anything, just because you owe one to somebody (a service back).


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## Ashmada

Why wouldn't "je t'en dois une" be correct?  If you haven't been given anything concrete, "en" stands for "faveur", resulting in: "je te dois une faveur."   A juger de la réaction des français en début de thread, j'imagine que c'est un belgicisme... mais grammaticallement, ça semble légitime.


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## Tim Zawa

Definitely, you got it.
It is simply the best one. Very often some frenchpeople think wrongly that the translate should always be very different whereas the structurs, between these 2 languages are often very similar.

Je t'en dois une = I owe you one

Pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué


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## LV4-26

Tim Zawa said:


> Definitely, you got it.
> It is simply the best one. Very often some frenchpeople think wrongly that the translate should always be very different whereas the structurs, between these 2 languages are often very similar.


Yes, that sometimes happens. And the reverse also happens.



Tim Zawa said:


> Je t'en dois une = I owe you one
> 
> Pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué


_Je t'en dois une,_ meaning _I owe you a favour,_ just makes no sense to me. I've never heard or said it. 
First off, we most often translate _favour_ as _service_. (can you do me a favour? = peux-tu me rendre un service ?), in my neck of the woods, at least. So, in case I adopted the literal translation, it would have to be _je t'en dois *un*._. But, in any event, that specific elllipsis just doesn't work.

The most commonly used phrase in that situation is _à charge de revanche_.

Pourquoi faire bizarre et à peine compréhensible quand on peut faire naturel et idiomatique ?


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## Tim Zawa

I think it is a matter of sociology, which terms are used.
Among young people or in some social class, we will rarely heard "à charge de revanche"

"Je t'en dois une" seems to be more typical, used in everyday life
whereas "à charge de revanche" more formal, more elegant.






Summarizing: On voit tous midi à sa porte


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## Eivalf

In France we never use "Je t'en dois une". But if you want something more colloquial, I advice you "Je te le revaudrai".
Indeed, "A charge de revanche" is more formal so you will may only write this.
"Je te dois une fière chandelle" expresses your gratefulness but it doesn't mean that you will give somebody a favour in return.


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## Tim Zawa

never say never, guy

Sometimes, "je te le revaudrai", is better but in some case, je t'en dois (bien) une" is more direct


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## Eivalf

Ok, I mean I never heard it in France.


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## LV4-26

Eivalf said:


> In France we never use "Je t'en dois une". But if you want something more colloquial, I advice you "Je te le revaudrai".
> Indeed, "A charge de revanche" is more formal so you will may only write this.
> "Je te dois une fière chandelle" expresses your gratefulness but it doesn't mean that you will give somebody a favour in return.


 Je l'avais oubliée, celle-là. _Je te le revaudrai_ ou, plus courant, il me semble, _je te revaudrai ça._

Et je répète que je n'ai JAMAIS lu, ni entendu, ni utilisé  "_je t'en dois (bien) une_" dans le cas d'un service rendu. Si je l'entendais, il me faudrait sûrement un peu de temps pour en comprendre la signification et j'en conclurais que j'ai affaire à un anglophone.

Je connais "_je te dois bien ça_" mais ça n'a pas le même sens.


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## dufresne37927

(Am.) slang, you did me a favor that I will probably do a favor for you in the future.
As I say "I owe you one." refers to I remember your good deeds.


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## SwissPete

"I owe you one" is short for "I owe you a favor".

Are you looking for a translation?


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## dufresne37927

SwissPete said:


> "I owe you one" is short for "I owe you a favor".
> 
> Are you looking for a translation?



in the States, people usually say "I owe you one" instead of "I owe you a favor"

Yes, I want to know how French people say that.


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## Pure_Yvesil

Hey guys,

I've looked around the forum a bit, but I've only seen _"à charge de revanche"_ as a viable option.

However, I've also heard: _"je te suis redevable !"_

Is this also a correct way of saying it ?


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## mismu1

Hello !

I find "à charge de revanche" perfect. "Je te suis redevable" is not something we would easily say, or within a sentence, but not in an informal way.


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## Pure_Yvesil

In what context would you use "je te suis redevable" ? In a written text perhaps?


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## Micia93

yes Yvesil, but you could say it in oral speech, but this is rather formal, as mismu pointed out


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## selane

Bonjour,
Quand on dit "je te suis redevable", ça veut dire qu'on a le sentiment qu'on ne pourra jamais rendre le bienfait qui nous a été fait, et on exprime notre gratitude à la personne. On peut le dire sur un ton très amical ou l'écrire chaleureusement "je vous suis infiniment redevable". 

Mais entre copains, amis et relations amicales, on dit "à charge de revanche" ;
On dit aussi :
"je te rendrai la pareille" ou "je vous rendrai la pareille" ça reste très poli.
"Je te renverrai l'ascenseur" ou "je vous renverrai l'ascenseur", c'est très amical


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## franc 91

Couldn't you just say - je te dois un (whatever it is)? I haven't ever seen the expression - à charge de revanche - before.


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## Micia93

of course you can, but it's far weaker than "à charge de revanche"


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## Pure_Yvesil

in that case I'd say: je t'*en *dois *un(e)*
At least that's what I'm hearing in Brussels


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## franc 91

Yes of course - (in a bar probably that is what they would say)


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## Pure_Yvesil

Come to think of it (yes 2 months later ) does "à charge de revanche" work *in both ways?*

"I did you a favour so you owe me one now!" : je t'ai rendu un service. À charge de revanche ! (= tu me revaudras ça)
"You did me a favour, I owe you one now": tu m'as rendu un service. À charge de revanche ! (= je te revaudrai ça)


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## Lly4n4

Yes for me, "a charge de revanche" works in both ways. I will only use it with a friend though, if it is the other person who owes me one.

I also use "Tu m'en dois une maintenant", ou "A toi de me rendre la pareille".


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## Julounge

I'd say "Je te/vous renverrais l'ascenseur", "I'd send you the lift back". Very common. "je vous dois une fière chandelle" sounds formal, depends how familiar and close to the person you are.


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## Julounge

I'd say "Je te/vous renverrais l'ascenseur", "I'd send you the lift back". Very common. "je vous dois une fière chandelle" sounds formal, depends how familiar and close to the person you are. You could also say "next (bill - glass - service - help) is for me :"La prochaine est pour moi"


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## petit1

I agree with" je te  revaudrai ça" or " je te rendrai la pareille" but I not with "Je te dois bien ça" which means "that's the least I can do for you."


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## petit1

"Je te renverr*ai* l'ascenseur" is Ok (and familiar) but "je te dois une fière chandelle" doesn't mean the same thing. It means that you thank the person for "rescuing " you in some way.


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## Julounge

petit1 said:


> "Je te renverr*ai* l'ascenseur" is Ok (and familiar) but "je te dois une fière chandelle" doesn't mean the same thing. It means that you thank the person for "rescuing " you in some way.



Absolutely, thinking of the formal aspect when I saw it I forgot that it wasn't even a good proposition, you named the one I'd say is the best answer :"Je te revaudrai ça/je vous revaudrai ça"


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## Flo.F

Well, in France, we do use "je t'en dois une" especially when someone gets you out of a bad situation, it may sound more familiar but that is correct. You were talking about cigarette, let's imagine someone offers his friend one, he could answer "Merci, je t'en dois une".

"je te dois une fière chandelle" is the correct sentence, however we do not use it that much nowadays, i'd say it is too formal.

If you are speaking to a friend, especially a good one, " je t'en dois une" is more appropriate and " je te renverrai l'ascenseur" sounds too old-fashioned, some might use it but especially adults and... well, i don't know but i personally think it sounds bad, really, but that is fine if you want to use it*. 
*
"je te revaudrai ça" is very good though. So i would suggest you to use either this one or "je t'en dois une" if you are speaking to a friend.

Oh, and as far as "à charge de renvanche !" is concerned, it may sound cool but teenagers in France mostly do not say this. So yeah, basically, it is all about who is the person you are talking to. I'm 17 years old so i am just saying how it goes with people of my age.


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