# God bless you! / bless you (sneezing)



## pen

Hi,
I have been looking for the translation in French of "God bless you !" (what we say after someone sneezes)
Thanks! I really appreciate it.

Pen  

Multiple threads merged to create this one. Related thread:
*bless you (after a sneeze)*


----------



## aurayfrance

"God bless you" is usually translated by "Dieu vous bénisse". But, when someone sneezes, we use another phrase: "A vos souhaits".


----------



## clavie

"À vos souhaits" in the formal sense, or "à tes souhaits" for someone you know well


----------



## mortnme

also, another way to say it is "a tes amours".  My teacher always says that when someone sneezes more than once!  It's so funny!  Ya... sorry bout that.  Like I said, that's another way to translate it!


----------



## valerie

If they say to you 'à tes amours', you may respond 'que les tiennes durent toujours'


----------



## beri

the whole thing is
1st sneeze : A tes/vos souhaits!
2nd sneeze : A tes/vos amours! (que les tiennes/vôtres durent toujours)
3rd sneeze : A tes/vos aïeux!
4th sneeze : Crève! (Die!  )

this only works if the sneezes are almost one after the other.
And you will observe that in general, nobody will go and die, they always stop at the third one!!


----------



## negima101

beri said:
			
		

> the whole thing is
> 1st sneeze : A tes/vos souhaits!
> 2nd sneeze : A tes/vos amours! (que les tiennes/vôtres durent toujours)
> 3rd sneeze : A tes/vos aïeux!
> 4th sneeze : Crève! (Die!  )
> 
> this only works if the sneezes are almost one after the other.
> And you will observe that in general, nobody will go and die, they always stop at the third one!!


 
How do you pronounce those? I was just wondering. Thank you.


----------



## E-J

beri said:
			
		

> the whole thing is
> 1st sneeze : A tes/vos souhaits!
> 2nd sneeze : A tes/vos amours! (que les tiennes/vôtres durent toujours)
> 3rd sneeze : A tes/vos *aïeux*!
> 4th sneeze : Crève!


 
J'ai cherché le mot "aïeux" dans le Trésor de la Langue Française, où j'ai trouvé le synonyme "ancêtres". C'est bien la signification de ce mot dans ce contexte?


----------



## LeoO

HI,

To be honnest as a french I've never heard this phrase before and I thought that Aïeux comes from the onomatopé ( I don't know how to spell onomatopé) "Aïe" like "outch" ( or something like that) in english.


----------



## Agnès E.

E-J said:
			
		

> J'ai cherché le mot "aïeux" dans le Trésor de la Langue Française, où j'ai trouvé le synonyme "ancêtres". C'est bien la signification de ce mot dans ce contexte?


 
Oui, E-J. On l'utilise souvent ainsi, c'est un classique.

Je le dis également sous forme d'exclamation lorsque quelque chose m'étonne : 
- Oh, mes aïeux ! Il fait un froid, ce matin !


----------



## cyb

j'irais pas dire que c'est un classique, on peut l'entendre de temps en temps mais rarement parmis les jeunes.


----------



## Gil

negima101 said:
			
		

> How do you pronounce those? I was just wondering. Thank you.


Try Juliette there :
http://www.research.att.com/projects/tts/demo.html


----------



## claudine75

the translation for "God bless you" is "(que) Dieu te/vous bénisse" *but* when someone sneezes one usually says "à tes/vos souhaits"
hope this has helped !


----------



## Joelline

I had a Belgian friend who used to say "Salut" when someone sneezed.  Is that another possibility?


----------



## Agnès E.

Mmm... never heard it in France. I can't say for other francophone countries.


----------



## Jim69

Moi je dis "va te moucher" 
Non je préfère "A tes/vos souhaits"....


----------



## cariosus

Question
I'm sorry if someone already asked this, I've only skimmed the thread because my eyes hurt...

In French, do people generally say "merci" when people say "à tes souhait"? We don't always say it in English and when I didn't say merci right away (I had 2 sneezes with a pause in between), the person gave me a look. Is it seen as rude?


----------



## africangie

Hi!

I've heard people say "santé" when someone sneezes in Switzerland.


----------



## Agnès E.

cariosus said:


> Question
> I'm sorry if someone already asked this, I've only skimmed the thread because my eyes hurt...
> 
> In French, do people generally say "merci" when people say "à tes souhait"? We don't always say it in English and when I didn't say merci right away (I had 2 sneezes with a pause in between), the person gave me a look. Is it seen as rude?


Yes, we usually do. 
But, actually, a genuinely polite person would never say_ à tes souhaits_. He would discreetely turn his eyes to another direction and pretend not to have noticed anything.


----------



## Zhorg

africangie said:


> Hi!
> 
> I've heard people say "santé" when someone sneezes in Switzerland.


 
On utilise "santé" en France pour "cheers" lorsqu'on boit un coup entre amis "tchin!"


----------



## Gutenberg

pen said:


> Hi,
> I have been looking for the translation in French of "God bless you !" (what we say after someone sneezes)
> Thanks! I really appreciate it.
> 
> Pen



After someone sneezes, in French we say "À tes souhaits!" or "À vos souhaits!" and it can be translated "To your wishes!"


----------



## mplsray

Agnès E. said:


> Yes, we usually do.
> But, actually, a genuinely polite person would never say_ à tes souhaits_. He would discreetely turn his eyes to another direction and pretend not to have noticed anything.


 
Are there not genuinely polite French speakers who are superstitious? I don't know how widespread the belief is, but there are still English-speaking people who would consider it very bad luck not to say _Bless you! _when another person sneezed. Indeed, the expression owes its existence to such a belief, as does another expression used in American and Australian English — borrowed from German (and also Yiddish, according to the Wikipedia article) — _Gesundheit!_


----------



## Agnès E.

I've never heard about that in France. But it could be right, nevertheless, as I'm not a specialist in superstitions...


----------



## itka

Agnès E. said:


> But, actually, a genuinely polite person would never say_ à tes souhaits_. He would discreetely turn his eyes to another direction and pretend not to have noticed anything.



I completely agree with Agnès. You can say "A tes souhaits" to a friend, but I think the best, the most polite is to keep silent.

"God Bless you" : I heard this sentence for the first time in a translation of an american picture. It's never used in french (I mean the translation : Dieu te/bénisse) except perhaps in very old provincial novels... If you tell such a sentence, I think the people would look at you a bit surprised !


----------



## hashamyim

Everyone seems to be so confused on the english side i feel i should clear something up. 'Bless you' as a phrase isn't really much to do with religion in English either. 
It stems from the Great Plague in London of 1665 when it was generally thought that the plague first showed signs of having infected someone if you sneezed. The second sign would be black ring shapes on your skin (mainly hands). So therefore, when somebody sneezed, it became customary to give them god's blessing so that they hopefully wouldn't die! And we keep this to this day. Previous to this, sneezing was ironically considered to be quite fashionable. If someone were to sneeze, then it was supposedly a sign of being very clean because everyone was dirty in those days, and internal dirt coming out meant that the body thought the skin was unhealthily clean and needed some extra dirt!
In most other countries, a sign of health rather than religion is given (though our religious phrase is in itself, more healthy than religious). For example in Germany (and thanks to immigration, in America) they say 'gesundheit' which literally translates as 'good health' or 'healthiness'.
So to translate 'God bless you' into french would make very little sense!

Hope this helps.
Hashamyim


----------



## catay

LeoO said:


> HI,
> 
> To be honnest as a french I've never heard this phrase before and I thought that Aïeux comes from the onomatopé ( I don't know how to spell onomatopé) "Aïe" like "outch" ( or something like that) in english.


 
de l'hymne national du Canada:
O *Canada*! *Terre de nos aïeux*, Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.


----------



## cariosus

Agnès E. said:


> Yes, we usually do.
> But, actually, a genuinely polite person would never say_ à tes souhaits_. He would discreetely turn his eyes to another direction and pretend not to have noticed anything.


 
oui, j'ai entendu cela aussi. 
merci.


----------



## matcop

quand quelqu'un eternue, je me souviens que mon professeur nous disais cette phrase venue du vieux francais:
"creve donc vieille vache!"
(on l'on s'adresse "a la maladie" ;p)


----------



## emmaD

"Dieu vous bénisse" was never used when someone sneezed (for all I know). But it was used by beggars to thank a benefactor. It is'nt anymore in use, because religion is such a private subject in France, that we just don't refer to God in public, even for little things like that.
(I'm sorry for my English...)


Pour "à tes amours", une de mes amies ne répond pas "et que les tiennes durent toujours", mais "et que les tiennes commencent un jour" ...


----------



## esprit

africangie said:


> Hi!
> 
> In Francophone evangelical Christian circles (which are small, I realize), it's not that rare to hear or say "Que le Seigneur te benisse."  I realize the question had to do with sneezing, but since the subject of the religion in France came up, I thought I would mention that.
> 
> 
> Thanks!



and I have a French Christian friend who often signed her letters "Que Dieu te garde", where we might normally write "God bless you, (signed...)"


----------



## natalie_tyw

What would the French say when somebody sneezes?


----------



## zibou

As in "Bless you"?

A tes/vos souhaits.


----------



## BMR

"A" sneezes ...
B : - à tes souhaits (or : à vos souhaits, more formal)
A : - merci.

Another one (between friends only) :
"A" sneezes ...
B : - à tes souhaits belle plante
A : - merci fleur charmante.

The last one :
"A" sneezes ...
 B : - à tes amours.


----------



## DearPrudence

BMR said:


> Another one (between friends only) :
> "A" sneezes ...
> B : - à tes souhaits belle plante
> A : - merci fleur charmante.


He he, I had never heard nor said that one  



BMR said:


> "A" sneezes ...
> B : - à tes souhaits (or : à vos souhaits, more formal)
> A : - merci.
> 
> The last one :
> "A" sneezes ...
> B : - à tes amours.


And you can add "*qu'ils durent toujours*" (I thought B said that for a third sneeze but apparently, it's A who answers that, I don't know ...  )


----------



## zibou

BMR said:


> "A" sneezes ...
> B : - à tes souhaits (or : à vos souhaits, more formal)
> A : - merci.
> 
> Another one (between friends only) :
> "A" sneezes ...
> B : - à tes souhaits belle plante
> A : - merci fleur charmante.
> 
> The last one :
> "A" sneezes ...
> B : - à tes amours.


 

I didn't know the second one, but after "tes amours" (which is then number 2), we say "à tes emmerdes" (obviously only among friends).

And as a friend of mine always said, after you sneeze four times in a row, we say "va voir un médecin".


----------



## saddamtohmto

> Hi!
> 
> I've heard people say "santé" when someone sneezes in Switzerland.



Je confirme, en Suisse on emploie plus généralement "santé" que "à tes/vos souhaits". Je pensais d'ailleurs qu'il était aussi possible de l'employer dans les autres pays francophones.


----------



## Bitzy

beri said:


> the whole thing is
> 1st sneeze : A tes/vos souhaits!
> 2nd sneeze : A tes/vos amours! (que les tiennes/vôtres durent toujours)
> 3rd sneeze : A tes/vos aïeux!
> 4th sneeze : Crève! (Die!  )




Is anyone else bothered by the fact that "amour" is masculine and "les tiennes" refers to a feminine? Does anyone know what "les tiennes" is supposed to refer to, as I am assuming that it isn't actually "tes amours."

Thanks.


----------



## wildeline

Pour LeoO : Aïe! Euh! avec une pointe d'exaspération dans la voix.


----------



## OLN

Bitzy said:


> Is anyone else bothered by the fact that "amour" is masculine and "les tiennes" refers to a feminine? Does anyone know what "les tiennes" is supposed to refer to, as I am assuming that it isn't actually "tes amours."


_les amours_ is feminine. 
_amour _is masc. sing. and fem. plural, like _orgue_ and _délice_

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=779138


----------



## Bitzy

Oh, how delightful!! Thank you so much!


----------



## Jabote

Agnès E. said:


> Actually, we don't in French.


 
Well I know someone (my grandmother) who always said "Dieu te bénisse ! Qu'il te fasse le nez comme j'ai la cuisse, sans pour autant qu'il me la raccourcisse !"...


----------



## sun-and-happiness

Comment est-ce que l'on dit quand quelqu'un éternue? Je voudrais savoir l'expression utilisée en France, mais aussi dans les autres pays francophones. Merci a tous!


----------



## FRENFR

A tes souhaits   (France)


----------



## Samajanantha

I studied in France a few years ago, and I've always thought that the progression could go like this:

à tes/vos souhaits
à tes/vos amours
et qu'ils restent toujours

Does anyone have any insight as to whether people sometimes say the third one?  Or did I somehow just make it up?  You have to admit that it has a nice ring to it.


----------



## Bitzy

People in France definitely say in response to the second one, "à tes/vos amours," "Que les tiennes/vôtres durent toujours." But it's not a progression like if you sneeze the third time they'll say it. It's that if you sneeze twice, and they've said "A tes souhaits" and "A tes amours," you'll respond, rather than saying thank you, with "Que les tiennes durent toujours."


----------



## itka

Just remember all that is fitting only with (preferably young) close friends !
Never answer "à vos amours" to your director !


----------



## alixe80

Joelline said:


> I had a Belgian friend who used to say "Salut" when someone sneezed. Is that another possibility?


 
Je n'ai vraiment jamais entendu ça...
On dit juste "A tes souhaits" ou "Gezonheid" (si tu es a Bruxelles ou en flandre)


----------



## alixe80

matcop said:


> quand quelqu'un eternue, je me souviens que mon professeur nous disais cette phrase venue du vieux francais:
> "creve donc vieille vache!"
> (on l'on s'adresse "a la maladie" ;p)


 
lolll, jamais entendu ça mais je crois que ça me ferait arrêter d'éternuer tout de suite loll


----------



## Topsie

à tes/vos amours!


----------

