How to Express Opinions in French
In this explainer, we learn how to express opinions in French using 20 essential adjectives for describing films, books, music, art, performances and experiences.
Watch the video as many times as you need, until you feel you can give the French translations as we go!
Review Vocabulary
Review the words from this video:
Part 1
| English | French |
|---|---|
| beautiful | beau / belle |
| excellent | excellent / excellente |
| great, brilliant | génial / géniale |
| amazing, incredible | incroyable |
| successful, well-made | réussi / réussie |
Part 2
| English | French |
|---|---|
| original | original / originale |
| captivating | captivant / captivante |
| fascinating | fascinant / fascinante |
| interesting | intéressant / intéressante |
| entertaining | divertissant / divertissante |
Part 3
| English | French |
|---|---|
| moving | émouvant / émouvante |
| funny | drôle |
| impressive | impressionnant / impressionnante |
| surprising | surprenant / surprenante |
| confusing, disorienting | déroutant / déroutante |
Part 4
| English | French |
|---|---|
| strange | étrange |
| shocking | choquant / choquante |
| disappointing | décevant / décevante |
| boring | ennuyeux / ennuyeuse |
| predictable | prévisible |
Flashcards
How To Express a General Reaction
Expressing a Personal Opinion
Let’s take a look at some examples using masculine nouns:
And here are examples using feminine nouns. Notice the agreement of the adjectives.
Explaining an Opinion
Next, you might want to justify your opinion, so we can expand these sentences with the following useful links:
parce que… — because…
car… — because / since…
Examples:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| J’ai trouvé le film captivant parce que l’histoire était originale. | I found the film captivating because the story was original. |
| L’exposition était impressionnante parce que les œuvres étaient très variées. | The exhibition was impressive because the works of art were very varied. |
| Le livre était décevant car la fin était prévisible. | The book was disappointing because the ending was predictable. |
Agreeing, Disagreeing and Qualifying an Opinion
These expressions help you respond naturally to another person’s opinion. You can agree completely, agree only partly, or disagree politely before giving your own view.
| Purpose | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Agreeing | Je suis d’accord. | I agree. |
| Agreeing | Moi aussi. | Me too. |
| Qualifying | Je suis plutôt d’accord. | I mostly agree. |
| Qualifying | Je suis d’accord jusqu’à un certain point. | I agree up to a point. |
| Disagreeing politely | Je ne suis pas tout à fait d’accord. | I do not entirely agree. |
| Disagreeing | Je ne suis pas d’accord. | I disagree. |
| Introducing a contrast | Je vois ce que tu veux dire, mais… | I see what you mean, but… |
| Giving your own view | Pour ma part… | For my part… / Personally… |
How would you respond?
Read each comment and follow the instruction. Say your response aloud before revealing the model answer.
Reveal model response
Je suis d’accord. Moi aussi, je l’ai trouvé captivant.
I agree. I found it captivating too.
L’exposition était impressionnante.
The exhibition was impressive.
Reveal model response
Je suis plutôt d’accord, mais j’ai trouvé certaines œuvres étranges.
I mostly agree, but I found some of the works strange.
À mon avis, le concert était génial.
In my opinion, the concert was great.
Reveal model response
Je ne suis pas tout à fait d’accord. Moi, je l’ai trouvé décevant.
I do not entirely agree. I found it disappointing.
J’ai trouvé le livre assez ennuyeux.
I found the book rather boring.
Reveal model response
Je vois ce que tu veux dire, mais j’ai trouvé la fin émouvante.
I see what you mean, but I found the ending moving.
Go Deeper
Making Comparisons in French
Learn how to make comparisons in French using plus, moins and aussi, while applying adjective agreement correctly. Build on familiar opinion language to compare films, books, experiences and more, and discover important forms such as meilleur and mieux.
Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of this topic.
J’ai trouvé le film vraiment captivant.
I found the film really captivating.