Crack in French
Verb fendre: to split or crack

Imagine Freddie FENDER has cracked
his FENDER!

--------

The French verb fendre (noun = fente (f)), was originally used to refer to split wood. However, its meaning has extended to other contexts and now it can be applied to many situations like:

Cela me fend le coeur/l'âme de l'admettre, mais tu avais raison!
It is heart breaking/soul shattering for me to confess that you were right.
J'ai eu tellement peur que je me suis fendu la lèvre en la mordant.
I was so frightened that I split my lip biting it.
Comme il a pris du poids, il fend tous ses pantalons à chaque fois qu'il se penche.
As he has gained weight, he is splitting all his trousers each time he leans over.
La glace s'est fendue sous la pression.
The ice cracked under the pressure.
Alors qu'elle s'éloignait, il fendait la foule pour pouvoir la rejoindre à temps.
As she was moving away, he was pushing through the crowd to join her in time.
Lorsque je l'ai vu habillé de cette façon, je n'ai pu m'empêcher de me fendre la poire.
When I saw him dressed this way, I could not prevent myself from splitting my sides laughing.
Son épée fendait l'air alors qu'il luttait avec acharnement pour remporter la victoire.
His sword sliced through the air while he was doggedly struggling to earn/gain victory.
se fendre de
to manage, to come up with
M. le Président, vous vous fendez de discours éloquents mais vos actions, elles, tardent à venir.
M. President, you manage eloquent speeches but you are leading us along for your actions. / but your actions are slow (in coming) in becoming (reality)

Synonyms of the French verb fendre

séparer - to separate.
cliver - to split. You will recognize this word from English words such as meat cleaver, cleavage (The French for this is le clivage). The English verb cleave also means to cut, sever, split, penetrate or advance. Another related word derived from this is cleft which is the past participle (as is cleaved). You will know this from things like cleft palates.

Cultural Information

The Elysée is the place where the French President lives.
le Hôtel Matignon is where the Prime Minister lives.

French verb fendre in context

Début janvier 2008. Un ouvrage vient de sortir en France qui dénonce l'hypocrisie de N. Sarkozy et comment il arrive à faire penser aux gens ce qu'il veut.

En effet, à l'époque où il était encore Ministre, il prenait des décisions pour d'autres motifs que le simple fait qu'elles soient justes, c'est-à-dire, simplement pour devenir Président.

Il basait sa politique sur le principe du « diviser pour mieux régner » afin de déstabiliser ses rivaux politique.

Afin de maintenir la confusion chez les électeurs, Sarkozy se fendait de discours démagogues qui ont finalement porté leurs fruits.

Inspired by: http://olivierbonnet.canalblog.com/archives/2008/01/06/7462281.html

English translation

Beginning of January 2008. A book was released in France and it denounces the hypocrisy of N. Sarkozy and how he manages to make people believe whatever he wants.

Indeed, during the time when he was still Minister, he was making decisions with other motives other than just the simple fact that these were the right things to do, that is to say, he just wanted to become President.

He based his policy on the "split (divide¬) to rule better" principle in order to spread confusion among his political rivals.

In order to maintain the same confusion among the voters, Sarkozy managed/came up with popularity-seeking speeches that finally bore fruit.

Written and compiled by Charlotte Chateau.

Click here for more words like the French verb FENDRE.

200 Words a Day! Accelerated Language Learning

200 Words a Day! French Verb fendre
200 Words a Day! and Exceltra
©Copyright 2004-2023 All Rights Reserved
French verb to crack, split is fendre