In this lesson, we’ll have a look at the adjective feignant (also spelled faignant), which means “lazy”. Feignant is more or less synonymous with paresseux, which also mean lazy, but could also equate to “slacker” in English. Let’s jump into the examples!
feignant, feignant(e)
lazy (in the masculine and feminine forms)
Feignant -lazy
The French adjective feignant is related to the verb feindre (to fake, pretent or feign). Feindre comes from the Latin word fingo (to shape).
For all of the following example sentences, feignant simply means “lazy”.
Sylvie suit des cours de violon mais elle n’avance pas parce qu’elle est trop feignante.
Sylvie is taking violin classes but she’s not improving because she’s too lazy.
These next two examples uses the ne…rien negation form, which mean nothing or anything.
Martin veut apprendre l’allemand. Il a acheté tous les livres mais il n’apprend rien parce qu’il est feignant.
Martin wants to learn German. He bought all teh books but he’s not learning anything because he’s lazy.
In this sentence, j’étais (I was) is être (to be) conjugated in the imperfect tense.
Je n’ai rien fait cette semaine. J’étais trop feignant !
I didn’t do anything this week. I was too lazy!
In this senence, je devrais (I should) is devoir (must, to have to) conjugated in the conditional tense.
Je devrais faire le ménage aujourd’hui mais je suis trop feignant !
I should do housework today but I’m too lazy.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! You now know how to use feignant in French! Now check our related lesson covering the idiom avoir la flemme, which means “to be lazy” or “can’t be bothered”.
French Lessons by David Issokson
References
