to be really nice to somebody

parler (l')italien — to speak Italian

parler affaires/politique — to talk (about) business/politics

parler littérature/cinéma — to talk (about) books/films

parler de — to mention

toute la ville en parle — it's the talk of the town

les journaux en ont parlé — it was in the papers

c'est d'épidémie qu'il faut parler — we're talking about an epidemic here

on parle d'un gymnase — there's talk of a gymnasium

on en parle — there's talk of it

qui parle de vous expulser? — who said anything about throwing you out?

ta promesse/son travail, parlons-en! — some promise/work!

finis-le, comme ça on n'en parle plus — finish it, then it's done

parler de — to be about

parler de quelque chose/quelqu'un avec quelqu'un — to talk to somebody about something/somebody

il va parler de toi à son chef — he'll put in a word for you with his boss

il nous a parlé de vous — he's told us about you

il ne m'a jamais parlé de sa famille — he's never mentioned his family to me

on m'a beaucoup parlé de vous — I've heard a lot about you

la lecture? parle-lui plutôt de tennis! — books? he would rather hear about tennis!

elle a parlé à 14 mois — she started to talk at 14 months

parler du nez/avec un accent — to speak with a nasal twang/with an accent

économiquement parlant — economically speaking

laisser parler son cœur — to speak from the heart

parler par gestes — to communicate by means of gestures

les muets parlent par signes — the speech-impaired use sign language

parler en connaissance de cause — to know what one is talking about

bien parlé! — well said!

parler pour ne rien dire — to talk for the sake of talking

il s'écoute parler — he loves the sound of his own voice

parlons peu et parlons bien — let's get down to business

ils ne se parlent pas — they're not on speaking terms

Il ne pouvait plus parler. — He could no longer speak.

À quel âge commence-t-on à parler? — At what age do children start talking?

parler en français — to speak in French

parler à qn — to speak to sb, to talk to sb

parler de qch à qn — to tell sb about sth

Il m'a parlé de sa nouvelle voiture. — He told me about his new car.

Il t'a parlé de la réunion d'hier? — Did he tell you about yesterday's meeting?

beaucoup faire parler de soi — to be much talked about

un homme qui a beaucoup fait parler de lui cette année — a man who has been much talked about this year

parler en dormant — to talk in one's sleep

parler du nez — to talk through one's nose

parler en l'air — to waste words

parler tout seul — to talk to oneself

sans parler de — not to mention

sans même parler de — to say nothing of

tu parles! — you must be joking!

généralement parlant — generally speaking

Nous étions en train de parler quand le directeur est entré. — We were talking when the headmaster came in.

parler avec qn — to talk to sb

Je parlais justement avec lui. — I was just talking to him.

n'en parlons plus! — let's forget it!

Il parle dix langues. — He speaks ten languages.

parler le français — to speak French

Vous parlez français? — Do you speak French?

parler affaires — to talk business

parler boutique — to talk shop