English

French

Literal translation

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Il vaut mieux aller au moulin qu’au médecin.

It’s better to go to the mill than to the doctor.

A bad workman blames his tools.

À mauvais ouvrier point de bons outils.

To a bad worker no good tools.

Beggars can’t be choosers.

Nécessité fait loi.

Necessity makes law

Clothes don’t make the person.

L’habit ne fait pas le moine.

The habit doesn’t make the monk.

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Il ne faut pas juger les gens sur la mine.

One shouldn’t judge people on their appearance.

Do your work well and never mind the critics.

Bien faire et laisser dire.

Do well and let (them) speak.

Every Jack has his Jill.

Il n’est si méchant pot qui ne trouve son couvercle.

There’s no such mean jar that can’t find his lid.

Givers of advice don’t pay the price.

Les conseilleurs ne sont pas les payeurs.

Dispensers of advice are not the payers.

A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

Qui s’excuse, s’accuse.

He who excuses himself accuses himself.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.

Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera.

Help yourself, heaven will help you.

Honor to whom honor is due.

À tout seigneur tout honneur.

In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

Au royaume des aveugles les borgnes sont rois.

It’s better to talk to the organ-grinder than the monkey.

Il vaut mieux s’adresser à Dieu qu’à ses saints.

It’s better to address God that his saints.

A man’s home is his castle.

Charbonnier est maître chez lui.

A coalman is master at home

The miser’s son is a spendthrift.

À père avare fils prodigue.

To a stingy father prodigal son.

New converts are the most pious.

Quand le diable devient vieux, il se fait ermite.

When the devil gets old, he turns into a hermit.

No man is a prophet in his own country.

Nul n’est prophète en son pays. 

Opportunity makes a thief.

L’occasion fait le larron.

The rich man is the one who pays his debts.

Qui paie ses dettes s’enrichit.

He who pays his debts gets richer.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Il ne sert à rien de déshabiller Pierre pour habiller Paul.

It serves no purpose to undress Peter to dress Paul.

The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.

Les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés.

Shoemakers are always the worst shod.

The sky is the limit.

Tout soldat a dans son sac son batôn de maréchal.

Every soldier has his marshall’s baton in his bag.

To err is human

L’erreur est humaine

The error is human

To know a friend is to respect him.

Comme on connaît ses saints, on les honore.

As one knows his saints, one honors them.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Autant de têtes, autant d’avis. Deux patrons font chavirer la barque.

So many heads, so many opinions. Two bosses capsize the boat

The tree is known by its fruit.

C’est au pied du mur qu’on voit le maçon.

It’s at the foot of the wall that you see the mason.

A word to the wise is enough.

À bon entendeur, salut.

To a good listener, safety.

You can tell an artist by his handiwork

À l’oeuvre on reconnaît l’artisan.

By his work one recognizes the workman.