/la nɥi pɔʁtə kɔ̃sɛj/ lit. ‘the night brings advice’
French idiom, everyday. To wait until the next day before making a decision.
Draft Not yet checked by a native French speaker.
How do people use La nuit porte conseil
?
An everyday proverb, said to someone (or to yourself) who’s about to decide something big in a hurry. It’s a fixed sentence, so it stays in the present whatever you’re talking about, and people often lead into it with “on dit que” or “comme on dit”. Balzac has a character end a conversation with it: “La nuit porte conseil, nous causerons de tout cela demain.”
La nuit porte conseil
in real sentences
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La nuit porte conseil.
Sleep on it.
Tatoeba, sentence by tOkeshu, translation by lunchmeat317, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Avant une prise de décision, la nuit porte conseil.
Sleep on it before deciding.
Tatoeba, sentence by Dreamk33, translation by _undertoad, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does La nuit porte conseil
come from?
French Wiktionary treats it as a variant of “la nuit est mère de conseil”, which it says is attested from the 16th century. By the 1840s the modern wording was common enough for George Sand (Jeanne, 1844) and Balzac (La Cousine Bette, 1846) to use it in dialogue. Italian says the same thing almost word for word: “la notte porta consiglio”.
Mistakes learners make with La nuit porte conseil
Translating “sleep on it” word for word. “Dors dessus” sounds like an invitation to lie down on something, so use the proverb or “réfléchis-y à tête reposée”.
Other French idioms like La nuit porte conseil
Spot a mistake in La nuit porte conseil
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