/kɑ̃ le pul‿oʁɔ̃ de dɑ̃/ lit. ‘when hens have teeth’
French idiom, familiar. It will never happen.
Draft Not yet checked by a native French speaker.
How do people use Quand les poules auront des dents
?
Familiar, everyday French, often aimed at someone who keeps promising: “Tu me rembourseras quand les poules auront des dents.” It’s ironic, so the tone does the work. You’ll also hear “lorsque” in place of “quand”, and “et les poules auront des dents” as a sarcastic reply.
Quand les poules auront des dents
in real sentences
-
Je le ferai lorsque les poules auront des dents.
I’ll do it when Hell freezes over.
Tatoeba, sentence by sacredceltic, translation by Imp, CC BY 2.0 FR
-
J’irai avec vous quand les poules auront des dents.
I’ll go with you when pigs fly.
Tatoeba, sentence by lbdx, translation by FeuDRenais2, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Quand les poules auront des dents
come from?
The picture explains itself: birds have no teeth, so you’ll be waiting a while. Neither French nor English Wiktionary gives a date or first source; the French entry’s etymology section is an empty stub. English has the same image in “as rare as hen’s teeth”. The phrase was popular enough that the French translation of Stephen Jay Gould’s Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes took it as its title.
Mistakes learners make with Quand les poules auront des dents
Using the present tense: “quand les poules ont des dents”. French puts the future after “quand” when the event is in the future, so it has to be “auront”.
Other French idioms like Quand les poules auront des dents
Spot a mistake in Quand les poules auront des dents
?
Send a correction, or a sentence you’d actually say with it. Everything is read before anything on this page changes.