There are many ‘words’ in a language that stand a little apart from rules of syntax, yet are at the heart of a language. These are called ‘interjections’, like the famous ‘Oh là là!‘. To know a few French interjections will get you closer to the French ‘spirit':
Here are a few:
Ben…(buh(n)/Euh...(uh) (Well, er)
Aïe (ah-y(uh) ! Ouille (oo-y(uh) ! (Ouch!)
Ça alors (sah ah-lohr) ! (Wow!; Well really!)
Holà (oh-lah) ! (Hey! Whoa!)
Quoi (koah) ? (What?)
Hein (uh(n) ? (Eh? What?)
(Mais) Enfin (may ah(n) fuh(n) ! (When outraged, annoyed as in: “For God’s sake!; What do you think you’re doing?!; Cut it out!)
Mince/Zut (alors) (muh(n)-s(uh) ! (Damn!)
Ouf (oof) ! (Phew!)
Bof… (bohf) (Meh…)
Pff ! (expressing disdain)
Beurk (buhrk) ! Berk (behrk) ! (Yuk!)
C’est pas vrai (say pah vray) ! (You’re kidding! (lit. It’s not true!)
Coucou (koo-koo) ! (Hello! (very common); Peekaboo!)
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