courir at C1 — refined & idiomatic
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Rumours, commonplace things and heading for ruin.
Idioms that run
« Le bruit court que » is how a rumour gets announced without an owner: « le bruit court qu’il démissionne ». Journalists and colleagues both use it, and it shields the speaker — no source is named. Its cousin « ça court les rues » says something is anything but rare: « des avis comme ça, ça court les rues », opinions like that are everywhere.
Careful: « courir les rues » is frozen in that one form and only ever means being everywhere. Any other plural — « courir les magasins », « les brocantes » — means doing them one after another, a hunt. And « courir à sa perte » is grave: the subject is the agent of its own ruin, running there on its own legs, and the end is not in doubt. Keep it for real stakes.
💡 Focus at this level: Idiomatic — le bruit court que, ça court les rues, courir à sa perte
👨🏫 How to use « courir » at this level
1. « Le bruit court que » = rumour has it. No named source.
2. « Ça court les rues » = it’s two a penny. Frozen; « courir les magasins » = to do the rounds.
3. « Courir à sa perte » = to be heading for ruin, by one’s own doing.
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
Which one means commonplace: « ça court les rues » or « elle court les magasins » ?
Show answer
« Ça court les rues » — only « les rues » carries that frozen sense; any other plural means doing them one after another.
When would you use « courir à sa perte » rather than a plain « aller mal » ?
Show answer
When the ruin is certain and self-inflicted — the subject is actively speeding towards it.
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