convaincre in real spoken French
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Dropped ne, being sold, being pocketed.
Sold, not convinced
Speech crushes the pronouns: « je ne suis pas convaincu » lands as « chuis pas convaincu », and « tu es convaincu ? » becomes « t’es convaincu ? ». The « ne » disappears both times. You will also hear « il a essayé d’me convaincre », with « il » flattened to a bare « y ». Listen for that; write it out in full.
Three street synonyms genuinely replace the verb. « Vendre » (familier) turns persuasion into a sales pitch: « il m’a vendu son plan », he sold me on it, with a hint you may regret it. « Retourner quelqu’un » (familier, stronger) is flipping an opinion completely. « Mettre quelqu’un dans sa poche » (familier) means winning them over for good. None belongs in a client email.
💡 Focus at this level: Native slang — vendre, retourner quelqu’un, mettre dans sa poche
👨🏫 How to use « convaincre » at this level
1. « Il m’a vendu son idée » = he sold me on it. Familier.
2. « Retourner quelqu’un » = to flip their opinion completely. Stronger.
3. « Mettre quelqu’un dans sa poche » = to win them over for good.
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
How would you actually hear « il a essayé de me convaincre » in the street?
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« Y a essayé d’me convaincre » — « il » flattens to « y » and « de me » to « d’me », but you still write the full forms.
What does « elle l’a mis dans sa poche » tell you about him?
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She won him over completely — familier, and it suggests he is on her side for good.
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🧩 Sentence builder put the words in the right order