vendre in real spoken French
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Flogging, palming off and grassing up.
Street selling talk
Everyday selling talk is short and concrete: « j’ai vendu ma caisse trois mille balles », where the car is a « caisse » and euros are « balles ». The « ne » disappears from every negative — « un vélo qui freine pas » — and « je » loses its vowel even before a consonant: « j’vais tout vendre ». Fast, flat and completely ordinary.
Three slang synonyms carry a verdict. « Fourguer » and « refourguer » (familier) mean offloading something dubious on somebody, and say outright that the buyer was had: « il m’a refourgué un vélo qui freine pas ». « Bazarder » (familier) is clearing things out cheaply, with no judgement on the goods. And when « vendre » means grassing somebody up, the street word is « balancer » (très familier).
💡 Focus at this level: Native slang — refourguer, bazarder, balancer
👨🏫 How to use « vendre » at this level
1. « Refourguer » = to palm something dodgy off on someone. Familier.
2. « Bazarder » = to flog stuff off cheaply. No judgement on the goods.
3. « Balancer » = to grass someone up. The street word when vendre means betraying.
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
Make it street: « Il m’a vendu une voiture en mauvais état. »
Show answer
« Il m’a refourgué une caisse pourrie. » — refourguer says the buyer was had.
What does « fourguer » add that « bazarder » does not?
Show answer
It says the goods were dodgy and somebody got stung; « bazarder » is only clearing out cheaply, no judgement on the goods.
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