Je voudrais lui parler entre quatre-z-yeux.

Sentence Discussions French
#1
English Translation

I would like to talk to him one-on-one.

I have never seen Z as liaison. Only t in question form. Is this common?

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#2

Hi @paris2020,

We sometimes add consonants to make things easier to pronounce, but it’s the first time I see this expression written this way.

It is accepted and apparently was even used by famous writers, but you can also simply write “entre quatre yeux”.

Why is this orthography accepted here…? I don’t know.
Maybe because quatre is invariable – and not ending in “s” or “x”, but I can only speculate.

As far as pronunciation:

I would indeed pronounce it as if the “z” was here:

  • entre quatre yeux : {ɑ̃tʁə katʁ zjø}

But I would say:

  • quatre amis : {katʁ ami} → no z sound here.
  • quatre hommes: {katʁ ɔm} → no z sound here either
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