Word Of The Week

ressentir

This verb is a difficult one for me, and I'm not sure that I'm going to get it right in this post. But I'll give it a shot.

The other day, while exchanging coins for bread with the Bread Lady, she and I talked about the weather. We often do. It was overcast and not particularly cold, but there was a steady wind blowing from the north that made it feel cold. When I mentioned this, she agreed it felt cold. "Ça se sent," I said, intending to mean that you could feel it. She responded immediately with, "Oui, on le ressent." I felt as if she were correcting me. I know I've had this trouble with sentir and ressentir before.

Sentir means to feel. Both physically and perception-wise, as far as I can tell from the dictionary. You can feel the book in your hand. You can feel threatened. It can also mean to smell, as you do with your nose. So did I say I could feel the cold or did I say I could smell the cold?

When you put the "se" in front of sentir, it means that whatever your talking about can be felt. Like the cold. Ça se sent.

So, did Roselyne's response correct me because ressentir makes it clear that I could feel the cold as opposed to smell it? Or was she just doing the typical French thing of agreeing with me by saying the same thing I just said in a different way?

Ressentir means to experience a sensation, to feel it. Like feeling the effects of a hard workout, feeling pain, love, or outrage. Or, I suppose, the effect of the cold wind.

So does one have to do with the physical, while the other is more about the emotional? If so, why did the Bread Lady use ressentir? Do both words mean the same thing; can you use them interchangeably?

There's a old song by the French group Téléphone called "Ça, c'est vraiment toi" that includes the line, "Ça se sent que c'est toi." I never know if it means, "I can tell that it's you," or "I can smell that it's you."

Another song, by Johnny Hallyday, called "Ce que je sais," includes these lyrics:

Ce que je sais, ce que je sens
Non jamais, non personne
N'a su pour moi
Ce que je sais, ce que je ressens
Ça je le sais, je le sais maintenant

What I know, what I feel (sentir)
No one ever knew it for me
What I know, what I feel (ressentir)
I know it, I know it now.

What's the meaning of using both forms of "feel?" Does it just make the song work better lyrically or is there a difference in meaning? This is probably one of those things that people who have really studied French learn and retain.

As for me, I remain confused. Maybe one of my readers can help.