When you start learning French, one of the first topics that you’ll probably cover is emotions, feelings, and moods. A lot of time, you’ll just be taught adjectives like heureux, triste, fatigué, and related idioms like avoir le cafard will be overlooked. Even those who’ve been learning French for a while are likely to be unfamiliar with a lot of the expressions that come with this topic.
So to help you out, I’ve put together a list of the idiomatic expressions that native French speakers most often use when talking about how they’re feeling.
C’est parti !
avoir la banane

Meaning: to be happy, to have a smile on one’s face
Literal Translation: to have the banana
Example: Elle a la banane du fait de son nouveau travail. She’s happy because of her new job.
ne pas être dans son assiette

Meaning: to not feel like oneself, to feel unwell
Literal Translation: to not be in one’s plate
Example: Je vais prendre un jour de congé, je ne suis pas dans mon assiette ce matin. I’m going to take a day off, I don’t feel like myself this morning.
avoir la pêche

Meaning: to feel great, to be full of energy
Literal Translation: to have the peach
Example: Je me suis remis de mon rhume et j’ai encore la pêche ! I’ve gotten over my cold and I feel great again!
Note: there’s quite a few variations of this idiom. Among the most common are avoir la patate (lit.: to have the potato) and avoir la frite (lit.: to have the French fry). (Both of these have the same meaning as avoir la pêche).

avoir le cafard
Meaning: to have the blues, to feel down, to feel depressed
Literal Translation: to have the cockroach
Example: Quand j’ai le cafard, je préfère être seul. When I’m feeling down, I prefer to be alone.

être de bon poil
Meaning: to be in a good mood
Literal Translation: to be of good hair
Example: La patronne est de bon poil aujourd’hui. The boss is in a good mood today.

être de mauvais poil
Meaning: to be in a bad mood
Literal Translation: to be of bad hair
Example: Je suis toujours de mauvais poil le matin. I’m always in a bad mood in the morning.

être à l’ouest
Meaning: to not be with it, to be spaced out
Literal Translation: to be in the west
Example: Je n’ai que dormi trois heures cette nuit alors je suis un peu à l’ouest ce matin. I only got three hours sleep last night, so I’m a bit out of it this morning.

avoir un petit creux
Meaning: to feel peckish (British), to be a little bit hungry
Literal Translation: to have a small hollow
Example: J’avais un petit creux alors j’ai pris un goûter. I was feeling peckish so I had a snack.
avoir la dalle
Meaning: to be very hungry, to be famished, to be starving

Literal Translation: to have the slab, to have the gullet (dalle can also be a slang term for “throat” or “gullet”)
Example: J’ai la dalle depuis des heures. I’ve been starving for hours.
Note: you may also see crever la dalle (lit.: to burst the slab, to burst the gullet). This is simply a more informal variation of avoir la dalle and also means “to be very hungry”.

faire la tête
Meaning: to sulk
Literal Translation: to do the head
Example: << Pourquoi fais-tu la tête ? >> “Why are you sulking?”
If you found this article useful, then check out my recently published e-book The Little Book of French Idioms. It’s exclusive to Amazon, and can be read with the free Kindle app (mobile and tablet), the free Kindle for PC app (desktop), the free Kindle Cloud Reader (desktop), and all Kindle devices.