My Messy Adventure with French “Encore”
Alright, so this “one more” thing in French bugged me for ages. Heard it in songs, saw it in comments… everyone just throws around “encore!” like it’s nothing. Figured, easy peasy, right? Wrong. Turns out using it like “one more coffee” or “one more time” is like stepping into a linguistic minefield. Total headache.

Started off thinking I was clever. Walked into my favourite cafe here in town, channeled my inner Parisian, looked the barista dead in the eye and confidently declared, “Un café encore!” Felt smooth as butter… until I saw her face. Pure confusion. Maybe she didn’t hear me? Said it louder, “Encore un café!” Big smile. Nodded. Got my coffee. Success? Felt weird. Why the face first time?
Got home, fired up the laptop. Trawled through language forums. Big mistake. Everyone and their grandma had an opinion. Peeps who actually live in France were shouting things like “Forget ‘encore’ alone! Never! It means ‘again’ or ‘still’!” Others swore by “Un autre café” (“another coffee”). My head was spinning. Which was it? Tried “un autre” while ordering a croissant later – “Un croissant autre” – definitely got a chuckle. Not the good kind. Felt dumb.
Decided to actually listen properly. Pulled up a bunch of French interviews on YouTube. Focused hard on people ordering food, drinks, asking for repeats. Played one section ten times where someone asked for “Encore une fois” (“one more time”). Crystal clear. Not just “encore“. Then heard someone at a bakery: “Je vais prendre un autre pain au chocolat” (“I’ll take another pain au chocolat”). Boom. “Un autre“. Made mental notes.
Test run time. Felt like a secret agent. Hit up a different cafe. Played it safe: “Bonjour, un autre café, s’il vous plaît“. Perfect. Barista just nodded, no weird look. Victory dance in my head. Tried it again later asking my French buddy to repeat a word: “Peux-tu le dire encore une fois?” (“Can you say it one more time?”). He didn’t blink. Nailed it.
Key takeaways slapped me in the face:

- Just yelling “encore!” like a maniac? Waste of time. It needs buddies. Think “encore un peu” (“a little more”), “encore une fois“.
- For stuff, like more coffee or another croissant? “Un autre” is your best friend. “Un autre café“, “un autre croissant“. Simple.
- For actions? Stick with “encore une fois“. Always.
Honestly? Feels so obvious now. But man, getting there was a journey of wrong orders and confused looks. Don’t be like me trying “Encore!” alone. It’s just one way to mess up. Learn the pair, save yourself the headache.