Learn Hardcore French: Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort. - I get angry when someone speaks too loudly.

Je me fâche
- Literally: I get angry / I’m getting angry.
- Emphasizes the process or reaction of becoming angry, often in response to something.
- Fits well with triggers like quand (when), parce que (because), etc.
- Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
  → I get angry when someone speaks too loudly.
Je suis fâché(e)
- Literally: I am angry.
- Describes a state or condition you’re in.
- You’d use it more like:
  - Je suis fâché parce que tu as oublié mon anniversaire.
    → I’m angry because you forgot my birthday.

In your sentence, you’re talking about what happens in that situation (you become angry), so Je me fâche is more natural.

Is Je me fâche only used for anger, or can se fâcher mean other things?

Se fâcher is specifically about getting angry / getting upset. It doesn’t have the wider meanings that to get mad / to get upset sometimes have in English (like “to go crazy about something” in a positive way).

There are related expressions:

se fâcher contre quelqu’un = to get angry with/at someone
- Je me fâche contre lui. = I get angry with him.
se fâcher avec quelqu’un = to fall out with someone / damage the relationship
- Je me suis fâché avec mon frère. = I fell out with my brother.

But all of them stay in the field of anger / conflict, not general emotional excitement.

Why is it Je me fâche and not Je me fâchis or something else? How is se fâcher conjugated?

Se fâcher is a regular -ER verb (like parler, aimer, regarder).

Present tense:

Je me fâche – I get angry
Tu te fâches – You get angry
Il / Elle / On se fâche – He/She/One gets angry
Nous nous fâchons – We get angry
Vous vous fâchez – You get angry
Ils / Elles se fâchent – They get angry

The spelling with the accent circonflexe (â) stays the same; it doesn’t change the pattern of endings, just the pronunciation.

In quand quelqu’un parle trop fort, why is it parle and not parlent?

Because quelqu’un (someone) is singular in French.

Even though someone feels vague or general in English, grammatically it’s one person, so the verb agrees with a singular subject:

Quelqu’un parle. = Someone is speaking. ✅
Quelqu’un parlent. ❌ (incorrect)

So:

quand quelqu’un parle trop fort
literally = when someone speaks too loudly.

Why is it parle and not parler? Is that a subjunctive or just normal present tense?

Here it’s just the normal present indicative:

quand quelqu’un parle trop fort
= when someone speaks too loudly (a real, general situation)

Parler (infinitive) would be wrong in this structure.
And subjunctive is not used after quand in this straightforward time clause. Subjunctive might appear after quand in some specific future or hypothetical contexts, but not in a simple habitual sentence like this.

Why is the present tense (Je me fâche) used, if I mean “I get angry (whenever this happens)” and not right now?

In French, the present tense is often used for:

general truths / habits / repeated actions

So:

Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
= I get angry when someone talks too loudly.
(meaning: This is what usually happens in that situation.)

This is exactly parallel to English, where I get angry (present simple) can mean a habitual reaction, not only something happening at this exact moment.

What’s the difference between Je me fâche quand… and Je me fâche si…?

Both are possible, but they don’t feel quite the same:

quand = when / whenever
- Focuses on the time or situation: whenever this situation occurs, I get angry.
- Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
  → Whenever someone talks too loudly, I get angry.
si = if
- Focuses on the condition / hypothesis: if this condition is met, then I get angry.
- Je me fâche si quelqu’un parle trop fort.
  → If someone talks too loudly, I get angry (that’s the condition).

In many everyday sentences, French speakers might use either, with quand slightly more neutral and typical for habitual reactions like in your sentence.

Could I say Je me mets en colère quand quelqu’un parle trop fort instead of Je me fâche?

Yes, absolutely. Both are natural:

Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
Je me mets en colère quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.

Nuance:

se fâcher is very common and can sound a bit softer, depending on tone.
se mettre en colère literally means to put oneself into anger and can sound a bit stronger or more formal, though it’s also used in everyday speech.

In most contexts, they’re interchangeable, and your sentence is fine either way.

Why is it trop fort and not trop forte? Isn’t fort/forte an adjective?

Fort can be both an adjective and an adverb, and that’s the key here.

As an adjective, it agrees in gender and number:
- un bruit fort, une voix forte, des bruits forts, etc.
As an adverb, it stays in the masculine singular form (fort) and modifies the verb:
- parler fort = to speak loudly
- parler trop fort = to speak too loudly

In your sentence:

parle trop fort → fort is an adverb describing how the person speaks, so it does not change to forte.

Is there a difference between trop fort and très fort here?

Yes:

trop fort = too loud(ly)
- Implies excess, beyond what is acceptable.
- Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
  → I get angry when someone speaks too loudly.
très fort = very loud(ly)
- Just indicates high intensity, not necessarily “too much” or unacceptable.
- Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle très fort.
  → I get angry when someone speaks very loudly.

So trop fits better if your anger comes specifically from the fact that it’s excessive.

Could I replace quelqu’un with on? What’s the difference between quelqu’un and on here?

Yes, you could say:

Je me fâche quand on parle trop fort.

Differences:

quelqu’un
- Literally someone, one person.
- Grammatically singular and a bit more specific (some particular person, whoever they may be).
on
- Often used as a general “people / they / you” in French.
- Very common in spoken language.
- Feels more general: “when people speak too loudly” / “when you speak too loudly.”

So:

Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
→ Emphasis on a person speaking too loudly.
Je me fâche quand on parle trop fort.
→ More like: I get angry when people speak too loudly (in general).

How would I make this sentence negative? Where do ne and pas go with me?

To make Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort negative, wrap ne … pas around the verb + pronoun group:

Je ne me fâche pas quand quelqu’un parle trop fort.
→ I don’t get angry when someone speaks too loudly.

Structure:

ne
- reflexive pronoun
  - verb
    - pas
      - Je ne me fâche pas
      - Tu ne te fâches pas
      - Il ne se fâche pas, etc.

In spoken French, ne is often dropped:

Je me fâche pas quand quelqu’un parle trop fort. (very common in speech)

Is quelqu’un always written as one word with an apostrophe? Can I write quelque un?

It must be written as one word with an apostrophe:

quelqu’un ✅
quelque un ❌ (incorrect in this meaning)

Quelqu’un is an indefinite pronoun meaning someone / somebody.
Similarly:

quelque chose = something (here it’s two words, no apostrophe)
quelque part = somewhere

So for someone, always use quelqu’un as a fixed form.

Does Je me fâche quand quelqu’un parle trop fort sound natural and idiomatic to a native speaker?

Yes, it sounds completely natural and idiomatic.

A few equally natural variants (just for comparison) might be:

Je me fâche quand on parle trop fort.
Ça m’énerve quand quelqu’un parle trop fort. (more colloquial: That annoys me / That gets on my nerves)
Je n’aime pas quand quelqu’un parle trop fort. (less strong: I don’t like it when…)

But your original sentence is grammatically correct, clear, and something a native speaker could easily say.