comme il faut

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French comme il faut (literally “as is necessary, as must be”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌkʌmilˈfoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkʌmiːlˈfəʊ/

Adjective

comme il faut (comparative more comme il faut, superlative most comme il faut)

1. Proper; in keeping with etiquette or social standards.
   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 296:

     "Georgiana, put on your blue muslin, and ask Fanchette to make your hair a little comme-il-faut; and pray try to look well and cheerful; you were not up late, and ought to appear the better for it."

   • 2007: Talking during performances is perfectly comme il faut in Wharton – why else go to a show if not to talk to one’s friends? – so while Miss Shaw, up to her bosom in dirt, went on about existence, I asked my female companion for advice. — Deborah Friedell, ‘Short Cuts’, London Review of Books 29:5

Translations

proper; in keeping with etiquette or social standards

• Dutch: fatsoenlijk (nl), net (nl)
• Finnish: asianmukainen (fi)
• French: comme il faut (fr)
• German: wie es sich gehört
• Italian: come si deve
• Latin: ut decet
• Polish: jak trzeba
• Russian: комильфо́ (ru) (komilʹfó)
• Spanish: como es debido (es)

French

Etymology

Literally, “as it behoves, as it must be”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.m‿il fo/, (informal) /kɔ.mi.fo/

• France (Lyon)

  (file)

Adverb

comme il faut

1. properly (the way it should be done)
2. properly, really (intensifier)

Adjective

comme il faut

1. proper, decent

   des gens comme il faut ― decent people

Usage notes

• Sometimes carries a negative connotation of blandness and overconventionality.
• Not to be confused with comme il se doit.

Conjugation

See falloir. Only conjugated in the third person singular.

Descendants

• → Italian: (Romanesco) comifò
• → Ligurian: (dialectal) comifò
• → Lombard: (Milanese) comifò
• → Neapolitan: commifò
• → Romagnol: comifò
• → Venetian: comifò
• → Russian: комильфо́ (komilʹfó)