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/

• Audio (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)