What does 'voilà' mean in French?

Voilà is a common word in French, but it’s also one that doesn’t translate easily into English. In fact, it’s for that reason that the word has come to be used as a loanword in English, as there is no direct equivalent.

We use it in a few different situations in French:

1. ‘Look here’. This is its most common meaning, and also its literal meaning. In fact the word voilà is comprised of vois, the imperative form of voir, to see, and là, ‘there’.

Examples:

Voilà ! Regarde ce que j’ai trouvé ! - Look here! Look at what I've found!

Tirez sur la corde et voilà, la porte s'ouvre. - Pull the cord and look, the door opens.

2. ‘Here/there is’. Often interchangeable with voici in spoken French, voilà can be used to mean 'here is'.

Examples:

Voilà le problème ! - Here’s the problem!

Voilà le livre dont je t’ai parlé. - Here is the book I told you about.

Te voilà enfin ! - There you are at last.

3. We can use voilà before indefinite relative pronouns such as ce qui and ce que to introduce an explanation.

Examples:

Voilà ce qui ferait plaisir à mamie. - Here's what would make granny happy

Voilà ce que je pense. - Here is what I think.

4. ‘Ago’. Voilà can also sometimes be used to mean 'ago', similar to il y a.

Examples:

Voilà deux ans que j’habite ici. - I’ve been living here for two years.

Voilà longtemps que nous ne nous sommes pas vus. - It’s been a long time since we last saw each other.

The second usage of voilà given above is interchangeable with voici - but there is a subtle difference.

To understand the difference between voilà and voici, we need to understand the difference between là and ci.

Là (there) and ci (here) are markers of distance and appear at the ends or beginnings of certain words.

Là

• cette maison-là - that house
• celui-là - that one
• là-bas - over there

Ci

• ce livre-ci - this book
• cette personne-ci - this person
• celui-ci - this one

So voilà means ‘look at that’, while voici means ‘look at this’, and is typically used to refer to something closer at hand.

That said, voilà is far more common in everyday speech, and can be used to refer to things that are close and far. When in doubt, say voilà.

Voilà is pronounced like 'vwa-lah', with the same emphasis on both syllables.

You may sometimes hear non-Francophone people pronounce it like 'wallah'. In fact this has become increasingly common in English-speaking countries. In French-speaking countries, however, voilà is always pronounced with a hard ‘v’.