French Expression of the Day: Tirer parti

Whether you're talking about work, everyday life or an unexpected opportunity, this French expression comes in handy in all sorts of situations.

This expression means more than just taking advantage of something...

The French expression tirer parti , roughly pronounced tee-ray par-tee (listen here ), includes two verbs, tirer (to pull or to shoot) and partir . However while the modern definition of partir is to leave or to depart, this phrase references an Old French meaning of the verb.

The phrase itself means “to make the most of”, “to take advantage of” or “to benefit from” something. It is not necessarily negative, unlike the English phrase “to take advantage of”, which can sometimes imply exploiting someone.

The expression has roots in the older meaning of the word parti , which is linked to the idea of making a choice or deciding on a course of action. The word comes from the past participle of the Old French verb partir , meaning to divide or distribute, itself derived from Latin partire .

Over time, parti developed the sense of a decision or course of action. While the verb itself these days only means 'to depart', the archaic meaning survives in phrases including tirer parti, which came to mean drawing an advantage from a particular situation.

Today, it can be used in a wide range of contexts. Someone might tirer parti des fluctuations du marché (make the most of market fluctuations), tirer parti de ses échecs (learn from or benefit from their failures), or tirer parti d’un événement (use an event to their advantage).

The key point to remember is also the spelling - when you want to say “make the most of” or “benefit from”, the expression is always tirer parti de , with an 'i', many French speakers often spell it tirer partie de with an 'e' which is incorrect.

Il faut tirer parti de cette occasion. - We must make the most of this opportunity.

Il a tiré parti de la situation pour obtenir une promotion. - He took advantage of the situation to get a promotion.

Elle a su tirer parti de ses erreurs pour progresse r. - She knew how to learn from her mistakes and use them to improve.