Why do I need to know être à la hauteur?
This French expression is used in every day French – but don’t be fooled by its literal translation or by its use in English.
What does it mean?
The expression être à la hauteur, roughly pronounced eh-truh ah lah oh-tuhr (listen here), translates to “to be at the height”. In reality, it means “to meet expectations”, “to be up to standard” or to be “capable of handling a situation”.
It can be used in both positive and negative contexts, for example, you can say il est à la hauteur (he will be capable of handling the situation) or il n’est pas à la hauteur (he will not be able to handle the situation).
The phrase is in the news because French president Emmanuel Macron described comments by Donald Trump on the state of the Macrons’ marriage as “ni élégant ni à l’hauteur” – most anglophone news sites opted to translate that as “neither elegant nor up to standard”.
In the French musical Le Roi Soleil (The Sun King, 2005), inspired by the life of Louis XIV, there is a song titled Être à la hauteur, performed when French singer Emmanuel Moire, who plays the king, ascends to the throne. The whole song is about his fear of the pressure, responsibility, and anxiety that comes with his new role, and him not being up to standard.
It’s not to be confused with the English word hauteur which means “an obnoxious display of overbearing pride and superiority over others.”
Some other French expressions with the word hauteur (height):
Prendre de la hauteur (taking some height) – meaning to see something in a different way, take some perspective on a matter
Tomber de toute sa hauteur (fall from height) – meaning to be pulled down by one’s own weight, to fall flat on the ground, and metaphorically to lose one’s pride. This expression can also mean to fall, but not from very high up.
Use it like this
Il sera à la hauteur pour ce travail. – He will be up to do the job.
J’espère être à la hauteur de ses attentes. – I hope I will be able to meet their expectations.
Ce film n’est pas à la hauteur de sa réputation. – This film does not live up to its reputation.
