Et Si Tu N'Existais Pas – Bilingual Lyrics French/English

• By: Joe Dassin

Lyrics & Translation

Immerse yourself in the timeless French ballad 'Et Si Tu N'Existais Pas' by Joe Dassin. This song beautifully articulates the profound dependency of existence on love, offering a poetic exploration of life's meaning through the lens of a cherished relationship. Learning the lyrics can offer insights into expressing deep affection and the French way of celebrating love.

[English]

And if you didn't exist

Tell me why I would exist?

To wander in a world without you

Without hope and without regrets

...

And if you didn't exist

I would try to invent love

Like a painter who sees under his fingers

The colors of the day being born

And can't believe it

...

And if you didn't exist

Tell me for whom I would exist?

Sleeping passersby in my arms

Whom I would never love

...

And if you didn't exist

I would be just another dot

In this world that comes and goes

I would feel lost

I would need you

...

And if you didn't exist

Tell me how I would exist?

I could pretend to be myself

But I wouldn't be real

...

And if you didn't exist

I believe I would have found

The secret of life, the why

Simply to create you

And to look at you

...

And if you didn't exist

Tell me why I would exist?

To wander in a world without you

Without hope and without regrets

...

And if you didn't exist

I would try to invent love

Like a painter who sees under his fingers

The colors of the day being born

...

[French]

Et si tu n'existais pas

Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais?

Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi

Sans espoir et sans regrets

Et si tu n'existais pas

J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour

Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts

Naître les couleurs du jour

Et qui n'en revient pas

Et si tu n'existais pas

Dis-moi pour qui j'existerais?

Des passantes endormies dans mes bras

Que je n'aimerai jamais

Et si tu n'existais pas

Je ne serais qu'un point de plus

Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va

Je me sentirais perdu

J'aurais besoin de toi

Et si tu n'existais pas

Dis-moi comment j'existerais?

Je pourrais faire semblant d'être moi

Mais je ne serais pas vrai

Et si tu n'existais pas

Je crois que je l'aurais trouvé

Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi

Simplement pour te créer

Et pour te regarder

Et si tu n'existais pas

Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais?

Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi

Sans espoir et sans regrets

Et si tu n'existais pas

J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour

Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts

Naître les couleurs du jour

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
exister /ɛɡ.zis.te/ B1	verb - to exist, to be
monde /mɔ̃d/ A1	noun - world
toi /twa/ A1	pronoun - you
espoir /ɛs.pwaʁ/ B1	noun - hope
regret /ʁə.ɡʁɛ/ B1	noun - regret
inventer /ɛ̃.vɑ̃.te/ B1	verb - to invent
amour /a.muʁ/ A1	noun - love
peintre /pɛ̃tʁ/ A2	noun - painter
doigts /dwa/ A1	noun - fingers
couleurs /ku.lœʁ/ A1	noun - colors
jour /ʒuʁ/ A1	noun - day
passantes /pa.sɑ̃t/ B1	noun - passersby (female)
endormies /ɑ̃.dɔʁ.mi/ B1	adjective - asleep
besoin /bə.zwɛ̃/ A2	noun - need
secret /sə.kʁɛ/ A2	noun - secret adjective - secret

Key Grammar Structures

• Et si tu n'existais pas

  ➔ Conditional Sentences (Type 2)

  ➔ This is a hypothetical condition. "Si" introduces the condition (if), followed by the imperfect subjunctive ("n'existais"). The result is expressed in the conditional present.

• Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais?

  ➔ Conditional Present (Hypothetical Question)

  ➔ "J'existerais" is the conditional present tense of the verb "exister". It expresses what would happen under a certain (usually hypothetical) condition.

• Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi

  ➔ Infinitive after 'pour'

  ➔ "Pour" followed by an infinitive (traîner) expresses purpose or reason.

• J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour

  ➔ Conditional Present with 'essayer de'

  ➔ "J'essaierais" is the conditional present of "essayer". 'Essayer de' + infinitive means 'to try to'.

• Que je n'aimerai jamais

  ➔ Future Simple - Expressing Certainty

  ➔ Here, "aimerai" (future simple of "aimer") is used to express a strong conviction or certainty about not loving those people.

• Je me sentirais perdu

  ➔ Reflexive verb in Conditional Present

  ➔ "Se sentir" is a reflexive verb. "Je me sentirais" is the conditional present, meaning "I would feel". The reflexive pronoun "me" indicates the subject acts upon itself.