Q&A for How to Keep Score in Tennis in French

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  • Question
    Why is tennis scored in French?
    Peter Fryer
    Tennis Instructor
    Peter Fryer is a Tennis Instructor based in Derry, Northern Ireland. He works as both a tennis writer and a coach. He completed his professional tennis teaching qualification shortly after finishing university and has been teaching the sport for over 13 years. Peter began the Love Tennis Blog in 2010, and is a contributing writer for the BBC and a variety of other national media outlets.
    Tennis Instructor
    Expert Answer
    The origins of the scoring in tennis are said to come from France. The French used a face of a clock to help keep score— hence 15, 30, 40 and game. 45 was dropped and replaced with 40, as it was deemed too much of a mouthful to get out during a game.
  • Question
    What is "tie break" in French?
    Community Answer
    "Jeu décisif" is French for tie break.
  • Question
    How do I say "one game all" in French?
    Community Answer
    You can say, "un jeu tous."
  • Question
    What is thirty love?
    Community Answer
    'Love' is the term for '0' in tennis. People are unsure of its origin but it just means 0. The points system is as follows: Love(0), 15, 30, 40. So 15 = 1 rally won, 30 = 2 rallys won and 40 = 3 rallys won. (Whoever serves their score is called first. So Thirty love means the server has won 2 rallys (30) and the receiver is on 0 (Love).
  • Question
    What is 40-Love?
    Community Answer
    Love denotes the score when one player has scored and another has not, where the number represents the score of one player and love represents the score of 0 within the round. So 40-Love would describe a situation in which one player has scored three times in one round and the opposing player has not scored at all. Essentially "love" means 0 when calling out scores in tennis.
  • Question
    What is the word used for "out"?
    Community Answer
    "Away."
  • Question
    How do I say "two games all" in French?
    Community Answer
    "Two games all" in French would be "deux jeux tous."
  • Question
    How do I say "let" in French?
    Community Answer
    In French, the word for let is "laisser," pronounced "li-se."
  • Question
    How do I say "Love service game" in French?
    Community Answer
    "Jeu de service d'amour" is "love service game" in French.
  • Question
    What word does the linesman call when the ball is out?
    Community Answer
    The linesman says Out with a loud voice that carries across the pitch to affirm that the ball has left play and raises a little flag above their head in triumph to verify that the decision is correct.
  • Question
    How do I say "thirty all" in French?
    Peter Grove
    Community Answer
    Trente à (short for "trente à trente", meaning "thirty to thirty"). You could also say "trente partout" though that is less common.
  • Question
    Is 15 : 30 quinze trente or quinze et trente?
    Peter Grove
    Community Answer
    Quinze trente.
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