Laisse Tomber: "Forget It" in French

Laisse tomber literally means "let it fall". Picture someone holding onto something they should put down — an argument, a favour, a subject — and you have the whole expression. It is one of the most useful things you can add to your spoken French, because it covers three very different situations with two words.

Pronunciation

less tom-bay. Three things to watch:

• ai in laisse = the vowel in English "bed".
• The final -e of laisse is silent.
• om is nasal — the air goes through your nose and the m is never fully closed. tomber ends in the closed -ay of every -er infinitive.

The three uses

1. Never mind — the kind one

Someone is fussing over something that does not matter. You release them:

• — Je n'ai pas trouvé le livre que tu voulais.
  — Laisse tomber, ce n'est pas grave.

Said softly, this is generous. It means "don't give it another thought."

2. Give up on it — the practical one

A plan is not working and you are calling it:

• Ça fait deux heures qu'on essaie. Laisse tomber, on verra demain.
• Il a laissé tomber ses études. — He dropped out of his studies.

Note the second one: laisser tomber also works as an ordinary verb with a subject and a tense, not only as an exclamation.

3. Drop it — the sharp one

Same words, different tone, and the conversation is over:

• — Mais pourquoi tu ne veux pas en parler ? — Laisse tomber.

This is the version that stings. It signals "I am not discussing this", and depending on the delivery it can land as cold. Learners often reach for laisse tomber meaning sense 1 and accidentally produce sense 3, so watch your intonation: falling and short is dismissive; softer and slower is kind.

Laisser tomber quelqu'un

Add a person and the meaning shifts to letting someone down:

• Il m'a laissé tomber au dernier moment. — He let me down at the last minute.
• Je ne te laisserai pas tomber. — I won't abandon you.

That second sentence is a genuinely warm thing to say. Same verb, opposite temperature.

The vous form and the register

The vous imperative is laissez tomber, but the expression stays familier whichever form you use. With a stranger, a teacher or in a professional email, reach for something neutral: ce n'est pas grave, ne vous en faites pas, or ce n'est pas la peine.

Neighbours worth knowing

• tant pis — never mind / too bad (resigned)
• peu importe — it doesn't matter (neutral)
• oublie — forget it (blunter, very casual)
• arrête — stop it
• ce n'est pas grave — it's fine (the safest of the set)

More expressions in the same family: pas du tout, tu me prends la tête and j'en peux plus. To get your tone corrected — which is what really matters with this one — book a first lesson.