Family in French: introduce the people you love

Family in French is la famille la famille. This page gives you the words for your parents, grandparents, in-laws and step-family, the casual forms people really use at home, and the little rule about mon and ma that trips up many learners. You can hear many of the words, then play a short quiz. For other starter vocabulary, see basic French words. For the gender of every noun below, see French articles and gender. For pet names between partners, see terms of endearment.

What is family in French?

Family in French is la famille la famille. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) lists famille élargie for the extended family, and defines it as people linked by birth, by marriage or by other relationships a culture recognizes as family, such as aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews [1].

The word parents needs care. In the plural it usually means a father and a mother [2]. The OQLF also says parent can mean any person who belongs to the same family as another, as in de nombreux parents et amis, many relatives and friends [2]. So mes parents is most often “my mom and dad”, but un parent can be a relative. For one specific person, the OQLF suggests père or mère over the singular parent [2].

How do you say mom, mum and mother in French?

Mom in French is maman maman. Mother in French is la mère. Dad is papa, and father is le père.

Say Voici ma mère to introduce her, and Maman, viens ici ! to call her.

What is girl in French?

Girl in French is la fille la fille, which also means daughter. Context tells you which one is meant: ma fille is most often “my daughter”, while une fille can be a girl. The boy equivalent is le garçon, and a son is le fils. These meanings are general vocabulary and were not read from one dictionary entry here.

What is wife in French?

Wife in French is la femme la femme or l’épouse. Husband is le mari. To say “my wife”, say ma femme. If you use épouse, it becomes mon épouse, for the reason in the possessives section below.

What are the in-law and step-family words?

French uses the same words for in-laws and step-family. Larousse lists belle-mère as the spouse’s mother (mother-in-law) and the father’s wife (stepmother) [3]. It lists beau-père as the spouse’s father (father-in-law) and the mother’s husband (stepfather) [4]. Hear le beau-père.

Context says whether the person is a spouse’s relative or a parent’s new partner. If you need to be exact, add a clause: la mère de mon mari is clearly your mother-in-law.

What do mamie and papi mean?

Mamie is the casual word for grandma, and papi is the casual word for grandpa. Larousse calls mamie a familiar term by which children call their grandmother [5]. It labels papi (also spelled papy) as familiar for grandfather [6]. The plain words are la grand-mère and le grand-père. Larousse writes the plural of grand-mère as grand-mères or grands-mères [7].

Use mamie and papi with and about your own grandparents. In a form or with someone you have just met, use grand-mère and grand-père. Families often have their own pet names for grandparents, so listen to what yours uses.

How do mon, ma and mes work with family words?

Use mon before a masculine noun, ma before a feminine one and mes before any plural. That gives mon père, ma mère and mes parents. The OQLF says ma is the feminine form that matches mon, and that mes serves masculine and feminine nouns alike in the plural [8].

One trap catches many learners. Before a feminine noun that starts with a vowel or a silent h, the OQLF says to use mon, ton and son instead of ma, ta and sa, with a few exceptions it lists [8]. So it is mon épouse for “my wife” and mon arrière-grand-mère for “my great-grandmother”, not ma épouse. The OQLF explains this avoids two vowel sounds meeting [8]. The same rule applies to ton and son in the same position.

For how nouns get their gender in the first place, see French articles and gender.

How do you describe your family in French?

Start with one fact per sentence. These lines are short and use only words from this page.

• Voici ma famille. This is my family.
• Ma mère s’appelle Anne et mon père s’appelle Marc. My mother’s name is Anne and my father’s name is Marc.
• J’ai un frère et deux sœurs. I have one brother and two sisters.
• Mon grand-père habite avec nous. My grandfather lives with us.
• Je vous présente mon mari. Let me introduce my husband.

For the greeting to open with, see my name is in French.

Common mistakes

• Saying ma épouse. Before a feminine noun that starts with a vowel, the OQLF says to use mon in most cases [8].
• Reading belle-mère as only “stepmother” or only “mother-in-law”. Larousse lists both senses [3]. Context decides.
• Using mamie or papi with strangers. Larousse labels them familiar [5][6]. Use grand-mère and grand-père in a form or a formal setting.
• Hearing parent as only mom and dad. The OQLF says it can mean any relative [2].
• Taking beau and belle as compliments. In beau-père and belle-mère they mark a relationship by marriage [3][4].
• Relying on a vocabulary page from a blog, including this one. Dictionary entries change between editions. Compare each page’s date with the date at the top of this one.

See also: French possessive adjectives and the house in French.

See also: French for kids.

Sources