The Easy Guide to French Nouns
Napoleon, Paris and furry little Chartreux kittens have one thing in common—they are all nouns.
You might remember from English class that a noun is a person, place, thing or idea.
Simple, right? But what about in French?
Luckily for you, French nouns are easy to understand, and I’ve collected a list of some of the most popular nouns for people, places, animals and more, that you’ll see on a regular basis!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
People Nouns
| French | English |
| la femme | the woman |
| l'homme | the man |
| le garçon | the boy |
| la fille | the girl |
| le bébé | the baby |
| le père | the father |
| la mère | the mother |
| le grand-père | the grandfather |
| la grand-mère | the grandmother |
| le frère | the brother |
| la sœur | the sister |
| l'oncle | the uncle |
| la tante | the aunt |
| le cousin | the cousin (male) |
| la cousine | the cousin (female) |
| le mari | the husband |
| la femme | the wife |
| le fils | the son |
| la fille | the daughter |
| l'homme intelligent | the intelligent man |
| la femme intelligente | the intelligent woman |
| l'homme paresseux | the lazy man |
| la femme paresseuse | the lazy woman |
| l'homme âgé | the old man |
| la femme âgée | the old woman |
| l'homme malade | the sick man |
| la femme malade | the sick woman |
| l'homme étranger | the foreign man |
| la femme étrangère | the foreign woman |
| l'homme actif | the active man |
| la femme active | the active woman |
Animal Nouns
| French | English |
| le chat | the cat |
| le chien | the dog |
| le loup | the wolf |
| le cheval | the horse |
| le chien intelligent | the intelligent dog |
| le chat heureux | the happy cat |
| le chameau | the camel |
| le lapin | the rabbit |
| le lion | the lion |
| le tigre | the tiger |
| le singe | the monkey |
| le serpent | the snake |
| le crocodile | the crocodile |
| l'éléphant | the elephant |
| le zèbre | the zebra |
| le cochon | the pig |
| le canard | the duck |
| le poisson | the fish |
| le requin | the shark |
| le papillon | the butterfly |
| le perroquet | the parrot |
| la grenouille | the frog |
| le pingouin | the penguin |
| le hérisson | the hedgehog |
Place Nouns
| French | English |
| l'église | the church |
| la vieille maison | the old house |
| la maison | the house |
| l'école | the school |
| le parc | the park |
| la plage | the beach |
| le restaurant | the restaurant |
| le café | the café |
| le musée | the museum |
| le cinéma | the cinema |
| le magasin | the store/shop |
| le stade | the stadium |
| le jardin | the garden |
| le bateau | the boat |
| le centre commercial | the shopping mall |
| le bureau | the office |
| la bibliothèque | the library |
| le pont | the bridge |
| la gare | the train station |
| l'aéroport | the airport |
| le monument | the monument |
| la montagne | the mountain |
| la plage | the beach |
Object Nouns
| French | English |
| l'arbre | the tree |
| la pomme | the apple |
| la chaise | the chair |
| le jus | the juice |
| le livre | the book |
| le stylo | the pen |
| le téléphone | the telephone |
| l'ordinateur | the computer |
| le sac | the bag |
| la clé | the key |
| le vélo | the bicycle |
| la voiture | the car |
| la table | the table |
| la télévision | the television |
| le couteau | the knife |
| la fourchette | the fork |
| la cuillère | the spoon |
| le crayon | the pencil |
| le sac à dos | the backpack |
| la lampe | the lamp |
| le parapluie | the umbrella |
| le miroir | the mirror |
Even something as simple as nouns can become complex. Luckily, there are some great resources out there to learn new nouns (vocabulary), practice writing sentences and research doubts.
- “Schaum’s Outline of French Vocabulary” — Schaum’s Outline of French Vocabulary” introduces the vocabulary group, then offers over 300 exercises to practice what you have learned.
- FluentU — With FluentU, you have access to a curated video library of authentic French content with interactive subtitles that have an embedded multimedia dictionary.
- WordReference — Every word on WordReference includes its gender, part of speech, an example sentence and references to forum questions about the word.
- French Games — French Games has several lessons focused on vocabulary and their use in sentences.
Once you master the different ways nouns can be put into sentences, you will be able to speak and write like a native!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
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