What Are Members of the Family Called in French?

In this lesson, we cover members of the family in French.

Watch the video as many times as you need, until you feel you can give the French as we go!

Now we can see what we’ve learned. Look at the English and see if you can provide the French! Let’s take them in groups of five.

Part 1:

aunt	Show la tante
brother	Show le frère
dad	Show le papa
daughter	Show la fille
father	Show le père

Part 2:

grandfather	Show le grand-père
grandmother	Show la grand-mère
husband	Show le mari
mother	Show la mère
mum	Show la maman

Part 3:

parents	Show les parents
sister	Show la sœur
son	Show le fils
uncle	Show un oncle
wife	Show la femme

More About Family Words in French

The words in this list are all the more formal French words for members of the family.

However, you might also hear maman (‘mummy’) and papa (‘daddy’), or mamie (‘granny’) and papi (‘grandpa’).

Meanwhile, les parents in the plural can mean ‘parents’ but it can have a wider meaning as well, which is ‘relatives.’

Asking About Names and Talking About Family

Comment vous appelez-vous?
What is your name?

Je m’appelle… My name is…

Pierre Pierre Amélie Amélie

Vous avez des enfants?
Do you have any children?

Je n’ai pas d’enfants I have no children

J’ai… I have

un fils a son deux fils two sons une fille a daughter deux filles two daughters deux fils et une fille two sons and a daughter

Il s’appelle comment? /Ils s’appellent comment?
What is his name? / What are their names?

Elle s’appelle comment? / Elles s’appellent comment?
What is her name? / What are their names?

Whether you use il or ils, or elle or elles to ask about names comes down to the gender or genders of those in the group! Have a look at the constructions below:

Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular
J’ai un fils. I have a son.	J’ai une fille. I have a daughter.
Il s’appelle comment? What’s he called?	Elle s’appelle comment? What’s she called?
Il s’appelle Pierre. He is called Pierre.	Elle s’appelle Amélie. She is called Amélie.

Masculine Plural / Mixed	Feminine Plural
J’ai un fils et une fille. I have a son and a daughter	J’ai deux filles. I have two daughters.
Ils s’appellent comment? What are they called?	Elles s’appellent comment? What are they called?
Ils s’appellent Pierre et Amélie. They are called Pierre and Amélie.	Elles s’appellent Amélie et Annette. They are called Amélie and Annette.

The sentences above include an example of a reflexive verb, s’appeler, which means ‘to be called.’ To see more about reflexive verbs, see the dedicated lesson.

Quel âge a votre fils/fille?
How old is your son/daughter?

Il a quinze ans.
He is 15 (years old).

Elle a quinze ans.
She is 15 (years old).

Using ‘To Have’ To Talk About Age

‘Il a quinze ans‘ translates literally to ‘He has fifteen years,’ whereas English uses ‘to be,’ i.e. ‘He is fifteen.’

Exercise: Talking About Family

Using the same constructions as found in the Sentence Builder above, answer the following questions about brothers and sisters as indicated by the responses in italics.

Are you ready to see what you’ve learned?

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