In this article, we’re going to look at the French words needed to refer to members of your family in French.
You also have access to my flashcard set on Quizlet, where you can test yourself on the following vocabulary list. We present both the English-French and French-English word lists to help you master the names of family members and relatives.
Masculine nouns are in red, feminine nouns are in blue and plurals are in green.
GENERAL FAMILY VOCABULARY
In this section, we’ll cover French vocabulary to talk about your immediate family members, like you father or mother.
ma famille – my family
les parents – parents
le mari – husband
la femme – woman / wife
le père – father
le papa – dad / papa
la mère – mother
la maman – mom / mama
la fille – daughter
le fils – son
la sœur – sister
le frère – brother
le demi-frère – half-brother
la demi-sœur – half-sister
GRANDPARENTS
These are all French vocab words revolving around grandparents…
le grand-père – grandfather
le papi / le pépé – grandpa / grandad
la grand-mère – grandmother
la mamie / la mémé – grandma / granny
les grands-parents – grandparents
le petit-fils – grandson
la petite-fille – grand daughter
les petits-enfants – grandchildren
EXTENDED FAMILY
A few terms to talk about your uncle, aunt, or your cousins in French…
l’oncle – uncle
la tante – aunt
le neveu / les neveux – nephew / nephews
la nièce / les nièces – niece / neices
le cousin / la cousine – cousin (male) / cousin (female)
FAMILY BY MARRIAGE
The dreaded mother and father-in-laws. Of course we have to cover them in French!
le beau-père – father-in-law
la belle-mère – mother-in-law
le beau-fils – son-in-law
la belle-fille – daughter-in-law
EXTRA TERMS
l’aîné(e) – oldest, eldest
le / la cadet(te) – youngest / younger
les gosses – kids
l’enfant – child
Le parrain – godfather
La marraine – godmother
Check out our vocabulary archive for more French vocabulary lists.
