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.