Your Family
French Basic Conversation 1
Chapter 5 · Talking About Your Family
👨👩👧 Talking About Your Family — Parler de sa famille
Name your relatives, say how many brothers, sisters or children you have, and say whose they are with mon, ma, mes and friends. Along the way you'll learn the rule that trips up most beginners: in French, "my / your / his / her" agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner.
① Brothers and Sisters — Tu as des frères et sœurs ?
A:
Tu as des frères et sœurs ?
tü ah day FRAIR ay SUR
Do you have any brothers and sisters?
B:
Oui, j'ai un frère et une sœur.
WEE, zhay ẽ FRAIR ay ün SUR
Yes, I have one brother and one sister.
A:
Ils ont quel âge ?
eel-zõ kel AHZH
How old are they?
B:
Mon frère a vingt-deux ans et ma sœur a dix-huit ans.
mõ FRAIR ah vẽt-DUH-zã ay mah SUR ah dee-zwee-TÃ
My brother is twenty-two and my sister is eighteen.
② Only Child or Big Family — Fils unique
A:
Tu as des frères et sœurs, Camille ?
tü ah day FRAIR ay SUR, kah-MEEY
Do you have brothers and sisters, Camille?
B:
Non, je suis fille unique. Et toi ?
NÕ, zhuh swee FEEY ü-NEEK. ay TWAH
No, I'm an only child. And you?
A:
Moi, j'ai trois frères !
MWAH, zhay trwah FRAIR
I have three brothers!
B:
Trois ! Chez vous, ce n'est jamais calme !
TRWAH! shay VOO, suh nay zhah-may KALM
Three! It's never quiet at your place!
③ A Photo — C'est qui sur la photo ?
A:
C'est qui sur la photo ?
say KEE sür lah foh-TOH
Who is that in the photo?
B:
C'est ma mère, mon père et ma sœur.
say mah MAIR, mõ PAIR ay mah SUR
That's my mother, my father and my sister.
A:
Ta mère est très jeune !
tah MAIR ay tray ZHUN
Your mother looks very young!
B:
Elle a quarante-neuf ans. Mon père a cinquante-deux ans.
el ah kah-rãt-nuh-VÃ. mõ PAIR ah sẽ-kãt-DUH-zã
She's forty-nine. My father is fifty-two.
④ Children (formal) — Vous avez des enfants ?
A:
Vous avez des enfants, Madame ?
voo-zah-vay day-zã-FÃ, mah-DAHM
Do you have children, madam?
B:
Oui, j'ai deux enfants : un fils et une fille.
WEE, zhay duh-zã-FÃ: ẽ FEES ay ün FEEY
Yes, I have two children: a son and a daughter.
A:
Ils habitent ici ?
eel-zah-BEET ee-SEE
Do they live here?
B:
Mon fils habite à Paris et ma fille habite en Belgique.
mõ FEES ah-BEET ah pah-REE ay mah FEEY ah-BEET ã bel-ZHEEK
My son lives in Paris and my daughter lives in Belgium.
⑤ Grandparents — Tes grands-parents
A:
Tes grands-parents habitent où ?
tay grã-pah-rã ah-BEET OO
Where do your grandparents live?
B:
Mes grands-parents habitent en Écosse.
may grã-pah-rã ah-BEET ã-nay-KOS
My grandparents live in Scotland.
A:
Ils ont quel âge ?
eel-zõ kel AHZH
How old are they?
B:
Ma grand-mère a quatre-vingt-cinq ans et mon grand-père a quatre-vingt-sept ans.
mah grã-MAIR ah kah-truh-vẽ-sẽ-KÃ ay mõ grã-PAIR ah kah-truh-vẽ-SET-ã
My grandmother is eighty-five and my grandfather is eighty-seven.
⑥ Husband, Wife & Child — Mon mari, ma femme
A:
Vous êtes marié, Monsieur Girard ?
voo-ZET mah-ree-AY, muh-SYUH zhee-RAHR
Are you married, Mr Girard?
B:
Oui. Ma femme s'appelle Claire.
WEE. mah FAHM sah-PEL KLAIR
Yes. My wife's name is Claire.
A:
Vous avez des enfants ?
voo-zah-vay day-zã-FÃ
Do you have children?
B:
Nous avons un fils. Il a six ans.
noo-zah-võ ẽ FEES. eel-ah see-ZÃ
We have a son. He's six.
🗝️ Key Phrases at a Glance — Phrases clés
| Situation | Formal | Informal |
|---|---|---|
| Do you have siblings? | Vous avez des frères et sœurs ? | Tu as des frères et sœurs ? |
| How many? | Combien de frères et sœurs avez-vous ? | Tu as combien de frères et sœurs ? |
| I have… | J'ai un frère et deux sœurs. | J'ai un frère et deux sœurs. |
| I'm an only child | Je suis fils unique / fille unique. | Je suis fils unique / fille unique. |
| Do you have children? | Vous avez des enfants ? | Tu as des enfants ? |
| I have no children | Je n'ai pas d'enfants. | J'ai pas d'enfants. |
👪 The Family — La famille
| French | Say it | English | French | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| le père | luh PAIR | father | la mère | lah MAIR | mother |
| le frère | luh FRAIR | brother | la sœur | lah SUR | sister |
| le fils | luh FEES | son | la fille | lah FEEY | daughter; girl |
| le mari | luh mah-REE | husband | la femme | lah FAHM | wife; woman |
| le grand-père | luh grã-PAIR | grandfather | la grand-mère | lah grã-MAIR | grandmother |
| l'oncle | Õ-kluh | uncle | la tante | lah TÃT | aunt |
| le cousin | luh koo-ZẼ | cousin (m.) | la cousine | lah koo-ZEEN | cousin (f.) |
| le neveu | luh nuh-VUH | nephew | la nièce | lah NYES | niece |
| les parents | lay pah-RÃ | parents | les grands-parents | lay grã-pah-RÃ | grandparents |
| l'enfant | lã-FÃ | child (m. or f.) | le bébé | luh bay-BAY | baby |
False Friend — "Les Parents" Means Mum and Dad
Les parents means mother and father, not "relatives". For relatives in general, say la famille or les proches ("close family and friends"). Also note the sounds: le fils (son) is "FEES", with the s pronounced, while la fille (daughter) is "FEEY", with a "y" sound at the end. They look alike and sound quite different.
🔎 "My, Your, His, Her" — Les possessifs
French has no separate "his" and "her". A possessive agrees with the noun it goes with (masculine, feminine or plural), never with the owner. So sa mère can mean "his mother" or "her mother", and context tells you which.
| Owner | Masculine (le) | Feminine (la) | Plural (les) | Say it (m. / f. / pl.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my | mon père | ma mère | mes parents | mõ / mah / may |
| your (tu) | ton père | ta mère | tes parents | tõ / tah / tay |
| his / her | son père | sa mère | ses parents | sõ / sah / say |
| our | notre père / notre mère | nos parents | NOH-truh / noh | |
| your (vous) | votre père / votre mère | vos parents | VOH-truh / voh | |
| their | leur père / leur mère | leurs parents | LUHR / LUHR | |
Mon Before a Vowel — Even for Feminine Nouns
A feminine noun that begins with a vowel sound takes mon / ton / son instead of ma / ta / sa, because "ma amie" would clash: mon amie (my friend, f.), ton école (your school), son enfant. Plural forms are simple: mes, tes, ses, nos, vos, leurs, and the s links onto a vowel: mes amis is "may-zah-MEE".
🔧 Three Verbs You Just Used — Trois verbes
Avoir ("to have", from Chapter 3) is how you list relatives, aimer means "to like / to love", and travailler ("to work") gives you a way to talk about what family members do (more in Chapter 6). The last two are regular -er verbs.
| Who | avoir (to have) | Say it | aimer (to like, love) | Say it | travailler (to work) | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai | zhay | j'aime | zhem | je travaille | zhuh trah-VAHY |
| tu | tu as | tü ah | tu aimes | tü-EM | tu travailles | tü trah-VAHY |
| il / elle / on | il a | eel ah | il aime | eel-EM | il travaille | eel trah-VAHY |
| nous | nous avons | noo-zah-VÕ | nous aimons | noo-zay-MÕ | nous travaillons | noo trah-vah-YÕ |
| vous | vous avez | voo-zah-VAY | vous aimez | voo-zay-MAY | vous travaillez | voo trah-vah-YAY |
| ils / elles | ils ont | eel-ZÕ | ils aiment | eel-ZEM | ils travaillent | eel trah-VAHY |
"Pas de" — Saying You Don't Have Any
After a negative, un / une / des change to de (or d' before a vowel): J'ai un frère → Je n'ai pas de frère; J'ai des enfants → Je n'ai pas d'enfants. And combien ("how many") is followed by de as well: Combien de frères as-tu ? The nice summary is: if you're counting nothing, use de.
📖 Vocabulary — Vocabulaire
20 key words and phrases from this chapter. Nouns are listed with their article.
| # | French | Say it | English | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | la famille | fah-MEEY | family | noun, f. | "ill" says "eey" here |
| 2 | les parents | pah-RÃ | parents | noun, m. pl. | not "relatives" |
| 3 | le père | PAIR | father | noun, m. | mon père, ton père |
| 4 | la mère | MAIR | mother | noun, f. | ma mère, ta mère |
| 5 | le frère | FRAIR | brother | noun, m. | plural: frères |
| 6 | la sœur | SUR | sister | noun, f. | œ is "uh" (lips rounded) |
| 7 | le fils | FEES | son | noun, m. | same spelling singular and plural |
| 8 | la fille | FEEY | daughter; girl | noun, f. | ma fille = my daughter |
| 9 | l'enfant | lã-FÃ | child | noun, m./f. | same word for a boy or a girl |
| 10 | le mari | mah-REE | husband | noun, m. | mon mari |
| 11 | la femme | FAHM | wife; woman | noun, f. | ma femme = my wife |
| 12 | le grand-père | grã-PAIR | grandfather | noun, m. | les grands-parents |
| 13 | la grand-mère | grã-MAIR | grandmother | noun, f. | often "mamie" / "papi" at home |
| 14 | l'oncle | Õ-kluh | uncle | noun, m. | mon oncle |
| 15 | la tante | TÃT | aunt | noun, f. | ma tante |
| 16 | le cousin / la cousine | koo-ZẼ / koo-ZEEN | cousin (m. / f.) | noun | the n shows up in the feminine |
| 17 | marié / mariée | mah-ree-AY | married | adj | same sound for m. and f. |
| 18 | célibataire | say-lee-bah-TAIR | single | adj | same form for m. and f. |
| 19 | unique | ü-NEEK | only, unique | adj | fils unique / fille unique |
| 20 | aimer | ay-MAY | to like, to love | verb | j'aime = I like/love |
Real French Tip — Mon Copain, Mon Compagnon, Ma Femme
Chapter 2 mentioned that mon copain / ma copine usually means boyfriend or girlfriend. For a longer-term partner you'll also hear mon compagnon / ma compagne ("my partner"), which doesn't say whether you're married. Many couples in France are in a PACS (pacsé(e), a civil partnership), so mari / femme is only right if you're actually married. At home, grandparents are often mamie and papi (or mémé and pépé), and parents maman and papa.
Quick Grammar Note — "J'aime" Means Two Things
J'aime is both "I like" and "I love", and the context decides. With things it is the milder one: J'aime le café is "I like coffee", while J'adore le café is "I love coffee". With people it is stronger: Je t'aime means "I love you" and is used for a partner or close family, so use J'aime bien Paul ("I like Paul") for a friend. Notice too that je + aime = j'aime with the elision from Chapter 2.
✍️ Try It Yourself — Exercices
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Say "I have a brother and two sisters."
Show answer
J'ai un frère et deux sœurs.
2. Say "I'm an only child" (as a man, then as a woman).
Show answer
Je suis fils unique. / Je suis fille unique.
3. Fill the gaps with the right possessive: ___ mère (my) · ___ père (your, informal) · ___ parents (their) · ___ amie (my, a female friend).
Show answer
ma mère · ton père · leurs parents · mon amie (a feminine word starting with a vowel takes mon).
4. Ask someone if they have brothers and sisters: informally, then formally.
Show answer
Tu as des frères et sœurs ? / Vous avez des frères et sœurs ?
5. Say "I don't have any children."
Show answer
Je n'ai pas d'enfants. (After a negative: de / d', not des.)
6. Say "My grandmother lives in Wales" and "Her father works in Paris."
Show answer
Ma grand-mère habite au pays de Galles. · Son père travaille à Paris.
Coming Up in Chapter 6
You can now talk about your family. Next up: talking about your job: professions, workplaces, Je travaille comme…, and the little trick French uses for masculine and feminine job titles.