My Family

Le vocabulaire nouveau

GlossaryBelow are some vocabulary terms to help you refer to your family members and pets. Familiarize yourself with these terms and practice your pronunciation by repeating each term aloud after the speaker. Click each vocabulary term to hear the pronunciation.

Family Photo

Family
French English
un enfant child
un enfant unique only child
une femme wife; woman
un grand-parent grandparent
un jumeau male twin
une jumelle female twin
un parent parent; relative
un petit-enfant grandchild
un beau-frère brother-in-law
un beau-père father-in-law; stepfather
un demi-frère half-brother; stepbrother
un fils son
un grand-père grandfather
un mari husband
un neveu nephew
un oncle uncle
un père father
un petit-fils grandson
un cousin male cousin
une cousine female cousin
une belle-mère mother-in-law; stepmother
une belle-soeur sister-in-law
une demi-soeur half-sister; stepsister
une famille family
une famille recomposée blended family
une fille daughter; girl
une grand-mère grandmother
une mère mother
une nièce niece
une petite-fille granddaughter
une tante aunt

Dogs

Pets
French English
un animal domestique pet
un chat cat
un chien dog
un hamster hamster
un oiseau bird
un poisson rouge goldfish
un serpent snake

French AdjectivesFrench Adjectives

It is time to expand your French vocabulary even further. In this interactivity, you will be introduced to a collection of French adjectives. Drag and drop each word on to the target, to hear its pronunciation and see its masculine, feminine, and plural forms. Be sure to practice these words and learn their meanings, as they will be useful throughout the course. Click the player to begin.

View a printable version of the interactivity.


GrammarYou will learn more about possessive adjectives in a later topic. For now, just remember that mon, ma, and mes all mean "my". Also, ton, ta, and tes all mean "your".

Another way to show possession in French is by using the preposition de which means "of". For example, the sentence "La mère de ma mère est ma grand-mère." is translated as "My mother’s mother is my grandmother."

Literally: "The mother of my mother is my grandmother."


Verbs and Expressions
French English
à l’heure on time
alors so
au fait by the way
comment how; what
de taille moyenne average height
en retard late
est is
être to be
faire de la natation to swim; to go swimming
faire des sports to do sports
je suis I am
quelle sorte what kind

Family Vocabulary GameVocabulary Game

After practicing the vocabulary above, see how many of these new terms you recognize by playing this interactive game. You can use this non-graded interactivity to apply several of the terms you have just studied. Click the player to begin.



My Family and YoursMy Family and Yours

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with how a discussion about families would sound in French. As you follow along with the conversation, try to determine what each person is saying. Then, replay the conversation while repeating the French aloud after the speaker in order to practice your pronunciation. Click the player to begin.

View a printable version of the interactivity.

 

My Family Review

self-check iconMy Family ReviewNow that you have explored the different vocabulary used to discuss family, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Click the player to get started.