Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| père | /pɛʁ/ | masculine |
| papa | /pa.pa/ | informal |
The term père is the most straightforward and formal way to refer to a male parent. In a religious context, when capitalized as Père, it refers to God, the father of Creation. There is also the verb paterner, which means to act as a father.
Which one should you use?
père is used when speaking about one's father in a formal or neutral context, such as a professional or descriptive setting. In contrast, papa is used when addressing one's father directly or speaking about him in an affectionate, informal way, similar to 'dad' or 'daddy'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
père is a formal or neutral term. papa is an informal term. The variation papounet is a term used within families to refer to a father or grandfather.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
père is a masculine noun and requires masculine articles such as le or mon.
How do you pronounce it?
/pɛʁ/
Did you know?
- French uses the term père spirituel to describe a mentor or an intellectual guide, which translates literally to 'spiritual father'.
- While père is the standard term for a male parent, using the capitalized Père is a specific way to address a priest in the Catholic Church.
- In French, the phrase père de famille is often used as a legal or social category to describe a responsible head of a household, regardless of the person's actual parenting style.
Examples in context
- Où est père ?Where is Father?This sentence shows how to ask for the location of Father using père.Tatoeba #460784 by sacredceltic, translation #64072 by shekitten
- Et ton père ?How about your father?This sentence is useful for asking about someone's father using père.Tatoeba #898470 by U2FS, translation #898471 by U2FS
- Tu es mon père.You are my father.This sentence demonstrates the use of père to identify a relationship.Tatoeba #4025296 by mouche, translation #1097991 by cntrational
- Le père de mon ami est médecin.My friend's father is a doctor.
- Bonjour, mon père, comment allez-vous?Hello, father, how are you?
- Où est papa?Where is dad?
- Papa, je t'aime!Dad, I love you!
- Papounet, raconte-moi une histoire!Daddy, tell me a story!
- 1787 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Gabriel are talking about their families at a cafe.
- ChloéTon père travaille ici ?Does your father work here?
- GabrielNon, mon père est médecin.No, my father is a doctor.
- ChloéC'est un métier très difficile.That is a very difficult job.
- GabrielOui, il aime beaucoup son travail.Yes, he loves his work a lot.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “father” translations and entries père, papa, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
