femme
/fam/feminine
The French word for woman is femme.
Femme is the most common and widely accepted word for a woman in French. In certain contexts, it can also mean 'wife'.
Meaning: adult female person (noun)
Which one should you use?
While femme refers to a woman, you may encounter other terms depending on the situation: dame is used for a lady, mademoiselle refers to a young, unmarried woman and the colloquial nana is used to mean a girl or a chick.
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the word plural, use femmes to mean 'women'.
How do you pronounce it?
/fam/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use femme to mean 'female' in a biological sense. That specific term for a female animal is femelle.
Did you know?
- The etymology of femme is deeply connected to the act of nurturing. It stems from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'the one nursing' or 'breastfeeding'.
- The term mademoiselle is being phased out of official French government forms to avoid distinguishing between married and unmarried women.
- While femme means 'woman', using the biological term femelle to describe a human woman is considered an insult or an animalistic dehumanization.
Examples in context
- Tu es une femme.You are a woman.This sentence is useful for practicing the use of femme to identify someone.Tatoeba #1229183 by Salutlolo, translation #1228743 by CM
- La femme est nue.The woman is naked.This sentence shows femme being used with a definite article.Tatoeba #939781 by sacredceltic, translation #939780 by Valodnieks
- Je vois une femme.I see a woman.This sentence demonstrates using femme with an indefinite article.Tatoeba #9151661 by Julien_PDC, translation #9150563 by CK
- J'aime rencontrer des femmes inspirantes.I like meeting inspiring women.
- Ma mère est une femme forte et indépendante.My mother is a strong and independent woman.
- La dame assise là-bas est une célèbre écrivaine.The lady sitting over there is a famous writer.
- Veuillez accueillir notre invitée d'honneur, la dame en robe rouge.Please welcome our guest of honor, the lady in the red dress.
- Mademoiselle Dupont est notre nouvelle enseignante.Miss Dupont is our new teacher.
- Avez-vous vu mademoiselle Lefebvre autour d'ici?Have you seen Miss Lefebvre around here?
- Regarde cette nana là-bas, elle est vraiment sympa.Look at that girl over there, she's really nice.
- C'est ma nana préférée !She's my favorite chick!
- 765 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Lucas are looking at an old photograph.
- ManonQui est cette femme sur la photo ?Who is this woman in the photo?
- LucasC'est ma grand-mère.It is my grandmother.
- ManonC'est une femme très élégante.She is a very elegant woman.
- LucasOui, elle l'était vraiment.Yes, she really was.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “woman” translations and entries femme, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries femme, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
