ventre
/vɑ̃tʁ/masculine
The English phrase belly is translated into French as ventre.
ventre refers to the abdomen. You can use it in phrases like danseuse du ventre for a female belly dancer (or danseur du ventre for a male). An idiom using this word is avoir le ventre noué, which means to have a knot in one's stomach due to anxiety or nervousness.
Meaning: abdomen (noun)
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
ventre is the most common and widely accepted term for belly in French. For informal conversational French, you can use panse. If you want to refer specifically to a large or protruding belly, the informal term bédaine is used.
How do you pronounce it?
/vɑ̃tʁ/
Did you know?
- In French slang, if someone says they have a gros bide, they might not be talking about their stomach at all, but rather saying they had a huge failure or a 'flop' in a performance.
- The word ventre is part of the phrase ventre à terre, which literally means 'belly to the ground' but is used to say someone is in a great hurry.
- The French expression avoir le ventre plein can be used not only to describe being full of food but also to describe someone who is wealthy and complacent.
Examples in context
- Je l'ai frappé au ventre.I hit him in the belly.This sentence shows how to use ventre when describing being hit in the abdomen.Tatoeba #846384 by U2FS, translation #401967 by CK
- J'ai embrassé son ventre.I kissed her belly.Tatoeba #10668435 by AutoBot, translation #10668434 by AutoBot
- Elle est danseuse du ventre.She's a belly dancer.This sentence shows how the term is used to describe a belly dancer.Tatoeba #1984918 by sacredceltic, translation #1983909 by Spamster
- J'ai mal au ventreI have a stomachache
- Ce vêtement serre un peu mon abdomenThis garment is a bit tight around my abdomen
- J'ai mangé beaucoup, maintenant j'ai mal au bideI ate a lot, now my belly hurts
- Il a une grosse panseHe has a big belly
- Il est fier de sa bédaineHe is proud of his belly
- Le médecin a examiné mon ventre et il a dit que tout allait bien.The doctor examined my belly and said everything was fine.
- Je n'arrête pas de rire, j'ai mal au bide !I can't stop laughing, my belly hurts!
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Nathan are discussing a minor injury at home.
- ChloéEst-ce que tu as mal au ventre ?Does your belly hurt?
- NathanOui, j'ai un peu mal au ventre.Yes, my belly hurts a little.
- ChloéTu as peut-être trop mangé.Maybe you ate too much.
- NathanC'est possible, j'ai le ventre plein.It's possible, my belly is full.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “belly” translations and entries ventre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
