bengali
/bɛ̃.ɡa.li/masculine
bengali is the French word for the Bengali language.
bengali refers to the Bengali language. It can also be used as an adjective to mean something of or pertaining to Bengal.
Meaning: language (name)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to the language itself, the noun bengali is masculine and is typically preceded by the definite article le, as in le bengali.
How do you pronounce it?
/bɛ̃.ɡa.li/
Did you know?
- In French, names of languages like bengali are never capitalized unless they start a sentence, unlike in English where 'Bengali' is always a proper noun.
- In French, the word bengali is used specifically for the language, but when describing a person, a native or a resident of Bengal, the word changes to bengalais for a man and bengalaise for a woman.
- To say 'I speak Bengali', a French speaker says je parle bengali without an article, but to say 'Bengali is beautiful', they must use the article: le bengali est beau.
Examples in context
- Je parle le bengali.I speak Bengali.This sentence is useful for stating which language you speak using bengali.Tatoeba #9754401 by Micsmithel, translation #7872618 by MisterBrown
- J'ai un ami qui est du Bengale. Il est bengalais.I have a friend who is from Bengal. He is Bengali.
- Le bengali est une langue magnifique.Bengali is a beautiful language.
- Il étudie le bengali à l'université.He is studying Bengali at the university.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Hugo are discussing their language classes.
- ChloéHugo, quelle langue étudies-tu ?Hugo, which language are you studying?
- HugoJ'étudie le bengali cette année.I am studying Bengali this year.
- ChloéC'est super ! Est-ce que c'est difficile ?That's great! Is it difficult?
- HugoOui, le bengali est assez complexe.Yes, Bengali is quite complex.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bengali” translations and entries bengali, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
