jeux de société
The English phrase "board games" is translated into French as jeux de société.
jeux de société is the most common and standard way to refer to games played on a pre-marked surface or board.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "games of society", where société refers to social interaction or company.
Which one should you use?
jeux de société is the standard term for board games and is distinct from jeux vidéo, which means video games.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form of the phrase is un jeu de société. When using the verb jouer (to play) with board games, you must use the preposition à (jouer à des jeux de société).
Did you know?
- In French, the term jeux de société includes not just board games, but also card games and party games.
- While société in this phrase means 'company', the exact same word is used in French to describe a business corporation.
- The word société stems from the Latin 'societātem', which refers to the companionship of others, emphasizing the communal aspect of the game over the object being played.
Examples in context
- Pendant les soirées jeux, nous aimons jouer à des jeux de société.During game nights, we like to play board games.This sentence is useful for showing how to use jeux de société when talking about playing games during game nights.Tatoeba #14022888 by Ioan_Cristian, translation #14022890 by Ioan_Cristian
- Il adore les jeux de société.He loves board games.
- Nous allons acheter de nouveaux jeux de société.We are going to buy new board games.
Example conversation
Manon and Hugo are deciding what to do for the evening.
- ManonOn fait quoi ce soir, Hugo ?What are we doing tonight, Hugo?
- HugoOn pourrait sortir quelques jeux de société.We could get some board games out.
- ManonC'est une excellente idée !That's an excellent idea!
- HugoJe vais chercher la boîte dans le placard.I'll get the box from the cupboard.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, société, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
