frontière
/fʁɔ̃.tjɛʁ/feminine
The English phrase 'border' is frontière in French.
frontière is a feminine noun used to describe the line or frontier area that separates various territories. If you want to express the action of crossing a border, the standard phrase is passer la frontière.
Meaning: the line or frontier area separating various territories (noun)
Which one should you use?
Use frontière specifically for political or territorial boundaries. This differs from bord, which refers to the edge or rim of an object such as a table or a river and bordure, which refers to the physical edge or boundary of an area rather than a political one. While frontière is the noun, you can use border as a transitive verb meaning to lie adjacent to a border or délimiter to mean putting a border on something.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
As a feminine noun, frontière follows feminine grammatical rules. When using the related adjective form, it changes to frontalière to agree with a feminine noun, such as in une zone frontalière (a border zone).
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 2 syllables and is pronounced /fʁɔ̃.tjɛʁ/.
Did you know?
- The word frontière shares the same root as the English word 'frontier', which itself stems from the Latin 'frons', meaning 'forehead' or 'brow'.
- While frontière describes a political border, the French use the word frontière metaphorically to describe the limits of human knowledge or the boundary between life and death.
- In French, a person living near a border is called a frontalier, a term that is frequently used in economic discussions regarding cross-border workers.
Examples in context
- Nous passons la frontière.We're crossing the border.This sentence is useful for showing how to use frontière with the verb 'passer'.Tatoeba #6885584 by felix63, translation #6886068 by Eccles17
- Tom est un garde-frontière.Tom is a border patrol agent.This sentence uses frontière within the compound noun 'garde-frontière'.Tatoeba #11904343 by zogwarg, translation #5827119 by Hybrid
- On doit passer la frontière.We need to cross the border.This sentence demonstrates the necessity of crossing the frontière.Tatoeba #10531325 by lbdx, translation #10523004 by AlanF_US
- La frontière entre la France et l'Espagne est marquée par les Pyrénées.The border between France and Spain is marked by the Pyrenees.
- La limite entre les deux villes est floue.The border between the two cities is blurry.
- Le jardin est entouré d'une belle bordure de fleurs.The garden is surrounded by a beautiful flower border.
- 51 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are planning a road trip through Europe.
- GabrielEst-ce qu'on doit passer une frontière aujourd'hui ?Do we have to cross a border today?
- LéaOui, Gabriel, la frontière est très proche.Yes, Gabriel, the border is very close.
- GabrielEst-ce qu'il y a beaucoup de trafic à la frontière ?Is there a lot of traffic at the border?
- LéaD'habitude, c'est assez fluide.Usually, it is quite smooth.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “border” translations and entries frontière, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries frontière, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
