brique
/bʁik/
The English word brick is translated into French as brique.
brique refers to a building material. In a formal context, you may see the phrase élément de construction en brique to mean a brick building element. Note that parpaing specifically refers to a concrete block used for construction purposes.
Meaning: a building material (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun brique is feminine. It takes an s in the plural form. When describing a structure made of brick, the preposition en is used with the singular noun brique.
How do you pronounce it?
/bʁik/
Did you know?
- The word brique also refers to a traditional North African deep-fried pastry filled with eggs and parsley.
- In French, the word brique is used as a slang term for a large sum of money, specifically one million francs before France adopted the euro.
- French speakers use the term brique to describe the cardboard packaging used for milk or juice, which English speakers call a 'carton'.
Examples in context
- Cette cheminée est de briques.This chimney is made of brick.This sentence is useful for seeing how to describe a chimney made of brique.Tatoeba #3673168 by sacredceltic, translation #60229 by CK
- J'ai jeté une brique sur le mur.I threw a brick over the wall.This sentence is useful for seeing the use of brique as a physical object.Tatoeba #9160034 by Julien_PDC, translation #9159993 by rafaeldejesus8199
- C'est un grand bâtiment en briques.It's a large brick building.This sentence is useful for seeing a building described as being made of brique.Tatoeba #11228041 by lbdx, translation #456193 by lukaszpp
- L'architecte a utilisé des briques rouges pour construire cette maison.The architect used red bricks to build this house.
- J'ai besoin de plusieurs parpaings pour mon projet de bricolage.I need several bricks for my DIY project.
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Lucas are looking at a house under construction.
- EmmaEst-ce que c'est une brique rouge ?Is that a red brick?
- LucasOui, Lucas pense que c'est plus joli.Yes, Lucas thinks it is prettier.
- EmmaJe préfère le mur en brique grise.I prefer the grey brick wall.
- LucasC'est vrai, c'est très moderne.That's true, it is very modern.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “brick” translations and entries brique, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
