homme d'affaires
/ɔm d‿a.fɛʁ/masculine
The English word businessman is homme d'affaires in French.
homme d'affaires refers to a man in business or someone who works at a commercial institution. In casual conversations, the English term businessman is also used in French. You can also use entrepreneur to refer to an entrepreneur or a businessperson, as it can be used interchangeably with homme d'affaires.
Meaning: a man in business, one who works at a commercial institution (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a literal translation of "man of business", composed of homme (man), d' (of) and affaires (business/affairs).
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to a businesswoman, replace homme with femme to say femme d'affaires. For the plural form hommes d'affaires (businessmen), an s is added to homme while affaires remains plural.
How do you pronounce it?
/ɔm d‿a.fɛʁ/
Did you know?
- While homme d'affaires describes a professional, the word affaires also means 'love affairs' or 'scandals' depending on the context.
- In French, the word entrepreneur was originally used to describe someone who takes a risk or starts a project, regardless of whether it was commercial.
- The French language distinguishes between an homme d'affaires and a commerçant, where the latter refers specifically to a shopkeeper or merchant.
Examples in context
- Tom est un homme d'affaires.Tom is a businessman.This sentence is useful for stating that Tom is an homme d'affaires.Tatoeba #5655232 by Yemana, translation #2272768 by CK
- Mon père est un homme d'affaires.My father is a businessman.This sentence is useful for stating that one's father is an homme d'affaires.Tatoeba #126561 by TRANG, translation #319045 by CK
- Ziri est devenu homme d'affaires.Ziri became a businessman.This sentence is useful for stating that Ziri became an homme d'affaires.Tatoeba #11764039 by Amastan, translation #10209393 by Amastan
- Monsieur Dupont est un homme d'affaires prospère.Mr. Dupont is a successful businessman.
- Elle est une entrepreneure talentueuse et inspirante.She is a talented and inspiring businesswoman.
- Mon père est un businessman qui voyage beaucoup.My father is a businessman who travels a lot.
- 15 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Léa are discussing a mutual acquaintance.
- LucasEst-ce que Marc est un homme d'affaires ?Is Marc a businessman?
- LéaOui, il travaille dans la finance.Yes, he works in finance.
- LucasC'est un homme d'affaires très connu.He is a very well-known businessman.
- LéaC'est vrai, il voyage beaucoup.That's true, he travels a lot.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “businessman” translations and entries homme d'affaires, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
