Tchad
/tʃad/
The French word for chad is Tchad.
In a formal context, it is referred to as La République du Tchad (The Republic of Chad).
Meaning: small pieces of paper punched out (noun)
Which one should you use?
In French, the name of the country is spelled with a capital T (Tchad), whereas the English word for small pieces of paper punched out is spelled without a capital and is an entirely different word.
How do you pronounce it?
/tʃad/
Did you know?
- French is one of the official languages of Tchad, but it is primarily used in administration and law rather than daily conversation.
- The spelling Tchad is a French orthographic choice to represent the 'ch' sound as /ʃ/, unlike the English 'chad' which uses 'ch' for /tʃ/.
- While English speakers use 'Chad' as a common name, in a French-speaking context, using the word Tchad exclusively identifies the specific Central African nation and carries no connotation of a person's name.
Examples in context
- Le lac Tchad continue de rétrécir.Lake Chad is continuing to shrink.This sentence is useful for seeing Tchad used in the context of a geographical location.Tatoeba #12423344 by Rovo, translation #4442922 by AlanF_US
- Le Tchad est un pays d'Afrique centrale.Chad is a country in Central Africa.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Emma are cleaning an old office printer.
- HugoRegarde tout ce Tchad dans la machine.Look at all this chad in the machine.
- EmmaC'est vraiment sale ici, Hugo.It is really dirty in here, Hugo.
- HugoJe vais aspirer chaque petit Tchad.I am going to vacuum every little chad.
- EmmaC'est une bonne idée, Emma.That is a good idea, Emma.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry Tchad, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
