cerise
/sə.ʁiz/feminine
The English word "cherry" is translated into French as cerise. Wiktionary also lists griotte.
Meaning: fruit (noun)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| cerise | /sə.ʁiz/ | feminine |
| griotte | /ɡʁi.jɔt/ | feminine |
The word cerise is used to refer to the sweet variety of the fruit. If you wish to describe a cherry-colored hue, you can use the phrase couleur cerise. Additionally, the word for the cherry tree itself is cerisier.
Which one should you use?
While cerise refers to the sweet cherry, griotte specifically refers to the sour cherry (morello cherry).
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun cerise is feminine, so any accompanying adjectives must also be in the feminine form. For example, when describing the flavor, the phrase goût cerise is used.
How do you pronounce it?
The word cerise has two syllables and is pronounced /sə.ʁiz/.
Did you know?
- The French idiom la cerise sur le gâteau can be used positively to mean 'the icing on the cake' or sarcastically to mean 'the final straw' in a bad situation.
- The French word cerise is a linguistic relative of the English word 'cherry', as both trace their roots back to the Ancient Greek word kerásion.
- French distinguishes between the fruit cerise and the tree cerisier using a specific suffix. This is a common pattern in French where the -ier ending transforms a fruit into the tree that bears it.
Examples in context
- Vous mangez ma bonne cerise.You are eating my good cherry.This sentence shows the use of cerise in a simple statement.Tatoeba #5399066 by martin9, translation #11017181 by tjwhale
- Cette cerise est rouge foncé.This cherry is dark red.This sentence demonstrates how to use cerise with a color adjective.Tatoeba #13273897 by lbdx, translation #3326269 by Vanilla
- Veux-tu de la tarte aux cerises ?Do you want some cherry pie?This sentence shows how cerise is used when referring to a cherry-based dessert.Tatoeba #6671105 by GB3, translation #6671028 by Hybrid
- Marie a acheté une petite boîte de cerises au marché.Marie bought a small box of cherries at the market.
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Lucas are eating fruit in the kitchen.
- LéaLucas, tu veux une cerise ?Lucas, do you want a cherry?
- LucasOui, j'adore le goût de la cerise.Yes, I love the taste of cherry.
- LéaRegarde, cette cerise est énorme !Look, this cherry is huge!
- LucasElle a l'air délicieuse, Léa.It looks delicious, Léa.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cherry” translations and entries cerise, griotte, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cerise, griotte, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
