villes
The French phrase for "cities" is villes.
villes refers to large human settlements with a high population density and developed infrastructure.
Which one should you use?
Unlike English, which distinguishes between 'city' and 'town', the French word ville is used for both large cities and smaller towns.
How does it change in a sentence?
villes is the feminine plural form of the noun. The singular form of villes is ville.
Did you know?
- The word ville evolved from the Latin word villa, which originally referred to a country estate or a farm rather than an urban center.
- The English word 'village' is a direct linguistic descendant of ville, but the meanings diverged so that ville became larger and 'village' became smaller.
- In some formal contexts, the word cité is used instead of ville to refer to a specific historic district or a planned housing project.
Examples in context
- J'aime les grandes villes.I like big cities.Tatoeba #6536885 by GB3, translation #6532384 by CK
- Le pont joint les deux villes.The bridge connects the two cities.Tatoeba #1126783 by sacredceltic, translation #1126780 by CK
- Kiev est la mère des villes de Russie.Kiev is the mother of Russian cities.Tatoeba #473993 by sacredceltic, translation #467534 by sabretou
- 82 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Hugo are discussing their travel plans.
- LéaQuelles villes veux-tu visiter ?Which cities do you want to visit?
- HugoJ'adore découvrir de nouvelles villes.I love discovering new cities.
- LéaEst-ce que les villes sont trop grandes ?Are the cities too big?
- HugoNon, elles sont très animées.No, they are very lively.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
