Which one should you use?
To express that a person feels cold, you should use the phrase avoir froid (literally 'to have cold'). Using être froid (to be cold) to describe a person's physical sensation is a common error. Instead, être froid describes the temperature of an object or describes a person's unfriendly demeanor.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In parts of France, the colloquial expression Il caille is used to express that it is extremely cold.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, froid must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Use froide for feminine singular nouns, froids for masculine plural nouns and froides for feminine plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/fʁwa/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using être froid to say that a person feels cold. Use avoir froid to describe a person's sensation, as être froid is reserved for the temperature of objects or a person's unfriendly personality.
Did you know?
- The colloquial phrase Il caille used for extreme cold comes from the verb meaning 'to curdle' like milk.
- Using être froid to describe a person can imply that the person is physically dead or has a cold, lifeless touch.
- The French word froid and the English word 'frigid' are linguistic cousins because they both descend from the Latin word frīgidus.
Examples in context
- Ce mur est froid.This wall feels cold.This sentence shows how to use froid to describe the temperature of a wall.Tatoeba #1316281 by sacredceltic, translation #57212 by CK
- Ce lit est froid.This bed is cold.This sentence demonstrates using froid to describe the temperature of a bed.Tatoeba #1335211 by sacredceltic, translation #871363 by CM
- Le froid arrive !The cold is on its way.This sentence uses froid as a noun to indicate that the cold is arriving.Tatoeba #5988785 by christian63, translation #10466850 by sundown
- Il fait très froid dehors aujourd'hui.It's very cold outside today.
- J'ai les mains froides.I have cold hands.
- La pièce est un peu frisquette, pourriez-vous augmenter le chauffage s'il vous plaît?The room is a bit chilly, could you please increase the heating?
- Même avec un manteau, j'ai froid. Il fait un vent glacial!Even with a coat, I'm cold. It's blowing a freezing wind!
- 859 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Manon are having lunch at a cafe.
- GabrielEst-ce que ton plat est froid ?Is your dish cold?
- ManonOui, mon plat est un peu froid.Yes, my dish is a bit cold.
- GabrielJe vais demander à la serveuse.I will ask the waitress.
- ManonMerci, Gabriel, c'est gentil.Thank you, Gabriel, that is kind.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cold” translations and entries froid, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries froid, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
