maïs
/ma.is/
The English word corn is translated into French as maïs.
maïs refers to the tall cereal plant and its kernels. When looking at French recipes, you may see more specific terms: épis de maïs for corn on the cob, grains de maïs for corn kernels and crème de maïs for cream-style corn. If you wish to specify sweet corn, use maïs doux.
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to corn as an uncountable substance, such as when saying 'I am eating corn', use the partitive article du (e.g., du maïs) instead of the indefinite article un.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has two syllables and is pronounced /ma.is/.
Did you know?
- In some French-speaking regions like parts of Canada, you might hear the word blé d'Inde to describe corn, which literally translates to 'India wheat'.
- The word maïs travels a long way from the Americas to France, having been borrowed from the Spanish word 'maíz' which originated from the Taíno language of the Caribbean.
- The word maïs is a homophone with another French word: mais, which means 'but'.
Examples in context
- Je suis allergique au maïs.I'm allergic to corn.This sentence is useful for expressing a food allergy to maïs.Tatoeba #4429465 by Lalac, translation #4428228 by CK
- Laisse le maïs sur la table.Leave the corn on the table.This sentence is useful for giving a command to leave the maïs in a specific place.Tatoeba #10693074 by AutoBot, translation #11615662 by tieguy
- Le bourbon est fait à partir de maïs.Bourbon is made from corn.This sentence shows how maïs is used as an ingredient in making bourbon.Tatoeba #13061 by mouche, translation #35600 by CK
- Nous avons cultivé du maïs cette annéeWe grew corn this year
- Je vais acheter du blé d'Inde pour faire une délicieuse salade de maïsI'll buy some corn to make a delicious corn salad
- 18 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Manon are deciding what to eat at a summer barbecue.
- LucasEst-ce qu'on achète du maïs pour le barbecue ?Should we buy some corn for the barbecue?
- ManonOui, j'adore le maïs grillé avec du beurre.Yes, I love grilled corn with butter.
- LucasJe vais en prendre quatre épis alors.I will get four ears of it then.
- ManonC'est parfait, merci Lucas !That's perfect, thank you Lucas!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry maïs, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries maïs, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
