pays
/pɛ.i/
The French word for 'countries' is pays.
pays refers to distinct nations or territories with their own governments.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word pays is the same in both its singular and plural forms.
How do you pronounce it?
/pɛ.i/
Did you know?
- The French word pays is a cognate of the English word 'pagan', as both stem from the Latin pāgus meaning 'countryside'.
- The word paysage, meaning 'landscape', is derived from pays.
- In English, 'country' often means the rural areas, but in French, pays is the standard word for a sovereign political state.
Examples in context
- Tom a visité quatre pays.Tom visited four countries.This sentence is useful for seeing how to express the number of countries visited.Tatoeba #7074179 by Micsmithel, translation #2665339 by meerkat
- Quels pays veux-tu visiter ?What countries do you want to visit?This sentence shows how to ask which countries someone wants to visit.Tatoeba #11058643 by lbdx, translation #11055109 by CK
- Vas-tu visiter d'autres pays ?Are you going to visit any other countries?This sentence demonstrates how to ask about visiting other countries.Tatoeba #334585 by sysko, translation #33609 by CK
- 223 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Nathan are discussing their travel plans.
- ManonJe veux explorer plusieurs pays en Europe.I want to explore several countries in Europe.
- NathanC'est super, quels pays as-tu choisis ?That's great, which countries did you choose?
- ManonJe pense commencer par les pays voisins.I think I'll start with the neighboring countries.
- NathanTu vas voir beaucoup de pays différents.You are going to see many different countries.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry pays, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries pays, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
