foule
/ful/feminine
The English word "crowd" is translated into French as foule.
foule refers to a mass of people. You can also use the expression une foule de figuratively to mean "a great number of" or "a lot of" something.
Meaning: group of people (noun)
Which one should you use?
While foule refers to a mass of people, the word groupe is used for a smaller, more organized or specific collection of people.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun foule is feminine and is used with the feminine article la.
How do you pronounce it?
/ful/
Did you know?
- In French, there are two different meanings for the word foule. One refers to a 'crowd' of people and the other refers to the industrial process of 'fulling' or milling wool and hats.
- While foule describes a mass of people, French uses the word peuple to describe the 'people' of a nation. The two words represent the difference between a physical crowd and a political population.
- The expression une foule de can describe things that aren't people. You can have une foule de souvenirs meaning 'a crowd of memories' or 'a great many memories'.
Examples in context
- La foule a applaudi.The crowd cheered.Tatoeba #5298347 by Bidule, translation #2252565 by CK
- La foule est en liesse.The crowd is cheering.Tatoeba #8315113 by Julien_PDC, translation #4666915 by CK
- La foule est en délire.The crowd is going nuts.Tatoeba #9001576 by lbdx, translation #1400234 by Spamster
- La foule était enthousiaste lors du concert.The crowd was enthusiastic at the concert.
- Le public était nombreux lors de l'inauguration.The crowd was numerous at the inauguration.
- Il y avait une grosse foule devant le magasin.There was a big crowd in front of the store.
- Après le match, une horde de supporters a envahi les rues.After the match, a horde of fans flooded the streets.
- 114 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Hugo are walking through a busy city center.
- LéaRegarde cette foule, c'est incroyable !Look at this crowd, it's incredible!
- HugoOui, il y a beaucoup de monde aujourd'hui.Yes, there are a lot of people today.
- LéaLa foule est trop dense pour moi.The crowd is too dense for me.
- HugoOn devrait peut-être partir d'ici.Maybe we should leave here.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “crowd” translations and entries foule, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries foule, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
