Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| mourir | /mu.ʁiʁ/ |
| expirer | /ɛk.spi.ʁe/ |
| trépasser | /tʁe.pa.se/ |
| crever | /kʁə.ve/ |
The primary way to express the cessation of life is with the verb mourir. Depending on the context, whether you are being clinical, poetic or extremely blunt, other verbs may be used.
Which one should you use?
While mourir is the standard term, expirer is used in medical or legal contexts to mean 'to expire' or 'to pass away'. For a more poetic or solemn effect, one might use the literary and archaic term trépasser. In contrast, crever is a vulgar, slang way to say 'to die' or 'to croak', frequently applied to animals or used in very crude speech regarding humans.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb mourir uses the auxiliary verb être to form compound tenses, such as the passé composé (e.g., est mort). To describe someone in the process of dying, use the present participle mourant.
How do you pronounce it?
/mu.ʁiʁ/
Did you know?
- The vulgar verb crever is also the standard word used when a tire bursts or pops.
- The word crever shares its informal meaning of 'to die' with the Italian crepare and Romanian crăpa.
Examples in context
- On va tous mourir !We're all going to die!This example shows how to express a dramatic statement of certain death using mourir.Tatoeba #11166986 by lbdx, translation #2436483 by Hybrid
- J'ai peur de mourir.I'm afraid to die.This example expresses a personal fear of death using mourir.Tatoeba #335203 by TRANG, translation #7114508 by CK
- Il craint de mourir.He is afraid that he will die.This example shows how to describe a third person's fear of death using mourir.Tatoeba #1347771 by sacredceltic, translation #297215 by CK
- Il est mort hier.He died yesterday.
- Malheureusement, elle est décédée la semaine dernière.Unfortunately, she passed away last week.
- Le patient est mort des suites de sa maladie.The patient died as a result of his illness.
- Le moteur de ma voiture a clamsé en pleine autoroute.The engine of my car croaked in the middle of the highway.
- 353 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a character in a novel.
- LéaLe héros va mourir à la fin ?Is the hero going to die at the end?
- GabrielOui, il meurt tragiquement.Yes, he dies tragically.
- LéaC'est vraiment triste pour lui.That is truly sad for him.
- GabrielC'est une histoire très émouvante.It is a very moving story.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “die” translations and entries mourir, expirer, trépasser, crever, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries crever, expirer, mourir, trépasser, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
