Guatemala
/ɡwa.te.ma.la/masculine
Guatemala is the French name for the country Guatemala in Central America.
Guatemala refers to the country located in Central America.
Meaning: country in Central America (name)
How does it change in a sentence?
The name of the country is masculine. In French, it is almost always preceded by the definite article le, appearing as le Guatemala.
How do you pronounce it?
/ɡwa.te.ma.la/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often omit the definite article when using the name in a sentence, but in French, le Guatemala is the standard form for the country.
Did you know?
- The French word guatémaltèque is one of the few national adjectives in French that ends in -èque, a pattern more commonly seen in words for sciences or libraries like bibliothèque.
- While the name ends in 'a', which often indicates feminine nouns in French, le Guatemala is a masculine noun. This makes it an outlier compared to many other country names that end in 'a'.
- While le Guatemala is masculine, French speakers use the preposition au when saying 'to Guatemala' instead of en, which is used for feminine countries like en France.
Examples in context
- Le Guatemala fut un temps qualifié de république bananière.Guatemala was once qualified as a banana republic.This sentence is useful for using Guatemala in a historical context.Tatoeba #814939 by U2FS, translation #814938 by U2FS
- Jusqu'à présent, seuls deux pays, en l'occurrence, les États-Unis et Guatemala, ont transféré leurs ambassades de Tel Aviv à Jérusalem.Until now, only two countries, the US and Guatemala, shifted their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.This sentence shows how to use Guatemala when discussing international relations and embassies.Tatoeba #12101979 by Amastan, translation #10090030 by Amastan
- Le président de la France s'est rendu au Guatemala pour renforcer les relations diplomatiques.The president of France visited Guatemala to strengthen diplomatic relations.
- Je planifie des vacances au Guatemala avec mes amis.I'm planning a vacation to Guatemala with my friends.
- Je vais passer mes vacances au Guatemala.I am going to spend my holidays in Guatemala.
Example conversation
Gabriel and Manon are discussing travel plans over coffee.
- GabrielTu as déjà visité le Guatemala ?Have you ever visited Guatemala?
- ManonNon, mais j'aimerais beaucoup y aller.No, but I would really love to go there.
- GabrielC'est un pays magnifique pour l'aventure.It is a beautiful country for adventure.
- ManonAlors, je vais commencer à regarder les billets.Then, I am going to start looking at tickets.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “guatemala” translations and entries Guatemala, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
