hélium
/e.ljɔm/masculine
The English word "helium" is translated into French as hélium.
hélium refers to the chemical element helium.
Meaning: chemical element (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun hélium is masculine.
How do you pronounce it?
/e.ljɔm/
Did you know?
- Because hélium starts with an 'h aspiré' (aspirated h), it is never linked to the word before it. You say le hélium and not l'hélium.
- To describe someone who is 'flighty' or 'airheaded', a French speaker would never use hélium but would instead say they have their tête dans les nuages, meaning 'head in the clouds'.
- The word hélium shares its root with héliocentrisme, derived from the Greek word for 'sun'.
Examples in context
- L'hélium est un gaz.Helium is a gas.This sentence is useful for stating that hélium is a gas.Tatoeba #9557092 by Micsmithel, translation #2549565 by CK
- Ce ballon vole car il est rempli d'hélium.This balloon floats because it's filled with helium.This sentence is useful for explaining why a balloon floats due to being filled with hélium.Tatoeba #12655645 by lbdx, translation #6013080 by mailohilohi
- Une nébuleuse est un nuage interstellaire de poussière, d'hydrogène, d'hélium et d'autres gaz ionisés.A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases.This sentence is useful for describing the composition of a nebula, including hélium.Tatoeba #10134247 by lbdx, translation #4256071 by ajdavidl
- Le laboratoire utilise l'hélium liquide pour ses expériences.The laboratory uses liquid helium for its experiments.
- L'industrie de l'aérospatiale utilise l'hélium pour gonfler les réservoirs de carburant.The aerospace industry uses helium to inflate fuel tanks.
- On a besoin d'hélium pour les fêtes d'anniversaire. Il faut des gros ballons !We need helium for birthday parties. We need big balloons!
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are at a party supply store.
- HugoEst-ce que vous vendez de l'hélium ?Do you sell helium?
- ManonOui, nous en avons pour les ballons.Yes, we have some for balloons.
- HugoParfait, j'en ai besoin pour mon fils.Perfect, I need some for my son.
- ManonTrès bien, prenez cette bouteille d'hélium.Very well, take this helium tank.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “helium” translations and entries hélium, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
