ménage
/me.naʒ/masculine
The English word 'housekeeping' is translated into French as ménage.
ménage refers to the chores involved in maintaining a house as a residence. To express the action of performing these household chores, the standard phrase is faire le ménage. Related terms include ranger to tidy up, dépoussiérer to dust, balai for broom, linge for laundry and poussière for dust.
Meaning: chores of maintaining a house as a residence (noun)
Which one should you use?
While ménage refers to the act of housekeeping, it can also mean a household or a domestic couple/partnership. To specifically describe the management aspect of housekeeping, you would use la gestion domestique.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Quebec, Canada, the phrase L'entretien ménager is used frequently.
How does it change in a sentence?
ménage is a masculine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has two syllables and is pronounced /me.naʒ/.
What mistakes should you avoid?
However, in standard French, ménage primarily refers to the household or the act of housekeeping itself.
Did you know?
- In French, the term ménage à trois describes a domestic arrangement between three people. While it literally means 'a household of three', it is almost exclusively used to refer to a polyamorous relationship.
- While faire le ménage means to clean, the phrase faire le ménage is also used metaphorically in business or politics to mean 'cleaning house' by firing people or removing corruption.
- The word ménage is a distant relative of the English word 'mansion'. Both words share a common root in the Latin 'mānsiō' meaning 'a dwelling'.
Examples in context
- Elle s'occupait du ménage.She was doing the housekeeping.This sentence demonstrates the use of the phrase ménage to describe performing household chores.Tatoeba #12653122 by lbdx, translation #2209138 by winterstream
- Je vais faire le ménageI am going to do the housekeeping
- Est-ce que tu peux ranger ta chambre?Can you tidy up your room?
- Peux-tu m'aider à faire le ménage?Can you help me with the housekeeping?
- Ta maison est vraiment bien rangée, tu fais un excellent travail de ménage!Your house is really well organized, you do an excellent job with housekeeping!
- Le ménage doit être fait avant l'arrivée des invités.The housekeeping must be done before the guests arrive.
- Je déteste faire le ménage le dimanche.I hate doing the housekeeping on Sundays.
Example conversation
Léa and Lucas are discussing their weekend plans at home.
- LéaLucas, tu peux m'aider pour le ménage ?Lucas, can you help me with the housekeeping?
- LucasD'accord, je vais passer l'aspirateur.Okay, I will vacuum.
- LéaMerci, c'est gentil de ta part.Thank you, that is kind of you.
- LucasOn finit vite pour sortir ensuite.Let's finish quickly so we can go out afterwards.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “housekeeping” translations and entries ménage, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ménage, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
