stage
/staʒ/masculine
The French word for internship is stage.
The word stage is the most common and general term for an internship. While stage refers to the position or period of work itself, the noun stagiaire is used to describe the person who is the intern. To say you are doing an internship, you typically use the collocation faire un stage.
Meaning: job taken by a student (noun)
Which one should you use?
If you need to emphasize the professional nature of the position in formal or official contexts, you can use stage professionnel. For an internship that is specifically for observation, use stage d'observation.
How does it change in a sentence?
stage is a masculine noun. To express the action of performing an internship, use the verb faire in the phrase faire un stage.
How do you pronounce it?
/staʒ/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not confuse the French word stage with the English word 'stage' (referring to a theater stage or a step in a process).
Did you know?
- A stage d'observation is a unique French custom where students, sometimes as young as 14, spend a few days in a company just to watch, without performing any actual work.
- A stagiaire often has a very specific legal status in France, including strict rules about the maximum duration of a stage per year to prevent companies from using interns as cheap permanent labor.
- The French word stage is a linguistic cousin of étage, meaning 'floor' or 'level'. Both come from the Old French word estage, which referred to a step or a stage of progress.
Examples in context
- J'ai postulé pour un stage d'été.I applied for a summer internship.This sentence shows how to mention applying for a summer internship using stage.Tatoeba #12818936 by lbdx, translation #718376 by CM
- Je ne suis pas qualifié pour ce stage.I am not qualified for this internship.This sentence illustrates how to express a lack of qualification for a stage.Tatoeba #6877228 by Micsmithel, translation #4797016 by NatsuDonkey
- Je suis en train d'écrire mon rapport de stage.I am writing my internship report.This sentence is useful for describing the act of writing an internship report with stage.Tatoeba #1100762 by sysko, translation #4986524 by konkorde
- J'ai effectué un stage dans une entreprise de marketing.I did an internship in a marketing company.
- Je recherche un stage professionnel dans le domaine de l'informatique.I am looking for a professional internship in the field of computer science.
- J'ai effectué un stage d'observation dans un hôpital.I did an observational internship in a hospital.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Chloé are talking about her career at a cafe.
- GabrielEst-ce que ton stage se passe bien ?Is your internship going well?
- ChloéOui, ce stage est très intéressant.Yes, this internship is very interesting.
- GabrielTu veux rester dans cette entreprise ?Do you want to stay in this company?
- ChloéPeut-être, si l'équipe est sympa.Maybe, if the team is nice.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “internship” translations and entries stage, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries stage, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
