île
/il/feminine
The French word for island is île.
The noun île refers to an area of land completely surrounded by water. If you want to describe something relating to an island or a person who lives on one, you can use the adjective insulaire.
Meaning: area of land completely surrounded by water (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun île is feminine. When using the definite article the, the feminine article la undergoes elision because it precedes a word starting with a vowel, resulting in l'île.
How do you pronounce it?
/il/
Did you know?
- The word île is an unexpected ancestor of the English word 'aisle'. Both come from the Latin 'insula' because the space between rows of seats in a church was seen as a small island of walking space.
- In a kitchen or a large room, a freestanding counter or table is called une île, meaning 'an island'.
- The circumflex accent on the î in île is a historical marker showing that an 's' used to follow the vowel in Old French.
Examples in context
- Chypre est une île.Cyprus is an island.This sentence is useful for identifying a specific island using île.Tatoeba #6000903 by sicerabibax, translation #6000123 by Hybrid
- Taïwan est une île.Taiwan is an island.Tatoeba #13429631 by blaho, translation #13429910 by menaud
- L'Islande est une île.Iceland is an island.Tatoeba #9557674 by Micsmithel, translation #6976445 by Hybrid
- Cette île est magnifiqueThis island is beautiful
- J'adore les îles . L'année dernière, je suis allé à Tahiti.I love islands. Last year, I went to Tahiti.
- 174 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Hugo are looking at a map in a travel agency.
- LéaEst-ce que cette île est loin ?Is this island far away?
- HugoNon, c'est une petite île.No, it is a small island.
- LéaOn peut s'y rendre en bateau ?Can we get there by boat?
- HugoOui, le trajet est très court.Yes, the trip is very short.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “island” translations and entries île, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries île, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
