livre
/livʁ/
The English abbreviation 'lb' for the pound is written as livre in French.
The term livre is used to denote a unit of weight. In many French-speaking regions that use the metric system, you may hear people use livre colloquially to refer to a kilogram, even though it technically refers to the imperial pound or an older French unit of approximately 500g.
Which one should you use?
The word livre refers to the unit of weight, whereas livre can also mean 'book' depending on the context.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express multiple pounds, add an 's' to the end of the word to form livres.
How do you pronounce it?
/livʁ/
Did you know?
- Because livre means both 'book' and 'pound', a French speaker can technically say une livre de livres, which translates to 'a pound of books'.
- The French currency 'franc' was historically linked to the livre, as the livre tournois served as a unit of account long before the franc became the primary currency.
- The word livre for 'pound' and the word livre for 'book' are completely different words that just happen to be spelled the same. One comes from the Latin word for 'scales' and the other from the word for 'bark' or 'book'.
Examples in context
- Je dois acheter 5 livres de farine.I need to buy 5 pounds of flour.
- Je vais prendre une livre de fruits et légumes.I'm going to take a pound of fruits and vegetables.
- Il pèse environ dix livres.He weighs about ten pounds.
- Je voudrais deux livres de pommes.I would like two pounds of apples.
- Le paquet fait une livre.The package is one pound.
Example conversation
At the grocery store.
- ManonCombien de livres de tomates voulez-vous ?How many pounds of tomatoes do you want?
- GabrielJe prendrai trois livres, s'il vous plaît.I will take three pounds, please.
- ManonTrès bien, Gabriel.Very well, Gabriel.
- GabrielMerci beaucoup, Manon.Thank you very much, Manon.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry livre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries livre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
