long
/lɔ̃/
The English word "long" translates to French as long.
The adjective long is used to describe something that has much distance from one point to another. For an informal way to express something as being "at length" or "lengthy", you can use the expression à rallonge.
Meaning: having much distance from one point to another (adj)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective long changes to agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies. Use the feminine form longue, the masculine plural form longs or the feminine plural form longues.
How do you pronounce it?
/lɔ̃/
Did you know?
- In French, the phrase long comme un jour sans pain translates to 'long as a day without bread'. It is used to describe something incredibly tedious or boring.
- While English speakers use 'long' to describe time, French speakers often prefer long for physical dimensions and use longtemps for durations of time.
- In older French literature, long was sometimes used as a synonym for 'deep' when describing the reach of a forest or a valley.
Examples in context
- Ça va être long.This is going to be long.Tatoeba #6167047 by Aiji, translation #2892219 by CK
- Ne sois pas long.Don't be long.Tatoeba #129020 by gillux, translation #52047 by CM
- Il a un long nez.He has a long nose.Tatoeba #132036 by Archibald, translation #296383 by CK
- Une jupe longueA long skirt
- Un roman longA long novel
- Une réunion de longue duréeA long-duration meeting
- Un long voyageA long journey
- Un trajet longuetA somewhat lengthy journey
- Une réunion avec des discussions à rallongeA meeting with lengthy discussions
- Un cours avec un programme à rallongeA class with an extensive agenda
- 1513 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Nathan are looking at a map of a hiking trail.
- EmmaCe chemin a l'air très long.This path looks very long.
- NathanOui, mais la vue est magnifique.Yes, but the view is magnificent.
- EmmaEst-ce qu'on peut prendre un raccourci ?Can we take a shortcut?
- NathanNon, c'est le seul chemin possible.No, it is the only possible path.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “long” translations and entries long, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
