musée
/my.ze/masculine
The French word for museum is musée.
musée refers to a building or institution. You can specify the type of museum by adding descriptions, such as le musée d'art contemporain for a contemporary art museum, le musée d'histoire for a history museum or le musée des sciences for a science museum. In formal contexts, you may encounter the term l'établissement culturel to refer to a cultural institution, which often includes museums.
Meaning: building or institution (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
musée is a masculine noun, so you use the masculine definite article le (as in le musée) rather than the feminine la.
How do you pronounce it?
/my.ze/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid adding an 'm' to the end of the word (as in the English 'museum') and do not pronounce the final é as a long English 'ee' sound.
Did you know?
- The word musée is a masculine noun, which is counterintuitive for English speakers since the Greek root it shares, muse, is feminine in French.
- French law distinguishes between a general musée and a musée de France, the latter being a protected legal status that prevents the state from selling its collections.
- The word musée shares its DNA with the word 'muse', as both trace back to the Greek 'Muses', the goddesses of inspiration in art and science.
Examples in context
- Ce n'est pas un musée.That's not a museum.This sentence uses musée to express a negative statement about an object.Tatoeba #6560545 by Aiji, translation #5392541 by CK
- Ce musée vaut la visite.That museum is worth visiting.This sentence uses musée to describe the value of a visit.Tatoeba #14092 by nimfeo, translation #44487 by CK
- Comment était le musée ?How was the museum?This sentence uses musée to ask a question about a past experience.Tatoeba #7785923 by Aiji, translation #6026145 by Hybrid
- Bienvenue au musée du Louvre.Welcome to the Louvre Museum.
- Tu veux aller au musée d'Orsay ce week-end?Do you want to go to the Orsay Museum this weekend?
- Pouvez-vous m'expliquer cette œuvre?Can you explain this artwork to me?
- 190 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Manon are planning a weekend trip in Paris.
- NathanTu veux aller au musée demain ?Do you want to go to the museum tomorrow?
- ManonOui, quel musée préfères-tu ?Yes, which museum do you prefer?
- NathanJ'aimerais beaucoup voir ce grand musée.I would really like to see this big museum.
- ManonC'est une excellente idée, Nathan.That is an excellent idea, Nathan.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “museum” translations and entries musée, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries musée, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
