comptines
In French, the phrase for "nursery rhymes" is comptines.
The term refers specifically to short, rhythmic songs or poems intended for very young children. While comptine inherently implies a young audience, you may sometimes see the phrase comptine pour enfants used to explicitly specify that they are for children.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form of the word is comptine, meaning "nursery rhyme", while comptines is the plural form used for "nursery rhymes".
Did you know?
- Some traditional comptines contain dark or macabre themes that are much more unsettling than the sanitized versions often found in modern English-speaking nursery rhymes.
- The word comptine comes from the verb compter, meaning 'to count'. Many French nursery rhymes were originally used as counting-out games to decide who would be 'it' in a children's game.
- While many English nursery rhymes are purely lyrical, many French comptines are inseparable from specific hand gestures or finger plays known as jeux de doigts.
Examples in context
- Je crois savoir que vous cherchez un album de comptines pour enfants.I understand you're looking for a record album of nursery rhymes.This sentence shows how to use comptines when referring to a collection of songs in an album.Tatoeba #8867348 by lbdx, translation #69065 by CK
- Les comptines sont des textes délibérément incohérents.Nursery rhymes are deliberately inconsistent texts.This sentence describes the nature of comptines as texts that are often deliberately inconsistent.Tatoeba #8867979 by carlosalberto, translation #8867950 by carlosalberto
- Elle chante des comptines à son bébé.She sings nursery rhymes to her baby.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
