décédé
/de.se.de/
The French phrase for 'passed away' is décédé.
décédé is used to indicate that someone has died. In formal contexts such as obituaries or official announcements, the noun le décès is used to refer to a person's passing.
Which one should you use?
décédé is a polite euphemism for someone's death, whereas mort is the direct and blunt equivalent of 'dead'. For an even more indirect and poetic approach, you can use the phrase nous a quittés, which means 'has left us'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
décédé is a common and formal term. If you are in an informal situation, you can use the verb partir to convey that someone has passed away.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective/past participle décédé must agree in gender and number with the subject it describes, appearing in the forms décédé, décédée, décédés or décédées.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /de.se.de/ and has 3 syllables.
Did you know?
- In very informal or colloquial French, people might use the slang term crever to say someone died. However, this is extremely blunt and disrespectful, the opposite of the polite décédé.
- In a religious context, the phrase rendu l'âme is used, which means 'gave back the soul' and is the equivalent of 'breathed their last'.
- If you want to say someone 'passed away' in a way that sounds almost like they are traveling, you can use the verb s'en aller, which means 'to go away' or 'to depart'.
Examples in context
- Il est décédé avant-hier.He passed away the day before yesterday.This sentence is useful for expressing when someone passed away.Tatoeba #10544032 by lbdx, translation #10527411 by AlanF_US
- Tom est décédé subitement.Tom passed away quite suddenly.This sentence is useful for expressing how someone passed away.Tatoeba #3474116 by Scorpionvenin14, translation #3473795 by CK
- Ma mère est décédée récemment.My mother passed away recently.Tatoeba #5644334 by Scorpionvenin14, translation #5644330 by Hybrid
- Il est décédé hierHe passed away yesterday
- Le regretté Monsieur Dupont sera enterré ce jeudiThe late Mr. Dupont will be buried this Thursday
- Il est parti il y a quelques joursHe passed away a few days ago
- Elle s'est éteinte paisiblement chez elleShe passed away peacefully at home
- Nous devons annoncer que notre chien est mort hierWe must announce that our dog passed away yesterday
- 27 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Chloé are talking about a former colleague at work.
- NathanTu as appris la nouvelle pour Monsieur Martin ?Did you hear the news about Mr. Martin?
- ChloéNon, est-ce qu'il est décédé ?No, did he pass away?
- NathanOui, il est décédé très soudainement.Yes, he passed away very suddenly.
- ChloéC'est vraiment triste, je suis désolée.That is truly sad, I am sorry.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry décédé, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
