manchots
Penguins in French is manchots.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular is manchot. To talk about penguins in general, use les manchots.
Did you know?
- The word manchot shares its root with the word for 'armless' or 'someone with amputated limbs'. This refers to the bird's appearance when its wings are tucked at its side.
- If you call a penguin a 'pingouin' in France, you are technically describing a bird that can fly, as the word 'pingouin' is reserved for certain species of alcids.
- While English uses one word for all penguins, French uses manchot for the Southern Hemisphere species and pingouin for the Northern Hemisphere Alcidae family.
Examples in context
- Les manchots sont des oiseaux inaptes au vol.Penguins are flightless birds.Les manchots opens a general statement about penguins.Tatoeba #13222847 by lbdx, translation #12476601 by sundown
- Les manchots se meuvent gracieusement dans l'eau et maladroitement sur terre.Penguins move gracefully in water and awkwardly on land.Here manchots is the subject of a sentence about how penguins move.Tatoeba #8408836 by marioo, translation #8408837 by marioo
- Les pingouins sont des oiseaux marins très adorables.Penguins are very adorable marine birds.
- Les zoos en France ont souvent des pingouins.Zoos in France often have penguins.
- Regarde les manchots ! Ils sont tellement mignons.Look at the penguins! They are so cute.
- On peut voir des manchots au zoo.We can see penguins at the zoo.
Example conversation
Manon and Gabriel are visiting an aquarium.
- ManonRegarde, Gabriel ! Il y a des manchots là-bas.Look, Gabriel! There are penguins over there.
- GabrielC'est vrai, ils sont vraiment mignons.It's true, they are really cute.
- ManonEst-ce que les manchots vivent tous au pôle Sud ?Do all penguins live in the South Pole?
- GabrielOui, la plupart d'entre eux vivent là-bas.Yes, most of them live there.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
