farce
/faʁs/feminine
To say prank in French, use farce. It means a practical joke or a mischievous trick. If unsure, use farce. Wiktionary also lists tour.
Meaning: practical joke or mischievous trick (noun)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| farce | /faʁs/ | feminine |
| tour | /tuʁ/ | masculine |
To prank someone, French says faire une farce à quelqu'un. A prank call is une farce téléphonique.
Which one should you use?
tour can also mean a trick played on someone. Blague most often means joke but can describe a mild prank. farce can also mean a farce, a type of comedy or a ridiculous situation.
How does it change in a sentence?
farce is feminine and its plural is farces. tour in this sense is masculine.
How do you pronounce it?
farce is pronounced /faʁs/.
Did you know?
- The word farce comes from the Latin word for 'stuffing'. It originally referred to stuffing meat or pastry before it was used to describe 'stuffing' a play with comic scenes.
- While farce is a prank, French uses the word farce to describe the filling inside a roast or a sausage. If you ask for the farce in a kitchen, you are asking for the stuffing.
- While English uses 'prank' for various tricks, using tour in French implies a certain level of cleverness or a 'turn' played on someone.
Examples in context
- C'est juste une farce !It is just a prank!A common reply when a joke goes too far.Tatoeba #5330545 by BabyAzerty, translation #5330422 by Sethamajig
- Alberto a décidé de faire une farce à Isabella.Alberto decided to prank Isabella.faire une farce à is how French says to prank someone.Tatoeba #11756830 by Amastan, translation #11673449 by Amastan
- J'ai surpris mon fils en train de faire des farces téléphoniques à des numéros au hasard.I caught my son making prank calls to random phone numbers.des farces téléphoniques means prank calls.Tatoeba #800838 by sacredceltic, translation #731323 by darinmex
- Elle a fait une farce à son frèreShe played a prank on her brother
- J'ai fait une blague à mon collègue en cachant son styloI pulled a prank on my colleague by hiding his pen
- Mettre du sel dans le sucrierPutting salt in the sugar bowl
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Chloé are talking about a joke played at a party.
- LucasEst-ce que c'était une farce ?Was it a prank?
- ChloéOui, c'était une farce de sa part.Yes, it was a prank on her part.
- LucasElle n'a pas du tout ri.She didn't laugh at all.
- ChloéCette farce était un peu trop méchante.That prank was a bit too mean.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “prank” translations and entries farce, tour, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries farce, tour, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
