rembourser
/ʁɑ̃.buʁ.se/
To reimburse in French is rembourser.
rembourser means to compensate someone with pay or money, and is specifically used to mean repaying money spent on someone's behalf. You can use the expression rembourser les frais when you are referring specifically to reimbursing expenses. In a commercial context, rembourser is more commonly used for the sense of 'refunding' money to a customer than the English word 'reimburse'.
Meaning: to compensate with pay or money, especially, to repay money spent on one's behalf (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The verb rembourser literally means to pay back into a purse. It is composed of the prefix rem- (back/again) and bourser (derived from bourse, meaning purse or wallet).
How does it change in a sentence?
The past participle remboursé (reimbursed) is used with the auxiliary verb avoir to form the passé composé. Common conjugations include Je rembourse (I reimburse), Il/elle rembourse (He/she reimburses), Nous remboursons (We reimburse), Vous remboursez (You reimburse) and Ils/elles remboursent (They reimburse).
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 3 syllables and is pronounced /ʁɑ̃.buʁ.se/.
Did you know?
- The word bourse in rembourser is the root of the English word 'bourse', which refers to a stock exchange. This is because early traders in Bruges used leather purses to hold their money.
- The root bourse also gives the French language the word boursier, which refers to a student receiving a scholarship or grant.
- In a casual setting, a French speaker might say je te rends l'argent instead of using rembourser to mean 'I will pay you back'.
Examples in context
- Je vais te rembourser.I'm going to reimburse you.This sentence uses rembourser to show a future intention to reimburse someone.Tatoeba #9472589 by Julien_PDC, translation #13909181 by rul
- Elles vont le rembourser.They're going to reimburse him.This sentence uses rembourser to show a group's intention to reimburse a man.Tatoeba #12391725 by Rovo, translation #12545716 by rul
- Nous ne pouvons pas vous rembourser sans preuve que vous ayez fait l'achat.We cannot reimburse you without proof that you made the purchase.This sentence uses rembourser to explain a requirement for proof during a reimbursement.Tatoeba #8755947 by Aiji, translation #8657772 by AlanF_US
- J'aimerais vous demander de me rembourser les frais de déplacement.I would like to ask you to reimburse me for the travel expenses.
- La compagnie m'a finalement remboursé tous les frais de déplacement.The company finally reimbursed me for all the travel expenses.
- Nous vous prions de bien vouloir faire un remboursement dans les plus brefs délais.We kindly request you to make a reimbursement as soon as possible.
- Tu peux me rembourser l'argent que je t'ai prêté hier ?Can you reimburse me the money I lent you yesterday?
- J'attends toujours que tu me rendes l'argent que je t'ai prêté.I'm still waiting for you to reimburse me the money I lent you.
- Je vous serais reconnaissant de me rembourser rapidement.I would be grateful if you could reimburse me quickly.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Lucas are discussing a shared dinner expense.
- ChloéJe vais rembourser Lucas pour le dîner.I am going to reimburse Lucas for the dinner.
- LucasCe n'est pas pressé, Chloé.There is no rush, Chloé.
- ChloéJe préfère rembourser maintenant.I prefer to reimburse you now.
- LucasD'accord, merci beaucoup !Okay, thank you very much!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “reimburse” translations and entries rembourser, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
