coudre
/kudʁ/
The English verb "sew" is translated into French as coudre.
The verb coudre means to use a needle to sew.
Meaning: (transitive) use a needle (verb)
Which one should you use?
Use coudre for the act of sewing with a needle, whereas la couture refers to the craft or the industry of sewing.
How does it change in a sentence?
The past participle of coudre is cousu, which means "sewn".
How do you pronounce it?
/kudʁ/
Did you know?
- French uses the verb recoudre to describe the specific act of sewing something back together after it has ripped.
- In Old French, the word was written as cosdre before the 's' became silent and was eventually removed from the spelling.
- The word 'cousu' (sewn) can be used metaphorically in French to describe something that is 'stitched together' or poorly constructed, much like 'patchwork' in English.
Examples in context
- Tu sais coudre un bouton ?Can you sew a button on?This sentence is useful for asking if someone knows how to sew a button using coudre.Tatoeba #11228674 by lbdx, translation #8910423 by sundown
- Elle sait très bien coudre.She can sew very well.This sentence is useful for describing someone's ability to sew well using coudre.Tatoeba #120020 by TRANG, translation #313794 by CK
- Est-ce que tu sais coudre ?Do you know how to sew?Tatoeba #9547838 by Aiji, translation #3022637 by sharptoothed
- Je sais bien coudre.I know how to sew well.
- Elle coud une jolie robe.She is sewing a beautiful dress.
- J'ai dû rapiécer mes chaussettes.I had to sew up my socks.
- J'ai acheté une nouvelle machine à coudre, je vais coudre à la machine ce soir.I bought a new sewing machine, I will sew with the machine tonight.
- 15 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Emma are in a craft store.
- HugoEst-ce que tu veux coudre cette robe ?Do you want to sew this dress?
- EmmaOui, je vais coudre un nouvel ourlet.Yes, I am going to sew a new hem.
- HugoTu vas utiliser ta machine pour coudre ?Are you going to use your machine to sew?
- EmmaNon, je préfère coudre à la main.No, I prefer to sew by hand.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sew” translations and entries coudre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries coudre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
