sœur
/sœʁ/feminine
The French word for sister is sœur.
sœur is a noun used to refer to a woman or girl who has the same parents as another person.
Meaning: woman or girl having the same parents (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to more than one sister, use the plural form sœurs.
How do you pronounce it?
/sœʁ/
Did you know?
- While sœur means sister, the French word for 'sister-in-law' is belle-sœur, literally translating to 'beautiful sister'.
- The phrase sœur de lait describes 'milk sisters' who are not biologically related but were nursed by the same woman.
- The spelling of sœur uses the œ ligature, a single character that combines 'o' and 'e', which is common in French but rare in English.
Examples in context
- Et ta sœur ?And your sister?This sentence shows how to ask about someone's sister using sœur.Tatoeba #529634 by sacredceltic, translation #7357039 by Eccles17
- Tom a une sœur.Tom has a sister.This sentence demonstrates the use of sœur to state that someone has a sister.Tatoeba #5822122 by Yemana, translation #4493747 by CK
- J'y vis ma sœur.I saw my sister there.This sentence illustrates the use of sœur in a sentence describing seeing a sister.Tatoeba #1719038 by sacredceltic, translation #322293 by CK
- Ma sœur est très intelligenteMy sister is very smart
- Votre sœur est une scientifique renomméeYour sister is a renowned scientist
- Ta sœur est très talentueuseYour sister is very talented
- J'adore ma sœuretteI love my little sister
- Ma frangine est une excellente cuisinièreMy sister is an excellent cook
- 881 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Emma are talking about their families at a cafe.
- LucasEmma, as-tu une sœur ?Emma, do you have a sister?
- EmmaOui, j'ai une sœur.Yes, I have a sister.
- LucasElle travaille avec toi ?Does she work with you?
- EmmaNon, ma sœur est étudiante.No, my sister is a student.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sister” translations and entries sœur, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
