sœur
/sœʁ/feminine
The French word for sister is sœur.
The term sœur refers 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?
sœur is a feminine noun. When expressing possession, you must use the feminine possessive adjective ma (as in ma sœur) instead of the masculine mon. The plural form of sœur is sœurs.
How do you pronounce it?
/sœʁ/
Did you know?
- In many French-speaking African cultures, calling someone ma sœur is a common way to show respect to a stranger of the same generation.
- The spelling of sœur uses the œ ligature, a single typographic character that combines two letters into one.
- While sœur means sister, the French expression être sœurs de cœur describes two women who are sisters by choice or heart rather than by blood.
Examples in context
- Et ta sœur ?And your sister?This sentence is useful for asking about someone's sister using sœur.Tatoeba #529634 by sacredceltic, translation #7357039 by Eccles17
- Tom a une sœur.Tom has a sister.This sentence shows how to state that someone has a sister using sœur.Tatoeba #5822122 by Yemana, translation #4493747 by CK
- J'y vis ma sœur.I saw my sister there.This sentence describes seeing a sister in a specific location using sœur.Tatoeba #1719038 by sacredceltic, translation #322293 by CK
- T'as vu ma tite sœur ? Elle est trop mignonne!Have you seen my little sister? She is so cute!
- 881 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Lucas are talking about their families.
- ChloéEst-ce que tu as une sœur ?Do you have a sister?
- LucasOui, j'ai une sœur aînée.Yes, I have an older sister.
- ChloéComment s'appelle ta sœur ?What is your sister's name?
- LucasElle s'appelle Julie.Her name is Julie.
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.
