son
/sɔ̃/masculine
The English word "sound" translates to the French masculine noun son.
son is used to refer to a sensation perceived by the ear.
Meaning: sensation perceived by the ear (noun)
Which one should you use?
In speech, son is a homophone of the possessive adjective son (meaning his, her or its). These are distinguished only by the context of the sentence.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
/sɔ̃/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly pronounce the n as a distinct consonant at the end of the word, whereas in French, the n serves to nasalize the vowel.
Did you know?
- The word son has a third meaning in French that refers to 'bran', the coarse outer shell of a grain. This comes from the Latin word for 'second' because bran is the result of a second sifting of flour.
- The French language has no single word that perfectly captures the English 'sound' when it refers to a body of water, such as 'Puget Sound'.
- In French music theory, the 'sound' of a specific instrument is often referred to as its timbre, a word English borrowed directly from French to describe sound quality.
Examples in context
- Le son a cessé.The sound ceased.This sentence shows the use of son when describing a sound that has ceased.Tatoeba #11837623 by Amastan, translation #11203066 by Amastan
- Quel est ce son ?What is this sound?This sentence is useful for asking about the identity of a specific son.Tatoeba #11163886 by Aiji, translation #3583338 by mikecash
- Le son a diminué.The sound lessened.This sentence illustrates the use of son when a sound has lessened.Tatoeba #11837647 by Amastan, translation #11440923 by Amastan
- Le son est fort et clair.The sound is loud and clear.
- J'aime la qualité du son de ce piano.I love the quality of this piano's sound.
- Il y a beaucoup de bruit dans cette rue.There is a lot of noise on this street.
- J'ai entendu un bruit étrange cette nuit.I heard a strange sound last night.
- Le son est excellent dans ce casque audio.The sound is excellent in these headphones.
- Ça fait un drôle de son quand tu appuies sur ce bouton.It makes a strange sound when you press this button.
- 169 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Lucas are watching a movie at home.
- EmmaJe n'entends pas le son.I can't hear the sound.
- LucasAttends, je monte le son.Wait, I'll turn up the sound.
- EmmaC'est mieux, le son est parfait.That's better, the sound is perfect.
- LucasSuper, on peut enfin commencer.Great, we can finally start.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sound” translations and entries son, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries son, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
