Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| statut | /sta.ty/ | masculine |
| état | /e.ta/ | masculine |
The term for status depends on what kind of status you are describing. Use statut to talk about a person's social, legal or official rank, such as a refugee status or social standing. You may also use the phrase statut social to describe someone's position in society. If you are referring to a physical or mental state of being, such as health or a state of matter, use état. For example, the specific administrative phrase état civil is used to refer to marital status.
Which one should you use?
statut is used for social, legal or official positions and ranks. In contrast, état is used to describe a physical or mental condition or a state of being, such as a person's health.
How does it change in a sentence?
Both statut and état are masculine nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/sta.ty/
Did you know?
- In France, the phrase état civil does not just describe your marital status, but is the name of the actual government office where you go to register a birth or marriage.
- The term statut is often used in the plural, statuts, to refer specifically to the written bylaws or articles of association of a company.
- While état means 'status' or 'state', it is also the French word for 'the State' as a political entity, such as in the phrase chef d'État for 'head of state'.
Examples in context
- Quel est votre état civil ?What's your marital status?This example shows how to ask about marital status using état.Tatoeba #8267367 by felix63, translation #4999143 by CK
- Une voiture chère est un symbole de statut social.An expensive car is a status symbol.This sentence uses statut to demonstrate the concept of a status symbol.Tatoeba #8575 by sacredceltic, translation #241249 by CK
- Mon chat, qui a le statut de réfugié, parle avec un accent vietnamien.My cat, who has a refugee status, speaks with a Vietnamese accent.This sentence uses statut to describe a legal refugee status.Tatoeba #10489249 by felix63, translation #10485583 by maaster
- Quel est ton statut sur les réseaux sociaux ?What is your status on social media?
- Elle bénéficie d'un niveau de vie aisé .She enjoys an affluent standard of living.
- 10 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Lucas are discussing a project's progress at work.
- ManonLucas, quel est le statut du projet ?Lucas, what is the status of the project?
- LucasC'est presque fini, Manon.It's almost finished, Manon.
- ManonLe statut est toujours marqué comme 'en cours'.The status is still marked as 'in progress'.
- LucasJe vais le mettre à jour maintenant.I will update it now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “status” translations and entries statut, état, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
