beau-père
/bo.pɛʁ/masculine
The English word 'stepfather' can be translated into French as beau-père or parâtre.
Meaning: husband of one's biological mother, other than one's biological father (noun)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| beau-père | /bo.pɛʁ/ | masculine |
| parâtre | /pa.ʁatʁ/ /pa.ʁɑtʁ/ |
masculine |
The standard, neutral term for a stepfather is beau-père. Note that beau-père is also the standard word used to mean 'father-in-law'.
What does it mean word for word?
The term beau-père is composed of beau, meaning handsome or fine and père, meaning father.
Which one should you use?
Beau-père is the standard, neutral term for a stepfather or father-in-law. In contrast, parâtre is a highly negative, pejorative way to refer to a stepfather, often implying cruelty or a lack of care.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of beau-père is beaux-pères.
How do you pronounce it?
/bo.pɛʁ/
Did you know?
- The word parâtre is famously associated with the 'wicked stepfather' trope in French fairy tales, most notably in the stories of Charles Perrault.
- The term beau-père follows a pattern in French where 'beau' or 'belle' is added to relatives to denote marriage, such as belle-mère for 'stepmother' or 'mother-in-law'.
- In modern French, using the word parâtre in a real-life conversation is extremely rare and would be seen as an intense, almost theatrical insult.
Examples in context
- Elle a un parâtre.She has a stepfather.This sentence shows the use of the pejorative form parâtre.Tatoeba #8856112 by Julien_PDC, translation #12818233 by menaud
- Tom est le beau-père de Mary.Tom is Mary's stepfather.This sentence demonstrates how to use beau-père to show a relationship.Tatoeba #6465512 by Aiji, translation #1093462 by CK
- Mon beau-père était diabétique.My stepfather was diabetic.This sentence provides an example of using beau-père in a personal context.Tatoeba #6318285 by Aiji, translation #4499685 by CK
- J'adore passer du temps avec mon beau-papa.I love spending time with my stepdad.
- 10 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Emma and Gabriel are talking about Emma's family during a coffee break.
- EmmaMon beau-père est très gentil avec moi.My stepfather is very kind to me.
- GabrielC'est super, il habite avec vous ?That's great, does he live with you?
- EmmaOui, il vit dans la maison avec ma mère.Yes, he lives in the house with my mother.
- GabrielJe suis content pour toi, Emma.I am happy for you, Emma.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stepfather” translations and entries beau-père, parâtre, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
