rayures
The English word "stripes" is translated into French as rayures.
rayures refers to long, narrow lines of a different color found on a piece of fabric or clothing. For example, you can speak of rayures rouges et blanches to mean red and white stripes.
Did you know?
- The iconic blue and white striped shirt of the French sailor is called a marinière. It was officially adopted by the French Navy in 1858 to help spot sailors who fell overboard.
- While rayures describes fabric patterns, the word rayure also refers to a scratch on a surface, such as a car's paint. This creates a linguistic link between a decorative stripe and a damaging mark.
- When describing the 'stripes' of a tiger or zebra, French uses rayures, but for the 'stripes' on a flag, the word bandes is used instead.
Examples in context
- Les zèbres ont des rayures.Zebras have stripes.This sentence shows how to describe the stripes on a zebra using rayures.Tatoeba #10138469 by lbdx, translation #7697529 by Hybrid
- Les rayures étaient horizontales.The stripes were horizontal.This sentence describes the orientation of the rayures.Tatoeba #4753799 by smonff, translation #4494047 by CK
- L'ombre des zèbres n'a pas de rayures.Zebra shadows don't have stripes.This sentence uses rayures to show that shadows do not possess stripes.Tatoeba #6386700 by felix63, translation #12000605 by zogwarg
- La robe a de magnifiques rayuresThe dress has beautiful stripes
- Les bandes sur le tissu sont parfaitement alignéesThe stripes on the fabric are perfectly aligned
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Hugo are looking at clothes in a shop.
- ChloéTu aimes ce t-shirt avec des rayures ?Do you like this t-shirt with stripes?
- HugoOui, les rayures bleues sont très jolies.Yes, the blue stripes are very pretty.
- ChloéJe pense qu'il t'irait bien.I think it would look good on you.
- HugoD'accord, je vais l'essayer.Okay, I am going to try it on.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
