Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| professeur | /pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/ /pʁɔ.fe.sœʁ/ |
masculine |
| instituteur | /ɛ̃s.ti.ty.tœʁ/ | |
| maître d'école | /mɛ.tʁə d‿e.kɔl/ | masculine |
| enseignant | /ɑ̃.sɛ.ɲɑ̃/ /ɑ̃.se.ɲɑ̃/ |
masculine |
enseignant is a formal, neutral term often used in administrative or professional contexts to describe the profession of teaching.
Which one should you use?
professeur is the most common term and is often used for teachers in secondary school or university professors. In contrast, instituteur specifically refers to a primary school teacher, whereas professeur is more general or used for higher levels.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
professeur is the standard formal term for teacher and is male. Prof is an informal shortened version of professeur used among students. Enseignant/Enseignante is a generic formal alternative to professeur. Maître/Maîtresse is a formal term historically used for primary school teachers to emphasize authority.
How does it change in a sentence?
The feminine form of professeur is professeure. The feminine form of enseignant is enseignante.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/ and consists of 3 syllables.
Did you know?
- In French, maître and maîtresse are used to address primary school teachers, but maîtresse also means 'mistress' in a romantic or illicit context.
- In French, you do not use the article 'un' or 'une' when stating someone's profession, so you say 'Elle est professeur' rather than 'Elle est une professeur'.
- In many French schools, students rarely call their professeur by the title professeur directly, instead using Monsieur or Madame.
Examples in context
- Tu es le professeur.You're the teacher.This sentence is useful for identifying a specific teacher.Tatoeba #2228911 by sacredceltic, translation #2218439 by CK
- Ma mère est professeur.My mother is a teacher.This sentence is useful for stating someone's profession.Tatoeba #14884 by Julien_PDC, translation #456443 by lukaszpp
- Dan va être enseignant.Dan is going to be a teacher.This sentence is useful for describing a future career.Tatoeba #4069893 by Amastan, translation #12263793 by Miktsoanit
- Les enseignants de cette école sont très compétents et dévoués.The teachers in this school are very competent and dedicated.
- Salut, Prof! Est-ce qu'on a des devoirs pour demain?Hi, Teacher! Do we have any homework for tomorrow?
- Maîtresse, est-ce qu'on peut sortir en récréation maintenant?Teacher, can we go out for recess now?
- 897 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Chloé are talking about their school year.
- HugoEst-ce que ton professeur est sympa ?Is your teacher nice?
- ChloéOui, le professeur de mathématiques est génial.Yes, the math teacher is great.
- HugoC'est super pour ton année scolaire !That's great for your school year!
- ChloéOui, il aide beaucoup les élèves.Yes, he helps the students a lot.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “teacher” translations and entries professeur, instituteur, maître d'école, enseignant, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
