professeurs
The English phrase "teachers" is translated into French as professeurs.
The term professeurs refers to people whose job is to teach students in a school or college. In academic contexts, the word professeur is also used as a formal title for high-ranking university faculty. You may also see the term prof used as a way to refer to both male and female teachers without distinction.
Which one should you use?
While professeurs is the standard term for teachers in secondary and higher education, enseignants is a more general term used to describe the teaching profession as a whole. You might encounter maître for a male teacher and maîtresse for a female teacher.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form of professeurs is professeur. In modern usage, the feminine singular form is professeure and the feminine plural is professeures. For the general term for teachers, the singular is enseignant and the plural is enseignants.
Did you know?
- The term maître used for primary school teachers literally means 'master', reflecting an older tradition of the teacher as the master of the classroom.
- In many French schools, students do not address their teachers by their names, but simply as Monsieur or Madame.
- The word enseignant comes from the verb enseigner, which is derived from the Latin word for 'to show' or 'to point out'.
Examples in context
- Que font les professeurs ?What are the teachers doing?This sentence uses professeurs to ask about the actions of teachers.Tatoeba #936319 by sacredceltic, translation #3210850 by _undertoad
- J'avais de bons professeurs.I had good teachers.This sentence uses professeurs to describe having had good teachers.Tatoeba #5476499 by alexisslay, translation #5465177 by CK
- Lui et moi sommes professeurs.He and I are teachers.This sentence uses professeurs to state that two people are teachers.Tatoeba #130057 by Aiji, translation #284475 by CK
- Les professeurs sont très compétents dans cette école.The teachers are very competent in this school.
- Les enseignants font un travail admirable.The teachers do an admirable job.
- Les maîtres sont très patients avec les élèves.The teachers are very patient with the students.
- J'ai rendez-vous avec le prof de maths à midi.I have an appointment with the math teacher at noon.
- 43 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Hugo are discussing their school years.
- LéaLes professeurs étaient très stricts.The teachers were very strict.
- HugoOui, mais ils étaient passionnés.Yes, but they were passionate.
- LéaEst-ce que tu les aimais ?Did you like them?
- HugoParfois, c'était difficile.Sometimes, it was difficult.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
