troisième
/tʁwa.zjɛm/feminine, masculine
In French, the English phrase 'third' is translated as troisième. If unsure, use troisième. Wiktionary also lists trois.
Meaning: the ordinal form of the cardinal number three (adj)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| troisième | /tʁwa.zjɛm/ /tʁwɑ.zjɛm/ |
feminine, masculine |
| trois | /tʁwa/ /tʁwɑ/ |
feminine, masculine |
The term 'third' refers to the ordinal form of the cardinal number three. Depending on the context, related terms may be used, such as tierce to mean an interval or tiers to refer to one of three equal parts of a whole.
Which one should you use?
Use troisième when you want to express the ordinal number (third). Use trois when you are expressing the cardinal number (three).
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The word troisième is invariable in gender, meaning the form remains the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. Note that while troisième is the ordinal number, trois is the cardinal number.
How do you pronounce it?
troisième is pronounced /tʁwa.zjɛm/ and consists of 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- In the French legal system, the tiers refers to a 'third party' or an outside person who is not a primary participant in a contract.
- Unlike the English abbreviation '3rd', the French abbreviation for troisième is typically written as 3e.
- The suffix -ième used to create troisième is applied to almost all ordinal numbers in French, except for the word for 'first'.
Examples in context
- Tom a été troisième.Tom was third.Tatoeba #5661918 by Aiji, translation #4495336 by CK
- C'est le trois octobre.It's the third of October.Tatoeba #9971 by pierrephi, translation #73449 by CK
- C'est ma troisième semaine.This is my third week.Tatoeba #6774570 by Micsmithel, translation #3649453 by Jesse
- Elle est arrivée en troisième position dans la compétition.She arrived in third place in the competition.
- Nous devons consulter le tiers pour prendre une décision éclairée.We need to consult the third party to make an informed decision.
- 107 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Emma are talking about the winners of a race.
- HugoQui est le troisième ?Who is the third?
- EmmaC'est Emma, elle est troisième.It is Emma, she is third.
- HugoBravo pour ta troisième place !Congratulations on your third place!
- EmmaMerci, Hugo !Thanks, Hugo!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “third” translations and entries troisième, trois, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
