Talking about your family and pets in French
Qui est dans ta famille? - Who is in your family?
Alors ma famille et moi.
Dans ma famille il y a ma mère et mon père et ma soeur - In my family there is my mother, my father and my sister.
When you say my in French you use ma for feminine nouns such as ma mère and mon for masculine nouns like mon père.
And to talk about who you live with…
J’habite avec ma mère et mon beau-père - I live with my mum and my step-father.
And what about pets? Bien sûr! J'ai un chat - mais je n'ai pas de chien - I have a cat but I don’t have a dog.
So with these words you can start to talk about your own family and pets.
To talk about family members, use a form of avoir (see the table below) followed by un (for male family members) or une (for female ones) and then the family member.
If you have more than one, say the number and then make sure you use the plural.
| to have | avoir |
|---|---|
| I have | j'ai |
| you have | tu as |
| he has | il a |
| she has | elle a |
With half brothers and sisters and also stepbrothers and stepsisters, use demi for both male and female.
- J’ai un frère - I have a brother.
- Tu as une sœur ? - Do you have a sister?
- Il a trois demi-frères - He has three half-brothers.
- Elle a un demi-frère et deux sœurs - She has a stepbrother and two sisters.
You can also say dans ma famille, il y a (in my family, there is/are) with mon for masculine family members, ma for feminine ones, and mes for plural.
- Dans ma famille, il y a mon père, ma sœur et mes trois frères - In my family, there is my dad, my sister and my three brothers.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un père | a dad |
| une mère | a mum |
| un frère | a brother |
| une sœur | a sister |
| un demi-frère | a half-brother or step-brother |
| une demi-sœur | a half-sister or step-sister |
| un beau-père / une belle-mère | a step-father / step-mother |
| une famille d’accueil | a foster family |
| des parents adoptifs | foster / adoptive parents |
Describing your extended family
To talk about your relatives, such as aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, you can use the following words:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un grand-père | grandfather |
| un oncle | uncle |
| un cousin | male cousin |
| une grand-mère | grandmother |
| une tante | aunt |
| une cousine | female cousin |
| des grands-parents | grandparents |
| des cousins | cousins (male and female) |
You could describe your extended family in a paragraph as follows:
J’ai une très grande famille !
Il y a mon père et ma mère, mes deux sœurs et moi.
J’ai aussi huit cousins, trois tantes et quatre oncles.
De plus, ’a trois grands-parents - un grand-père et deux grands-mères.
Translation:
I have a very big family!
There is my dad and my mum, my two sisters and me.
Also, I have eight cousins, three aunts and four uncles.
In addition, I have three grandparents - one grandfather and two grandmothers.
Talking about family relationships
To talk about relationships with family members, use je m’entends bien avec (I get on well with), or je ne m’entends pas bien avec (I don’t get on well with) followed by the family member(s).
- Je m’entends bien avec mes parents - I get on well with my parents.
- Je ne m’entends pas bien avec mon frère - I don’t get on well with my brother.
To give reasons why you (don’t) get on with someone, use parce que (because) and a reason. This is often an adjective, and the adjective changes depending on whether the people are masculine, feminine or plural.
- Je m’entends bien avec mon frère parce qu’il est amusant - I get on well with my brother because he is funny.
- Je m’entends bien avec ma sœur parce qu’elle est amusant_e_ - I get on well with my sister because she is funny.
- Je m’entends bien avec mes cousins parce qu’ils sont amusant_s_ - I get on well with my cousins because they are funny.
- Je m’entends bien avec mes tantes parce qu’elles sont amusant_es_ - I get on well with my aunts because they are funny.
Describing your pets
To talk about your pets, you can use ’a (I have) to say what pet you have, or je voudrais (I would like) to say what pet you’d like to have.
To ask someone if they have a pet, you can say:
- Tu as un animal ? - Do you have a pet?
To reply, you could use one of the following sentences:
- J’ai un chat - I have a cat.
- Je voudrais un poisson rouge - I would like a goldfish.
- Je n’ai pas de chien - I don’t have a dog.
- Je n’ai pas d’animal - I don’t have a pet.
Here are some more pets in French:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un chat | cat |
| un chien | dog |
| un serpent | snake |
| un lapin | rabbit |
| un cheval | horse |
| un cochon d’Inde | guinea pig |
| un hamster | hamster |
| un poisson rouge | goldfish |
| un perroquet | parrot |
| une souris | mouse |
| une araignée | spider |
| une tortue | tortoise |
To describe your pet, you need to use mon for masculine animals, ma for feminine animals and mes for plural animals. Then you need a form of êٰ (to be), followed by an adjective, which changes depending on whether the pet is masculine, feminine or plural.
- Mon chien est grand - My dog is big.
- Ma tortue est grand_e_ - My tortoise is big.
- Mes serpents sont grand_s_ - My snakes are big.
- Mes araignées ne sont pas grand_es_ - My spiders are not big.
Here are some useful adjectives you could use to describe your pets:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Ի() | big |
| petit(e) | small |
| amusant(e) | funny |
| mignon(ne) | cute |
| sympa / affectueux / affectueuse | friendly |
| ennuyeux / ennuyeuse | boring |
| paresseux / paresseuse | lazy |
| intelligent(e) | intelligent |
| bruyant(e) | noisy |
Quiz
Find out how much you know about family and pets in French in this short quiz.
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