Leçon 8 – Family and Friends
Family
Let’s meet the members of your family!
Father – Un père
Granddaughter – Une petite–fille
Additional Vocabulary
Stepfather – un beau-père
Stepmother – une belle-mère
Stepbrother/Brother in law – un beau-frère
Stepsister/Sister in law – une belle-soeur
Half brother – un demi-frère (demi pronounced deh-mi)
Half sister – une demi-soeur
Friends
Boy – un garçon
Girl – une fille
Friend (male) – un ami ; un copain
Friend (female) – une amie ; une copine
Gentleman – un monsieur
Lady – une madame (it’s actually dame, but there is no sound file for dame.)
Amis et Copains
Young French people, just like young American people, enjoy spending time with their friends. They refer to their friends as un ami (for a boy), and une amie (for a girl), or – more commonly – as un copain (boy) or une copine (girl).
Note that the words copain & copine can also have special meanings. When a boy talks about une copine, he is referring to a friend who is a girl. However, when he says ma (my) copine, he is referring to his girlfriend. Similarly, a girl would call her boyfriend mon copain.
All sound files courtesy of french.about.com!