1.

Age
It’s common to ask people how old someone is. Here are some of the most common phrases
you’ll use to talk about a family member’s age.

 Il/elle a … ans. (He/she is … years old.)

Mon beau-père a 49 ans. (My stepfather is 49 years old.)
Ma fille a sept ans. (My daughter is seven years old.)

Le grand frère/la grande sœur(older brother/older sister)


Mon grand frère  va  à l’université. (My older brother goes to college.)
Ma grande sœur  n’aime pas aller au cinéma. (My older sister doesn’t like to go to the
movies.)

 Le petit frère/la petite sœur (younger brother/younger sister)

J’ai deux grands frères et une petite sœur. Marie est ma petite sœur. (I have two older
brothers and one younger sister. Marie is my younger sister.)

 Plus âgé(e) que … (older than)

Ma mère est plus âgée que mon père. (My mom is older than my dad.)

 Plus jeune que … (younger than)

Frank est mon frère. Il est plus jeune que moi. (Frank is my brother. He is younger
than me.)
Time out! Just checking in. How are you feeling with all these new vocabulary and phrases?
If you want help keeping track of all these French terms, create your own set of flashcards on
Quizlet.
2. Nationality
You might want to explain where your family is from, or what your heritage is. Below are
some common nationalities you’re likely to use in describing your background.

 Ma famille est … (My family is …)

française (French)
anglaise (English)
allemande (German)
italienne (Italian)
espagnole (Spanish)
mexicaine (Mexican)
chinoise (Chinese)
japonaise (Japanese)
coréenne (Korean)
Keep in mind, the above list contains the feminine forms of these nationalities, which include
/e/ at the end of each word. This conjugation occurs because la famille is a feminine noun.

 … venir de … (come from/are from)

Mes grands-parents viennent de Corée. (My grandparents are from Korea.)

 Moitié (half)
Ma mère vient de France et mon père vient d’Irlande. Je
suis moitié français(e), moitié irlandais(e). (My mom is from France, and my dad is from
Ireland. I’m half French, half Irish.)
  Un quart (one-quarter)
Ma belle-mère a des traits foncés parce qu’elle est un quart italienne. (My stepmom has
dark features because she is one-quarter Italian.)

 Un huitième (one-eighth)
Je ne connais pas mon héritage en détail, mais ma mère me dit que je suis un
huitième allemand(e).  (I don’t know my heritage in detail, but my mom tells me I am one-
eighth German.)

 … avoir grandi à … (… grew up in …)

Ma famille est écossaise, mais mes frères et sœurs et moi avons grandi à New York. (My
family is Scottish, but my siblings and I grew up in New York City.)
3. Comparing family members
You know what they say—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Family members are
similar in many ways, from appearances, to personalities, to interests. Sometimes, however,
family members are surprisingly different from one another. It’s helpful to learn to describe
family members in relation to yourself to give people a good picture of your family.
These are basic sentence structures. If you want to learn more about extensive ways to
describe yourself and others, check out this blog post.

 Les deux/tous les deux avoir/être (both have/are)

Tous les deux translates to “both.” If you want to say two people share a physical trait, you
say tous les deux, then conjugate the verb avoir (to have). If you want to say two folks share a
personality trait, conjugate the verb être (to be).
J’ai les yeux verts, mais mes deux sœurs ont  les yeux bleus. (I have green eyes, but both my
sisters have blue eyes.)
Mon frère et moi sont blonds tous les deux. (My brother and I are both blond.)

 Comme (like)
J’ai les yeux bleus, comme ma grand-mère. (I have blue eyes, like my grandmother.)

 J’ai appris à … de … (I learned how to … from …)

J’ai appris à  jouer au basketball de mon père. (I learned how to play basketball from my
dad.)
4. Careers
When you talk about your family, especially your parents, you can expect someone to
ask what they do for a living. Here is a list of some of the most common vocations that might
come up in conversation.

 Un/une prof (teacher)

 Un avocat/une avocate (lawyer)

 Un médecin (doctor)

 Un infirmier/une infirmière (nurse)

 Un/une architecte (architect)
  Un/une artiste (artist)

 Un chanteur/une chanteuse (singer)

 Un acteur/une actrice (actor)

 Un musicien/une musicienne (musician)

 Un mécanicien/une mécanicienne (mechanic)

 Un pasteur (pastor)

 Mère au foyer (stay-at-home mom)

 Père au foyer (stay-at-home dad)

To say your family member is one of these professions, conjugate the verb être (to be),
followed by the profession, but leave out the article. For example:
Je suis musicien, comme mon père. (I am a musician, like my dad.)
Tu  es acteur? Tu aimerais peut-être parler à mon frère. Il est acteur aussi! (You are an
actor? You might want to talk to my brother. He’s an actor, too!)
Mon  oncle est médecin.  (My uncle is a doctor.)
Ma  grand-mère est architecte. (My grandmother is an architect.)
Nous sommes tous chanteurs. (We are all singers.)
Mes  nièces sont  profs, toutes les deux. (My nieces are both teachers.)
If you need help practicing all these professions and talking about them, check out French in
Action’s video lessons. This website has four videos about occupations. If you like those
videos, watching the “Kinship” and “Describing Others” videos will also help you learn how
to describe your family.
5. Marital status
Talking about marriage isn’t so cut and dry! Is someone single or married? Divorced?
Remarried? With all these options, there are several terms you might need to whip out when
describing marital status.

 Être marié (to be married)

Mes grands-parents ont été mariés pendant 50 ans. (My grandparents were married for 50
years.)
Oui  je suis mariée. David est mon mari. (Yes, I am married. David is my husband.)

 Divorcé (divorced)
Ma tante et mon oncle sont divorcés. (My aunt and uncle are divorced.)

 Remarié (remarried)
Mon père s’est remarié  avec ma belle-mère quand j’avais dix ans. (My dad remarried my
stepmom when I was ten.)

 Célibataire (single)
Mes parents sont inquiets parce que ma grande sœur vient d’avoir 40 ans et est
toujours  célibataire. (My parents are worried because my older sister just turned 40 and is
still single.)
6. Health status
As much as I hate to say it, death is an important topic when speaking of one’s family. It’s
inevitable, so talking about it is fairly inevitable, too.

 Mourir (die)
Mon oncle  est mort quand j’étais jeune. (My uncle died when I was young.)
Pensez-vous que Grand-père va mourir? (Do you think Grandpa is going to die?)

Décéder (pass away)
Nous nous inquiétons que mon oncle va  décéder. (We are worried that my uncle is going to
pass away.)
Ma grand-mère est décédée l’année dernière. (My grandmother passed away last year.)

 Être malade (to be ill)

Mon neveu est malade, et son état est très fragile. (My nephew is ill, and his condition is
very fragile.)
Of course, you can talk in-depth about your family for hours.
But hopefully these basics will get you started!
This way, when a date or coworker asks you about your family, you won’t have to go hide
out in the bathroom to avoid the conversation.

Laura Grace Tarpley is a writer based in Athens, Georgia. She has spent the past four years
living in and exploring France, New Zealand and China. She runs the blog Let’s Go
Tarpley!, where she writes city guides and budget travel tips.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take
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