Here’s an extensive list of all the French family vocabulary, with close and extended family members you ever might need to use in French.
Immediate Family Vocabulary
The nouns for people
| a girl | une fille |
| a boy | un garçon |
| a woman | une femme |
| a man | un homme |
| a person | une personne |
The family relationships
Notice that enfant in French is not “infant” in English, but “child.” An infant, or baby, is a bébé.
| a mother | une mère |
| a father | un père |
| a sister | une soeur |
| a brother | un frère |
| a daughter | une fille |
| a son | un fils |
| a child | un enfant |
| a baby | un bébé |
| a family | une famille |
| a sister-in-law | une belle-sœur |
| a brother-in-law | un beau-frère |
| a mother-in-law | une belle-mère |
| a father-in-law | un beau-père |
Extended Family Vocabulary
Grandparents and Grandchildren
In most cases, the gender neutral word “child” in English is identical to the male form of the word in French.
| a grandmother | une grand-mère |
| a grandfather | un grand-père |
| a great-grandmother | une arrière-grand-mère |
| a great-grandfather | un arrière-grand-père |
| a granddaughter | une petite-fille |
| a grandson | un petit-fils |
| a grandchild | un petit-enfant |
Step Family
Stepfamily relationships are modified with the appropriate beau/belle/beaux/belles form, depending on the gender and number of the family member(s).
| a stepmother | une belle-mère |
| a stepfather | un beau-père |
| a stepdaughter | une belle-fille |
| a stepson | un beau-fils |
| a stepchild | un beau-fils (m.) / une belle-fille (f.) |
Aunts and Uncles
| an aunt | une tante |
| an uncle | un oncle |
| a cousin | un cousin (m.) / une cousine (f.) |
| a niece | une nièce |
| a nephew | un neveu |
| a great-aunt | une grand-tante |
| a great-uncle | un grand-oncle |
Next Steps
Family vocabulary is among the first things you’ll put to use in real conversations in French, whether you’re introducing yourself or describing the people in your life. A helpful grammar note: when talking about professions or family roles with être, French omits the article, so you’d say elle est mère rather than elle est une mère. For more on structures like this, see our lesson on il est vs. c’est. To keep expanding your vocabulary, check out our other French vocabulary lists.
