In French, the rooms in the house vocabulary: la chambre à coucher (bedroom), la cuisine (kitchen), le salon (living room), la salle de bains or le WC (bathroom). This page explains the vocabulary for the rooms in French in detail.
les pièces de la maison
If you’re a guest in a French family’s home it would be very useful to get acquainted with the various vocabulary words for the rooms in the house.
The French spend an incredible amount of time in both the la cuisine (kitchen) and la salle à manger (dining room) so it would be a good idea to get to know these works!
Notes rooms in the house
Une pièce vs. une chambre
The words pièce and chambre are easy to confuse. Une pièce means room and can be used for any room in the house.
Une chambre, however, refers only to bedroom. Hence, the complete term for bedroom is ‘une chambre à coucher’ or literally a room for going to bed.
Le W.C. vs. les toilettes and la salle de bains
In French there are several ways to say bathroom and it is important to know the difference between the terms.
La salle de bains refers to a private complete bathroom where family members take showers and prepare for the day.
The W.C. refers to a very small space with just a toilet, sink and mirror. The W.C. also written le WC and le W.-C. is often down the hallway from the dining room or kitchen.
The French also refer to the bathroom as les toilettes. Hence, to ask to use the bathroom in a private home it’s best to say “Où es le W.C., s’il vous plaît?” (where is the WC?) or “Où sont les toilettes, s’il vous plaît?”.
My friend, Camille, at Frenchtoday.com does a great job covering the topic of talking about the bathroom on her blog post: The Right Way To Ask “Where Is The Bathroom” In French & Tips.
Le jardin vs. le potager
While not a room in the house, it is important to understand the difference between jardin and potager. In French, jardin refers to the yard.
Hence, the French use the word jardin much like the British use the word garden. However, a the word potager refers to what Americans call a garden or vegetable garden.
Vocabulary list
- eh haut upstairs
- en bas downstairs
- l’escalier stairs
- la bibliothèque library
- la buanderie utility room
- la cave cellar
- la chambre bedroom
- la chambre d’amis guest room
- la chambre d’enfant, la nursery nursery
- la cuisine kitchen
- la pièce room
- la remise, le débarras storage room
- la salle à manger dining room
- la salle de bains bathroom
- la salle de jeux playroom
- la salle de séjour living room
- la terrasse patio
- le balcon balcony
- le bureau de travail office, study
- le couloir hallway
- le foyer foyer
- le garage garage
- le grenier attic
- le salon living room
- le sous-sol basement
- le WC WC
- les combles (m) loft
- les toilettes bathroom
- la salle de jeux games room
Let’s review the rooms in the house:
Discover more:
- The Home – Vocabulary List by FrenchToday.com
- Toilets In France & How to ask “Where Is The Bathroom?”
- French Furniture Vocabulary
- French vocabulary for the home
