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Chien – Dog

Chien – Dog

In today’s lesson we’ll have a look at how to say “dog” in French in the masculine and feminine forms: le chien, la chienne. We’ll also look at some fun slang ways to to say dog. Wouf, wouf ! Let’s begin.

chien

dog

FrenchLearner Word of the Day Lessons: Chien: noun - Dog.

Chien – Dog in French

Word origin

The Modern French word chien (dog) comes from canis in Latin. The English word “canine” also comes from canis in Latin.

Pronunciation

In the masculine and feminine forms and using the indefinite article (a/an), the pronunciation of dog in French is: un chien [ʃjɛ̃], une chienne [ʃjɛn].

Example sentences

J’adore jouer avec le chien du voisin.

I love to play with the neighbor’s dog.

Camille a récemment adopté une petite chienne.

Camille recently adopted a little dog.

In French, chiot means “puppy”. The adverb trop usually means “too” or “too much/many”. However, trop can also mean “so” or “very” in informal French often used by the younger generation.

Le petit chiot est trop mignon !

The little puppy is so cute!

The term toutou is a term of endearment for “doggy”.

Viens ici mon toutou !

Come here, my doggy!

Dog in French – more words

A few slang words for dog in French include: Clebs, clébard and cabot.

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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