Level B2/C1 (Advanced)
The French Word of the Day is hormis, meaning “except”. It’s a great word to know if you want to sound a bit more polished in French.
Meaning
Pronunciation & register
Example sentences
Related words
Meaning
Hormis means “except” or “apart from”. For example, “Hormis Paul, tout le monde est là” means “Everyone is here except Paul.” It’s a bit more formal than sauf or à part, which are more common in everyday French.
Hormis is most commonly used in written French (articles, documents, etc.) and it’s not often used in everyday spoken French.
Pronunciation & register
/ɔʁ.mi/
Formal
Example sentences
📝 Quick note: Hormis is more often used in writing or formal speech, but the examples here are casual to show how it works and how it can be swapped with sauf.
Hormis le nez bouché, il se sent bien.
Apart from a stuffy nose, he feels fine.
Tout le monde est venu, hormis Claire.
Everyone came, except Claire.
Le musée est ouvert tous les jours, hormis le lundi.
The museum is open every day except Monday.
Hormis quelques fautes de frappe, il n’y a pas d’erreurs.
Apart from a few typos, there are no mistakes.
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Related words
- sauf – except (used in speech)
- excepté – except (slightly formal, similar to hormis)
- à part – apart from (informal and conversational)
- mis à part – aside from (a bit more formal than à part)
- en dehors de – outside of / apart from (can be literal or figurative)
- à l’exception de – with the exception of (very formal)
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