Today we’ll look at a simple yet essential word in French: Maman, which means “mom”, “mommy” and “mum. Specifically, we’ll have a close look at the nasal -an sound and several example sentences.
maman
mom, mommy, mum
Maman pronunciation
The pronunciation of maman (mom, mum, mommy) is mah + mɑ̃. The ɑ̃ nasal sound is found in many French words and can be written with both an and en. This tutorial from French Today does a great job teaching the French nasal sounds.
Example sentences
This first example sentence uses the greeting salut, which is an informal way of saying both “hi” and “bye”. This lesson on our site covers the various uses of ça va (how’s it going?) in conversational French.
Salut maman ! Ça va ?
Hi mom! How’s it going?
This next sentence uses the verb aimer which means both “to like” and “to love”. Meilleur means both “better” and “best”. When preceded by the definite article (le, la, les), le meilleur is a superlative and means “the best”.
J’aime ma maman ! J’ai la meilleure maman du monde !
I love my mom! I have the best mom in the world!
This next example uses acheter, which means to buy. Achète-moi is in the imperative mood, which is used to give commands and make suggestions in French. S’il te plaît is the informal way of saying please in French.
S’il te plaît, maman ! Achète-moi le jouet !
Please mom, by me the toy!
Mère = mother in French
While this lesson focused on maman, the formal word for “mother” in French is mère.
In this final example, s’appelle means “is named” or “called”. This lesson on our site explains how to as “What’s your name?“. When discussing age in French, you must use the verb avoir (to have). This lesson covers discussing age in French.
Ma mère s’appelle Marion et elle a quarante-cinq ans.
My mom’s name is Marion and she’s forty-five years old.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! You now know how to use maman (mom) in French! Now check our our vocabulary lesson covering over 50 words to talk about your family members (lesson contains high-quality audio).
