Today we’ll look at a word that’s been on our radar for a long time: Pays, meaning country. The reason we’re doing a lesson on this word is that many students have a hard time with the pronunciation. Pays has two syllables and sounds like pay-ee. Pronouncing pays with just one syllable like the English word “pay” would be wrong.
pays
country
Pays – Country in French
Word origin
The French noun pays (country) comes from the Latin pāgus (country district and community, canton).
Example sentences
In the example sentence below, notice that the country name “France” is preceded by la, the feminine definite article for “the”. All countries in French have a masculine or feminine gender. This post on our site provides an extensive list of country names in French.
La France est un très beau pays.
France is a very beautiful country.
In French, the expression avoir le mal du pays means “to be homesick”. This next example sentence uses the preposition chez, which means “at the home of”. This lesson on our site covers chez in detail.
J’ai le mal du pays et je veux rentrer chez moi.
I’m homesick and want to go home.
Paysage
In French, paysage (masculine noun) means landscape. Just as pays has two syllables, the pays within the word paysage also must be sounded with two syllables. Hence, the pronunciation of paysage [pe-i-zaʒ]. Many students confuse the word paysage (landscape) with campagne (countryside). This example sentence rhymes with itself!
Je découvre de nouveaux paysages quand je voyage.
I discover new landscapes when I travel.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Now you know how to use pays (country) in French! Now check out another lesson covering a word that might be tricky to pronounce: vacances (vacation).
