Published March 31, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
📘 Sous meaning
Sous is a French preposition meaning “under”, “below”, or “beneath”. It is used to describe both physical position (sous la table — under the table) and figurative situations (sous pression — under pressure). Sous also appears in many hyphenated nouns, such as sous-chef (second-in-command chef) and sous-sol (basement). 🔊 Hear real examples now.
🎧 Sous pronunciation
The pronunciation of sous is /su/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “soo”.
📝 Sous examples
Elle travaille souvent sous pression.
She often works under pressure.
Le chat dort sous la table.
The cat is sleeping under the table.
Elle a mis la lettre sous la porte.
She put the letter under the door.
Il écrit des livres sous un pseudonyme.
He writes books under a pseudonym.
Want a real-life example of how to use sous? Check out:
👉 Sous le ciel de Paris (Édith Piaf song) »
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- au-dessus de — above
- en dessous de — below
- dessus / dessous — top / bottom
- le sous-chef — second-in-command in a kitchen
- le sous-sol — basement
- le sous-marin — submarine
- le sous-titre — subtitle
- le sous-vêtement — underwear
- sous-entendre — to imply
- être sous pression — to be under pressure
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner!
👉 French prepositions (hub) »
👉 Sous le ciel de Paris (Édith Piaf song) »
👉 Au-dessus vs. en dessous »
👉 Sur (on, on top of) »
