In today’s lesson we’ll have a close look at French word ville, meaning “city”. We’ll cover the pronunciation, several example sentences, the terms for “downtown” as well as the double -LL in famille (family) vs. ville. J’adore cette ville ! (I love this city!).
la ville
city
Ville – City in French
Word origin
According to Wiktionary.org, the modern French feminine noun ville (city) comes from villa (country house, villa, village) in Latin.
Ville pronunciation
The pronunciation of ville (city) in French is [vil]. Pronounce the -LL. In addition, pronounce the -LL in all French words related to ville, such as le village (village).
Example sentences
For this first example sentence, the -t on -est (third-person singular form of être – to be) is pronounced. This is due to the French liaison rule which states that the final consonant of word must be pronounced when the following word starts with a vowel. The French use the adjective magnifique to describe things of remarkable beauty.
Paris est une ville magnifique !
Paris is a magnificent city!
This next example sentence uses the adjective préféré for “favorite”. We could have also used the adjective favori. Hence, ma ville favorite (my favorite city) in the feminine form. This lesson on our site covers the word français (French).
Ma ville française préférée est Annecy.
My favorite French city is Annecy.
In French, the masucline adjective village translates to “village”. Les plus beaux (the most beautiful) is an example of the French superlative.
Nous découvrons les plus beaux villages de la France.
We’re discovering the most beautiful villages in France.
For our next example sentence, we’ve included the feminine noun la commune, which translates to town, municipality or village. This sentence uses the personal pronoun on, which can translate to “we”. The adverb depuis translates to “since” in French. Depuis and the present tense are used to describe actions which “have been doing once since” and are continuing in the present.
On habite dans cette commune depuis plus de 20 ans.
We have been living in this town for more than twenty years.
Downtown in French
In French, the term for downtown is the masculine noun le centre-ville. The term en ville also means downtown in the context of “going downtown. Here’s how to say “I’m going downtown” in French. I did these final audio clips with my own voice.
Je vais au centre-ville / Je vais en ville
I’m doing downtown.
Don’t confuse these words
Many people confuse the words la ville (city) and la famille (family). For family, do not pronounce the -LLs: la famille.
La famille habite dans cette ville.
The family lives in this city.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Now you know how to pronounce and use ville (city) in French! Now check out this fun post covering the pronunciation of 10 major French cities. Another post which you may find helpful covers the French reading rules (including -LL words).
