Published September 11, 2012 • Updated March 7, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online. Pronunciation audio recorded by Marie Assel Cambier, a professional voice artist and native French speaker.
Alouette, gentille alouette — often shortened to simply “Alouette” — is one of the most famous French children’s songs. While the melody sounds cheerful, the lyrics are actually quite funny and a bit dark: the singer lists the body parts of a bird that will be plucked one by one.
Despite the strange theme, the song has remained popular for generations because it helps children learn French body parts through repetition, much like the English song “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
This lesson includes native pronunciation audio of the lyrics to help you listen and repeat each line.
🎙️ Listen to Alouette, gentille alouette
📘 Alouette meaning
🎧 Alouette pronunciation
🔊 Practice pronunciation from the song
🎵 Lyrics with English translation
✏️ Grammar and vocabulary notes
🎙️ Listen to Alouette
Listen to the song — how many words can you catch before checking the translation?
📘 Alouette meaning in French
The French word alouette (f.) means “lark,” a small bird commonly found in Europe and North America. In the song, the singer addresses the bird directly in the line “Alouette, gentille alouette,” meaning “Lark, nice lark.” The adjective gentille means “nice,” “kind,” or “sweet.”
🎧 Alouette pronunciation in French
The pronunciation of alouette is /a.lwɛt/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “ah-lwet.”
🔊 Practice pronunciation from the song
The recordings below contain key lines from the song spoken clearly for pronunciation practice. Listen and repeat each line to improve your French pronunciation and rhythm.
Alouette, gentille alouette — Lark, nice lark
Alouette, je te plumerai — Lark, I will pluck you
Je te plumerai la tête — I will pluck your head
Et la tête — And the head
Alouette — Lark
Je te plumerai le bec — I will pluck your beak
Et le bec — And the beak
Et la tête — And the head
Alouette — Lark
Et le cou — And the neck
Et le dos — And the back
Et les ailes — And the wings
Et les pattes — And the legs
Et la queue — And the tail
🎵 Alouette, gentille alouette — Lyrics with English Translation
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
Je te plumerai la tête (repeat)
Et la tête (repeat)
Alouette (repeat)
Lark, nice lark
Lark, I will pluck you
I will pluck your head
And your head
Lark!
O-o-o-oh
O-o-o-oh
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
Je te plumerai le bec
Lark, nice lark
Lark, I will pluck you
I will pluck your beak
Et le bec (repeat)
Et la tête (repeat)
Alouette (repeat)
And the beak
and the head
Lark!
Et le cou
Et le dos
Et les ailes
Et les pattes
Et la queue
And the neck
And the back
And the wings
And the legs
And the tail
(Ending – repeat chorus)
Alouette, gentille Alouette
Alouette, je te plumerai
Lark, nice lark
Lark, I will pluck you
✏️ Grammar and vocabulary notes
in this section I explain the key vocabulary, expressions and grammar structures used in Alouette, gentille alouette.
📘 Key words
- alouette — lark (a small bird commonly found in Europe and North America)
- gentille — nice / kind / sweet (feminine form of gentil)
- plumer — to pluck (feathers)
🗣 Sentence structures & grammar
- Je te plumerai — I will pluck you (future tense of plumer with the indirect object te, meaning to you)
→ Literally: I will pluck to you. - Je te plumerai la tête / le bec — I will pluck your head / your beak
→ In French, body parts use articles (le / la / les) instead of my / your. - Et la tête / Et le bec / Et le dos… — Example of repetition for memorization, typical of children’s songs
🔤 Verb forms & tenses
- plumerai — future tense of plumer
- je te… — I (to you) → common structure in songs and informal speech
👂 Body parts vocabulary from the song
- la tête — head
- le bec — beak / bill
- le cou — neck
- le dos — back
- les ailes — wings
- les pattes — paws / legs (for animals)
- la queue — tail
👉 See full French body parts vocabulary list »
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