French · People & Family

"Person" in French: personne

la personne

Say it: pehr-SONNfeminine · la personnenoun/pɛʁ.sɔn/

Person in French is la personne, feminine even for a man: une personne. Plural les personnes. Useful for counts: trois personnes.

Booking a table

Une table pour trois personnes, s'il vous plaît.
A table for three people, please.
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How to pronounce personne

Say it

pehr-SONN

/pɛʁ.sɔn/

pehr-SONN. Soft final n; stress on sonn. Feminine article la/une.

"Person" in French: quick reference

FrenchEnglish
la personnethe person

Default.

une personnea person

Indefinite.

les personnespeople / persons

Counting.

personne (negative)nobody

Different use: Je ne vois personne.

How to use personne in real life

  1. 1Booking a table

    Une table pour trois personnes, s'il vous plaît.

    A table for three people, please.

    Personnes for count.

  2. 2Describing someone

    C'est une personne très calme.

    They're a very calm person.

    Une personne.

  3. 3Queue

    Il y a une personne devant toi.

    There's one person in front of you.

    Singular.

Mistakes English speakers make with personne

Incorrect: Un personne.

Correct: Une personne.

Personne is always feminine as a noun.

Incorrect: Le personne.

Correct: La personne.

Feminine: la personne.

Good to know

Une personne stays feminine grammatically even when the person is male. Separately, ne…personne means nobody—same spelling, different grammar.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Checking a guest list

  1. ChatPal

    Il manque une personne sur la liste ?

    Is one person missing from the list?

  2. You

    Oui, une personne n'a pas répondu.

    Yes, one person hasn't replied.

  3. ChatPal

    On prévoit quand même huit personnes.

    We'll still plan for eight people.

  4. You

    D'accord.

    Okay.

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"Person" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Person" in French

How do you say person in French?

La personne.

Why une personne for a man?

The noun personne is grammatically feminine.

How do I count people?

Deux personnes, trois personnes…

Does personne mean nobody?

Yes in negatives: je ne vois personne.

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