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Maman – Mom

Maman – Mom

Today we’ll look at a simple yet essential word in French: Maman, which means “mom”, “mommy” and “mum. Specifically, we’ll have a close look at the nasal -an sound and several example sentences.

maman

mom, mommy, mum

French Word of the Day: "Maman" (mom, mommy, mum)

Maman pronunciation

The pronunciation of maman (mom, mum, mommy) is mah + mɑ̃. The ɑ̃ nasal sound is found in many French words and can be written with both an and en.

Source: Julien Miquel

Example sentences

This first example sentence uses the greeting salut, which is an informal way of saying both “hi” and “bye”.

Salut maman ! Ça va ?

Hi mom! How’s it going?

This next sentence uses the verb aimer which means both “to like” and “to love”. Meilleur means both “better” and “best”. When preceded by the definite article (le, la, les), le meilleur is a superlative and means “the best”.

J’aime ma maman ! J’ai la meilleure maman du monde !

I love my mom! I have the best mom in the world!

This next example uses acheter, which means to buy. Achète-moi is in the imperative mood, which is used to give commands and make suggestions in French. S’il te plaît is the informal way of saying please in French.

S’il te plaît, maman ! Achète-moi le jouet !

Please mom, by me the toy!

Mère = mother in French

While this lesson focused on maman, the formal word for “mother” in French is mère.

In this final example, s’appelle means “is named” or “called”. When discussing age in French, you must use the verb avoir (to have).

Ma mère s’appelle Marion et elle a quarante-cinq ans.

My mom’s name is Marion and she’s forty-five years old.

Conclusion

Et voilà ! You now know how to use maman (mom) in French! Now check our our vocabulary lesson covering over 50 words to talk about your family members (lesson contains high-quality audio).

Word of the Day Lessons

Lessons by David Issokson

References

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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