Terms of Endearment

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Termes d’affection

You probably know the expressions mon cher et ma chérie, but French has many more interesting ways to refer to their dears and darlings – mostly terms related to food and animals.

Click any term for the sound file, and don’t miss the endearing modifiers at the end.

mon amour		my love
mon ange		my angel

ma beauté	my beauty
mon bébé	my baby
ma belle	my beautiful	(informal)
ma biche	my doe
ma bichette	my little doe
mon biquet ma biquettte	my kid	as in baby goat
ma caille	my quail	(informal)
mon canard	my duck
mon chaton	my kitten
ma chatte	my cat	(familiar)
mon cher ma chère	my dear
mon chéri ma chérie	my dearie
mon chou ma choute	my cabbage/pastry	(informal)
mon chouchou	my pet	as in "teacher’s pet" (informal)
mon choupinet ma choupinette
mon cochon	my pig
mon coco	my egg
ma cocotte	my hen	(informal)
mon cœur	my heart
ma colombe	my dove
ma crevette	my prawn
ma crotte	my dropping	also a small, round goat cheese
ma fifille	my little girl	(informal, old-fashioned)
ma gazelle	my gazelle
mon grand ma grande	my big guy my big girl
mon gros	my big guy
mon jésus	my Jesus	(for children)
mon lapin	my rabbit
ma lolotte
mon loulou ma louloute	my spitz	(familiar)
ma loutre	my otter
mon loup	my wolf
ma mie	my dear/love	Literally "my female friend"*
mon mignon	my cutie
ma mignonnette	my cutie pie
mon mimi	my pussycat	(informal)
mon minet ma minette	my pussycat
mon minou	my kitty
ma moitié	my half
ma nénette	my chickie
mon nounours	my teddy bear
mon ours	my bear
mon petit ma petite	my little guy my little girl
ma poule	my hen
mon poulet	my chicken
ma poulette	my pullet	(informal)
ma poupée	my doll
ma poupoune ma poupounette	my dollie	(for little girls)
mon poussin	my chick	(informal)
ma puce	my flea	(informal)
mon rat	my rat
ma souris	my mouse
mon sucre d’orge	my barley sugar
ma toutoune ma toutounette	my dollie	(for little girls)
mon trésor	my treasure
mon trognon	my (fruit) core	(for children)

* This is an old-fashioned term contracted from mon amie > m’amie > ma mie. Incidentally, mie also refers to the soft part of bread – the opposite of croûte (crust).

Endearing modifiers

• Make the term of endearment cuter by adding petit (little) in front: mon petit chou, ma petite minette ….
• Sweeten the pot by adding en sucre (made of sugar) to the end: mon cœur en sucre, mon trésor en sucre ….

 Note that the possessive adjectives mon and ma (my) always agree with the gender of the term of endearment, which may not match your gender or the gender of your beloved. When there is a masculine form and a feminine form, use the term that corresponds to the gender of your beloved. When there’s only one gender, the general rule is that masculine terms of endearment can be used for boys and girls, but feminine terms of endearment can only be used for girls.

 Related lessons

• Aimer conjugations
• "I love you" in French
• More French love language
• French for Valentine’s Day
• Possessive adjectives

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