French Onomatopoeia: 25 Funny French Words for Written Sounds
How do you say Zzz, bang, oink, boom, tick-tock, and other written sounds in French? Here’s 25 funny French onomatopoeia + their English versions.
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Onomato-WHAT?French Onomatopoeia for Human soundsFrench onomatopoeia for sounds made by objectsFrench Onomatopoeia for Animal SoundsBonus: What sound do hens make in French?ConclusionHere are some FAQs about French OnomatopoeiaBonjour ! In this lesson, we’ll be talking about French onomatopoeia. Most of you might find the need to use these funny French words in a conversation, so here’s a rundown of what’s covered in this article.
But before we dive into today’s lesson, let me address the elephant in the room. Some are probably asking:
Onomato-WHAT?
OK, it does sound like a big scary word, but onomatopoeia is just a figure of speech that mimics the sound of an item it describes. It is the “written sound”.
In French it is called une onomatopée.
I’m sure you’ve been using them everyday—made-up words that are based on how they actually sound. For example, boom! for a loud crash, tick-tock for the sound of the clock, vroom for the sound of an engine, meow for the sound a cat makes or zzzz for sleeping.
Onomatopoeia comes from the Greek words ”onoma” which means name and “poio” which means to create. There is a wide range of sounds covered under the onomatopoeia blanket.
These include sounds made by:
- Animals
- Machines / devices
- Movements/ human sounds
- and so on
The funny thing is, while the different onomatopoeia sound quite natural in your own language, the sounds vary and become more and more hilarious as you go to different parts of the world. For example, a loud evil cackle is a KÄKÄTTÄÄ in Finnish. And pigs in Georgia don’t say oink, oink, they say ghrutu ghrutu.
Sound weird? Wait till you see this list of French onomatopoeia listed side by side with their English counterparts.
You’ll encounter some of these as you read a variety of texts in French: it often appears in comic books (bandes dessinées), cartoons (dessins animés) as well as children’s books (livres pour enfants).
See also: 15 Great Comics to Learn French
Let’s check out these fun French words!
French Onomatopoeia for Human sounds
1. Sleeping sound in French: Ron-ron
The French don’t really catch some Z’s, but some R’s instead. Even better than ron-ron, the snoring sound in French is actually called a ron-pshi to mimic the sound of a loud inhale and exhale.
2. Sound of baby’s cry in French: ouin-ouin
The sound French babies make when they cry is called a ouin-ouin. Sounds more positive than the wailing sound of a wah-wah, no?
3. Expression of pain in French: aïe !
Did you stub your toe or step on an errant piece of lego? Ow, that hurts! The French would say aïe ! instead of ouch!
4. Sound of drinking water in French: glou-glou
One could argue that the sound French people make when they drink– glou-glou — is a tad quieter than the standard glug-glug.
5. Sneezing sound in French: atchoum
Feeling sneezy? The French call it atchoum.
6. Sound of a beating heart in French: poum-poum
In French, a beating heart makes a poum-poum sound instead of thump-thump.
7. Quiet sound in French: chut
Being noisy in a French library? You’ll likely hear a “chut !” In English, it’s simply sshhhh! But shushing someone in French is chut.
8. Sound of disgust in French: beurk
See something disgusting? The French don’t say yuck. They would say beurk ! or berk !
9. Eating sound in French: miam-miam
Alas, someone brought out a mouth-watering French pastry. Miam-miam!
10. Kissing sound in French: smack!
Now this is weird because smack! in English means someone just slapped the bejeezus out of you. If your French date texts you smack right after you went out, don’t take it to mean he or she is into some form of domestic violence.
The sound of a slap in French is called paf, vlan or pof !
French onomatopoeia for sounds made by objects
11. Sound of a clock in French
tic-tac
This is the sound the clock makes: tic-tac in French while it’s tick-tock in English. Close enough, right?
12. Sound of a ringing phone in French
dring-dring
In French there’s a couple of extra d’s in the sound of a phone ringing.
Dring! Get the phone, s’il vous plaît !
13. Sound of a gunshot in French
pan-pan!
Sound weird to you? It sure does. The sound of a gunshot is pan-pan in French!
14. Ambulance siren sound in French
pin-pon
Would you have guessed that pin-pon is the ambulance sound in French? Quite different from wee-woo in English.
15. Sound of a doorbell in French
dingue-dongue
Yes this is the sound of a doorbell ringing. And yes, come to think of it, the French one is just a Frenchy version with the extra ue of the English ding-dong sound!
16. Sound of object falling to the ground in French
patatra
Something fell to the ground and made a huge noise. Patatra ! the French would say. The English would probably be scratching their head and thinking how it sounded more like a kaboom! or splat! ?
17. Sound of object falling into water in French
plouf
The splashing sound an object makes when it falls into water is plouf in French.
French Onomatopoeia for Animal Sounds
See also: French vocabulary: Pets and Animals
18. Sound of a pig in French
Groin-groin
What sound does a pig make? The French say it’s not oink-oink but groin-groin !
19. Sound of a duck in French
coin-coin
French ducks don’t quack, they say coin-coin !
20. Sound of a frog in French
croac-croac
Which one sounds more accurate? Is it the French’s croac-croac or is it ribbit? You be the judge!
21. Sound of a snake in French
siff
Instead of hissing, the French would say le serpent siffle. The verb siffler is also used to say “to whistle”. So do you think the snake makes a sort of whistling sound? Scary thought, come to think about it.
22. Cat’s meowing sound in French
miaou
Just a little variation in the spelling, but close enough.
23. Dog barking sound in French
ouah-ouah
When French dogs bark, it’s ouah ouah or ouaf ouaf! Not woof-woof or bow-wow like the English say!
24. Horse’s whinny in French
hiiiiii
No, it’s not the sound of an adolescent girl saying an over-extended ‘hi’ to her friends. It’s a French sound for the whinny of a horse.
25. Sound a rooster makes in French
cocorico
Finally, the last one on the list is the sound a rooster makes which happens to be among the most difficult animal sound humans ever had to decipher. While English people would call it a lengthy cock-a-doodle-doo, in French it’s simply cocorico !
Bonus: What sound do hens make in French?
We’ve talked about the sound of a rooster. But how about the sound of a hen? In French, it is cot-cot-cot, cot-cot-codet ! Quite accurate, don’t you think?
Conclusion
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Here are some FAQs about French Onomatopoeia
What sounds do French animals make?
A few examples of French animal onomatopoeia include the horse’s whinny as hiiiii, a dog’s barking as ouah-ouah, and a rooster’s cocorico over the English cock-a-doodle-doo!
Does the French language have onomatopoeia?
Yes! Onomatopoeias (or in French, l’onomatopée) refer to a written word representing a sound, like the way in English a door closes with a “click,” or a cane “taps” on the floor. The French language has its own onomatopoeia, with unique words for sounds. For example, cats say meow in English, but miaou in French!
What do birds say in French?
Certain feathered friends have their own unique onomatopoeia, such as the chicks’ piou-piou, the pigeons’ rou rou, and the turkeys’ glou-glou. But in general, birds make the cui-cui sound in French!
Do French cows say “moo”?
Nope! In English, yes; but in French, cows say meuh!
