How do you say my husband in French?
My husband in French is mon mari. Say it mohn mah-REE. The n of mon is not sounded as an n, it only makes the o nasal, and the r sits at the back of the throat. There is no liaison, because mari starts with a consonant.
The sentences you will actually use:
- C’est mon mari. This is my husband.
- Je vous présente mon mari, Sacha. Let me introduce my husband, Sacha.
- Mon mari est français. My husband is French. No capital letter: in French, a nationality used as an adjective stays lowercase.
- Mon mari et moi. My husband and I, with yourself last, as in English.
Mari comes from the Latin maritus. The dictionary keeps it simple: a man joined to another person by marriage.
What is the difference between mari, époux and conjoint?
French has several words for the man you married, and each one belongs to a room. Mon mari is for every day. The others turn up on forms, at the mairie and in anything printed.
| The word | What it means | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|
| Mon mari | My husband | Everywhere, every day |
| Mon époux | My spouse | Formal settings: official forms, a plus-one at a work event |
| Mon conjoint | My spouse or partner | Forms and paperwork. It implies a legal status, usually marriage or a PACS |
| Mon compagnon | My partner | A long-term partner you are not married to, or when you do not want to say |
| Mon copain | My boyfriend | Dating. In the plural, mes copains are usually just friends |
| Pacsé | In a civil partnership | The status, not the person: nous sommes pacsés. The partner is mon partenaire or mon compagnon |
Checked in October 2026 against Larousse and The Local France (Aurore Laborie, 6 October 2025).
One trap: before a vowel, the liaison comes back. Mon époux is said mohn-nay-POO, with the n of mon carried onto the next word.
If you are not married yet, he is mon copain. That stage has its own rules, and they are all in my French boyfriend.
How do you say my wife in French?
My wife is ma femme. It is the same word as woman, so the context does the work: une femme is a woman, ma femme is a wife. It can describe a long-term partner, but it usually means married.
The formal version is mon épouse. Mon, not ma, even though épouse is feminine: before a feminine word that starts with a vowel sound, French uses mon so the two vowels do not collide. It is the same rule that gives you mon amie and mon histoire.
So he says ma femme, I say mon mari, and on paper we are les époux.
What do French couples call each other?
At home, almost nobody says mon mari to his face. You use a term of endearment, and the possessive follows the word, not the person.
| In French | Word for word | For |
|---|---|---|
| Mon amour | My love | Him or her |
| Mon chéri, ma chérie | My darling | Chéri to him, chérie to her |
| Mon cœur | My heart | Him or her |
| Mon trésor | My treasure | Him or her |
| Mon chou, ma choute | My cabbage, or my cream puff | Chou to him, choute to her |
| Ma puce | My flea | Her, or a child |
At home we use the first three: mon amour, mon chéri (ma chérie, for me) and mon cœur. His mother calls him mon Loulou, which is how our cat got her name.
How do you introduce your husband in France?
Je vous présente mon mari, then his first name. To someone you already call tu, it becomes je te présente mon mari. Then comes la bise, which has its own rules.
With his family the sentence turns around. You are la femme de Sacha, and to his mother you are sa belle-fille, her daughter-in-law. Belle-fille also means stepdaughter, the same double meaning as belle-mère. The rest is in meeting your French mother-in-law.
Sources: Larousse, mari; The Local France, how to describe your partner in French (6 October 2025); Lawless French, terms of endearment.
Questions, answered
How do you say my husband in French?
Mon mari, pronounced mohn mah-REE. In formal French you will also see mon époux, and on official forms, conjoint.
How do you pronounce mon mari?
Mohn mah-REE. The n of mon is not sounded as an n, it only makes the vowel nasal. There is no liaison before mari, and the r sits at the back of the throat.
What is the difference between mari and époux?
Mari is the everyday word for husband. Époux means spouse and belongs to formal settings: official forms, or a plus-one at a work event.
How do you say my wife in French?
Ma femme, the same word as woman. The formal version is mon épouse: mon, not ma, because épouse starts with a vowel.
What do French wives call their husbands?
Mon amour, mon chéri, mon cœur and mon trésor are the classics. The possessive follows the word, not the person, so mon cœur works for a man or a woman.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it.
Before you go
How French Is Your Husband?
Or your boyfriend. Eight questions to find out how French he really is.
