So you’re in France, and you meet with the nice couple next door. They are nice and all but they keep calling each others weird names… Did she just called her a cabbage? Why does he look so please?
AH! Terms of endearment. They have this power to make us feel special. To warm our hearts for a little while. And also, they are a little bit weird sometimes. So that makes them REALLY interesting!
In this article, I’m showing you plenty of different French terms of endearment. Or pet names. Shall we get started dear? 
Author : Marie Drouvin
Salut! Je suis Marie and I'm on a mission to make learning French simple. You can find me on Youtube, or here, on this blog. And if you want to know more about how to learn French, take a look at my book.
French terms of endearment
If you’d rather listen to the lesson, here it is! For the best experience, listen for pronunciation and read the article for more details.
How do you say terms of endearment in French?
First things first, I wanted to give you a little bit of extra stuff.
Usually, the way we call things something gives us an insight about how to use them. It’s the case with pet names.
If, in English, it’s a word for an animal you own (ahah), or looks like a very official words (‘term of endearment’).
In French, it’s nothing like that.
It’s sweet, it’s smooth, it’s:
Les mots doux : Lit. Smooth words
It also applies to anything a bit romantic you’re going to say to someone.
Dire des mots doux : to say sweet words / sweet nothings
But if it’s more something you say instead of your significant other’s name, you’d say:
Un surnom : a nickname
Like the first few ones we are going to see together today.
French terms of endearment - Chapter 1 : nicknames
You know those terms you use instead of someone’s name? Well, you have plenty of choices when it comes to your lover! And when I say lover, I mean anyone you want really.
French love nicknames : Chéri / Chérie
So let’s start with a classic, the classic of the classics.
Chéri : dear
In context:
Chéri? Tu es où? : Dear? Where are you?
You can also use it as a noun! Yay right?
To tell that a-little-bit-too-friendly lady that he’s YOUR man. Or… in other words… introduce your man to someone new. Either way 
C’est mon chéri. : It’s my man.
Now, that was the masculine version. You can use chéri for men, or boys.
For women and girls? You’d need to use:
Chérie : dear
Same pronunciation, different spelling. In context:
Chérie? Ça va? : Dear? You’re ok?
Of course, you can also use it a noun, just like the masculine version.
Cause girls can do it too!
C’est ma chérie : It’s my woman / sweetheart / whatever
French love nicknames : Amour
Maybe you don’t want to be classic. Classic can be boring. Maybe you want to be literal, and poetic.
In which case, your significant other will be:
Amour : Love
And that goes for men AND women. Oh yeah right?
Amour, tu m’écoutes? : Love, are you listening to me?
French love nicknames : Chaton
When is the last time you used a ridiculous but cute nickname for someone? And how did you feel about that person?
Ridiculous is a great sign of love.
And you’d need plenty to use this next one:
Chaton : kitty
Interestingly enough, this one is only for men and boys.
Chaton! Je suis rentrée : Kitty! I’m home.
To be totally honest with you, that’s how I call my dog when he’s been cute. Heeey, now I understand the term pet name!
French love nicknames : Bébé
Someone cute and funny doesn’t work. Sometimes, you gotta tell them they are being a little bit… sexy.
And in this instance, you’d call them:
Bébé : baby
Never quite understood how babies are sexy, but here you go!
Bébé, tu dors? : Baby, are you sleeping?
French terms of endearment - Chapter 2 : possessive names
Now, there are nicknames, and there are, what I call, possessive names.
Possessive names are names like: my love, my angel, my darling,… And they are a little bit different from nicknames because they come with a little specific words: a possessive adjective.
A possessive adjective is a word that mark the possession of an object.
Or in this instance.. a person!
Here is the formula:
Possessive adjective + noun
Now – in English, you don’t really care about the nature of the object possessed. ‘My’ is the word you use, no matter if the object is singular or plural, or feminine or masculine.
Of course – you don’t have grammatical gender.
But in French? We’re all about gender. The gender of nouns that is! Which I explain in great details in this article: Masculine and Feminine in French, explained simply.
And one thing the gender of a noun does? Is changing the adjectives.
And what do we have in our possessive names? Possessive ADJECTIVES.
So what do we do? We take a look at how gender changes the possessive adjective before I give you plenty of examples!
Now, this might scare you – but there’s no need. In fact, there are only two things you should remember.
MON is for masculine nouns
MA is for feminine nouns
That’s it.
Now, there are obviously other possessive adjectives, notably for the plural. But unless you have several lovers, you should be safe with those two. 
Before, we go on, it’s important for you to remember that the possessive adjective change according to the gender OF THE NOUN, and not of the person you are referring to. We’ll see examples in context in a minute.
French Possessive Names : Mon chéri / Ma chérie
Classic come back of the classic French terms of endearment : chéri and chérie.
Remember which one is for men and which one for women?
Chéri is for men.
Chérie for women.
Now, let’s play, guess which noun is masculine and which one is feminine.
I’ll give you 3 seconds. I know, I’m generous.
…
…
Yes, you get it.
Chéri is masculine.
Chérie is feminine.
If you have read my article on gender in French, you know some words have two versions: one masculine and one feminine. This is one of them.
So which possessive adjective if going to go with which?
Mon chéri
Ma chérie
Great, you’re actually good at this!
And now for variety…
French Possessive Names : Mon cher / Ma chère
I just realised the titles contain the answer… But never mind, well played dear.
Now I want you to picture an old couple, in a castle. They are wearing tweed jacket, drinking tea and look like they are constantly smelling something bad.
How would those two call each others?
Let me introduce you to posh-French pet names:
Mon cher
Ma chère
I can’t quite decide if I translate them by ‘my expensive‘ or ‘my dear‘.
I guess both will do.
In what context would YOU use them? If you want to tease with ridiculous pet names, or if you are actually posh.
In which case, I’m sorry I’m sure it always smells amazing wherever you are.
Oh and you might find mon cher in this expression:
Mon cher et tendre : My dear and… tender?
It means ‘my significant other’ for men. And I like it because it sounds a little bit like you are talking about a chicken leg…
French Possessive Names : Mon amour
Good news! No feminine and masculine for this one.
Just one.
But probably THE ONE!
Mon amour : my love
Ah, can you still feel the little butterflies the first time someone told you that?
If not, try it in French 😉 You’re sure to remember it this time.
Ok, grammar talk.
Amour, is a masculine word. Doesn’t matter if you’re talking about a man, or a woman.
So it’s… the possessive adjective : MON.
French Possessive Names : Mon coeur
A little less classic, a little more poetic?
Mon coeur : my heart
It’s cute, it’s sweet, it’s… awwww.
Again here, coeur is a masculine word – even though mon coeur can be used for either men or women.
I’m repeating myself, but I bet you’re starting to know it all! 😁
At this stage, I’d like to introduce you to a very cool song:
Mon coeur, mon amour - Anaïs
It’s a song about how annoying people who are in love can be. Especially the ones who use pet names like mon coeur and mon amour... And when you happen to be single yourself…
French Possessive Names : The romantic ones
I understand there are plenty of different type of couples.
The romantic ones, the funny ones, the teasing ones, the sexy ones,… And I guess one could alternate between all of those too.
So here is a selection of Possessive Names to use when you are in a romantic mood.
Ma douce : My smooth (for women only)
Mon ange : My angel (for both)
Mon trésor : My treasure (mostly for men)
Ma belle : My beautiful (for women only)
Pretty lovey-dovey right?
French Possessive Names : The animal and vegetable ones
That’s my favourite category. Because it’s very usual and weird, and I love unusual and weird when it comes to languages.
Ready?
Mon chat : My cat
Interestingly enough this one is only for men! And it echoes one pet name we have seen already: Chaton .
Mon chou: My cabbage
My what? Ahah I love the face of people when I tell them that. I never realised how weird it actually was before.
It’s mostly used only for men. Although some old men might use it with younger women. It has a bit of a condescending tone to it.
Ma puce : My flee
In general what is small is cute. And I’m not just saying that because I’m 163 cm. (I don’t need my height to be cute… 😉)
So a flee? A tiny tiny animal? Very cute.
For women only.
Mon lapin : My rabbit
And for men? Men aren’t small! Men like to be remembered by other, more… manlier characteristics.
I’m obviously joking around here. Because rabbits are cute.
Just like men.
Ma biche : My doe (the female deer)
Did I just learn a new word? Yes. In the video, I mentioned the ‘female deer’.
Ma biche is usually said to a woman.
Which reminds me of another great song… Biche oh ma biche!
But the high point of this list is without doubts this last one.
It’s an animal, it’s not cute, it’s not sexy, it’s nothing actually romantic either.
It’s the… hen.
Ma poule : my hen.
This one is also for women. And it’s not a super classy way to address your woman.
In fact, you’d be kind of implying that she is a round bob of fat, destined to lay eggs and follow the rooster around.
Of course, you can use this humorously….
RECAP?
I made you a PDF to remember everything in this article.
Now what? Now it’s time to use what you’ve learned, and give a new nickname to your dog, or your lover. (I don’t judge, I call one of my dog Chaton and the other one Mon Amour).
If you’ve laughed out loud during this article:
- Share it with someone who needs a good laugh
- Join me in the Club for more French fun.
À la prochaine!
Speaking of looove, you should check those articles after reading this one:
9 great French romantic comedies for French learners
Do you watch romantic comedies? How about doing it in French too? Here are 9 French romantic comedies you should watch.
How to say I love you in French ❤️ 5 ways for everyone
How to say I love you in French? Use the right French sentence for the right situation. Detailed explanations and pronunciation in the article.
1 thought on “French terms of endearment ❤️ 21 Cute and sexy nicknames for everyone”
It is cute to say cute names for girlfriend or boyfriend in French terms. The French language makes the nicknames more cuter. I really like “Mon lapin” cute nickname.