son/sɔ̃/
noun / determiner · A2 · Frequency 1494
nounmasculine
Meanings
Sound; auditory perception of vibrations.
Refers to sound in general, including natural or artificial noises.
speech sound; phone
Commonly used in linguistics or everyday discussion about pronunciation.
a track; a song
Used mostly in spoken or informal contexts to mean a song or musical work.
Examples
Le son de la cloche a réveillé tout le quartier.
The sound of the bell woke up the whole neighborhood.
Un son étrange venait du moteur de la voiture.
A strange sound was coming from the car engine.
Dans ce mot, le son final se prononce comme une voyelle nasale.
In this word, the final sound is pronounced like a nasal vowel.
Collocations
- produire un sonto produce a sound
- sortir un nouveau sonto release a new track
Common mistakes
Mon son a dix ans.
Mon fils a dix ans.
French son means “sound,” not the English “son”; “son” in the sense of a male child is fils.
Related words
antonymsilencesilence, quietness
nounmasculine
Meanings
sound; noise
Refers to audible sound perceived by hearing, including natural sounds, human voice, or other noises.
bran
Refers to the outer layer of cereal grains, commonly used in food or feed.
Examples
Le son de la pluie m'aide à m'endormir.
The sound of rain helps me fall asleep.
Un son étrange venait de la cave.
A strange sound was coming from the basement.
Le casque restitue un son clair et équilibré.
The headphones reproduce a clear, balanced sound.
Collocations
- émettre un sonemit a sound
- son de bléwheat bran
Common mistakes
Il a un son de cinq ans.
Il a un fils de cinq ans.
The lemma son means “sound” in French and cannot be used with the English meaning “male child”; use fils for “son.”
Related words
antonymsilencesilence, quietness
determinermasculine
Meanings
his, her, their, its
Used as a possessive determiner qualifying masculine singular nouns or nouns beginning with a vowel.
his, her, their, its
Used as a possessive determiner qualifying feminine singular nouns; however, “son” itself is not used with feminine nouns, replaced by “sa”.
Examples
Elle a oublié son carnet dans le train.
She forgot her notebook on the train.
Il présente son ancien collègue à la nouvelle directrice.
He introduces his former colleague to the new director.
Ils ont confié son ordinateur au service informatique.
They entrusted their computer to the IT department.
Collocations
- son livrehis book
- son amihis friend
Related words
Grammar note
Son is used to modify masculine nouns and nouns beginning with a vowel; sa is used for feminine nouns.
nounmasculine
Meanings
Sound; auditory perception of vibrations.
Refers to sound in general, including natural or artificial noises.
speech sound; phone
Commonly used in linguistics or everyday discussion about pronunciation.
a track; a song
Used mostly in spoken or informal contexts to mean a song or musical work.
Examples
Les sons de la pluie ont calmé les enfants pendant l'orage.
The sounds of the rain calmed the children during the storm.
Les sons enregistrés par le microphone révèlent un problème dans le moteur.
The sounds recorded by the microphone reveal a problem in the engine.
En phonétique, les sons d'une langue sont décrits selon leur articulation.
In phonetics, the sounds of a language are described according to their articulation.
nounmasculine
Meanings
sound; noise
Refers to audible sound perceived by hearing, including natural sounds, human voice, or other noises.
bran
Refers to the outer layer of cereal grains, commonly used in food or feed.
Examples
Les sons de la forêt changent après la pluie.
The sounds of the forest change after the rain.
J'entends des sons étranges dans le couloir.
I hear strange sounds in the hallway.
Cette application enregistre les sons ambiants pendant la nuit.
This app records ambient sounds during the night.