Honey, sweetie, darling, sweetheart are all terms of endearment that ring sweet on anyone’s ears in English. French speakers have their own terms of endearment, too. You might hear some of them in friendly and intimate conversations and wonder what they mean. For example, you might hear the words mon chou, mon amour, ma chérie, ma puce, mon cœur. They all mean something sweet to be sure, but what are their equivalents in English? Let’s find out!

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In our series Mère & Fille, you are likely to come across a few of the pet names mentioned above. Isabelle likes to show affection toward her daughter using one of her favorite expressions, mon cœur ("sweetheart," literally “my heart"):

Tu perds ton temps, mon cœur.

You're wasting your time, sweetheart.

Caption 10, Mère & Fille Plan B

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In a different mother-daughter series, Elisa’s mom calls her daughter ma petite chérie, which can also translate as “sweetheart” ("my little sweetheart"): 

Salut ma petite chérie. -Salut maman.

Hello my little sweetheart. -Hi Mom.

Caption 1, Elisa et sa maman Comment vas-tu?

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Most of the time, though, ma chérie means “my darling," which is what Isabelle calls her daughter Barbara frequently:

Alors là ma chérie

So then, my darling

Caption 36, Mère & Fille Danse pas si classique

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In another Mère & Fille episode, Barbara goes over the top and calls her mother mon chéri d’amour (my darling love) in hopes that she will allow her to get her hair dyed:

Ah chérie. -Ça va mon chéri d'amour que j'aime ?

Ah, darling. -How is my darling love that I love?

Caption 24, Mère & Fille Tout en couleur

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Note how Isabelle uses the feminine chérie to refer to her daughter, while Barbara uses the masculine mon chéri to agree with the masculine amour. 

Similar to chéri/chérie is cher/chère (dear). In the following video, we have a conversation between two scientists where one addresses the other as mon cher (my dear friend). Since it is strictly a work friendship, “my dear friend” sounds more appropriate than “my dear":

Vous vous rendez compte, mon cher, qu'ils se trouvent des savants pour prétendre que la Terre n'est pas le centre de l'univers !

You realize, my dear friend, that there are scientists claiming that the earth is not the center of the universe!

Captions 22-23, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 9. Galilée - Part 4

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In more casual circumstances between good friends, you might come across this cute expression, mon chou, which does not have a direct translation, unless you want to call your friend “my cabbage” or “my cream puff” (referring to un chou à la crème). In the comedy series Extr@, this tight group of friends use cute pet names frequently but in different ways. In this episode, Sacha introduces some bad news to Sam (who lost his lottery ticket), so she calls him mon chou to soften the blow:

Sam, mon chou. Tu as un ticket, mais tu n'as pas le ticket...

Sam, my dear. You have a ticket, but you don't have the ticket...

Captions 25-27, Extr@ Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 5

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On the other hand, Sacha, who is in love with Nico, uses mon chou in a more affectionate way, which is reflected in the translation “my darling”:

Oh, Nico, mon chou

Oh, Nico, my darling

Caption 32, Extr@ Ep. 7 - La jumelle - Part 5

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And what affectionate term does Nico use? He calls Sacha ma biche (literally, "my doe"), but in a sarcastic way, as he is annoyed with her:

Ma biche, qu'est-ce que tu fais cet après-midi ?

My doe [my darling], what are you doing this afternoon?

Captions 44-45, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 2

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As for Annie, who has a soft spot for Sam, she likes to call him chouchou (sweetie pie). This is a cute colloquial term of endearment that is only used in very casual intimate settings or around children. In this video, it’s also used for humorous effect: 

Chouchou.

Sweetie pie.

Caption 2, Extr@ Ep. 11 - Les vacances - Part 2

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Un chouchou (someone’s pet or favorite), however, is not always a complimentary term. In fact, quite the opposite. It refers to someone getting preferential treatment, often eliciting some jealousy on the part of the speaker. In the following video, the two tigers, who happen to be identical twins, don’t see eye to eye:

Ce voyou, cet infâme chouchou de maman

This rogue, this infamous mama's pet

Caption 12, Les zooriginaux 6. Tiger Minor - Part 1

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There's also the similar word choupinou, which is another way of saying “cute” or "too cute" in very casual language. In the following video, Barbara uses that term to express her admiration:

C'est choupinou ça !

That's too cute!

Caption 50, Mère & Fille Fête des mères

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When combined with a possessive adjective, mon choupinou means “my darling” or “my sweetie.” We can easily imagine Isabelle calling her daughter Barbara mon choupinou (sweetie):

Barbara, mon choupinou, viens ici !

Barbara, sweetie, come here!

Mon choupinou is reserved mainly for children. For adult romantic relationships, you will often hear the phrase mon amour (my love). In Serge Gainsbourg’s romantic song "La Javanaise," presented by Nelly, the term mon amour comes up several times: 

J'avoue, j'en ai bavé, pas vous, mon amour

I confess, I had a hard time, didn't you, my love

Caption 75, Français avec Nelly 12 Songs to Improve Your French - Part 2

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Another romantic term is ma belle ("my beautiful" or "gorgeous"):

Près de moi, ma belle, tu viendras

Near me, my beautiful, you will come

Caption 16, Zaz Belle

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In another era, a man would call his beloved sa tendre (his sweetheart), a term which is rather old-fashioned today. In one of her videos, Patricia mentions this quaint word that hearkens back to the days of chivalry:

Il souhaitait épouser sa tendre.

He wanted to marry his sweetheart.

Caption 83, Le saviez-vous? Le dernier duel à l'épée pour l'honneur en France

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You're more likely to hear a more modern expression that applies to all genders: bien-aimé/bien-aimée (beloved). In her video on phrases expressing romantic love, Nelly mentions the terms votre bien-aimé and votre chéri (your darling) in her list of examples:

Je vais vous donner quelques phrases pour déclarer votre amour à votre bien-aimé, votre chéri.

I'm going to give you a few phrases to declare your love to your beloved, your darling.

Captions 41-43, Français avec Nelly Les expressions de l'amour

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There you have it! You now have many formal, casual, and endearing terms at your disposal to express love and affection in various settings. Look out for examples in our Yabla videos to guide you as to which expression is most appropriate for the circumstance, so you will know not to call your boss mon choupinou! For more endearing terms, click here. Thank you for reading!

In our first lesson on rendre, we learned that the verb can mean "to give back," "to return," and "to render." In this lesson, we'll explore some expressions with rendre whose meanings go beyond giving/going back or rendering.

As we briefly mentioned in our previous lesson, the phrase rendre service means “to do a favor” or “to help” (literally, "to render a service"). In the video below, Sacha needs a favor from Dr. Dubois, aka Nico:

Est-ce que tu peux me rendre service ?

Can you do me a favor?

Caption 34, Extr@ Ep. 7 - La jumelle - Part 5

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Ideally, Sacha needs Nico to be willing to help and “be of service,” like the person in this video:

Moi, tu sais, si je peux rendre service

Me, you know, if I can be of service

Caption 15, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai volé pour nourrir mon fils - Part 4

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In the broader sense of the phrase, rendre service simply means “to help”—or not, as in the case of Pauline, the ungrateful guest in the video below:

Petit à petit, elle refuse de rendre service.

Little by little, she refuses to help.

Caption 3, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai été séquestré par mes amis - Part 4

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We also have the expression rendre hommage (to pay tribute/homage). On the anniversary of the death of famous singer Serge Gainsbourg, many artists wanted to rendre hommage to him:

Aujourd'hui le gratin du rock anglais rend hommage à Serge Gainsbourg, à commencer par Placebo.

Today the elite of English rock pays tribute to Serge Gainsbourg, starting with Placebo.

Caption 17, Le Journal Gainsbourg

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On a lighter note, we have the phrase rendre visite (to pay someone a visit). Our Yabla guide David encourages viewers to lui rendre visite (visit him) and explore his home country of Martinique:

Si un jour vous avez le bonheur de nous rendre visite

If one day you have the pleasure of visiting us

Caption 4, David Les animaux

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Note that if David had been talking about visiting Martinique, he would have said this instead: 

Si un jour vous avez le bonheur de visiter la Martinique

If one day you have the pleasure of visiting Martinique

So, use rendre visite for visiting people and visiter for visiting places.

Speaking of places, the verbal phrase se rendre à/dans means “to go to (a place)." Se rendre is equivalent to aller (to go). In the video below, Fanny and Corrine suggest se rendre dans des magasins (going to shops) to bargain-hunt:

Pour bien commencer le printemps, on vous propose de vous rendre dans des magasins

To get spring off to a good start, we suggest you go to shops

Caption 11, Fanny & Corrine parlent de la mode La mode à bas prix

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You can also use the reflexive verb se rendre in a variety of expressions, such as se rendre compte, which means “to realize” or “to become aware of.” The teenager in the video below se rend compte (realizes) that something is not right:

L'adolescente se rend bien compte que quelque chose ne va pas.

The teenage girl quickly realizes that something isn't right.

Caption 14, Le Jour où tout a basculé Nos bébés ont été échangés... - Part 4

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(For more information on ways to use compte [count], see this Yabla lesson.) In the non-reflexive form (without the se), the verbal phrase rendre compte means “to report” or “give an account”:

Oui, mais d'abord, on rend compte à Oméga.

Yes, but first we report to Omega.

Caption 25, Il était une fois: L’Espace 3. La planète verte - Part 3

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Going back to se rendre compte: once you've realized something, you might be forced to se rendre à l'évidence (come to terms with the evidence). Something that is extremely difficult to do for this couple, who discovered that their baby was switched at birth: 

Pourtant, ils doivent se rendre à l'évidence.

However, they must come to terms with the evidence.

Caption 30, Le Jour où tout a basculé Nos bébés ont été échangés... - Part 4

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Another way to translate se rendre à l’évidence is “to face the facts”:

Henri doit se rendre à l'évidence.

Henri must face the facts.

Caption 40, Le Jour où tout a basculé Ma mère fait tout pour briser mon couple - Part 7

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Once you have come to terms with the evidence, you may come to the awful realization that it would be wise “to surrender”—se rendre. This is actually the infinitive form of rendez-vous, which, as a command, doesn't refer to "a date" or "meeting" (un rendez-vous), but rather an order to give yourself up:

Rendez-vous ! Vous êtes cernée !

Surrender! You're surrounded!

Caption 85, Mère & Fille Camping Cour

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Or, less harshly, a suggestion to go somewhere:

Pour vous abonner à Yabla, rendez-vous sur la page S'abonner.

To subscribe to Yabla, go to the Subscribe page. 

As you can see, there are many ways to render rendre, from giving back, to going places, to surrendering. Now that vous vous êtes rendu(e) compte (you've become aware) of rendre’s many uses, rendez hommage (pay homage) to the word rendre by using it. Stay tuned and rendez-vous to Yabla for a future lesson!