There’s a funny little word in French that we don’t really have in English

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Chez

The word “chez” is a useful word in French, but we don’t really have an equivalent in English. It comes from the old Latin word “casa”, which means “house”.

You can use “chez” to mean either “the house of”, “at the house of” or “to the house of”


chez Pierre – Pierre’s house
chez moi – my house
je suis chez moi – I’m at home
je suis chez Pierre – I’m at Pierre’s house
je voudrais aller chez Marie – I would like to go to Marie’s house

Chez + profession

In French, verbs can end in either the letters “er”, “ir” or “re”.

essayer – to try
faire – to make
partir – to leave
manger – to eat
boire – to drink
finir – to finish
acheter – to buy
vendre – to sell
choisir – to choose
lire – to read

at / to

If you use the word “chez”, you don’t need to use another word for “to” or “at”. The word “chez” already implies “to” or “at”. For example, if you say, “je suis chez Pierre”, it means, “I’m at Pierre’s house”.

je suis chez Marie – I’m at Marie’s house
je vais chez Marie – I’m going to Marie’s house

nous restons chez lui – we’re staying at his house
nous allons chez lui – we’re going to his house

ils habitent chez Sophie – they’re living at Sophie’s house
ils sont arrivés chez Sophie – they’ve arrived at Sophie’s house

chez vs. maison

The word “chez” can be used to mean “at the house of”, but you also have the word “maison”, which is the literal word
for “house”.

In English, we can say things like, “my house” or “his house”, but in French, if you use the word “maison”, you always say “the house”. You wouldn’t say anything like, “à ma maison” or “à ta maison”.

je suis à la maison
I’m at home / I’m at my house (literally: I’m at the house)

Pierre va à la maison
Pierre’s going home

If you want to specify somebody’s house, you should use “chez” instead:

Pierre vient chez toi demain
Pierre is coming to your house tomorrow

je suis chez elle
I’m at her house

elle rentre chez eux
she’s going back to their house

A whimsical Parisian street view featuring a person carrying groceries, passing colorful buildings adorned with flower boxes, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The image symbolizes the use of 'chez' to describe being at someone’s place or going to a specific location.

Let's practise

Have a go at saying these sentences in French. Any vocabulary you might need is on the "Vocabulary" tab below.
Sentences
Vocabulary
  1. We’re at Pierre’s house now
  2. I’m going to Marie’s house tomorrow
  3. We’re at the butcher’s
  4. I’m going to the hairdresser’s tomorrow
  5. Pierre is at home
  6. We’re at the doctor’s
  7. I’m at Marie’s house now
  8. We’re going to the baker’s now
  9. We’re going to the dentist’s
  10. We’re at the hairdresser’s now

we are – nous sommes
we’re going – nous allons
I am – je suis
I’m going – je vais
is – est
now – maintenant
tomorrow – demain
the butcher – le boucher
the hairdresser – le coiffeur
the doctor – le médecin
the dentist – le dentiste
now – maintenant

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