Talking about your room in French
Describing what is in your bedroom
To ask someone what is in their bedroom, use the following question:
- Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans ta chambre? - What is in your bedroom?
To reply and describe your bedroom, use either il y a (there is/there are) or j’ai (I have), followed by the item. To say what you don’t have use il n’y a pas de (there isn’t a/ there aren’t any) or je n’ai pas de (I don’t have a).
- Dans ma chambre, il y a un lit - In my bedroom, there is a bed.
- J’ai une armoire et une commode - I have a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.
- Il n’y a pas de bureau - There isn’t a desk.
- Je n’ai pas de table de nuit - I don’t have a bedside table.
Here are some useful words to describe what you might have in your bedroom:
un lit - a beddes lits superposés - bunk bedsun coussin - a cushionun bureau - a deskun ordinateur - a computerun livre - a book
un placard - a cupboardun tapis - a carpetun mur - a wallune bibliothèque - a bookcaseune armoire - a wardrobeune commode - a chest of drawers
une table de nuit - a bedside tableune chaise - a chairune lampe - a lampdes rideaux - curtains
Using adjectives to describe your room - colours
You can add more information about your bedroom furniture by including colours.
The colour must go after the furniture items, as colours are adjectives. The colours must also agree with the nouns, and many change when they are feminine or plural. The exceptions are: marron (brown) and orange (orange) which do NOT change.
- J’ai un lit bleu - I have a blue bed.
- Dans ma chambre, il y a une armoire blanche - In my bedroom, there is a white wardrobe.
- Les rideaux sont verts - The curtains are green.
Here are some colours you could use to describe your bedroom:
| English | Masculine singular | Masculine plural | Feminine singular | Feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| black | noir | noirs | noire | noires |
| white | blanc | blancs | blanche | blanches |
| blue | bleu | bleus | bleue | bleues |
| green | vert | verts | verte | vertes |
| red | rouge | rouges | rouge | rouges |
| yellow | jaune | jaunes | jaune | jaunes |
| purple | violet | violets | violette | violettes |
| grey | gris | gris | grise | grises |
| brown | marron | marron | marron | marron |
| orange | orange | orange | orange | orange |
Other adjectives to describe your room
You can use a variety of adjectives to describe your bedroom. As chambre (bedroom) is a feminine word, the adjectives must agree with the noun, even when they are not right next to the noun:
- Ma chambre est assez petite et confortable - My bedroom is quite small and comfortable.
To use the word ‘it’ to talk about your bedroom, say elle, because chambre is a feminine word:
- J’aime ma chambre parce qu’elle est grande - I like my room because it is big.
- Je n’aime pas ranger ma chambre. Elle est toujours en désordre - I don’t like tidying my room. It is always messy.
Here are some useful words and phrases you could use to describe your bedroom:
grande - bigpetite - smallconfortable - comfortabledouillette - cosy
bien rangée - tidyen désordre - messycalme - quietbruyante - noisy
J’ai ma propre chambre - I have my own bedroomJe partage ma chambre - I share my roomJe range ma chambre - I tidy my room
Using prepositions to describe where things are in your room
A preposition of place describes where something is in relation to something else. Here are some useful prepositions of place you can use to describe where things are in your room:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| dans | in |
| sur | on |
| entre ... et | between ... and |
| devant | in front of |
| à côté de | next to |
| sous | under |
| derrière | behind |
| en face de | opposite |
For example:
- Le lit est à côté de la table de nuit - The bed is next to the bedside table.
- Il y a un bureau sous la fenêtre et il y a une lampe sur le bureau - There is a desk under the window and there is a lamp on the desk.
- J’ai beaucoup de livres dans ma bibliothèque - I have lots of books in my bookcase.
- La commode est entre l’armoire et la porte - The chest of drawers is between the wardrobe and the door.
- Je n’ai pas de posters sur les murs - I don’t have any posters on the walls.
Quiz
Watch the video and find out how much you know about describing your room in French with this short quiz.
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