There is no way around the importance of social classes in France. Some expressions will tend to categorize you as belonging to one class or another, so you may want to avoid them.
Writing about social class is risqué⊠I donât mean to offend anybody or to pass a judgment: Iâm just trying to inform learners of French of something that may be different in France from their country. So take this article as an opinion piece if you want :-)
How do You Say Blue Collar in French?
There are several ways of translating blue collar in French:
- un ouvrier/ une ouvriĂšre â factory worker
- un employĂ©, une employĂ©e â an employee
- un travailleur / une travailleuse â a worker as a union may call them
- un/une prolĂ©taire â a proletarian, a worker
How do you Say White Collar in French?
Again, itâs difficult to translate the notion of white collar in French.
- un/une cadre â someone in managment
- un/une cadre supĂ©rieur(e) â upper management
- un/une employĂ© (e) de bureau â office worker
- un/une fonctionnaire â someone working for the French government â I listed them in white collar but could be blue collar depending on the job.
- un/une boss â a boss
- un patron / une patronne â a boss
- un/une chef â a boss
Writing about the different social classes in France is a touchy subject. It is not set in stone: a farmer can be really rich and belong to the upper class. So can a storekeeper⊠Where would âla bourgeoisieâ fit? But this may help students of French get an idea of the picture.
- la classe ouvriĂšre, le prolĂ©tariat, les dĂ©favorisĂ©s â the workers
- les paysans, la paysannerie â farmers (who can be really rich or really poor in France⊠so itâs kind of a class of its own)
- la classe moyenne, la petite bourgeoisie â some office employees, artisans, shopkeepers â middle income class
- la classe supĂ©rieure, la haute bourgeoisie, lâaristocratie financiĂšre, les privilĂ©giĂ©s â upper class.
More about this in French on wikipedia.
Whatâs amazing about French is that some expressions will automatically categorise you as belonging to one class or another.
A good example: many students have learned to say âDe rienâ (âItâs nothing, youâre welcomeâ ) as an answer to âmerciâ â thank you in French.
De rien is indeed very used in France, but more so in the working class environment.
French people who fancy themselves as upper class would favor âJe vous en prieâ (pronounced shvoo zan pree), and âJe tâen prieâ (shtan pree).
The same goes with saying âau plaisirâ at the end of a conversation to say something like âIâm looking forward to the pleasure of seeing you againâ â except that saying that in English would be quite circumvoluted, whereas in French, saying âau plaisirâ- although very commonly used â will be frowned upon in upper classes.
So, get a feel for your surroundings, and talk freely in a relaxed setting, but watch the vocabulary you use in a more formal setting, and of course, use âvousâ with people you donât know: upper class will stick with âvousâ longer, whereas working class may use âtuâ more freely. But it is also a question of age, region, personal habitâŠ
You will find more expressions of politeness with their proper pronunciation and cultural notes on when to use them, as well as a in depth explanation of âtu versus vousâ in my audio lesson French greetings and politeness.

Master French politeness without hesitation and avoid embarrassing faux-pas.
Common mistakes among the French themselves include âla copine Ă ma soeur,â which should be âla copine DE ma soeur.â
Pronouns, Subjunctive and Past participle agreements (such as âelle les a miSES) are also markers of a higher education, and therefore social class.
However the French are really aware that these are tough for students of French, so they would not be surprised if you stumbled upon these! They may offer unsolicited correction though⊠I explain this in my article: think twice before asking French people to correct your French.
Be extremely cautious with slang.
French students love to use slang words, it makes them feel âinâ. Unfortunately, slang is much stronger in the mouth of a foreigner.
Furthermore, students tend to just translate slang into the foreign language, and use it like that. Itâs a huge mistake since some words that are acceptable in one language may not be acceptable in another.
For example, if the âf..kâ word is quite common in US English (bad, but common), its literal translation involving the French verb âfoutreâ is extremely strong in French.
In the US, I have many friends from all classes who use swear words regularly. In France, swearing is not as widespread, and tends to be more common in working class environment. I donât have numbers to support this affirmation: it comes from personal experience and movies. Still I believe this kind of information is worth sharing with an audience of French learners. Itâs certainly not information you find in books!
I now encourage you to read my article about âla bourgeoisie françaiseâ and what we call âla bonne Ă©ducationâ to have a deeper understanding of the French social classes.
The very best way to learn French expressions is to learn them within the context of a story. I encourage you to check out French Todayâs downloadable French audiobooks: French Todayâs level adapted bilingual novels are recorded at different speeds and enunciation, and focus on todayâs modern glided pronunciation.
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