This video featuring the Sims really hits two birds with one stone :
- The French bathroom vocabulary
- The French reflexive verbs (the โseโ verbs), which are used a lot in the bathroom routine. Follow this link to my article about the French reflexive / pronominal verbs.
Scroll down to watch the video!
1 โ French Shower, Bath and Bathroom Vocabulary
- La salle de bain(s) โ bathroom โ 2 spellings are possible, with or without the s.
- La salle de douche โ shower room
- Le cabinet de toilette โ a room with a sink, sometimes a shower, sometimes a toilet.
- Les toilettes โ Restrooms in French
- Une baignoire โ a bathtub
- Un bain โ a bath
- Une douche โ a shower (not a doucheโฆ)
- Un lavabo โ bathroom sink (โ un รฉvier = kitchen sink)
- Un bidet โ ahh, the infamous French bidet. A small bathroom furniture in which you washโฆ your feet of course :-)
- Un rideau (de douche) โ a (shower) curtain
- Le pommeau de douche โ the shower head
- La poignรฉe de douche โ the hand shower
- Le robinet โ the tap
- Le siphon โ the drain
- Prendre un bain โ to take a bath
- Prendre une douche โ to take a shower
- Se laver โ to wash
- Se laver les cheveux โ to wash your hair
- Se rincer โ to rinse
- Se brosser les dents, les cheveux โ to brush your teeth, your hair
- Le savon โ soap
- Le gel-douche โ shower gel
- Du bain moussant โ bubble bath
- De la mousse โ foam
- Le shampoing โ shampoo (pronounce it shan(nasal) poin(nasal))
- Lโaprรจs-shampoing โ conditioner
- Une brosse โ a brush
- Un sรจche-cheveux โ a hair dryer
- Une รฉponge โ a sponge
- Le gant de toilette โ a wash cloth (usually a rectangular glove in France, not just a small towel)
- La serviette de toilette / de bain โ towel
- Le tapis de bain โ bathroom rug
- La douche fuit โ the shower is leaking
- Il y a une fuite โ there is a leak
- La baignoire est bouchรฉe โ the bathtub is clogged
- Lโeau est froide, tiรจde, chaude, brรปlante โ the water is cold, cool, warm, scolding hot
Now, follow this link to learn everything about asking for the restroom in French, and related French toilet vocabulary.
Also, do you know how to wash your hair in a French style bathtub (with only a hand shower and often no curtain)?

A new approach to learning both traditional and modern French logically structured for English speakers.
2 โ Learn French Daily Bathroom Video
Now, letโs learn the French daily bathroom routine vocabulary in the context of an easy story featuring the video game โThe Simsโ
You will notice that many toiletry related verbs use a โseโ construction: so I suggest you first read my article about French reflexive verbs.
If you enjoy learning French in context, check out French Todayโs downloadable French audiobooks: French Todayโs bilingual novels are recorded at different speeds and enunciation, and focus on todayโs modern glided pronunciation.
3 โ French Transcript and English Translation of the Video
Notre Sim dort.
Our Sim is sleeping.
Maintenant, elle se rรฉveille, elle se lรจve, et elle va dans la salle de bains.
Now she wakes up, she gets up and she goes into the bathroom.
Elle va aux toilettes, elle fait pipi et puis elle sโessuie et elle tire la chasse.
She uses the bathroom, she pees, then she wipes herself and flushes.
Elle se lave les mains avec du savon liquide, et puis elle va prendre une douche.
She washes her hands with liquid soap, then she takes a shower.
Elle se dรฉshabille et puis elle rentre dans sa douche et elle se lave avec du gel pour la douche : elle se frotte bien.
She gets undressed and then enters her shower and washes with shower gel: she scrubs herself energetically.
Et puis elle se lave les cheveux avec du shampoing.
And then, she washes her hair with shampoo.
Peut รชtre quโelle se rase, on sait pas !
Maybe she shaves, we donโt know!
Elle se rince les cheveux et pendant tout le temps de sa douche, elle chante !
She rinces her hair and during all the time of her shower, she sings!
Avec les Sims, cโest magique. Elle ne sโessuie pas, elle ne sโhabille mรชme pas ! Un tour et elle est prรชte !
With the Sims, itโs magical. She doesnโt dry herself, she doesnโt even get dressed! A spin and she is ready!
Elle se lave les dents avec une brosse ร dent et du dentifrice.
She brushes her teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Elle se regarde dans le miroir. Normalement, elle devrait se coiffer les cheveux, se sรฉcher les cheveux et puis se mettre de la crรจme, et se maquiller: se faire les yeux, et se mettre du brillant ร lรจvre.
She looks at herself in a mirror. In the normal life, she should comb her hair, dry her hair and moisturize her skin, and apply make-up: do her eyes and put some gloss.
Mais encore une fois, un Sim nโa pas besoin de faire tout รงa.
But once more, a Sim doesnโt need to do all that.
Maintenant, elle va dans sa chambre, et elle va se changer : peut รชtre quโelle va se mettre en tenue de sport, ou bien tout simplement en jean et en T-shirt, ou encore elle peut se mettre une robe.
Now, she goes to her room and changes: maybe sheโll put a sports outfit on, or just a jean and T-shirt, or else she can wear a dress.
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