How To Say Fish In French 🐟

How do you Say Fish in French?

The French translation for fish is : un poisson, des poissons.

How do you Pronounce Fish in French?

I’ve recorded these tricky words for you: please press play next to the headphones to hear the correct pronunciation.

Watch out! “un poisson” has a “sss” sound. “Le poison” (poison) has a “z” sound.

12 French Fish Names

Here are some French fish names you can easily find in fishmongers in France. Follow this link for more French food names with 450 audio files!

1. Le saumon = salmon
2. L’anchois = anchovy
3. Le cabillaud / la morue = cod
4. La truite = trout
5. Le thon = tuna
6. La lotte = monkfish
7. Le lieu = pollack
8. La sole = sole
9. Le bar = sea bass
10. La sardine = sardine
11. Le maquereau = mackerel
12. Le mulet = mulet

15 French Seafood Names

The word to translate seafood in French is “les fruits de mer (m)” which literally translates into ‘the fruits of the sea’… In this category, you’ll also find “les crustacées (m)” ‘crustaceans” and “les coquillages comestibles” ‘edible seashells’.

Watch out that “la coquille” is feminine and means ‘the shell of a seashell’, whereas “un coquillage” is masculine and is ‘a seashell’.

If you wanted to talk about the shell of a crustacean, like a crab’s shell, in French you’s say “la carapace”.
La coquille de la moule et la carapace de la crevette…

1. Une pieuvre = an octopus
2. Un calamar = calamari
3. Une huitre = an oyster
4. Une moule = a mussel
5. Un oursin = sea urchin
6. Une palourde = a clam
7. Une praire – a clam
8. Une (noix de) Saint-Jacques = a scallop
9. Un crabe = a crab
10. Une araignée de mer = spider crab
11. Une crevette = a shrimp
12. Une gambas = a big shrimp
13. Une langouste = spiny lobster
14. Une langoustine = crayfish
15. Un homard = lobster

French Fishmonger Vocabulary

1. Un poissonnier = a fishmonger
2. Une poissonnière = a woman fishmonger
3. Une poissonnerie = a fish store
4. La pisciculture = fish farming
5. L’ostréiculture = oyster farming
6. Vidé et écaillé = prepared for cooking (emptied out and descaled)
7. Un filet = filet
8. Une arrête = fish bone
9. Une écaille = scale
10. La queue = the tail
11. Frais = fresh
12. Surgelé = frozen

You may enjoy my easy salmon French English recipe.

Other French Fish Words

1. Un poisson tropical = tropical fish
2. Un poisson d’aquarium = aquarium fish
3. Un poisson d’eau douce = freshwater fish
4. Un poisson d’eau de mer = saltwater fish
5. Un dauphin = a dolphin
6. Un requin = a shark
7. Une étoile de mer = starfish
8. Une algue = seaweed
9. Une méduse = jellyfish