30 Ways To Describe Your Eyes in French & Video 👁👁

Today, I’m going to tell you about the eyes in French, using the Sims.

Scroll down to watch the video.

How do you Say Eyes in French?

So the French word for eyes is “les yeux”.

1. Un oeil – one eye – has a strong liaison in N.
2. L’oeil – the eye

Watch out for the French Pronunciation of Eyes

In the plural, you will almost always have a Z sound starting the word “z-yeux” because of the word which comes before it, and the liaison.

1. Des yeux – eyes
2. Les yeux – the eyes
3. Deux yeux – two eyes

But this is pretty much true for all the words that would come before…

1. Tes yeux – your eyes (for tu)
2. Vos yeux – your eyes (for vous)
3. Tes beaux yeux – your beautiful eyes (for tu)
4. Ces yeux / ses yeux – these eyes / her-his eyes (same pronunciation for ces and ses in French)

So you may as well memorize the sound “zieu” for it.

12 French Eye Terms

In the eyes, we have:

1. le blanc de l’oeil – the white part
2. l’iris (say the final s) – the iris,
3. la pupille – the pupil
4. la prunelle – the pupil also. This word is mostly used in the expression “la prunelle de mes yeux” – ‘the apple of my eyes”:
   Sa fille est le prunelle de ses yeux
   His daughter is the apple of his eyes
5. “un sourcil, des sourcils” – eyebrows.  The final L is silent.
6. La paupière – eyelid
7. “un cil”, des “cils”, this time with the final L pronounced: the eye-lashes.
8. les lunettes (f) – glasses
9. les lunettes de vue (f) – prescription glasses
10. les lunettes pour lire (f) – reading glasses
11. les lunettes de soleil (f) – sunglasses
12. les lentilles de contact (f)- contact lenses

11 Eye Colors in French

Now, let’s see some typical eye colors

Note the way we say “Her eyes are black, brown, blue etc…” is a bit different in French.

We can say “Ses yeux sont noirs, marron, bleus etc…” but in general, the construction: “Elle a les yeux noirs, marron, bleus etc… is more common.

Alors…

1. Elle a les yeux de quelle couleur ? What color are her eyes?
2. De quelle couleur sont ses yeux ? What color are her eyes?
3. Elle a les yeux noirs. Her eyes are black.
4. Elle a les yeux marron. Her eyes are brown (no S for “marron”, it’s an irregular color adjective which is invariable = it never changes)
5. Elle a les yeux verts. Her eyes are green.
6. Elle a les yeux bleus. Her eyes are blue.

Now for some more unusual eye colors in French.

1. Elle a les yeux noisette : un mélange de brun et de vert – she has hazel eyes, a mix of brown and green.
2. Elle a les yeux gris-bleu – her eyes are grey blue
3. Elle a les yeux bleu foncé – her eyes are dark blue
4. Elle a les yeux bleu ciel – her eyes are “sky” blue (very light blue – you could also say “bleu clair”)
5. Elle a les yeux bleu vert – here eyes are bluish green

Note that these adjectives are invariable: they are spelled without S although they refer to a plural noun.

All the rules about French adjectives are thoroughly explained in my audio lesson “Mastering French Adjectives”, exclusively available on French Today.com.

Eye Shapes – French Vocabulary

Now, let’s look at the shapes of the eyes.

Typically, an Asian person has:

• les yeux bridés – well, I’m not sure how to translate this in English to be politically correct… I think you may say slanted eyes in English, but in any case it is the term we use in French (in France anyway).

Someone from India may have:

• les yeux en amande – almond shape eyes

We also say:

• Elle a les yeux ronds – her eyes are round shaped
• Elle a de grands yeux – she has big / large eyes
• Elle louche – she is cross eyed (from loucher)

And Now It’s Your Turn!

• Et vous ? De quelle couleur sont vos yeux ? Est-ce que vous portez des lunettes ou des lentilles de contact ?
  What about your? What color are your eyes? Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?

Answer this question in French in the comment section below – be careful with your adjectives!

French Eye Practice Video

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