French Conversation · Level 97
60 words
French word
conte
Pronunciation
IPA/kɔ̃t/
Meaning
- masculine nounstory
Example
Ma grand-mère me racontait des contes quand j'étais petit.
My grandmother used to tell me stories when I was little.
More examples
Elle a écrit un conte inspiré d'une légende locale.
She wrote a tale inspired by a local legend.
Core concept
A small circle of listeners follows a short invented tale about imagined characters and events.
Common phrases
conte de fées
fairy tale
conte populaire
folk tale
conte moral
moral tale
Similar words
histoire: A narrative that recounts events or follows the lives of people.
légende: A traditional local or folk tale, often involving heroes or the supernatural.
Definition in French
Récit bref et fictif, souvent de tradition orale, centré sur des personnages et des événements imaginaires.
Word origin
French conte comes from Old French conte, formed from conter 'to tell', which developed from Latin computare 'to count' and acquired the sense of recounting.
Usage tips
- The noun is masculine, so standard forms include un conte, ce conte, and des contes.