Cheveux or poils? French hair words, with pictures
Learn cheveux for head hair and poils for body or animal hair, with picture cards, a portrait scene and questions on singulars and agreement.
In short
Use les cheveux for the hair on a person’s head and les poils for body hair or animal hairs. One strand from a person’s head is un cheveu; one body or animal hair is un poil.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
What is the difference between cheveux and poils?
les cheveuxhead hair
Focus: a person’s hairstyle or head hair
avoir les cheveux + adjectif
Elle a les cheveux courts et bouclés.
She has short, curly hair.
Je me brosse les cheveux.
I’m brushing my hair.
les poilsbody or animal hair
Focus: hairs on the body, or hairs from an animal
des poils sur + une partie du corps / une surface
Il a des poils sur les bras.
He has hair on his arms.
Le chat a laissé des poils sur le fauteuil.
The cat has left hairs on the armchair.
Look closely: which feature can you name?
Find:
One hair or a whole hairstyle?
| French | English | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| un cheveu → des cheveux | one head hair → head hairs | The plural ends in -x. |
| un poil → des poils | one body or animal hair → hairs | The plural ends in -s. |
| les cheveux longs | long hair | Masculine plural: longs. |
| une barbe courte | a short beard | Feminine singular: courte. |
| un chien à poil long | a long-haired dog | Poil is singular in this coat description. |
For a hairstyle, Elle a les cheveux noirs is a useful model. The adjective agrees with cheveux, even when the person is a woman. For an animal’s whole coat, you can also use le pelage : Ce chat a un pelage très doux means “This cat has a very soft coat.”
A portrait, then a discovery on the chair
- Ana
Tu reconnais mon frère sur cette photo ?
Do you recognise my brother in this photo?
- Luc
Oui, il a les cheveux longs et une petite barbe.
Yes, he has long hair and a small beard.
- Ana
Exactement. Et regarde le fauteuil : il est couvert de poils de chat !
Exactly. And look at the armchair: it’s covered in cat hair!