Reading

Salaire or revenu: read a French monthly income note

Read a short French text about salary and extra income. Compare salaire, revenu, brut, net, mensuel and annuel, then answer four reading questions.

In short

Un salaire is pay from a job; un revenu is income more broadly. A salary can be one part of someone’s income. Mensuel means monthly, and annuel means yearly: keep the period with the amount.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A designer giving an evening drawing lesson at a small studio table with a ceramic still life.
Extra lessons provide un revenu complémentaire. Illustration: Atelier

A monthly note

Les revenus de Camille

Camille travaille dans une entreprise de design. Elle reçoit un salaire mensuel1 de 2 100 euros nets. Le soir, elle donne aussi des cours de dessin et gagne 250 euros par mois avec cette activité. Ces cours lui apportent un revenu complémentaire2.

Pour préparer son budget, Camille note les deux sommes. Son salaire et ses cours lui donnent un revenu total de 2 350 euros pour le mois. Le salaire représente donc la plus grande partie de ses revenus3. Elle écrit la période à côté de chaque montant pour comparer des sommes mensuelles entre elles.

Sur sa fiche de paie, Camille voit les mots « salaire brut4 » et « salaire net ». Elle sait que ces deux lignes désignent des montants différents. Dans son carnet, elle a noté le montant net de 2 100 euros. Elle distingue aussi les revenus mensuels des revenus annuels5.

Read it in English

Camille works for a design company. She receives net monthly pay of €2,100. In the evenings, she also gives drawing lessons and earns €250 a month from this activity. These lessons provide her with additional income.

To prepare her budget, Camille writes down the two amounts. Her salary and her lessons give her a total income of €2,350 for the month. Her salary therefore makes up most of her income. She writes the period beside each amount so that she can compare monthly amounts with each other.

On her payslip, Camille sees the words “gross pay” and “net pay”. She knows these two lines refer to different amounts. In her notebook, she has written down the net amount of €2,100. She also distinguishes monthly income from annual income.

What is the difference between salaire and revenu?

Vocabulary from the note
FrenchEnglishFocus
un salairesalary; wages; payPay from employment.
un revenuincomeMoney coming in from a source.
les revenusincomeOften covers several sources.
mensuel / mensuellemonthlyA one-month period.
annuel / annuelleannualA one-year period.
brut / netgross / netBefore / after deductions.

Both nouns are masculine: un salaire régulier, un revenu régulier. In English, les revenus usually translates as “income”, with no plural -s. The text gives monthly amounts for both activities, so the addition compares the same period.

Question 1No account needed
What is Camille’s net monthly salary?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

2 100 euros.. Her employment salary is €2,100 net; €2,350 includes her drawing lessons.

Question 2No account needed
What do the drawing lessons provide?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Un revenu complémentaire de 250 euros par mois.. The text identifies €250 each month from the lessons as additional income.

Question 3No account needed
Which statement matches the text?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Son salaire fait partie de ses revenus.. Her salary is one income source; drawing lessons are another.

Question 4No account needed
Which pair refers to the same period?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Un salaire mensuel et un revenu mensuel.. Both mensuel labels refer to a month, so the periods match.

A different meaning in another sentence

Son collègue est revenu de vacances.

Her colleague has come back from holiday.

Here revenu is the past participle of revenir. An article and money context identify the noun: un revenu, ses revenus.