Skip to content

fois

time

noun fwah Common

Usage Note

Fois counts occurrences — une fois, deux fois, la première fois — and is never used for clock time, which is heure, or duration, which is temps. It opens the storybook formula il était une fois, the French equivalent of 'once upon a time'.

Examples

"Je l'ai vu trois fois."

Natural Translation

I saw him three times.

Literal Translation

I it-have seen three times

Explore French by topic