Most materials used in French Canadian research are written in French. However, you do not need to speak or read French to do research. You just need to know some key numbers, words, and phrases to understand the French Canadian records.

You may find other languages in the records of Québec. These include English and Latin. Latin is sometimes found in very early Roman Catholic parish registers. English was often used in the eastern townships and the Ottawa River valley. In 1850 about a quarter of the population of Québec spoke English.

French grammar and customs may affect the way names appear in genealogical records. For example, the names of your ancestor may vary from record to record in French. For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section of this outline.

Language Aids

The Family History Library has published a French Word List (34060) and a Latin Word List (34077). The lists contain words often found in genealogical research with their English translation.

The Family History Library also has a guide for researchers who do not speak French but must write to Québec or France to request genealogical records:

French Letter-Writing Guide (34059) Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994. (FHL book 929.1 F21Lw; fiche 6117799; computer number 735239.) It includes a list of sentences you would use in a letter about genealogical records and a French translation of sentences.

The following books and English-French dictionaries can also help you in your research. You can find these and similar materials at many research libraries.

French Records Extraction. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, [198-?]. (FHL book 944 D27f; fiche 6068523; computer number 515782.) Text in English. Shows examples of French civil records, parish records, and handwriting. Has list of personal names and translations of common words used in the records.

New Cassell's French Dictionary: French-English, English-French. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1970. (FHL book 443.21 C272; computer number 258492.)

Boudreau, Dennis M. Beginning Franco-American Genealogy. Pawtucket, R.I.: American-French Genealogical Society, 1986. (FHL book 973 D27bo; computer number 479066.) See the ”For Further Reading” section near the end of this outline for a description.

Additional language aids are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under FRANCE - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES or in the Subject Search under FRENCH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES.

Key Words

With a knowledge of the basic words, most English-speaking persons can read many of the French Canadian records used for genealogical research. These are some of the most common words and abbreviations in French Canadian church records, vital records, and genealogical collections:

French	English
à	in, at, to
acte	record
an	year
année	year
à Québec	in, to the city of Québec
au Québec	in, to the province of Québec
b	baptized, christened
baptême	baptism, christening
baptisé	baptized, christened (masculine)
baptisée	baptized, christened (feminine)
de	of, from
de Québec	of the city of Québec
du Québec	of the province of Québec
def.	deceased
deft	deceased
défunt	deceased (masculine)
défunte	deceased (feminine)
enfant	child
épouse	wife
époux	husband
et	and
femme	wife
feu(e)	late, deceased
fille	daughter
fils	son
illégitime	illegitimate
inconnu(e)	unknown, surname not known
m	marriage
mari	husband
mariage	marriage
marié	husband
marieé	wife
mois	month
n	born
naissance	birth
né	born (masculine)
née	born (feminine)
père	father
répertoire	index
s	burial
Saint	Saint (masculine)
Sainte	Saint (feminine)
sépulture	burial
St	Saint (masculine)
Ste	Saint (feminine)
ve	widow
veuf	widower
veuve	widow
vf	widower
vve	widow