élève ou étudiant - Mot du Jour

ELEVE or ETUDIANT ? - French Expression

Should you say ELEVE or ETUDIANT? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne’s AUDIO file.

un/e élève is someone who goes to a school. un/e étudiant/e is someone who goes to a university - la fac. It is confusing because in English, you may easily hear the word ‘student’ not necessarily applying to a university. For instance, you can hear: my father is a student at French Hour. French Hour is not a university, it’s a school. So even if my father were 70 years old, that sentence may not be: mon père est étudiant à French Hour. Instead, you should say: Mon père est élève à French Hour.

« J’emmène mes enfants en cours. Mon fils de 19 ans est étudiant à la fac et ma fille de 13 ans est élèveau collège Jacques Prévert. »
- “I’m bringing my children to school. My 19 year-old son is a student at the university and my 13 year-old daughter goes to Jacques Prévert Middle school.”