Rivers

The English word river can be either fleuve or rivière in French. Major rivers, all of which flow into the sea, are fleuves : the rest are rivières. Here are some examples of fleuves in France : la Garonne, la Loire, la Seine, le Rhin, le Rhône and la Somme : other fleuves include : le Nil, le Danube, le Gange, le Tage, l’Indus, l’Amazone, le Congo, le Mississippi, le Niger and le Saint-Laurent.

The following French rivers are rivières : la Marne, l’Oise, l’Allier, la Dordogne, la Saône.

As in English, French uses the definite article with names of rivers :

the Thames

= la Tamise

to go down the Rhine

= descendre le Rhin

to live near the Seine

= habiter près de la Seine

the course of the Danube

= le cours du Danube

In English you can say the X, the X river or the river X. In French it is always le X (or la X) :

the river Thames

= la Tamise

the Potomac river

= le Potomac

When the name of the river is used as an adjective, French has de + definite article :

Seine barges

= les péniches de la Seine

a Rhine castle

= un château des bords du Rhin

the Rhine estuary

= l’estuaire du Rhin

Big English-French dictionary. 2003.