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How Do You Say "Seal" in French? (And More French Vocab) Download Article 6 ways to say “seal” in French (including the one that went viral) Co-authored by Language Academia and Janice Tieperman
Last Updated: June 3, 2025 Fact Checked
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How do you say “seal” in French?
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This article was co-authored by Language Academia and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Language Academia is a private, online language school founded by Kordilia Foxstone. Kordilia and her team specialize in teaching foreign languages and accent reduction. Language Academia offers courses in several languages, including English, Spanish, and Mandarin. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 129,044 times.
We’ve all seen the “Hey Siri, how do you say seal in French?” TikTok—but does this hilarious video actually have any truth to it? Believe it or not, it does: the French word for "seal" is "phoque," and you can imagine how the pronunciation makes for some entertaining word play! We’ll walk you through this funky vocabulary word so you can know exactly how to say "seal" in French. We’ve even outlined some other French words that also mean “seal,” so you can flex your new French know-how in your next conversation.
How to Say "Seal" in French
“Phoque” means “seal” in French (as in the cute sea mammal). Like the popular TikTok by The Mannii Show implies, the word is pronounced as “fok” and sounds an awful lot like the F-word in English. This makes saying "phoque" in place of the F-word a popular joke online.
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How do you say “seal” in French?
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The French word for seal is “phoque” (pronounced as “fok”). Yup, the viral TikTok is totally on the money—the French word for the adorable sea mammal is, in fact, “phoque.”[1]XResearch source The word “phoque” (fok) sounds extremely similar to a popular English expletive word, but with an “oh” vowel sound instead of an “uh.”[2]XResearch source
This is a masculine word in French, so you’d use masculine articles like “le” and “un” to say “the” and “a,” respectively.
Example Sentence: Le phoque est très mignon (leh fok eh treh mi-nyon): the seal is very cute.
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1 A “bébé phoque” is a baby seal. The viral TikTok is right about this, too. A baby seal is called a “bébé phoque,” which is pronounced as “beh-beh fok.”[3]XResearch source
2 A “maman phoque” is a mother seal. In the TikTok, the user makes a joke that a mother seal is a “mother phoque-er.” Obviously, this isn’t the correct translation—you’d actually say “maman phoque” (mah-mahn fok), which translates to “mother seal.”
For example, “maman phoque et bébé phoque” (mah-mahn fok eh beh-beh fok) translates to “mother seal and baby seal.”[4]XResearch source
To say "father seal," use "papa phoque" (pah-pah fok).
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1 "Joint" is the word for a seal on an opening. You know the rubber seal that goes around your refrigerator door, or the seal along the bottom of your door? In French, you’d call either of these a “joint” (jwin).
2 "Sceau" refers to a physical stamp or seal. Have you ever seen those fancy symbols or icons that are sometimes used on fancy documents? In French, this is often called a “sceau” (so). A famous example of this is the “The Grand Seal of France,” also known as “Le Grand Sceau de France” (leh ɡran so duh frans).[5]XResearch source
“Cachet” (ka-shè) is another word for seal or stamp in French.[6]XResearch source
3 "Sceller" (sé-lé) is the French verb for “to seal something shut.” You’d use this verb to describe physically sealing something, like a door or a window.[7]XResearch source When conjugated, the root of the verb is pronounced like “sell.”
Example: “Je scelle la porte” (je sell la pawrt) translates to “I seal the door.”
The verb “colmater” (kol-ma-té) also means “to fill in.”[8]XResearch source
The verb “fermer hermétiquement” (férmé ér-mé-tik-man) can also mean “to tightly seal.”
4 "Cacheter" means “to seal up.” The verb “cacheter” (ka-she-té) also means “to seal.” Similarly, the verb “décacheter” (dé-ka-she-té) means “to unseal.”
Example: “Je cachette l’enveloppe” (je ka-shèt l’an-ve-lop) means “I seal the envelope.”
5 "Régler" means “to settle” something, like a decision. In a story, the author might say that a character “seals” their fate after making an important decision. This type of “sealing” translates to “régler” (ré-glé), the French verb for settling on a choice.[9]XResearch source
Example: “Elle règle son destin” (èl règl soh dés-tin) translates to “She decides her destiny.”
You can also use the verb “conclure” (kon-klur) to talk about finalizing or “sealing” an agreement with someone, like an author signing off on a book deal. As an example, “Je conclus l'accord” (je kon-kloo l’a-kor) translates to “I make the deal.”
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Co-authored by: Language Academia Language Tutors This article was co-authored by Language Academia and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Language Academia is a private, online language school founded by Kordilia Foxstone. Kordilia and her team specialize in teaching foreign languages and accent reduction. Language Academia offers courses in several languages, including English, Spanish, and Mandarin. This article has been viewed 129,044 times. 11 votes - 73% Co-authors: 5Updated: June 3, 2025 Views: 129,044 Categories: Pronouncing French In other languagesPortuguese
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Download Article 6 ways to say “seal” in French (including the one that went viral) Co-authored by Language Academia and Janice Tieperman 
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Co-authored by: Language Academia Language Tutors This article was co-authored by Language Academia and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Language Academia is a private, online language school founded by Kordilia Foxstone. Kordilia and her team specialize in teaching foreign languages and accent reduction. Language Academia offers courses in several languages, including English, Spanish, and Mandarin. This article has been viewed 129,044 times. 11 votes - 73% Co-authors: 5 Updated: June 3, 2025 Views: 129,044 Categories: Pronouncing French In other languagesPortuguese 
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The French word for seal is “phoque” (pronounced as “fok”). Yup, the viral TikTok is totally on the money—the French word for the adorable sea mammal is, in fact, “phoque.”[1] The word “phoque” (fok) sounds extremely similar to a popular English expletive word, but with an “oh” vowel sound instead of an “uh.”[2] 
1 A “bébé phoque” is a baby seal. The viral TikTok is right about this, too. A baby seal is called a “bébé phoque,” which is pronounced as “beh-beh fok.”[3] 
2 A “maman phoque” is a mother seal. In the TikTok, the user makes a joke that a mother seal is a “mother phoque-er.” Obviously, this isn’t the correct translation—you’d actually say “maman phoque” (mah-mahn fok), which translates to “mother seal.” 
1 "Joint" is the word for a seal on an opening. You know the rubber seal that goes around your refrigerator door, or the seal along the bottom of your door? In French, you’d call either of these a “joint” (jwin). 
2 "Sceau" refers to a physical stamp or seal. Have you ever seen those fancy symbols or icons that are sometimes used on fancy documents? In French, this is often called a “sceau” (so). A famous example of this is the “The Grand Seal of France,” also known as “Le Grand Sceau de France” (leh ɡran so duh frans).[5] 
3 "Sceller" (sé-lé) is the French verb for “to seal something shut.” You’d use this verb to describe physically sealing something, like a door or a window.[7] When conjugated, the root of the verb is pronounced like “sell.” 
4 "Cacheter" means “to seal up.” The verb “cacheter” (ka-she-té) also means “to seal.” Similarly, the verb “décacheter” (dé-ka-she-té) means “to unseal.” 
5 "Régler" means “to settle” something, like a decision. In a story, the author might say that a character “seals” their fate after making an important decision. This type of “sealing” translates to “régler” (ré-glé), the French verb for settling on a choice.[9] 
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