French Word for Hat

The French word for hat, chapeau (or le chapeau, masculine) appears in many children's songs. According to the experts, no matter what age you are, French songs are a great way to learn French vocabulary. Listening to music is far more interesting than memorizing a long list of French words and is therefore more likely to 'stick.' To add icing on the cake, you will be learning French words in context rather than at random, helping you learn how to actually use French words and phrases in a sentence.

The experts also say that kids' songs, in particular, are excellent language learning tools since the vocabulary tends to be simple and the sentences short. So in what songs can you find the French word for Hat? Well, if the song or nursery rhyme "My Hat has Three Corners" (My hat has three corners; three corners does my hat have; were it not to have three corners, it would not be my hat) rings a bell, hum along with the favorite children's tune "Mon chapeau, il a quatre bosses", the lyrics of which are:

"Mon chapeau a quatr' bosses, Y a quatr' bosses à mon chapeau; S'il n'y avait pas ces quatr' bosses, Ce ne s'rait pas mon chapeau"

Another classic song containing the French word for hat is "Mon Beau Chapeau" by Sacha Disetel. And if you want to know how to say the Cat in the Hat in French (Dr. Seuss would have his work cut out for him...) - you guessed it! It's "Chat chapeau"! If you want to teach yourself or your kids the names of colors through a French song, go online and look for the lyrics the educational song "When I Put on My Green Hat," or "Quand je mets mon chapeau vert."

A whole slew of idioms and phrases have also been derived from the French word for hat. Here are just a few of the most interesting:

• chapeau haut de forme = top hat
• chapeau de paille = straw hat
• chapeau de papier = paper hat
• chapeau de soleil = sun hat
• mettre/enlever son chapeau = to put on/take off one's hat
• Chapeau! = I take my hat off to you
• Chapeaux bas! = Hat's off!
• faire passer le chapeau = to pass the hat around
• jeter son chapeau dans l'arène = to throw one's hat in the ring
• Si ça réussit, je mange mon chapeau = If that succeeds, I'll eat my hat

And now that you are most definitely familiar with the French word for hat, you might want to go shopping for one of the most traditional types of French hats, such as a beret or a flap hat.