"How much does it cost?" is one of the most practical questions you can learn in a new language. In French, you probably started with the verb coûter. But there are many other ways to ask about or state a price.

Knowing these different expressions will help you sound more natural and understand native speakers in various situations, from shopping at a local market to dining out.

Let’s look at 9 common ways to talk about what something costs in French!

2. The standard 'to cost' – coûter

The verb coûter is the direct and most common translation for 'to cost' in French. It's the essential verb for asking about or stating the price of goods and services.

Coûter is a regular -er verb, which makes its conjugation predictable. In everyday conversation, you will most often use it in the third person (singular or plural) to refer to an object's price. The key forms are:

• Ça coûte... - It costs...
• Ils/Elles coûtent... - They cost...

If you learn only one phrase with this verb, make it this one: Combien ça coûte ? (How much does it cost?). This is a fundamental question for tourists and learners alike and is universally understood in any transactional context.

Beyond money, coûter can also mean that something is emotionally or physically difficult, or requires great effort. It's often used with an indirect object pronoun (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur). For example, Ça me coûte de partir means 'It's hard for me to leave.'

To talk about a cost in the past, you use the passé composé with the auxiliary verb avoir. The past participle is coûté. For example, Le dîner a coûté cinquante euros (The dinner cost fifty euros).

💡 * Combien coûte ce livre ? (How much does this book cost?)

• Les réparations de la voiture ont coûté très cher. (The car repairs cost a lot.)
• Ça lui coûte beaucoup d'admettre ses erreurs. (It costs him a lot/It's very hard for him to admit his mistakes.)
• Ces billets d'avion coûtent une fortune ! (These plane tickets cost a fortune!)
• Un café à Paris coûte environ trois euros. (A coffee in Paris costs about three euros.)

The conversational 'that makes' – ça fait...

One of the most versatile and common phrases in everyday French is ça fait.... While its literal translation is 'that makes...', its actual use is much broader and is a cornerstone of conversational French, making you sound more like a native speaker.

The most frequent use of ça fait... is to talk about the duration of time. It's used to say 'it has been...' or 'for...' when describing how long a situation has been going on. It's often used interchangeably with depuis in spoken language, for example, Ça fait longtemps que je ne t'ai pas vu means 'It's been a long time since I've seen you.'

In shops, markets, and restaurants, you'll constantly hear ça fait... used to state a total price. It's the direct equivalent of a cashier saying 'That'll be...' or 'That comes to...'. For instance, a baker might say, Ça fait cinq euros, s'il vous plaît for 'That's five euros, please.'

Beyond time and money, ça fait... can also describe the result, effect, or impression of something. Think of it as 'that causes,' 'that creates the feeling of,' or 'that looks...'. For example, Le soleil, ça fait du bien ('The sun feels good') or Cette couleur, ça fait un peu triste ('That color looks a bit sad').

The beauty of ça fait... is its conversational and informal nature. It's the go-to phrase in spoken French over more formal structures like cela fait. Mastering its different uses is a key step toward achieving natural-sounding fluency.

💡 * Ça fait trois ans que j'habite à Paris.

• Un café et un croissant, ça fait combien ?
• Ça fait bizarre de le voir ici.
• Le bruit de la pluie, ça fait dormir.
• Ça fait 15 euros en tout, s'il vous plaît.

The 'it comes to' for a total – ça revient à...

When you need to state a total, a final cost, or an equivalent outcome in French, the phrase ça revient à is an essential tool. It literally translates to 'it comes back to,' but its functional meaning is 'it comes to,' 'it amounts to,' or 'that works out to.'

The most common and direct use of ça revient à is for calculating totals, especially with money. After listing several items, you can use this phrase to state the final sum, just like you would say 'the total comes to...' in English.

Beyond simple math, ça revient à is also used figuratively to say that one thing is equivalent to another. In this context, it means 'it's the same as' or 'it boils down to.' This is perfect for summarizing a situation or drawing a logical conclusion.

The phrase ça revient à is typically followed by either a number/amount or an infinitive verb. For example, you can say ça revient à vingt euros (it comes to twenty euros) or ça revient à dire non (it amounts to saying no).

💡 * Deux cafés et un croissant, ça revient à dix euros.

• Ne pas voter, ça revient à accepter la situation actuelle.
• Au final, tout ce travail revient à la même chose.
• Partir sans dire au revoir, ça revient à être impoli.

The 'it is at' for market prices – être à...

When discussing prices, especially in a market setting, French speakers often use the construction être à, which literally translates to 'to be at'. This is a common and natural way to state the price of an item.

This phrase is most frequently heard at a marché (market), boulangerie (bakery), or fromagerie (cheese shop). It's used to express the current price of goods, similar to how an English speaker might say, 'The apples are at three dollars a pound'.

The structure is straightforward: [Subject/Item] + [conjugated être] + à + [price]. You must conjugate the verb être to agree with the subject. Use est for a singular item and sont for plural items.

While you can also use the verb coûter (to cost), as in 'ça coûte deux euros', using 'c'est à deux euros' or 'les tomates sont à deux euros' is very common in everyday conversation and sounds slightly more informal and direct in a shopping context.

💡 * Les tomates sont à deux euros le kilo. (The tomatoes are at two euros per kilo.)

• Le fromage de chèvre est à cinq euros. (The goat cheese is at five euros.)
• Pardon, les pommes sont à combien ? (Excuse me, how much are the apples?)
• Cette baguette est à un euro vingt. (This baguette is at one euro twenty.)

The 'to be worth' – Valoir

The French verb valoir is an essential, versatile verb that primarily means "to be worth" or "to cost." As an irregular verb, its conjugation can be tricky, but understanding its use is fundamental for discussing price, value, and making comparisons in French.

The most common and direct use of valoir is to state the price or monetary worth of an item. You will frequently encounter it in questions like Combien ça vaut ? (How much is it worth?) or statements like Ça vaut cent euros (It's worth one hundred euros).

Beyond literal cost, valoir is crucial for expressing figurative or abstract value. The idiomatic expression valoir le coup (or valoir la peine) means "to be worth the effort" or "to be worth it." This is an incredibly common phrase in everyday conversation.

Since valoir is irregular, it's helpful to memorize its most common forms. In the present tense, you'll most often use il/elle/ça vaut (it is worth) for singular subjects and ils/elles valent (they are worth) for plural subjects.

Another vital expression is mieux vaut... que..., which translates to "it is better... than..." It's used to give advice or express a preference, as seen in the famous proverb Mieux vaut tard que jamais (Better late than never).

💡 * Cette maison vaut beaucoup d'argent. (This house is worth a lot of money.)

• Ça vaut le coup d'essayer. (It's worth a try.)
• Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir. (It is better to prevent than to cure / Better safe than sorry.)
• Ses promesses ne valent rien. (His promises are worthless.)

The formal 'to amount to' – s'élever à...

When you need a formal way to express that something totals or amounts to a specific number in French, the go-to phrase is s'élever à.

The verb s'élever literally means 'to rise' or 'to raise oneself.' When paired with the preposition à, it takes on the specific financial or quantitative meaning of 'to amount to' or 'to total'. It is used to state a final sum, cost, or quantity.

This expression is primarily used in formal and professional contexts. You will frequently see or hear s'élever à in news reports, business correspondence, financial statements, and official documents. It's the standard term for discussing costs, damages, figures, and statistics.

s'élever à is a pronominal verb, meaning it requires a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) that agrees with the subject. The subject is the item being quantified, such as la facture (the bill) or le total (the total).

While s'élever à is perfect for formal situations, in casual conversation, you're more likely to hear simpler constructions like c'est, ça fait, or être de. For example, instead of La facture s'élève à 20 euros, a friend might just say Ça fait 20 euros.

💡 * La facture s'élève à 500 euros. (The bill amounts to 500 euros.)

• Le nombre de victimes s'élève à dix. (The number of victims totals ten.)
• Les coûts de production se sont élevés à plus d'un million de dollars. (The production costs amounted to more than a million dollars.)
• Le montant total des dons s'élève à une somme impressionnante. (The total amount of donations amounts to an impressive sum.)

The direct statement 'the price is' – le prix est de...

To state a price directly and formally in French, the standard phrase is le prix est de.... This structure literally translates to 'the price is of...' and is the most grammatically precise way to declare a specific cost.

A critical rule to remember is the inclusion of the preposition de after the verb être (is). While in English you would say 'The price is 10 euros,' in French, the de is mandatory before the number. The correct form is Le prix est de dix euros.

While le prix est de... is perfect for formal writing or clear statements, in casual conversation, you'll more often hear simpler forms. For example, in response to C'est combien ? (How much is it?), a common answer is simply C'est dix euros (It's ten euros).

💡 * Le prix de ce croissant est de un euro vingt.

• Pour la consultation, le prix est de cinquante euros.
• Le prix total de vos achats est de 87€.
• Excusez-moi, le prix est de combien pour cet article ?

The Seller's Perspective 'it sells for' – se vendre

In French, to talk about how a product sells or what it is sold for from an impersonal perspective, you use the pronominal verb se vendre. Literally translating to "to sell oneself," it functions similarly to the passive voice in English, meaning "to be sold" or "it sells."

The key function of se vendre is to shift the focus from the seller to the item being sold. You use it to describe sales trends, prices, or how items are packaged for sale, without mentioning who is doing the selling. It answers the question of how something sells, not who sells it.

As a pronominal verb, se vendre is always conjugated with a reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject (the item). For a singular item, you use se vend, and for plural items, you use se vendent. For example: Le livre se vend bien (The book sells well) vs. Les livres se vendent bien (The books sell well).

It's crucial not to confuse se vendre with the active verb vendre (to sell). Use vendre when the subject is the person or entity performing the action of selling (e.g., Le libraire vend des livres - The bookseller sells books). Use se vendre when the subject is the item itself (e.g., Ce livre se vend 20 euros - This book is sold for 20 euros).

💡 * Ce produit se vend très bien auprès des jeunes.

• Les billets pour le concert se sont vendus en quelques minutes.
• À quel prix se vend cet article en ligne ?
• Ces gâteaux se vendent comme des petits pains.

1. The Verb for 'To Owe': Devoir

The most common and direct way to say 'to owe' in French is with the verb devoir. While this verb is also frequently used to mean 'must' or 'to have to', the context of the sentence will make it clear when you are talking about a debt or obligation.

When using devoir to express owing something to someone, the structure is simple: Subject + devoir (conjugated) + [thing owed] + à + [person owed to]. The 'thing owed' can be money, an object, or even an abstract concept like an apology.

Devoir is an irregular verb. To use it correctly, you'll need to memorize its forms. Here is the conjugation in the present tense (présent de l'indicatif):

• je dois (I owe)
• tu dois (you owe)
• il/elle/on doit (he/she/one owes)
• nous devons (we owe)
• vous devez (you [formal/plural] owe)
• ils/elles doivent (they owe)

💡 * Je te dois 20 euros. (I owe you 20 euros.)

• Combien est-ce que je vous dois ? (How much do I owe you?)
• Il doit encore le loyer à son propriétaire. (He still owes the rent to his landlord.)
• Tu me dois des excuses pour ton comportement. (You owe me an apology for your behavior.)

Are there other ways to say 'to cost' in French?

Are there other ways to say “to cost” in French?

Our list has covered the primary verb, coûter, and its most common alternatives. But French, like any language, has a rich variety of expressions, including slang and idiomatic phrases that convey the idea of cost in different, more colorful ways.

To expand your vocabulary, try searching online for terms like 'expressions idiomatiques avec argent' (idiomatic expressions with money) or 'comment demander le prix' (how to ask the price).

Pay close attention to the context. A phrase like 'ça coûte un bras' (it costs an arm and a leg) is highly informal, while 'le prix s'élève à...' (the price amounts to...) is very formal. Observing these nuances is key to sounding natural.

The best way to learn is by immersion. When you're watching French media or shopping on a French website, notice how cost is presented. Is it a simple number? A spoken phrase? This real-world context is invaluable.

If you want to explore more synonyms or related financial terms, check out a comprehensive dictionary like Larousse or the WordReference entry for coûter. You'll find many useful examples.

I hope this article has helped clarify how to talk about cost in French. To end, let's remember a wise French proverb: 'Le temps, c'est de l'argent.' (Time is money.) — a reminder that value isn't always measured in currency.