What does chez mean in French?

At or to someone's place. Chez Marie is at Marie's, chez moi is at my place, and chez le dentiste is at the dentist's. It covers home, shop, and office, and it works for both being somewhere and going there.

Can chez be used with a place instead of a person?

No. Chez needs a person, a group of people, or a company named after people. For a building or a town you need à or dans: à la maison, à l'hôtel, dans le magasin. Chez la maison is not possible.

What's the difference between chez moi and à la maison?

Chez moi specifies whose home it is, so it distinguishes your place from anyone else's. À la maison names the house without saying whose, and is the default when the household is obvious from context. Both translate as at home.

When do I use chez soi instead of chez lui?

Use soi when the subject is general or impersonal: il faut rentrer chez soi, chacun chez soi, on est bien chez soi. With a specific person, use the ordinary pronoun: il rentre chez lui, elles rentrent chez elles.

Why does chez le médecin have an article when chez Marie doesn't?

Because médecin is a common noun and Marie is a name. Common nouns keep their article after chez, so you get chez le coiffeur and chez la voisine, while names and possessives stand bare: chez Paul, chez mes parents.

French grammar · Beginner

Chez in French: At Someone's Place, and Among a Group

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Chez is a preposition that only ever takes a person. It means at or to someone's home or place of work, so chez Marie is at Marie's and chez le dentiste is at the dentist's. Extended slightly, it also means among or in the work of: chez les jeunes, chez Molière.

Je passe la soirée chez mes grands-parents.

I'm spending the evening at my grandparents'.

What it is

English has no single word for at someone's house, so it improvises with an apostrophe: at Marie's. French has a dedicated preposition instead. Chez attaches to a person rather than a place, and it carries the whole idea of that person's home, shop, surgery, or office with it.

Je suis chez moi, mais je vais chez le coiffeur. — I'm at home, but I'm going to the hairdresser's.

How to spot it

Check what follows the preposition. A person, a stressed pronoun, or a profession takes chez. A building or a place name takes à or dans.

chez Marie — at Marie's
chez moi — at my place
chez le dentiste — at the dentist's
chez les Français — among French people

Chez cannot take a place noun. Chez la maison and chez l'hôtel are impossible; you need à la maison and à l'hôtel.

Chez Quick Reference

What can follow chez

Chez plus…	Meaning	Example	English
a name	at that person's home	chez Marie	at Marie's
a stressed pronoun	at my, your, their place	chez moi	at my place
a family term	at their home	chez mes parents	at my parents'
a profession	at the shop or surgery	chez le dentiste	at the dentist's
a company	working for	Il travaille chez Renault.	He works for Renault.
a group of people	among	chez les jeunes	among young people
an author	in the work of	chez Molière	in Molière's work
soi	at one's own place	rentrer chez soi	to go home

Common Chez Examples in French

Chez across its range:

Someone's Home

Je vais chez Paul ce soir.: I'm going to Paul's this evening.
On se retrouve chez moi ?: Shall we meet at my place?
Elle habite encore chez ses parents.: She still lives with her parents.
Viens dîner chez nous samedi.: Come and have dinner at ours on Saturday.

Habiter chez quelqu'un is the normal way of saying you live in someone else's household.

Shops and Professionals

Je vais chez le dentiste demain.: I'm going to the dentist tomorrow.
Il est chez le coiffeur.: He's at the hairdresser's.
Passe chez le boulanger en rentrant.: Stop at the baker's on your way home.
Elle travaille chez un notaire.: She works for a solicitor.

The person's premises come free with the person, which is why no word for shop is needed.

Among a Group

C'est une habitude chez les Français.: It's a habit among French people.
Le phénomène est fréquent chez les enfants.: The phenomenon is common in children.
Chez les chats, le sommeil occupe seize heures par jour.: In cats, sleep takes up sixteen hours a day.
C'est répandu chez les jeunes.: It's widespread among young people.

This is the sense English covers with among, in, or in the case of, and it takes a plural group.

In a Writer or Thinker

Chez Proust, la mémoire est centrale.: In Proust, memory is central.
On trouve cette idée chez Descartes.: You find this idea in Descartes.
Le thème revient souvent chez Camus.: The theme recurs frequently in Camus.

Literary criticism uses chez constantly for in the work of, where English would say in.

How Chez Works

One restriction and one convenience account for nearly everything chez does.

Chez Requires a Person

The word comes from the Latin casa, house, but it has ended up governing people rather than buildings. Whatever follows chez has to be human, or a group of humans, or an animal species treated as a group.

On dîne chez ma sœur ce soir.

We're having dinner at my sister's tonight.

chez + person, never a building.

It Covers Both At and To

French does not distinguish between being somewhere and going there in this construction. Je suis chez Paul and je vais chez Paul use exactly the same preposition, and the verb supplies the difference.

Je rentre chez moi après le travail.

I go home after work.

Same word for at and to.

Only Stressed Pronouns Follow It

A preposition in French takes the stressed series moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles. The unstressed me, te, and le cannot appear after chez, which is why chez me does not exist.

Ils sont partis chez eux.

They've gone home.

chez moi, chez toi, chez eux.

A Profession Means Their Premises

Chez le boulanger is the baker's shop and chez le médecin is the surgery. The article stays, because you are naming the professional rather than addressing them.

Il y a la queue chez le pharmacien.

There's a queue at the chemist's.

chez + le + profession.

With a Group, Chez Means Among

Applied to a plural group rather than an individual, chez shifts from a location to a population. Chez les Belges means among Belgians, and chez les oiseaux means in birds.

Cette tradition existe encore chez les Bretons.

This tradition still exists among Bretons.

Plural group → among.

Common Mistakes with Chez

Incorrect: Je vais chez la maison. — I'm going home.

Correct: Je vais à la maison. — I'm going home.

Chez takes a person, not a building. Maison is a place, so it needs à. If you want to specify whose home, say chez moi instead.

Incorrect: Tu restes chez te ce soir ? — Are you staying at home tonight?

Correct: Tu restes chez toi ce soir ? — Are you staying at home tonight?

After a preposition French uses the stressed pronouns: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles. The object forms me and te cannot follow chez.

Incorrect: Je vais à Paul demain. — I'm going to Paul's tomorrow.

Correct: Je vais chez Paul demain. — I'm going to Paul's tomorrow.

Aller à plus a person's name is not French. Going to someone's home requires chez, which carries the idea of the home with it.

Incorrect: Après le film, il faut rentrer chez lui. — After the film we have to go home.

Correct: Après le film, il faut rentrer chez soi. — After the film we have to go home.

The subject here is the impersonal il faut, so there is no particular person for lui to refer to. General statements take soi.

Chez Soi and the Fixed Expressions

One pronoun and a handful of set phrases account for most of the chez you will hear in conversation.

Chez soi

When the subject is impersonal or general, the stressed pronoun after chez is soi rather than lui or elle.

Il faut rentrer chez soi avant minuit.: You have to be home before midnight.
On est bien chez soi.: There's nothing like being at home.
Chacun rentre chez soi.: Everyone goes home.

With a definite subject you go back to the ordinary pronoun: il rentre chez lui, elle rentre chez elle.

Set phrases

Several everyday expressions are built on chez and are worth learning whole.

Faites comme chez vous.: Make yourself at home.
Je me sens chez moi ici.: I feel at home here.
Chez nous, on dîne à vingt heures.: Where we come from, dinner is at eight.
avoir enfin un chez-soi: to finally have a place of one's own

With hyphens, un chez-soi is a noun meaning a home of one's own, and it takes an article like any other noun.

Chez meaning among or in

With a plural group, a species, or an author, chez introduces the population or body of work in which something is found.

C'est courant chez les adolescents.: It's common among teenagers.
Chez les oiseaux, le chant marque le territoire.: In birds, song marks out territory.
Cette obsession revient chez tous ses personnages.: This obsession recurs in all his characters.

This use is at home in academic and journalistic writing as much as in speech.

Chez FAQs

What does chez mean in French?: At or to someone's place. Chez Marie is at Marie's, chez moi is at my place, and chez le dentiste is at the dentist's. It covers home, shop, and office, and it works for both being somewhere and going there.
Can chez be used with a place instead of a person?: No. Chez needs a person, a group of people, or a company named after people. For a building or a town you need à or dans: à la maison, à l'hôtel, dans le magasin. Chez la maison is not possible.
What's the difference between chez moi and à la maison?: Chez moi specifies whose home it is, so it distinguishes your place from anyone else's. À la maison names the house without saying whose, and is the default when the household is obvious from context. Both translate as at home.
When do I use chez soi instead of chez lui?: Use soi when the subject is general or impersonal: il faut rentrer chez soi, chacun chez soi, on est bien chez soi. With a specific person, use the ordinary pronoun: il rentre chez lui, elles rentrent chez elles.
Why does chez le médecin have an article when chez Marie doesn't?: Because médecin is a common noun and Marie is a name. Common nouns keep their article after chez, so you get chez le coiffeur and chez la voisine, while names and possessives stand bare: chez Paul, chez mes parents.