What does entre mean in French?

Between, in every sense: a place flanked by two others (entre la banque et la poste), a stretch of time (entre midi et deux), a relationship (un accord entre les deux pays), or a choice (choisir entre les deux).

What's the difference between entre and parmi?

Entre needs identifiable limits, usually two, and describes a gap: assis entre ses parents. Parmi describes being mixed into a larger group with no particular position: perdu parmi la foule. Where English says among, French often still prefers entre if the group is small and closed, as in entre amis.

Does entre contract with le or les?

No. Unlike à and de, entre stays unchanged in front of every article: entre le père et le fils, entre les deux villes. There is nothing to memorise on that front.

Why is it l'un d'entre nous and not l'un de nous?

When a quantity is taken from a group named by a stressed pronoun, French inserts entre: plusieurs d'entre eux, aucun d'entre vous. With a noun the plain de is normal instead: plusieurs de mes amis.

What does entre-temps mean?

Meanwhile or in the meantime: entre-temps, j'ai trouvé un autre appartement, meanwhile I found another flat. It is written with a hyphen and works as an adverb rather than a preposition, so nothing follows it.

French grammar · Beginner

Entre in French: Between Two Things, and Among a Group

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

Entre means between, in space, in time and in relationships. It sits in front of two things joined by et (entre midi et deux), or in front of a plural (entre amis), and unlike à and de it never contracts with an article.

La banque est entre la pharmacie et le bureau de poste.

The bank is between the chemist's and the post office.

What it is

Entre places something in the gap left by two others: two objects, two times, two people. The gap is what matters, which is why the same word covers a shop between two others, a meeting between two and four, and a conversation between friends.

Entre nous, entre midi et deux, entre les deux fenêtres. — Between us, between noon and two, between the two windows.

How to spot it

Entre is usually followed either by two nouns joined by et, or by a single plural noun. Both patterns express the same idea of an interval.

entre Paris et Lyon — between Paris and Lyon
entre huit et neuf heures — between eight and nine o'clock
entre collègues — among colleagues
entre les arbres — between the trees

Entre keeps its shape in front of every article: entre le mur et la porte, entre les maisons. There is no contraction to learn.

Entre Quick Reference

What entre can express

Use	English	Example
Physical position	between	entre les deux voitures — between the two cars
Time interval	between	entre lundi et jeudi — between Monday and Thursday
Within a group	among, between	entre amis — among friends
Reciprocal action	between, with each other	se disputer entre eux — to argue with each other
Choice	between	choisir entre deux offres — to choose between two offers
Partitive with a pronoun	of	l'un d'entre vous — one of you
Confidentially	between	entre nous — between you and me

Common Entre Examples in French

Entre across its main jobs:

Space

Le chat dort entre les deux coussins.: The cat is asleep between the two cushions.
Il s'est garé entre un camion et un mur.: He parked between a lorry and a wall.
La frontière passe entre les montagnes.: The border runs between the mountains.
Assieds-toi entre nous.: Sit between us.

For a position surrounded on all sides rather than flanked on two, French switches to au milieu de or parmi.

Time

Le magasin ferme entre midi et quatorze heures.: The shop closes between noon and two.
Appelle-moi entre neuf et dix heures.: Call me between nine and ten.
Il est né entre les deux guerres.: He was born between the wars.
On se voit entre deux réunions.: We'll see each other between two meetings.

Entre midi et deux is a set phrase for the French lunch break, and the heures is usually left out.

People and Groups

C'est un accord entre les deux pays.: It's an agreement between the two countries.
On parle français entre nous.: We speak French among ourselves.
Ils se sont partagé le travail entre eux.: They shared the work out between them.
Une soirée entre voisins, c'est sympa.: An evening among neighbours is nice.

Entre plus a bare plural noun describes a group closed to outsiders: entre amis, entre collègues, entre hommes.

Choosing

Je dois choisir entre les deux.: I have to choose between the two.
La différence entre les deux modèles est minime.: The difference between the two models is tiny.
Il hésite entre le train et la voiture.: He can't decide between the train and the car.
Quel est le rapport entre ces deux affaires ?: What's the connection between these two cases?

Choisir, hésiter, la différence and le rapport all take entre for the things being compared.

How Entre Behaves

Four structural habits, one of which has no equivalent in English at all.

Two Terms Joined by Et

In the two-term pattern, the second element is introduced by et, not by à. English between two and four maps onto entre deux et quatre, and using à there produces a range rather than an interval.

Le rendez-vous est entre quatorze et seize heures.

The appointment is between two and four.

entre X et Y.

Or One Plural Noun

Entre can also take a single plural, which gives the sense of within that group. The noun usually loses its article in this pattern, and the result feels close to English among.

On peut tout se dire entre frères.

Brothers can say anything to each other.

entre + bare plural = among.

No Contraction, Ever

À and de merge with le and les, but entre never does. Entre le, entre la and entre les all stay written out in full, which makes entre one of the easiest prepositions to spell.

Le ballon est tombé entre le mur et la haie.

The ball fell between the wall and the hedge.

entre le, not *entrau.

D'entre Before a Pronoun

When a quantity is taken out of a group of people named by a pronoun, French inserts d'entre: l'un d'entre nous, plusieurs d'entre eux, aucun d'entre vous. With a noun instead of a pronoun, plain de is enough.

Certains d'entre eux ne sont pas venus.

Some of them didn't come.

quantity + d'entre + stressed pronoun.

Reciprocity

With a reflexive verb, entre plus a stressed pronoun marks that the action runs in both directions. Ils se parlent entre eux means they talk to one another rather than to anyone outside.

Les enfants se disputent entre eux.

The children argue with each other.

se + verb + entre eux = one another.

Common Mistakes with Entre

Incorrect: entre deux à quatre heures — between two and four o'clock

Correct: entre deux et quatre heures — between two and four o'clock

The second limit of an interval is introduced by et. De deux à quatre heures is also correct, but it uses a different frame and cannot be mixed with entre.

Incorrect: Elle est cachée entre la foule. — She's hidden in the crowd.

Correct: Elle est cachée parmi la foule. — She's hidden in the crowd.

A crowd is a mass, not a pair of limits, so it takes parmi. Entre would suggest she is in a gap between two crowds.

Incorrect: l'un de nous trois a menti — one of us lied

Correct: l'un d'entre nous a menti — one of us lied

Before a stressed pronoun, French uses d'entre rather than plain de. The full form l'un de nous exists but sounds noticeably less idiomatic.

Incorrect: Entre les amis, on se dit tout. — Among friends, you can say anything.

Correct: Entre amis, on se dit tout. — Among friends, you can say anything.

In the entre plus plural pattern, the noun stands without an article. Adding les turns a general statement into a reference to specific friends.

Fixed Expressions Built on Entre

Several very common phrases use entre with a meaning you could not deduce from between.

Confidence and asides

Entre plus a pronoun or a noun of speech marks something said off the record.

Entre nous, je ne le crois pas.: Between you and me, I don't believe him.
Cela reste entre nous.: This stays between us.
entre parenthèses: in brackets, incidentally
entre guillemets: in quotation marks, so to speak

Entre parenthèses and entre guillemets are used figuratively in speech to flag an aside or a word not to be taken literally.

Listing and singling out

Entre autres introduces one example from a longer list, like English among other things.

Il parle plusieurs langues, entre autres le russe.: He speaks several languages, Russian among others.
Entre autres choses, il faut réserver.: Among other things, we need to book.
l'un d'entre eux: one of them

Entre autres keeps no s on entre and needs no article after it.

Squeezed and in-between states

A handful of idioms use entre for something caught in the middle, physically or figuratively.

entre-temps: meanwhile, in the meantime
Il est entre la vie et la mort.: His life is hanging by a thread.
entre quatre murs: shut indoors, within four walls
Je suis entre deux avions.: I'm between flights.

Entre-temps takes a hyphen; the two words written separately mean something quite different.

Entre FAQs

What does entre mean in French?: Between, in every sense: a place flanked by two others (entre la banque et la poste), a stretch of time (entre midi et deux), a relationship (un accord entre les deux pays), or a choice (choisir entre les deux).
What's the difference between entre and parmi?: Entre needs identifiable limits, usually two, and describes a gap: assis entre ses parents. Parmi describes being mixed into a larger group with no particular position: perdu parmi la foule. Where English says among, French often still prefers entre if the group is small and closed, as in entre amis.
Does entre contract with le or les?: No. Unlike à and de, entre stays unchanged in front of every article: entre le père et le fils, entre les deux villes. There is nothing to memorise on that front.
Why is it l'un d'entre nous and not l'un de nous?: When a quantity is taken from a group named by a stressed pronoun, French inserts entre: plusieurs d'entre eux, aucun d'entre vous. With a noun the plain de is normal instead: plusieurs de mes amis.
What does entre-temps mean?: Meanwhile or in the meantime: entre-temps, j'ai trouvé un autre appartement, meanwhile I found another flat. It is written with a hyphen and works as an adverb rather than a preposition, so nothing follows it.