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Title: The French language
Description: this are notes that introduce you to the basic knowledge of the french language: The notes contain some of the important french vocabulary like the french alphabet , the days of the week ,months (in french).....
Description: this are notes that introduce you to the basic knowledge of the french language: The notes contain some of the important french vocabulary like the french alphabet , the days of the week ,months (in french).....
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version 2010–02–5 of
French
The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks
collection, at
http://en
...
org/wiki/French
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms
of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1
...
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License
...
All images are available on WikiMedia Commons (http://commons
...
org/wiki/) unless stated
otherwise
...
01 - Introduction
Lesson 0
...
03 - The Alphabet
Lesson 0
...
05 - Greetings
Lesson 0
...
07 - How are you?
Lesson 0
...
09 - The Date
Lesson 0
...
tu, Courtesy
Titles, Asking For One's Name
Asking How One Is Doing
Cardinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers
Numbers 01-31, Seasons
Days of the week, Months of the Year
Numbers 30-60, Times of Day
Asking for the time
Introductory review
Revue de l'introduction
Chapter test
Chapitre l'examen
Lesson 0
...
Being a Romance language, it is closely related to Portuguese, Spanish,
Italian, and Romanian, as well as many other languages
...
History
Further information: w:History of the French language
During the Roman occupation of Gaul, the Latin language was imposed on the natives
...
Over the
centuries, due to Celtic and Germanic influences (particularly the Franks), la langue d'oïl was developed
...
From medieval times until the 19th century, French was the dominant language of diplomacy, culture,
administration, trade and royal courts across Europe
...
French has influenced many languages world wide, including English
...
Extent of the Language
Main article: w:La Francophonie
Main article: w:French colonial empires
In modern times, French is still a significant diplomatic language: it is
an official language of the United Nations, the Olympic Games, and
the European Union
...
Morocco, Senegal, Haiti, the Ivory Coast, Madagascar, the Congo,
Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Gabon, the Seychelles,
Burundi, Chad, Rwanda, Djibouti, Cameroon, Mauritius, and Canada
(mostly in the province of Québec, where it is the primary language, but it is also used in other parts of the
country
...
Allons-y! Bonne chance!
Lesson 0
...
You are bound to find speakers almost
anywhere in the world
...
Because much can be lost in translation, the best way to read
these works is in the original language
...
While it is true that it poses
certain difficulties to native English-speakers, it may be noted that English is also considered 'difficult' to
learn, and yet we learned it without the benefit of already knowing a language
...
archive
...
wikinerds
...
php/Learning_French_in_10_months
, if only for the specific purpose of passing a standardized test, such as the Test d'Evaluation de Français
...
Any way
you look at it, learning any new language requires a long-term commitment
...
And it is likely that if you do not practice your French regularly, you will
begin to forget it
...
Also remember that you are learning a new skill
...
We all have to add and subtract before we can do calculus
...
While this course can teach you to read and write in French, these are only half of the skills that
make up fluency
...
You must
train all of these skills, and they will reinforce one another
...
The very best way to learn French is to visit France or another French-speaking country
...
However, since most of us are unwilling or unable to take that step, the
next best option is immersion
...
If
you can't travel to a French-speaking country, then try listening to French-language programs on the radio,
TV, or the Internet
...
K
...
Pay attention to pronunciation
...
Listen, speak, and practice
...
Google's news page, which
links to French-language news stories, is an excellent source that will enrich your vocabulary
...
The introductory lessons will teach you pronunciation and phrases
...
In the second level, the passé composé, the most common past tense, is
given, along with many other irregular verbs
...
The fourth level (still in development), will be conducted in French and will focus
on French literature and prose writing
...
Lesson 0
...
These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents)
and é (acute accent)
...
A tréma (French for dieresis) is also
applied: ë, ï, ü, ÿ
...
More information on accents will be found in the next section
...
like u in burp**
/ə/
Ff
like f in fog
/ɛf/
Ii
before e and i: like s in measure
before a, o, or u: like g in get
aspirated h: see note below*
non-aspirated h: not pronounced***
like ea in team
Jj
like s in measure
/ʒi/
Kk
like k in kite
/ka/
Ll
like l in lemon
/ɛl/
Gg
Hh
Mm like m in minute
/ʒe/
/aʃ/
/i/
/ɛm/
Nn
like n in note
/ɛn/
Oo
closed: approx
...
/ve/
Vv like v in violin
Depending on the derivation of the word,
Ww
/dubləve/
like v as in violin, or w in water
Uu
Xx
either /ks/ in socks,
or /gz/ in exit
/iks/
Yy
like ea in leak
/igrək/
Zz
like z in zebra
/zɛd/
Final consonants
In French, certain consonants are silent when they are the final letter of a word
...
They are pronounced if there is an e letter after ('coupe', 'chatte', 'marchande', etc
...
In English, one would pronounce these letters with the tip of the
tongue at the roof of one's mouth
...
b and p
Unlike English, when you pronounce the letters 'b' and 'p' in French, little to no air should come out of your
mouth
...
(This is not the same as the similarly-named concept of 'h' aspiré discussed below)
...
If
you're a native speaker, say the word 'pit' and then the word 'spit' out loud
...
Exercise
1
...
2
...
3
...
Notice how the paper moved
when you said the 'b' and the 'p' respectively
...
Now, without making the piece of paper move, say the words belle (the feminine form of beautiful in
French, pronounced like the English 'bell
...
If the paper moved, your pronunciation is slightly off
...
If the paper didn't move, congratulations! You pronounced the words correctly!
Aspirated vs
...
What do these terms mean?
Ex
...
However, the feminine form of
héros, héroïne is a non-aspirated h
...
Remember that in French, an h is NEVER pronounced, whether it is aspirated or not aspirated!
The only way to tell if the h at the beginning of a word is aspirated is to look it up in the dictionary
...
Other dictionaries will include it in the pronunciation guide after the key word by placing a (')
before the pronunciation
...
Here is a table of some basic h words that are aspirated and not aspirated:
aspirated
héros, hero (le héros)
non-aspirated
héroïne, heroine (l'héroïne)
haïr, to hate (je hais or j'haïs
...
)
huit, eight (le huit novembre)
harmonie, harmony (l'harmonie)
Exercise
1
...
On a piece of paper, write down the words you find in two columns
3
...
point
«»
guillemets
!
point
d'exclamation
+
plus
\
barre oblique
inverse
>
supérieur à
#
dièse
[ ]
crochets
<
inférieur à
?
point
d'interrogation
:
deux points
-
_
soulignement
;
point virgule
( )
/
barre oblique
moins, tiret, trait
d'union
parenthèses
@
arobase, a
commercial, arobe
The punctuation symbols in French operates very similarly to English with the same meaning
...
The two stroke punctuation marks (such as ;, :, ?, !) may require a non-breaking space before or after the
mark in question
...
The following resources are an example of available materials for further reading:
Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l'Imprimerie nationale, ISBN 9782743304829,
Imprimerie nationale
Wikipédia:Conventions typographiques
(http://fr
...
org/wiki/Wikipédia:Conventions_typographiques#Espaces)
French Style Guide (http://www
...
ca/guide
...
...
03 1 - Punctuation - State the Word
[show ▼]
Lesson 0
...
In many cases, an accent changes the sound
of the letter to which it is added
...
Accents in French
never indicate stress (which always falls on the last syllable)
...
↑ Note: The letter ÿ is only used in very rare words, mostly old town names like L'Haÿ-Les-Roses, a
Paris surburb
...
2
...
Since this
reform is relatively recent and mostly unknown to laypeople, the two spellings can be used
interchangeably
...
It is only used
with the letter e and is always pronounced /e/
...
infinitive
aimer, to love
past participle
aimé, loved
regarder, to watch regardé, watched
Another thing to note is if you are unsure of how to translate certain words into English from French, and the
word begins with é, replace that with the letter s and you will occasionally get the English word, or an
approximation thereof:
étable --> stable (for horses)
école --> scole --> school
il étudie --> il studie --> he studies
And to combine what you already know about the accent aigu, here is one last example:
étranglé (from étrangler) --> stranglé --> strangled
NB: This will not work with every word that begins with é
...
accent grave), is used to graphically distinguish one
word from another
...
sing of avoir, to have)
with accent grave
à (preposition, to, at, etc
...
The è is used for pronunciation
...
The è is pronounced like the letter e in pet
...
le garçon --> (boy)
French Accents on computers
While French keyboards are available, some French students may need to enter accented characters on an
English keyboard
...
In supporing word processing software, you can initiate an accent by entering an appropriate key
combination
...
In some applications, you may also need
to have the numlock turned on to avoid undesirable effects
...
05 - Greetings
D: Greetings
French Dialogue • Print version • audio (upload)
Greetings Les salutations
Jacques et Marie
Jacques Bonsoir, Marie
...
Marie Ah, oui
...
Alors[2], au revoir, à demain, Marie
...
Olivier et Luc
Olivier Salut
...
Olivier Tu t'appelles comment ?
[3]
Luc
Luc
...
Luc
Ah, oui
...
Olivier Salut, Luc !
^ me
^ so, then ^ And you ? (informal)
V: Greetings
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •111 kb • help)
Greetings Les salutations
Salut
Hi
...
(informal)
Bonjour
Hello
(more formal than salut) (all day)
Bonsoir
Hello
(after 19h00)
Bonne soirée
Good evening
Bonne nuit
Good night
bun nwee
Quoi de neuf ? What's up (about you)? (lit
...
Not much
...
no big-thing)
Formal Lesson - Greetings
When talking to one's peers or to children, Salut is used as a greeting
...
Bonjour, literally meaning good day, should be used for anyone else
...
Bonne nuit is used to say Good night before going to bed
...
Hi
...
(informal)
Au revoir
...
ohrvwahr (ev not pronounced)
À demain
...
ah duhman (Lit: To/Until Tomorrow)
Au revoir, à demain
...
À tout à l'heure
...
See you (tomorrow)! ah lah proh shayn
À bientôt
...
ah byantoe
Ciao
Bye
...
Again, it should only be used among
friends
...
Au revoir is the only
formal way to say Good-bye
...
À
demain is used if you will be seeing the person the following day
...
It is normal to just reply by
stating your name, however you may also respond Je m'appelle [name] (I am called
...
Check for understanding
One of your good friends is introducing you to his younger cousin who is visiting on a trip from France, and
doesn't speak a word of English
...
06 - Formal Speech
D: A formal conversation
French Dialogue • Print version • audio (info •65 kb • help)
A Formal Conversation Une conversation formelle
Two people—Monsieur Bernard and Monsieur Lambert—are meeting for the first time:
Bonjour
...
Et vous ?
Monsieur Bernard
Moi, je
Monsieur Lambert
Enchanté
...
Enchanté
...
enchanted)
G: Vous vs
...
English no longer distinguishes between the
singular and the plural, formal version of "you", although "thou" used to be the informal singular version in
the days of Shakespeare
...
"Vous" is the plural form of "you"
...
You'd use it to address your friends as
well as when talking to the whole government at a press conference
...
It is used when
talking to someone who is important, someone who is older than you are, or someone with whom you are
unfamiliar
...
Note the conversation between M
...
Lambert
above as an example of this use
...
It is commonly used when
referring to a friend or a family member, and is also used between children or when addressing a child
...
This is known as Tutoiement
...
French people will
make it known when they would like you to refer to them by "tu"
...
V: Courtesy
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •160 kb • help)
Courtesy La politesse
S'il te plaît
...
)
Please
S'il vous plaît
...
Thanks (a lot) Merci (beaucoup)
...
Pas de quoi
...
Je t'en prie
...
)
(Lit: Not of what
...
)
I pray you (informal)
(formal)
V: Titles
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •99 kb • help)
Titles Les titres
French
Abbr
...
M
...
, Sir
...
mahdamn
maydahm
Mrs
...
Ladies
mahdmwahzell Miss, Young lady
mehdmwahzell Young ladies
Formal lesson - Titles
The titles monsieur, madame, and mademoiselle are almost always used alone, without the last name of the
person
...
V: Asking for one's name
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •110 kb • help)
Asking For One's Name Demander le nom de quelqu'un
Comment vous appelez-vous ? How do you call yourself? (formal)
Quel est votre nom ?
What is your name?
What is your name? (informal)
Tu t'appelles comment ?
(lit: How do you call yourself?)
Je m'appelle
...
(lit
...
)
Je suis
...
Lesson 0
...
Ça va ?
Jean: Ça va bien, merci
...
Jean: Quoi de neuf ?
Marie: Pas grand-chose
...
Jean: Au revoir, à demain
...
It's going (very) well)
Oui, ça va
...
Très bien, merci
...
Pas mal
...
So-So
...
Sorry
...
Then go back to
the vocabulary and learn other ways
...
Michel Je ne vais pas très bien
...
2
...
Allez-vous bien?
Solution:
First
Second
Third
1
...
Comment ça va?
2
...
Allez-vous bien?
Fourth
Comment ça va?
Salut, Michel!
Fourth
Je ne vais pas très bien
...
À demain
...
The phrase literally means It goes?, referring to the body
and life
...
You can respond by using ça va as a
statement; Ça va
...
The adverb bien is used to say well, and is often said both alone
and as Ça va bien
...
Common
phrases are assez bien, meaning rather well, très bien, meaning very well, and vraiment bien, meaning really
well
...
Pas is commonly added to mal to form Pas mal
...
Comme ci, comme ça
...
, is used to say So, so
...
Check for understanding
Pretend to have (or actually have) a verbal conversation with various people that you know, such as siblings,
friends, children, teachers, coworkers, or heads of state
...
Ask them how they are doing, and finally say goodbye
...
08 - Numbers
V: Cardinal numbers
Main article: French/Appendices/Dates, time, and numbers#Les numéros
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •337 kb • help)
Numbers Les nombres
un
1
une unité (a unity)
deux
2
trois
3
quatre
4
cinq
5
six
6
sept
7
huit
8
neuf
9
dix
10
une dizaine (one ten)
onze
11
douze
12
une douzaine (one dozen)
treize
13
quatorze
14
quinze
15
seize
16
dix-sept
17
dix-huit
18
dix-neuf
19
vingt
20
une vingtaine (around twenty)
vingt et un
21
vingt-[deux - neuf]
22-29
trente
30
trente et un
31
trente-[deux - neuf]
32-39
quarante
40
cinquante
50
soixante
60
soixante-dix
70
soixante et onze
71
soixante-[douze - dix-neuf] 72-79
quatre-vingts
80
quatre-vingt-un
81
quatre-vingt-[deux - neuf]
82-89
quatre-vingt-dix
90
quatre-vingt-[onze - dix-neuf] 91-99
cent
[deux - neuf] cents
deux cent un
neuf cent un
mille
(un) million
(un) milliard
100
une centaine (one hundred)
200-900
201
901
1
...
000
...
000
...
000
Things of note about numbers:
For 70-79, it builds upon "soixante" but past that it builds upon a combination of terms for 80-99
Only the first (21,31,41,51 and 61, but not 71 nor 81 nor 91) have "et un" without a hyphen; but past
this it is simply both words consecutively (vingt-six, trente-trois, etc) with a hyphen in between
...
Many speakers of French outside of France refer to the numbers 70 to 99 in the same pattern as the
other numbers
...
Ninety is "nonante"
...
V: Mathematics
In french, the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are as follows: Calculez:
a) un plus (plus) un = (égal) deux (the final 's' must be prononced)
b) dix moins (moén) sept = trois
c) quatre fois (foá) trois = douze
d) vingt divisé par (divisê par) dix = deux
Note: You may sometimes use "un plus un font deux"
...
Il y a beaucoup d'histoires drôles sur Toto, un
jour je vous en raconterai une!
Toto is an imaginary person that is a dunce at school
...
Combien font huit plus six ?
- Toto : Treize, monsieur !
- L'instituteur : Non Toto tu t'es trompé! Huit plus six égal quatorze
...
Lesson 0
...
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •127 kb • help)
The Days of the Week
...
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
French
lundi
mardi
mercredi
jeudi
vendredi
samedi
dimanche
Pronunciation
luhndee
mahrdee
maircruhdee
juhdee
vahndruhdee
sahmdee
deemahnsh
English
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Origin
Moon
Mars
Mercury
Jupiter
Venus
Saturn
Dies Domini
Notes:
What day is it today? is equivalent to Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd'hui?, Quel jour est-on
aujourd'hui? or On est quel jour aujourd'hui? (last one is less formal but more common)
Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd'hui? can be answered with Aujourd'hui c'est
...
or Nous
sommes
...
Nous sommes
...
C'était (past) or C'est (present/future)
must be used accordingly
...
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •67 kb • help)
Asking For The Day Demander le jour
1a Aujourd'hui on est quel jour ? Today is what day?
ojzoordwee on ay kell jzoor
1b Aujourd'hui on est [jour]
...
2a Demain c'est quel jour ?
Tomorrow is what day? Duhman say kell jzoor
2b Demain c'est [jour]
...
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •164 kb • help)
Relative Days Les jours relatifs
avant-hier
the day before yesterday
hier
yesterday
aujourd'hui
today
ce soir
tonight
demain
tomorrow
après-demain
the day after tomorrow
V: The months of the year
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •163 kb • help)
The Months of the Year Les mois de l'année
#
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
French
janvier
février
mars
avril
mai
juin
juillet
août
septembre
octobre
novembre
décembre
Pronounced
jzahnvyay
fayvryay
mahrse
ahvrill
maye
jzwan
jzuyay
oot/oo
septahmbruh
oktuhbr
novahmbr
daysahmbr
English
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
The months of the year are not capitalized in French
...
It's [month] [#]
...
V: Seasons
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •142 kb • help)
Seasons Les Saisons
la saison
season
le printemps
Spring
l'été (m)
Summer
l'automne (m)
Autumn
l'hiver (m)
Winter
Lesson 0
...
4a Quelle heure est-il ?
4b Quelle heure il est ?
5 Il est [nombre] heure(s)
...
kell er ayteel
kell er eel ay
eelay [nombre] er
V: Time
In French, “il est” is used to express the time; though it would literally translate as “he is”, it is actually, in
this case, equivalent to “it is” (impersonal "il")
...
In English, it is OK to say, “It’s nine,” but this wouldn’t make sense in
French
...
It is one o’clock
...
It is three o’clock
...
It is ten o’clock
...
It is noon
...
It is midnight
...
It is five past four
...
It is a quarter past four
...
Il est quatre heures quinze
...
Il est quatre heures et demie
...
Il est quatre heures trente
...
Il est cinq heures moins vingt
...
Il est quatre heures quarante
...
V: Times of day
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •183 kb • help)
Times of Day L'heure relatif
daybreak
le lever du jour
lit:the rise of the day
sunrise
le lever du soleil
lit: the rise of the sun
le soleil levant
le matin
...
du soir
la nuit
le coucher du soleil
rising sun
...
M
...
M
...
Est-ce que vous allez bien ?
Daniel
Hello, Mr
...
Are you well?
Je vais bien merci
...
And you, how are you?
Je vais bien
...
Je l'organiserais le 3 mars vers 14 h
...
I want to ask you if it is possible to organize a party for my
birthday
...
Et vous voulez l'organiser où ?
Le directeur
And you want to organize it where?
Dans la grande salle de réunion au deuxième étage
...
Daniel
In the large conference room on the second floor
...
Entendu! J' espère que je serais invité ?
Le directeur
Agreed! I hope that I would be invited?
Bien sûr ! Merci Beaucoup !
Daniel
Of course! Thanks a lot!
Au revoir !
Le directeur
Good-bye!
Au revoir et encore merci !
Daniel
Good-bye and thanks again
...
These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents)
and é (acute accent)
...
A tréma (French for dieresis) is also
applied: ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ
...
V: Basic phrases
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •353 kb • help)
Basic Phrases Les expressions de base
bonjour, salut
hello (formal), hi (informal)
Comment allez-vous ? (formal),
Comment vas-tu ? (informal),
How are you?
Comment ça va ? / Ça va ? (informal)
ça va (très) bien
I'm doing (very) well (lit
...
quoi de neuf ?
what's up (about you)? (lit
...
no big-thing)
au revoir
bye (lit
...
at tomorrow)
Au revoir, à demain
...
000
un millier (one thousand)
(un) million
1
...
000
(un) milliard
1
...
000
...
000
...
000
...
For 100-199, it looks much like this list already save that "cent" is added before the rest of the
number; this continues up to 1000 and onward
...
1a Quel jour c'est Aujourd'hui ? What day is today ?
kell jzoor say ojzoordwee
1b c'est [jour]
...
2a Quel jour c'est demain ?
What day is tomorrow ? kell jzoor say duhman
2b Demain c'est [jour]
...
Asking for the date
...
It's [month] [#]
...
4a Quelle heure est-il ?
kell er ayteel
What hour/time is it ?
4b Il est quelle heure ?
eel ay kell er
5 Il est [nombre] heure(s)
...
eelay [nombre] er
V: Time
In French, “il est” is used to express the time; though it would literally translate as “he is”, it is actually, in
this case, equivalent to “it is” (unpersonal "il")
...
In English, it is OK to say, “It’s nine,” but this wouldn’t make sense in
French
...
Shorthand for writing times in French
follows the format "17h30", which would represent 5:30PM in English
...
It is one o’clock
...
It is three o’clock
...
It is ten o’clock
...
It is noon
...
It is midnight
...
It is five past four
...
It is a quarter past four
...
It is four fifteen
...
It is half past four
...
It is a quarter to seven, or six forty-five
...
Il est cinq heures moins vingt
...
It is four thirty
...
It is four forty
...
Les jours de la semaine [lay jzoor duh lah suhmen]
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •420 kb • help)
The Days of the Week
...
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
French
lundi
mardi
mercredi
jeudi
vendredi
samedi
dimanche
Pronunciation
luhndee
mahrdee
maircruhdee
juhdee
vahndruhdee
sahmdee
deemahnsh
English
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Origin
Moon
Mars
Mercury
Jupiter
Venus
Saturn
Sun
The days of the week are not capitalized in French
...
Notes:
What day is it today? is equivalent to Quel jour sommes-nous ?
...
, C'est
...
(last two are less
formal)
...
is not used with hier, aujourd’hui, or demain
...
V: The months of the year
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •561 kb • help)
The Months of the Year Les mois de l'année
#
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
French
janvier
février
mars
avril
mai
juin
juillet
août
septembre
octobre
novembre
Pron
...
du matin
hier matin
le midi
l'après-midi (m)
le soir
...
morning
A
...
, lit: of the mornng
yesterday morning
noon, midday
afternoon
evening, in the evening
P
...
lit: of the evening
sunset
night
Relative Days
the day before yesterday
yesterday
today
tonight
tomorrow
the day after tomorrow
V: Seasons
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •142 kb • help)
Seasons Les Saisons
la saison
season
le printemps
Spring
l'été (m)
Summer
l'automne (m)
Autumn
l'hiver (m)
Winter
D: A conversation between friends
French Dialogue • Print version • audio (upload)
A Coversation Between Friends Une conversation entre amis
Daniel
Hervé
Bonjour Hervé
...
How are you? [lit: How go you?]
Je vais bien, merci
...
And you, it goes (fine)?
2
Daniel Ça va bien
...
It goes well
...
C'est quand ?
Hervé
When is it? [lit: It is when?]
Le 3 mars à 20h
...
3
Hervé Le 3 mars, entendu
...
You're having it at your place?
Oui c'est chez moi
...
On va danser toute la nuit
...
I have invited (a set of) twenty friends
...
C'est très gentil de m'inviter, merci
...
Hervé
It's very nice to invite me, thank you
...
A demain, bonne journée
...
1
Bien is an adverb meaning well
...
Since je vais, meaning I go, uses an
action verb, the adverb bien is used
...
2
Est-ce que
...
and is often used to start questions
...
Instead of You want it?, one can say Do you want it? Est-ce que
...
3
chez
...
Chez moi is used to say at my place
...
4
on can mean we or one
...
Try to answer the questions to the
best of your ability without turning to the previous chapters or consulting the test answers
...
(1 point each)
Translating
English to French
Translate the following phrases and sentences into French
...
What day is today?
2
...
What is your name?
French to English
Translate this dialogue between Henri and Jacques into English
...
(11 points
total)
1
...
3
...
5
...
Bonjour! Quel est ton nom?
Je m'appelle Jacques
...
Comment ça va?
Pas mal
...
À demain Jacques!
À demain Henri
...
Note: Every blank is one word
...
(1 point each)
LEVEL ONE
Level One Lessons Contents
Lesson 1
...
02 - To Be
Lesson 1
...
04 - Family
Lesson 1
...
06 - The House
Lesson 1
...
08 - Travel
Lesson 1
...
10 - Science
If you haven't done so already, spend a few minutes to first read the course's introductory lessons
...
Finally, go to the lessons planning page if you would like to help
improve this course
...
01 - Basic Grammar
G: Gender of nouns
In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculin (m) or feminin (f)
...
For example, the two
words for "the actor" in French are l'acteur (m) and l'actrice (f)
...
However, there are some nouns that talk about people or animals whose gender are fixed, regardless of the
actual gender of the person or animal
...
g
...
This form can be masculine or feminine
...
Unfortunately, there are many exceptions in French which can only be learned
...
Then there are some that
just don't make sense; la foi is feminine and means a belief, whereas le foie means liver
...
When you think of a noun in French, think of the noun with its article (le or la)
...
Eventually, you will be able to guess the
gender of a noun based on tricks like this:
Examples
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •113 kb • help)
Gender of Nouns Genre des Noms
Masculine
[6]
le cheval
the horse
le chien
the dog
le livre
the book
le bruit
the noise
Feminine
la colombe
the dove
la chemise
the shirt
la maison
the house
la liberté
liberty
Common Endings Used
With Masculine Nouns:
le fromage
-age
the cheese
[7]
le professeur
the teacher
le chat
-t
the cat
le capitalisme
-isme
capitalism
Common Endings Used
With Feminine Nouns:
la boulangerie
-ie
the bakery
la nation
-ion
the nation
la fraternité
-ite/-ité
brotherhood
la balance
-nce
the scales
la fille
-nne
the girl
-mme
l’indienne
-lle
the Indian
-r
^ Professeur can be shortened to prof (in a familiar context)
...
(le prof - the
(male) teacher) (la prof - the (female) teacher)
'^ In this book, the definite article will come before a noun in vocabulary charts
...
G: Definite and indefinite articles
The definite article
In English, the definite article is always “the”
...
In French, the definite article is changed depending on the noun's:
1
...
Plurality
3
...
"Le" is used for masculine nouns, "La" is used for
feminine nouns, "Les" is used for plural nouns (both masculine or feminine), and "L' " is used when the
noun begins with a vowel or silent "h" (both masculine or feminine)
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •78 kb • help)
The Definite Article L'article défini
feminine
la la fille
the daughter
singular
[8]
masculine
le le fils
the son
singular, starting with a vowel sound l’ l’enfant the child
les filles the daughters
the sons
plural
les les fils
les enfants the children
Plurality, pronunciation, and exceptions
The plural of most nouns is formed by adding an -s
...
It is the
article that tells the listener whether the noun is singular or plural
...
The -s is added for the plural form of the noun
...
Whenever the singular form of a noun ends in -s, there is no change in the plural form
...
Fils (pronounced feece) is also an exception to this rule
...
The definite articles le and la are shortened to l’ when they come before a noun that begins
with a vowel or silent h
...
(le) ami - l'ami - lahmee - the (male) friend
(la) amie - l'amie - lahmee the (female) friend
(le) élève - l'élève - lay lev - the student
(la) heure - l'heure - leur - the hour/the time
Elision does not occur on an aspired h:
(le) héros - le héros - a legendary hero
In addition to the definite article, elision will also occur with other words, such as que, je, le, ce, ne, and de
...
The indefinite article
In English, the indefinite articles are "a" and "an"
...
Again, indefinite articles in French take different forms depending on gender and plurality
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •55 kb • help)
The Indefinite Article L'article indéfini
feminine
une oon une fille a daughter
singular
masculine un uh un fils
a son
des filles some daughters
plural
des day
1
some sons
des fils
1
"des fils" does mean "some sons" but is a homograph: it can also mean "some threads" (when pronounced
like "fill")
Liaison
Remember that the last consonant of a word is typically not pronounced unless followed by a vowel
...
This is a process called liaison
...
(un) ami - un ami (uhnahmee) - a (male) friend
n
(un) élève - un élève (uhnay lev) - a student
n
Compare the pronunciation to words without liaison:
un garçon (uh gehrsoh)
Une is unaffected by liaison
...
(les) amis - les amis (layzahmee) - (some) (male) friends
z
(des) amis - des amis (dayzahmee) - (some) (male) friends
z
(des) amies - des amies (dayzahmee) - (some) (female) friends
z
In this book, you will see liaison denoted with or between two words
...
(les) hangars - les hangars
"Some"
Note that des, like les, is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English
...
The English statement "I am looking at photographs
...
If it is a set of specific pictures, the French statement should be "Je regarde les
photographies
...
On the other hand, if the person is just randomly
browsing the album, the French translation is "Je regarde des photographies
...
")
V: People
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •679 kb • help)
People Les personnes
la personne
person
pehr son
Gender and Age
l'homme (m)
man
ohm
la femme
woman
fehm
le garçon
boy
gehrsoh
la fille
girl
fee
la fillette
little girl
fee yet
Friends
l'ami (m)
ahmee
male friend
le copain
co pahn
l'amie (f)
ahmee
female friend
la copine
co peen
V: Expressions
Qu’est-ce que c’est?
To say What is it? or What is that? in French, Qu’est-ce que c’est? (pronounced kehss keuh say) is used
...
? often to
say What
...
To respond to this question, you say C’est un(e) [nom]
...
C'est un livre
...
C'est un chien
...
Remember that the indefinite article (un or une) must agree with the noun it modifies
...
- It's a shirt
...
une pomme
un chaton (un chat)
une poire
un chien
Il y a and voici/voilà
Il y a (pronounced eel ee ah) is used to say there is or there are
...
Il y a une pomme
...
The phrase is used for both singular and plural nouns
...
Il y a des pommes
...
The -s at the end of the most pluralised nouns tells you that the phrase is there are instead of there is
...
You will soon learn that a is the present third person singular form of avoir, the verb meaing to have, and
that y is a pronoun meaning there
...
You will see
this phrase used in all French tenses
...
Like in English, il y a
...
To point out an object to the listener, use
voici ("over here is/are" or "right here is/are") and voilà ("over there is/are")
...
02 - To Be
D: Where are you from?
French Dialogue • Print version • audio (info •226 kb • help)
Where are you from? Tu es d’où?
Quentin Bonjour, Léon
...
Quentin Alors, tu es français?
Léon
Oui, exactement
...
Elle est française, aussi
...
Au revoir
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •61 kb • help)
Subject Pronouns Les pronoms soumis
1st person
2nd person
singular
plural
singular
plural
singular
3rd person
plural
je
I
nous
we
tu
you
vous
you
il, elle, on he, she, one
they (masculine)
ils, elles
they (feminine)
When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, “vous” must be used
...
The pronoun it does not exist in French
...
The
same is true with elle and feminine nouns
...
The French third person "on" has several meanings, but most closely matches
the now archaic English "one"
...
Also, while the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils"
and "elles" do
...
Also, if a group of people consists of both males and females, the male form is used, even with a
majority of females — however, this sensibly yields to overwhelming majority: given a group of only one
male to thousands of females, the female form would be used
...
For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either “On se rencontre
au cinéma à sept heures
...
” (formal) (there
are two words "nous")
...
G: Introduction to Verbs
A verb is a word that describes an action or mental or physical state
...
Each mood has a
varying number of tenses, which indicate the time when an action takes place
...
There is one
conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns
...
It does not refer to a particular tense, person or subject
...
In English, the infinitive form is to ___
...
For example, parler translates to to speak, finir translates to to finish, and
aller translates to to go
...
English verbs
only have one conjugation; that is the third person singular (I see, you see, he/she sees, we see, they see)
...
Most French
verbs will conjugate into many different forms
...
The most common verbs, however, are irregular
...
As in most languages, it is an irregular verb, and is not conjugated like
any other verb
...
or mixed)
ellsohn they are (fem
...
I am (a) lawyer
...
You are at the bank
...
He is handsome
...
They will become very useful in forming tenses
...
To respond positively, you say Oui, je suis d'accord
...
D'accord corresponds to the
English okay
...
Il est de Paris
...
This is an exception to the
normal rule
...
- I am [an] Australian
...
Il est Australien
...
Elle est Australienne
...
In the next lesson, you will learn how to say the nationality of more than one person
...
Then say what city you are
from and what nationality you are
...
For example, Marie est italienne
...
Lesson 1
...
Regular Formation
Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:
Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
un garçon intéressant --> une fille intéressante
un ami amusant --> une amie amusante
un camion lent --> une voiture lente
Plural: add an -s to the singular form
un garçon intéressant --> des garçons intéressants
une fille intéressante --> des filles intéressantes
Pronunciation
Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e
...
Masculine Pronunciation: intéressan, amusan, len
Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent
With plural adjectives, the -s ending is not pronounced, so the adjective will sound exactly the same as the
singular form
...
When an adjective, such as gros,
ends in -s, it does not change in the masculine plural form
...
See French/Grammar/Adjectives for more
...
Elle est petite
...
Elles sont petites
...
Elle est moyenne
...
Elles sont moyennes
...
Elle est grande
...
Elles sont grandes
...
Elle est grosse
...
Elles sont grosses
...
Elle est blonde
...
Elles sont blondes
...
Elle est brune
...
Elles sont brunes
...
Elle est intelligente
...
Elles sont intelligentes
...
Elle est intéressante
...
Elles sont intéressantes
...
Elle est amusante
...
Elles sont amusantes
...
- He is rather intelligent
...
z
- He is very intelligent
...
- He is really intelligent
...
See also
z
French/Lessons/Basic_grammar#Liaison
...
04 - Family
G: The verb avoir
"Avoir" can be translated as "to have"
...
or mixed)
elles ont ellzohnt
they have (fem
...
I have two pens
...
You have three brothers
...
He has an idea
...
Tu as quel âge? - How old are you? [lit: You have what age?]
J'ai trente ans
...
[lit: I have thirty years]
There is/are - Il y a
The expression il y a means there is or there are
...
- There is a book
...
- There are books
...
G: Direct Object Pronouns le, la, and les
le, la, and les are called direct object pronouns, because they are pronouns that are, you guessed it, used as
direct objects
...
Il lance la balle
...
In the above sentence la balle is the direct object
...
" (je, tu, il
...
These are a different set of pronouns (accusative)
...
" He/she are subjects used in the nominative case, while him/her are direct objects used in the
accusative case
...
Il la lance
...
Il les lance
...
Le, la, and les can replace either people or inanimate objects
...
05 - Recreation
G: Regular -er Verbs
Formation
Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs
...
Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense
...
Example: J'attends, J'habite
...
In all plural forms, the s at the end of each subject pronoun, normally unpronounced, becomes a z sound and
the n of on becomes pronounced when followed by a vowel
...
It is a type of pronominal verb (a verb that includes a
pronoun as part of it) called a reflexive verb, which means that the action of the verb is reflected back onto
the subject
...
Formation
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
Formation of Common -er Verbs Formation des verbes communs en -er
Infinitive Stem
Present Indicative Conjugation
First Person
s'amuser amus Je m'amuse
to have fun
Second Person
Tu t'amuses
Third Person
Il s'amuse
Nous nous amusons Vous vous amusez Ils s'amusent
Singular
Plural
Conjugated Verb + Infinitive
Like in English, some verbs can be followed by infinitives
...
J'aime parler
...
Nous détestons travailler
...
When negating a sentence, remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb
...
- I don't like to speak
...
Besides the new vocabulary you should
also have a look at how the verbs are conjugated depending on the subject of the sentence
...
Marie : Je finis mes devoirs
...
Pierre : Je vais au parc
...
V: Recreation
Qu'est-ce que vous faites? What are you doing?
jouer
to play
[10]
to finish
finir
[11]
attendre
to wait (for)
aimer
to like
détester
to hate
[12]
(my) friend
(mon) ami(e)
^ Finir and attendre are not -er verbs
...
^ Mon is often substituted for ma when the following word begins with a vowel
...
V: Places
la bibliothèque library1
le parc
park
la piscine
swimming pool
la plage
beach
le restaurant
restaurant
salle de concert concert hall
le stade
stadium
le théâtre
theater
1
Caution: a librairie is a bookshop
...
Il jette la balle à Jacques
...
Il jette la balle à Marie
...
Il jette la balle à Jacques et Marie
...
Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns
...
lui - replaces a singular masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human
leur - replaces a plural masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human
An example follows:
Il lui jette la balle
...
Il lui jette la balle
...
Il leur jette la balle
...
Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context
...
When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns
...
- He throws it to him
...
Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened
V: Jouer
The verb jouer is a regular -er verb meaning to play
...
When referring to sports, use jouer à, but when referring to instruments, use jouer de
...
French Vocabulary • Print version •
Play Jouer
audio (upload)
jouer à
...
au baseball
baseball
de la clarinette clarinet
au basket
basketball
du piano
piano
au football
soccer; football de la guitare guitar
au football américain American football du violon
violin
au golf
golf
de la batterie drums
au tennis
tennis
(singular
in French)
au volley
volleyball
aux cartes
cards
aux dames
checkers/ draughts
aux échecs
chess
Lesson 1
...
L
...
le premier étage
second floor
(Habitations à
le deuxième étage
third floor
low income housing
Loyer Modéré)
le troisième étage
fourth floor
Cities and Neigbhorhoods
le quartier
neighborhood
le centre ville
downtown
l'arrondissement (m) district
la ville
city
la banlieue
the suburb
le village
town
Rooms
Parts of a Room
la pièce
room
le plafond
ceiling
la chambre
la salle de séjour
family room
le sol
ground
la cave
basement
la fenêtre
window
le grenier
attic
le mur
wall
la cuisine
kitchen
le toit
roof
la salle à manger
dining room
Entering and Exiting
la salle de bains
bathroom
l'escalier (m)
stairs
la chambre à coucher bedroom
monter à pied
to walk up stairs
le garage
Garage
l'ascenseur (m)
elevator/lift
les toilettes
water-closet, restroom monter en ascenseur to go up by elevator
(f) (no singular)
(only toliet, no bath) prendre l'ascenseur to take the elevator
le bureau
office
monter à pied
to go up by foot
la porte
door
Outside a House
l'entrée (f)
entry(way)
la terrasse
patio
le balcon
le jardin
la fleur
l'arbre (m)
la cour
le (la) voisin(e)
balcony
garden
flower
tree
courtyard
neighbor
Furniture
curtain
chair
table
cupboard
bed
carpet
armchair
le rideau
la chaise
la table
l'armoire (f)
le lit
le tapis
le fauteuil
^ To express to live on ____ street, you say habiter rue ____
J'habite Rue Lecourbe
...
Il habite Rue de Rennes
...
^ Quitter must be followed by a direct object, usually a room or building
...
You will learn how to conjugate these verbs in a future lesson
...
It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -re
verb)
...
or mixed)
they do (fem
...
- I make/have the stove repaired
...
- I see you
...
- I want to see you
...
Je t'ai vu
...
Direct Object Replacement
Il me voit
...
Il te voit
...
Il nous voit
...
Il vous voit
...
Indirect Object Replacement
Il me l'appelle
...
Il te le jette
...
Il nous le jette
...
Il vous le jette
...
Exercises
Try to describe your house or bedroom using the vocabulary
...
You may also wish to talk about what housework you do
...
Ma maison a deux chambres : la première pour
moi et ma femme avec un grand lit
...
Nous avons
[16]
aussi un bureau avec trois ordinateurs
: un par personne ! La salle de séjour est très grande et à coté, il y a
[17]
un petit salon
...
La cuisine est toute petite et
[18]
[19]
nous y
mangeons
le soir
...
La maison est de plein pied et ne
comporte pas d'étage
...
^ à côté de - at the side of, next to ^ l'ordinateur (m) - computer ^ aimer regarder - to like to watch
^ y (ee) - there
^ manger - to eat
Lesson 1
...
pas construction must be used
...
Formation and Rules
Simple negation is done by wrapping ne
...
Je ne vole pas
...
In a perfect tense, ne
...
Je n'ai pas volé
...
When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne
...
Je ne veux pas voler
...
ne pas can also go directly in front of the infinitive for a different meaning
...
- I want not to steal
...
Je ne le vole pas
...
Examples
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •262 kb • help)
Negation Formation Examples Exemples de formation de négation
Il est avocat
...
Il n'est pas avocat
...
Nous faisons nos devoirs
...
Nous ne faisons pas nos devoirs
...
Je joue du piano
...
Je ne joue pas du piano
...
Vous vendez votre voiture
...
Vous ne vendez pas votre voiture
...
Negation of Indefinite Articles
The indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d’) when negating a sentence
...
- I have a book
...
- I don't have any book
...
- I have some books
...
- I don't have any books
...
He is Belgian
...
He is not Belgian
...
We read a book
...
We do not read a book
...
I eat a cherry
...
I do not eat a cherry
...
They are a combination of two or more
consecutive words that have been integrated into the language, for example, aujourd'hui
...
The definite pronoun la remains in full form
...
It's cloudy
...
nuageux(-euse)
cloudy
couvert(e)(s)
overcast, lit: covered
l'éclaircie (f)
clearing, break (in clouds)
Cold and Windy Weather
Il fait chaud
...
Il fait froid
...
Le ciel est dégagé
...
le vent
wind
Le ciel se dégage
...
Il fait du vent
...
The sky is clearing up
...
The wind blows
...
The sun is shining
...
It's snowing
...
It's hailing
...
une goutte de pluie
a drop of rain
Extreme weather
Il fait beau
It's nice
...
un orage
orageux(-euse)
Il y a un orage!
rain
The rain falls
...
It's raining
...
It rained
...
It's going to rain
...
It's raining
...
de gros nuages noirs
...
G: Aller
The verb aller is translated to to go
...
Formation
In the present indicative, aller is conjugated as follows:
French Verb • Print version • audio (info •327 kb • help)
aller to go
Singular
first person je vais jeuh vay I go
second person tu vas too vah you go
il va eel vah he goes
third person elle va ell vah she goes
Plural
nous allons nouzah lohn we go
z
vous allez vouzah lay you go
z
ils vont
eel vohn
on va ohn vah one goes elles vont ell vohn
they go
(masc
...
)
Usage
There is no present progressive tense in French, so aller in the present indicative is used to express both I go
and I am going
...
The preposition à, meaning in, at, or to, is used, followed by the place
...
Remember that à le contracts to au and à les contracts to aux
...
- I'm going to the stadium
...
Y comes before the verb
...
J'y vais
...
Tu y vas
...
Nous y allons
...
The negative form of aller with the y pronoun has both the verb and pronoun enclosed between ne and pas
...
- He's not going there
...
Il va pleuvoir demain
...
Il va faire froid
...
Remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb
...
- It's not going to rain tomorrow
...
ons or
...
(This process is called liaison
...
In order
to have a pleasing and clean sound, two liaisons should not go consecutively
...
In the phrase Vous allez à l'école?, vous allez à is pronounced vouzahlay ah
...
Lesson 1
...
To conjugate, drop the -ir to find the "stem" or
"root"
...
finir - to finish
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
-ir Verb Formation Formation des verbes en -ir
pronoun
ending
verb
je
-is
finis
tu
-is
finis
il/elle
-it
finit
nous
-issons
finissons
vous
-issez
finissez
ils/elles
-issent
finissent
G: Possessive Adjectives
Formation
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
Possessive Adjectives Les adjectifs possessifs
First Person
Singular mon, ma, mes
Second Person
my ton, ta, tes
Third Person
your son, sa, ses
his, her
Plural notre, notre, nos our votre, votre, vos your leur, leur, leurs their
Usage
As you can probably tell from their name, possessive adjective are used to express possession of an object
...
- It's my book
...
But in French, possessive
adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify
...
Elle lit son livre
...
Liaison and Adjective Changes
Liaison occurs when mon, ton, and son are followed by a vowel
...
- He is my friend
...
- He is your friend
...
- He is his/her friend
...
Ils sont mes amis
...
z
Ils sont nos amis
...
z
Mon, ton, and son are used before a feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h
...
Elle est mon amie
...
n
V: Travel
French Vocabulary • Print version •
Travel Voyage
General
l'aéroport (m)
le billet
la poste
la station
le métro
les bagages
le ticket
la valise
audio (upload)
Vehicles
Airport
l'auto (f)
car
ticket (for train, airplane) l'avion (m) Airplane
post office
l'autobus (m) bus
station
le bateau
Boat
subway, underground
le train
train
baggage
le taxi
taxi
ticket (for bus, métro)
la voiture
car
suitcase
Hotels
la chambre
room
chambre de libre free room
Lesson 1
...
To conjugate, drop the -re to find the "stem" or
"root"
...
Formation
attendre – to wait
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
-re Verb Formation Formation des verbes en -re
pronoun
ending
verb
je (j')
-s
attends
tu
-s
il/elle
nous
-ons
attends
attend
attendons
vous
-ez
attendez
ils/elles
-ent
attendent
Vendre
The verb vendre is a regular -re verb:
French Verb • Present Indicative •
vendre to sell
Singular
first person je vends jeuh vahn I sell
audio (upload)
Plural
nous vendons noo vahn dohn we sell
second person tu vends too vahn you sell vous vendez voo vahn day' you sell
il vend eel vahn he sells
third person elle vend ell vahn she sells
ils vendent eel vahnde
on vend oh vahn one sells elles vendent ell vahnde
they sell
(masc
...
)
Common -re Verbs
Compared to -er verbs, -re verbs are not very common
...
Consonant
Beau
Nouveau
Vieux
Singular un beau garçon
Plural de beaux garçons
Singular un nouveau camion
Masc
...
Sing
...
un homme intelligent - an intelligent man
des hommes intelligents - intelligent men
However, some common French adjectives, including beau, nouveau, and vieux come before the noun
...
de jolies voitures - pretty cars
Note that in informal speech, des is very often used in place of de
...
10 - Science
G: Prendre
Prendre is an irregular -re verb, and is conjugated differently
...
or mixed)
they take (fem
...
le manganèse manganese
l'or (m)
gold
Also a conjunction meaning yet, however
...
V: Astronomy
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)
Astronomy L'astronomie
The Planets
Mercure
Vénus
La (planete) terre
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturne
Uranus
Neptune
Pluton
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Other Obejcts
Le soleil
La lune
L'étoile
sun
moon
star
LEVEL TWO
Level Two Lessons Contents
Lesson 2
...
02 - Culture
Lesson 2
...
04 - Going Out
Lesson 2
...
06 - Everyday Life
Lesson 2
...
08 - Food and Drink
Lesson 2
...
10 - Communication
Now that you know how to compose French sentences in the present indicative, you can continue on to
Wikibook's second French course
...
The grammar now becomes a lot more advanced,
and each lesson now gives much more information
...
Also remember to go to the lessons planning page if you would like to help improve this
course
...
01 - School
G: Introduction to Perfect Tenses
The next section is optional
...
[show ▼]
Introduction to Perfect Tenses
G: Introduction to Moods and Tenses
Like the above section, this is also optional
...
V: School
French Vocabulary • Print version •
School L'école
[21]
General
[22]
teacher
le professeur
la bourse
scholarship
le diplôme (professionnel) diploma
le bac(calauréat)
high school exit exam
la bibliothèque
library
les notes
grades (as on a test)
les cours
classes or courses
la classe
grade (e
...
6th Grade)
en cours de [
...
] class
Pendant les cours - During Classes
le tableau
chalkboard
la craie
chalk
le pupitre
desk
Classes / Grades
12th Grade
Classe Terminale
11th Grade
10th Grade
9th Grade
8th Grade
7th Grade
6th Grade
5th Grade
4th Grade
3rd Grade
1ère (la première classe)
2ème (la deuxième classe)
3ème (la troisième classe)
4ème (la quatrième classe)
5ème (la cinquième classe)
6ème (la sixième classe)
CM2 (CM = cours moyen)
CM1
CE2 (CE=cours élémentaire)
2nd Grade
1st Grade
CE1
CP1 (CP = cours préparatoire)
Verbs
l'examen (m)
test
les devoirs
homework
passer
un examen
étudier
la classe
class
écrire
la cantine
cafeteria
déjeuner
to (eat) lunch
la récré(ation)
recess
la cour
courtyard
Schools and Students
l'école (f)
school
audio (upload)
to take a test
to study
[23]
to write
[24]
lever (la main)
to raise (your hand)
poser
(une question)
parler
to speak
écouter
to listen (to)
to ask (a question)
[25]
l'étudiant
l'étudiante
le collège
(classes 6-4)
le collégien
le lycée
(classes 3-terminale)
le lycéen
student (m)
[26]
entendre
to hear (of)
student (f)
jr
...
high school student déjeuner
to (have) lunch
high school
(grades 10-12)
high school student
Describing Teachers and Students
intelligent(e)
intelligent
l'université (f)
university
la fac(ulté)
nul(le)
not good, not bright
higher education
l'enseignement supérieur
strict(e)
strict
graduate school
Des fournitures scolaires - School Supllies
la craie
le tableau
le stylo(-bille)
le crayon
la calculatrice
le livre
le bouquin
le cahier
chalk
the board
pen
pencil
calculator
cray
tahbloh
steeloh (bee)
krayoh
book
leevr
notebook kie ay
le papier
paper
pahpeeyay
la feuille de papier sheet of paper
le bloc-notes
(small) notepad block nut
le classeur
three-ring binder
le sac à dos
backpack
sack ah doe
la gomme
eraser
gum
la règle
ruler
rehgluh
le feutre
marker
feuhtr
^ The word professeur is considered masculine at all times, even if the teacher is female
...
^ The way that grades are numbered in France is opposite the way they are in the US
...
^ Écrire is an irregular verb
...
^ In French, you do not "own" body parts
...
la main - my hand
la jambe - my leg
le bras - my arm
For example, you would say Je me suis cassé la main (I have broken my hand) and never Je me suis cassé
ma main
...
The
hand is broken) if you speak about your own hand
...
It is not necessary to add a
preposition to the verb
...
EXERCISE • Translator (http://translate
...
com/translate_t) • Exercise Appendix • Print version
• E: 2
...
It varies from other '-re' verbs in the plural conjugation,
by adding a 'v'
...
or mixed)
on écrit ohn aycree one writes elles écrivent ell zaycreeve
they write (fem
...
It's plural conjugation adds an additional 's'
...
or mixed)
they read (fem
...
With most verbs, that auxiliary verb is avoir
...
While there is a simple
past tense in French, it is almost only used in formal writing, so verbs conjugated in the passé composé can
also be used to mean the English simple tense
...
Basic Formation
To conjugate a verb in the passé composé, the helping verb, usually avoir, is conjugated in the present
indicative and the past participle is then added
...
j'ai I have nous avons we have
tu as you have vous avez you have
il a he has ils ont
they have
Past Participle
-er verbs - replace -er with é
-ir verbs - replace -ir with i
-re verbs - replace -re with u
irregular verbs - varies, must be memorized
...
I have played
Nous avons joué
...
Tu as joué
...
Vous avez joué
...
Il a joué
...
Ils ont joué
...
EXERCISE • Translator (http://translate
...
com/translate_t) • Exercise Appendix • Print version
• E: 2
...
...
02 3 - Passé Composé - Present Indicative to Passé Composé
[show ▼]
Lesson 2
...
The culture of France is diverse, reflecting regional differences as
well as the influence of recent immigration
...
G: General Verbs Review
Most verbs in French are regular -er verbs
...
Formation
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
Regular Verbs Les verbes réguliers
-er Verbs
-ir Verbs
-re Verbs
parl
...
vend
...
French Verb • Present Indicative •
audio (upload)
croire to believe
(past participle - cru)
Singular
first person
Plural
je crois jeuh crah I believe
nous croyons noo croy oh we believe
second person tu crois too crah you believe vous croyez voo croy ay you believe
il croit eel crah he believes
third person elle croit ell crah she believes
they believe
(masc
...
)
Voir is an irregularly conjugated -re verb
...
)
atheist
they see
(masc
...
)
Le Père noël
Santa Claus
le 14 juillet
Bastille Day
V: Birthday
Birthdays
l'anniversaire (m) birthday
Tu as quel âge? How old are you?
I am ____ years old
...
[lit: I have ___ years
...
03 - Shopping
V: Shopping
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)
Shopping Les achats
To Go Shopping
Buying Goods
faire des courses
le(la) vendeur(euse) salesperson
to go shopping
faire du shopping
le(la) cassier(-ière)
cashier
faire le marché
to go grocery shopping (plus/moins) cher(ère) (more/less) expensive
faire du lèche-vitrine to go window shopping la vitrine
display window
porter
to wear, to carry
en solde
on sale
demander
to ask (for)
le prix
price
demander le prix - to ask for the price
payer
to pay
cash register
la caisse
payer à la caisse
to pay at the counter
checkout counter
vendre
to sell
coûter
to cost
How much is it?
C’est combien?
[lit: It's how much?]
acheter
to buy
Ça coûte combien?
[lit:It costs how much?]
How much does [noun] cost?
Combien coûte [nom]?
[lit: How much costs [noun]?]
General Goods Stores
Foods Stores
le magasin
shop; store
le supermarché
supermarket
le centre commercial mall; shopping centre l'hypermarché (m)
hypermarket; big supermarket
1
le grand magasin
department store
la boucherie
butcher shop
le rayon
department
la boulangerie
bakery
la boutique
small store
le dépôt de pain
a place that sells bread
la pharmacie
pharmacy; chemist
la charcuterie
le marché
outdoor market
la crémerie
la pâtisserie
la poissonnerie
delicatessen
dairy store
pastry shop; pâtisserie
seafood store; fishmonger
l'épicerie (f)
grocery
2
2
3
4
1
...
For these products, go to a
charcuterie
...
In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread; e
...
the bread is baked on site
...
3
...
4
...
G: Object Pronouns Review
Direct Objects
While the subject of a sentence initiates an action (the verb), the direct object is the one that is affected by
the action
...
Pierre sees the burglar
...
Pierre sees him
...
The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel
...
When the direct object comes before a verb in a perfect tense, a tense that uses a past participle, the
direct object must agree in gender and plurality with the past participle
...
Indirect Objects
An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom
...
It is called
indirect because it occurs usually together with a direct object which is affected directly by the action:
Il donne du pain à Pierre
...
Il lui donne du pain
...
The following table shows the various types of indirect object pronouns:
French me, m' te, t'
lui
nous vous
leur
English to me1 to you1 to him, to her to us1 to you1 to them
Notes:
1
me, te, nous, and vous are also used as direct objects to mean me, you, us, and you respectively
...
The indirect object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject
...
When me, te, nous, and vous are used in a perfect tense, the writer must decide whether they are used
as direct or indirect object pronouns
...
The bread is given by the man (direct)
...
G: -exer Verbs
-exer are regular -er verbs, but also are stem changing
...
The stem change involves adding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem
...
or mixed)
they buy (fem
...
When y is part of the last syllable, it changes to i in order to keep the ay
sound
...
Payer
The verb payer translates to to pay
...
or mixed)
they pay (fem
...
avoir - eu
croire - cru
être - été
faire - fait
voir - vu
V: Practise Conversations
Let's practise some of these words and verbs in some everyday shopping talk:
1
...
" - I would like
...
2
...
Est-ce que vous avez des cerises ?
Marie : Oui
...
Alors, pour trois kilos il faut payer six euros, s'il vous plaît
...
?" - What do you have?
"Un grand choix" - A large range
"Des cerises" - Some cherries
"Elles coûtent deux euros le kilo" - They (feminine) cost two euros per kilo
"Il faut" - One must/You need to
vendre (to sell) and payer (to pay)
...
04 - Going Out
G: À and De
The preposition à can indicate a destination, a location, a characteristic, measurement, a point in time,
purpose, and several other things which will be covered later
...
Similarly, à and les combine into aux
...
When le follows de, the de and le combine into du
...
V: Leisure Activites
Les loisirs refers to leisure activities
...
or mixed)
elle part ell pahr she leaves
on part oh pahr one leaves elles partent ell part
they leave (fem
...
or mixed)
they go out (fem
...
repartir - to set out again
répartir - to distribute
V: Movies
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)
Movies Les films
General
le film (domestique) (en vidéo) (domestic) movie (on video) V
...
(Version originale) unaltered
le film (étranger) (en DVD)
(foreign) movie (on DVD) les sous-titres
sub-titles
l'acteur (m)
actor
la vidéo
video
l'actrice (f)
actress
le DVD
DVD
louer
to rent
The Movie Theater
Film Genres
le cinéma
the (movie) theater
le dessin animé
cartoon
theater showing room
la salle du cinéma
le documentaire
documentary
lit: room of the the theater
la séance
showing
le film d’amour
love story
le guichet
ticket window
le film d’aventures
adventure movie
seat/place to sit
la place
le film d’horreur
horror film
1
le fauteuil
chair
coûter
jouer
1
to cost
to play
le film policier
police film
le film de science-fiction sci-fi film
Un fauteuil is the physical chair that one sits on
...
Prenez place ! - Take a seat! (very common expression
...
On achète les places au guichet, où
l'employé(e) les vend
...
Quel est votre genre de film
préféré? Louez-vous des vidéos? des DVDs?
...
Venir
The most common -enir verb is venir
...
When it means to come from, venir is used with the preposition de
...
You can also use venir with a verb to state that you have recently accomplished an action
...
Formation
In the present indicative, venir (and all other -enir verbs) are conjuagted as follows:
French Verb • Present Indicative •
audio (upload)
venir to come
(past participle - venu(e)(s))
Singular
first person
je viens jeuh vee ehn I come
second person tu viens too vee ehn you come
il vient eel vee ehn he comes
third person elle vient ell vee ehn she comes
Plural
nous venons noo venn oh we come
vous venez voo vennay you come
ils viennent eel vee ehn
they come
(masc
...
)
Other -enir Verbs
revenir - to come back, to return
devenir - to become
appartenir - to belong
contenir - to contain
détenir - to keep, to detain
retenir - to retain
se souvenir - to remember
soutenir - to support
tenir - to hold
-éxer Verbs
-éxer verbs are regular -er verbs, but are also stem changing
...
or mixed)
they suggest
(fem
...
This should help you
ask for and give directions
...
- Excuse me, Miss/Mrs/Mr
...
- I am lost
...
- I'm looking for
...
- You take
...
- It was nothing/No worries
...
05 - Transportation
G: -uire Verbs
-uire verbs are conjugated irregularly
...
or
mixed)
they drive
(fem
...
A common -rir verb
is ouvrir
...
couvrir - to cover
découvrir - to discover
offrir - to offer
souffrir - to suffer
-rir Verb Exceptions
Courir - To Run
je cours
tu cours
il court
nous courons
vous courez
ils courent
past participle: couru
Mourir - To Die
je meurs
tu meurs
il meurt
nous mourons
vous mourez
ils meurent
1
past participle: mort(e)(s)
1
Mourir is the only -ir verb that takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses (and therefore agrees with the
subject as a past participle in a perfect tense)
...
In a general case, these verbs indicate a change in state or position
...
I went to the cinema
...
I came to France
...
The train has arrived
...
She left to go to work
...
I stayed home
...
He returned to the restaurant
...
I fell into the pool
...
I was born in october
...
He died in 1917
...
It happened in front of the house
...
I climbed to the top
...
He got out of the train
...
I went out with my friends
...
I entered my room
...
He came back early from school
...
DR VANDERTRAMP:
M
R
S
D
R
monté resté sorti
devenu revenu
V
A
N
D
E
R
T
R
A
M
P
venu
arrivé né
descendu entré
rentré
tombé retourné allé mort parti
Moreover, all the pronominal verbs (with se), like se cacher (to hide oneself) or se demander (to wonder),
are ALWAYS conjugated with être
...
Another example:
Je suis monté with the direct object "mes bagages"
becomes:
J'ai monté mes bagages
...
Subject-Past Participle Agreement
When conjugating with être, the past participles of the above verbs must agree with the the subject of a
sentence in gender and plurality
...
If the subject is masculine singular, there is no change in the past participle
...
If the subject is masculine plural, an -s is added to the past participle
...
J suis allé(e)
...
Tu es allé(e)
...
Il est allé
...
Elle est allée
...
V: Trains and Stations
Taking the Train
G: The Pronoun Y
Indirect Object Pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à
...
- J'y réponds
...
- I respond to them
...
Replacement of Places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preposition
except de (for which en is used)
...
- Les hommes y vont
...
Note that en, and not y is used when the preposition of the object is de
...
06 - Everyday Life
G: Dormir
Dormir, to sleep, is an irregular French verb
...
or mixed)
on dort oh door one sleeps elles dorment ell dorm
they sleep (fem
...
However, if the subject were
to act on someone else, the verb is no longer reflexive; instead the reflexive pronoun becomes a direct
object
...
Je t'habille: I get you dressed
...
Pierre s'est habillé
...
Georges et Martin se sont habillés
...
Marc et Claire se sont habillés
...
Jean et Paul, vous vous êtes levés assez tard
...
These pronouns are me, te, se, nous, and vous
and are used as either direct objects or indirect objects, depending on the verb that they modify
...
Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject
...
- I wash myself
...
- We wash ourselves
...
- They wash themselves
...
Je vais me laver
...
Je ne vais pas me laver
...
Reciprocal Verbs
With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other
...
- We like each other
...
Tu te souviens? - You
remember?
V: Going to Work
V: At Work
travailler: to work
travailler pour: to work for (somebody)
G: Devoir
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
devoir to have to, to owe
past participle: dû
Singular
first person
je dois jeuh dwah I have to
Plural
nous devons noo dehvohn we have to
second person tu dois too dwah you have to vous devez voo dehvay you have to
il doit eel dwah he has to
third person elle doit ell dwah she has to
ils doivent eel dwahve
they have to
(masc
...
)
G: Falloir
falloir - to be necessary
il faut - it is necessary
il a fallu - it was necessary (passé composé)
il fallait - it was necessary (imparfait)
il faudra - it will be necessary
il faudrait - it would be necessary
The verb falloir differs from similar verbs such as avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] (to need [to do
something]) and devoir (must, duty, owe)
...
Falloir expresses general necessities, such as "To live, one must eat" or "To speak French well, one must
conjugate verbs correctly
...
"
Avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] expresses need; "I need to study for my test, it's tomorrow" - "J'ai
besoin d'etudier pour mon examen, il est demain
...
07 - Rural Life
G: Suivre
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
suivre to follow
past participle: suivi
Singular
first person
Plural
je suis jeuh swee I follow
nous suivons noo sweevohn we follow
second person tu suis too swee you follow vous suivez voo sweevay you follow
il suit eel swee he follows
third person elle suit ell swee she follows
ils suivent eel sweeve
on suit ohn swee one follows elles suivent ell sweeve
they follow
(masc
...
)
G: Vivre
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
vivre to live
past participle: vécu [vaycoo]
Singular
first person
Plural
je vis jeuh vee I live
nous vivons noo veevohn we live
second person tu vis too vee you live vous vivez voo veevay you live
il vit eel vee he lives
third person elle vit ell vee she lives
ils vivent eel veeve
on vit ohn vee one lives elles vivent ell veeve
they live
(masc
...
)
G: Naître
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
naître to be born
1
past participle: né(e)(s)
Singular
first person
je nais jeuh nay I am born
Plural
nous naissons noo nehssohn we are born
second person tu nais too nay you are born vous naissez voo nehssay you are born
il naît eel nay he is born
third person elle naît ell nay she is born
ils naissent eel nesse
on naît ohn nay one is born elles naissent ell nesse
1
they are born
(masc
...
)
Naître is the only -aître verb that takes être as its helping verb (and therefore agrees with the subject as a
past participle in perfect tenses)
...
Reflexive Verbs
In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object
pronoun, in gender and plurality
...
Also remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb
...
- She washed herself
...
- We washed ourselves
...
- She washed her hands
...
- We washed our hands
...
It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as
direct objects
...
- We liked each other
...
Nous nous sommes parlé
...
Elles se sont téléphoné
...
Vous vous êtes écrit souvent? - You wrote to each other often?
Naturally Pronominal Verbs
In perfect tenses, these verbs agree with the direct object if it goes before the verb
...
Elle s'est souvenue
...
Le chien se couche
...
Note that assis(e)(es), the past participle of s'asseoir (to sit), does not change in the masculine plural form
...
08 - Food and Drink
G: -ger Verbs
-ger verbs are regular -er verbs that are also stem changing
...
For
manger and all other regular -ger verbs, the stem change is adding an e after the g
...
In this case, the change is made to preserve the soft g pronunciation rather than the hard g that
would be present if the e were not included
...
or mized)
eel mahnge
on mange ohn mahnge one eats elles mangent ell mahnge
they eat (fem
...
It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -re verb) as
follows:
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
boire to drink
past participle - bu
Singular
first person
je bois jeuh bwah I drink
Plural
nous buvons noo boovohn we drink
second person tu bois too bwah you drink vous buvez voo boovay you drink
il boit eel bwah he drinks
ils boivent eel bwahve
they drink
(masc
...
)
third person elle boit ell bwah she drinks
V: Drinks
les boissons - drinks
la bière
beer
le café
coffee
le chocolat chaud hot chocolate
le coca
soda
la limonade
lemon soda
le citron pressé lemonade
l'eau (f)
water
le jus
juice
le jus d'orange orange juice
le jus de pomme apple juice
le jus de raisin grape juice
le jus de tomate tomato juice
le thé
tea
le vin
wine
G: Partitive Article
The partitive article de indicates, among other things, the word some
...
Also, instead of du or de la, de l' is used in front of
vowels
...
In general "de" refers
to a part of food (a piece of pie) whereas the definite article (le) refers to a food in general (I like pie (in
general))
...
When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:
J'aime la glace
...
Nous préférons le steak
...
Vous aimez les frites
You like French fries
...
Def
...
J'ai mangé la tarte
...
art
...
Part
...
specific/whole items
I ate the (whole) pie
...
unknown quantity
J'ai mangé de la tarte
...
In the negative construction, certain rules apply
...
Similarly, du, de la, or des change to de in
negative constructions
...
We ate a pie
...
We did not eat a pie/ We did not eat any pie
...
We ate some pie
...
We did not eat some pie/ We did not eat any pie
...
"Quoi de plus beau?!" (what is there prettier?)
G: En
To say 'some of it' without specifying the exact object, the pronoun 'en' can be used
...
For instance, instead of saying J'ai besoin d'argent, if the idea of
money has already been raised, it can be stated as 'J'en ai besoin'
...
Like with 'me', 'te' and other pronouns, en (meaning 'some') comes before the verb
...
Vous prenez du poisson? Oui, j'en prends
...
Vous avez commandé de l'eau? Oui, nous en avons
commandé
...
For more detailed information, see French Pronouns
G: Mettre
Formation
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
mettre to put
past participle - mis
Singular
first person je mets jeuh may I put
Plural
nous mettons noo mettohn we put
second person tu mets too may you put vous mettez voo mettay you put
il met eel may he puts
third person elle met ell may she puts
ils mettent eel met
on met ohn may one puts elles mettent ell met
Related Words
mettre - to put on, to turn on, to place
permettre - to allow
remettre - to put back
remettre en place - to set back into place
soumettre - to submit
they put
(masc
...
)
se remettre - to recover from an illness
se remettre en route - to get back on the road
Idioms and Related Expressions
mettre au jour - to bring to light
mettre de l'argent de coté - to put money aside
mettre fin à - to put an end to
mettre la main à la pâte - to pitch in
mettre le contact - to start the car
mettre le couvert - to set the table
se mettre à table - to sit down to eat
se mettre d'accord - to agree
se mettre en forme - to get in shape
Lesson 2
...
1
...
For these products, go to a
charcuterie
...
In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread
...
3
...
4
...
5
...
Do not confuse with le livre (book)
...
It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -ir verb)
as follows:
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
vouloir to want
past participle - voulu
Singular
first person
Plural
je veux jeuh veuh I want
nous voulons noo voolohn we want
second person tu veux too veuh you want vous voulez voo voolay you want
il veut eel veuh he wants
ils veulent eel veuhl
they want
(masc
...
)
third person elle veut ell veuh she wants
Pouvoir is conjugated in a similar manner:
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
pouvoir to be able to
past participle - pu
Singular
first person je peux
second
person
jeuh
peuh
tu peux too peuh
I can/am able to
you can/are able
to
Plural
nous
pouvons
noo
poovohn
vous pouvez voo poovay you can/are able to
il peut eel peuh he can/is able to
third person
we can/are able to
ils peuvent eel peuhve
they can/are able to
(masc
...
)
elle
peut
ell peuh she can/is able to
V: Dining at a Restaurant
arriver
to arrive
la table occupée an occupied table
la table libre
a free table
trouver
to find
commander
to order
lunch
déjeuner
to eat lunch
peiti déjeuner breakfast
to dine
dîner
to eat dinner
désirer
to desire
le serveur
waiter
la serveuse
waitresse
la carte
menu
l'addition
check
le pourboire
laisser
je voudrais
...
G: Servir
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
servir to serve
past participle: servi
Singular
first person
Plural
je sers jeuh sair I serve
nous servons noo sairvohn we serve
second person tu sers too sair you serve vous servez voo sairvay you serve
il sert eel sair he serves
ils servent eel sairve
they serve
(masc
...
)
third person elle sert ell sair she serves
V: Ordering
G: -cer Verbs
-cer verbs are regular -er verbs, but are also stem changing
...
Formation
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
commencer to begin
past participle - commencé
Singular
first person je commence
jeuh coe
mahnce
Plural
I begin
nous
commençons
noo coe
mahnsohn
second
person
tu
too coe
voo coe
you begin vous commencez
mahnsay
commences mahnce
eel coe
he begins
il commence
mahnce
ils commencent eel coe mahnce
elle
she
third person commence ell coe mahnce begins
on commence
Other -cer Verbs
effacer - to erase
ohn coe
mahnce
one
begins
elles
commencent
ell coe mahnce
we begin
you begin
they begin
(masc
...
)
V: Silverware, Etc
...
10 - Communication
G: -aître Verbs
Formation
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
connaître to know (personally)
past participle: connu
Singular
first person
Plural
je connais jeuh cohnay I know
nous connaissons noo cohnehssohn we know
second person tu connais too cohnay you know vous connaissez voo cohnehssay you know
il connaît eel cohnay he knows
ils connaissent eel cohnesse
they know
(masc
...
)
third person elle connaît ell cohnay she knows
Other -aître verbs
apparaître - to appear
connaître - to know
disparaître - to disappear
1
naître - to be born
1
Naître has an irregular past participle (né) and takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses
...
Savoir is used to say that you know a fact or piece of
information
...
or mized)
on sait ohn say one knows elles savent ell sahve
they know (fem
...
In French, you call to someone, so the verb
is used with indirect, and not direct, objects
...
- I'm calling Jacques
...
Je m'appelle
...
, but in English you
would say My name is
...
In the present indicative, it is conjuagted as follows:
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
appeler to call
past participle: appelé
Singular
first person
j' appelle jahhpell
Plural
I call
nous appelons newzahh pell ohn we call
second person tu appelles too ahhpell you call vous appelez voozahh pellay
il appelle eel ahhpell he calls
third person elle appelle ell ahhpell she calls
ils appellent eel ahhpell
on appelle ohn ahhpell one calls elles appellent ell ahhpell
you call
they call
(masc
...
)
G: Dire
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
dire to say
past participle: dit
Singular
first person
je dis jeuh dee I say
Plural
nous disons noo deezohn we say
second person tu dis too dee you say vous dites voo deet
il dit eel dee he says
third person elle dit ell dee she says
ils disent eel deez
on dit ohn dee one says elles disent ell deez
V: Mail
le poste
le courier
le lettre
la boîte aux lettres
envoyer
recevoir
G: Envoyer & Recevoir
you say
they say
(masc
...
)
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
envoyer to send
past participle: envoyé
Singular
first person
j' envoie jahnvwah
Plural
I send
nous envoyons newzahnvwahyohn we send
second person tu envoies too ahnvwah you send vous envoyez voozahnvwahyay you send
il envoie eel ahnvwah he sends
ils envoient eelzahnvwah
they send
(masc
...
)
third person elle envoie ell ahnvwah she sends
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
recevoir to receive
past participle: reçu
Singular
first person
Plural
je reçois jeuh rehswah I receive
nous recevons newzay rehsevohn we receive
second person tu reçois too rehswah you receive vous recevez voo resehvay
il reçoit eel rehswah he receives
third person elle reçoit ell rehswah she receives
ils reçoivent eel rehswahve
on reçoit ohn rehswah one receives elles reçoivent ell rehswahve
V: Computers & the Internet
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)
Technology La technologie
Computer Hardware
le hardware
hardware
l'ordinateur (m)
computer
l'écran (m)
monitor
le clavier
keyboard
la souris
l'imprimante (f)
le CD-ROM
mouse
printer
CD-ROM
la disquette
utiliser
floppy disk
Computer Use
to use
Computer Software
le software
software
l’information
information
le logiciel
software (program)
le programme
program
la programmation
programming (adj)
le document
document
le fichier
file
The Internet
aller sur Internet
to go on the Internet
le modem
modem
la connexion
connecter
taper (un texte)
to type (a text)
être connecté
sauvegarder (un fichier) to save (a file) le site
exécuter
to run, carry out l'e-mail (m)
connection
to connect
to be connected
site
you receive
they receive
(masc
...
)
stocker (des données)
cliquer
allumer
éteindre
to store (data) naviguer (sur Internet) to navigate (the Internet)
to click
télécharger
to download
to turn on
transmettre
to transmit
to turn off
(to extinguish)
French fact: the name of the company Logitech comes from the French term logiciel technolgie
...
01 - Vacations
Lesson 3
...
03 - Health
Lesson 3
...
05 - Youth
Lesson 3
...
07 - Ancient History
Lesson 3
...
09 - Modern France
Lesson 3
...
This is a much more rigorous presentation of the French language
...
But we didn't decide
to stop there! This level will include longer lectures about a lesson's subject and will introduce you to real
French literary works and news articles, such as Jean de La Fontaine's Fables
(http://fr
...
org/wiki/Fables_de_La_Fontaine)
...
Also remember that if you would like to help develop this course, go to the lessons
planning page
...
Passé Composé, Pronominal Verbs Review, Plus-Que-Parfait
Lesson 06 : Adolescence
V: Pop Culture, Mass Media, Part-Time Jobs
07
Leçon 07 : L'histoire
Antique
Lesson 07 : Ancient
History
G: Passé Simple of Regular Verbs, Interrogative Pronouns
V: Farming and Peasant Life, Noble Life, The King, The Rennaissance, The
Reformation
G: Passé Simple of Irregular Verbs, Relative Pronouns (Qui, Que, Dont)
V: Enlightenment, French Rev
...
Leçon 09 : La France
09
moderne
G: Past Conditional, Comparative & Superlative, Asking Questions Review
V: The 20th Century, 20th Century Advancements and Changes, Modern War
Lesson 09 : Modern
France
10 Leçon 10 : L'actualité
G: Future Perfect, Demonstrative Pronouns, Stating If
...
Lesson 3
...
)
l’autobus (m
...
)
les bagages
le billet
le métro
la poste
le taxi
le ticket
le train
la valise
la voiture
there is, there are
airport
bus
aircraft, airplane
baggage
ticket (for train, airplane)
subway, underground
post office
taxi
ticket (for bus, métro)
train
suitcase
car
Audio : French native speaker
Visiting Other Cities
1a Tu es d'où? (informal)
Where are you from?
1b D'où êtes-vous? (formal)
1c Je suis de
...
V: Geography
Geography
Continents
the world le monde
l'Afrique (f)
l'Amérique du nord (f)
l'Amérique du sud (f)
l'Antarctique (f)
l'Asie (f)
l'Australie (f)
l'Europe (f)
Political Geography
a city
a village
a country
a state
une ville
un village
un pays
un état
Natural Geography
river
le fleuve
mountain la montagne
lake
le lac
ocean
l'océan (m)
Cardinal Directions
Oceans
l'Océan atlantique (m)
l'Océan glacial arctique (m)
l'Océan indien (m)
l'Océan pacifique (m)
north
south
east
west
le nord
le sud
l'est
l'ouest
Audio : French native speaker
Audio : French native speaker
G: Geography Prepositions
Cities
French native speaker
à is used to say in, at, to
Je vais à Paris
...
Je reviens de Paris
...
cities that have articles as part of their names contract with the preposition if the city is masculine
...
- Je reviens du Caire
...
- Je reviens du Havre
...
- Je reviens de la Nouvelle-Orléans
...
Every continent is feminine
...
- I go to France
...
- I return from France
...
Je vais en Espagne
...
- I'm going to Limousin
...
- I return from Limousin
...
- Je reviens du Québec
...
For the
city of Québec, Je vais à Québec should be used
...
)
Je vais au Texas
...
Masculine Countries Starting With a Consonant
all countries that do not end in a silent e are masculine
le Cambodge, le Mexique, le Zimbabwe, and le Mozambique are masculine
au is used to say in, at, to for masculine countries beginning with a consonant
Je vais au Portugal
...
du is used to say from for masculine countries beginning with a consonant
Je reviens du Portugal
...
Plural Countries
Audio : French native speaker
aux, a contraction of à + les, is used to say in, to, as if a plural article is part of the name of a country
Je vais aux États-Unis
...
(pronounced aytahzoohnee)
des, a contraction of de + les, is used to say from if a plural article is part of the name of a country
Je reviens des États-Unis
...
Masculine Countries Starting With a Vowel
en is used to say in, at, to for all masculine countries beginning with a vowel
Je vais en Israël
...
d' is used to say from for all masculine countries beginning with a vowel
Je reviens d' Israël
...
Check For Understanding
Are all French countries ending in e feminine?
What geographical areas use the preposition dans le?
What prepositions do countries beginning with vowels use?
What prepositions does the city of Quebec use?
...
wikimedia
...
V: Nationalities
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio: One • Two • (v2 300kb) (250 + 234 +186 kb • help)
Nationalities Les nationalités
Masculine
allemand
américain
anglais
australien
belge
birman
britannique
cambodgien
canadien
chinois
coréen
écossais
espagnol
français
indien
indonésien
israëlien
italien
japonais
malaisien
mauricien
néerlandais
philippin
portugais
singapourien
suédois
suisse
thaïlandais
vénézuélien
vietnamien
Feminine
allemande
américaine
anglaise
australienne
belge
birmane
britannique
cambodgienne
canadienne
chinoise
coréenne
écossaise
espagnole
française
indienne
indonésienne
israëlienne
italienne
japonaise
malaisienne
mauricienne
néerlandaise
philippine
portugaise
singapourienne
suédoise
suisse
thaïlandaise
vénézuéliene
vietnamienne
English
German
American
English
Australian
Belgian
Burmese
British
Cambodian
Canadian
Chinese
Korean
Scottish
Spanish
French
Indian
Indonesian
Israeli
Italian
Japanese
Malaysian
Mauritian
Dutch
Filipino
Portuguese
Singaporean
Swedish
Swiss
Thai
Venezuelan
Vietnamese
Nationalities are not capitalized as often in French as they are in English
...
However, if you are
referring to the Arabic language or Chinese language, the French would not capitalize: l'arabe; le chinois
...
+Ŀ
G: Perfect Tenses
You will be learning several new perfect tenses in this level
...
This time,
make sure you know all the rules
...
The perfect tenses are all composed of a conjugated auxillary verb and a fixed past participle
...
The tense of the verb depends upon the tense that avoir or être is conjugated in
...
J'ai fini
...
Past Participle Formation
-er verbs - replace -er with é
-ir verbs - replace -ir with i
-re verbs - replace -re with u
irregular verbs - must be memorized
Past Participle Agreement
Audio: French native speaker
The past participle must agree with the direct object of a clause in gender and plurality if the direct
object goes before the verb
...
- I have finished the game
...
- I have finished it
...
- I have finished the task
...
- I have finished it
...
J'ai fini les jeux
...
Je les ai finis
...
the direct object is feminine plural - add an es to the past participle
...
- I have finished the tasks
...
- I have finished them
...
However, under certain situations, the auxillary verb is être
...
Note that when a direct object is used with these verbs, the auxillary verb becomes avoir
...
That is, the subject of the verb is also its object
...
These are:
1
...
3
...
5
...
7
...
The futur composé is formed by inserting the present form of aller before the
infinitive, e
...
elle va réussir (she will pass, or she is going to pass) is the futur composé of elle réussit
To conjugate a verb in the futur simple, one takes the infinitive and appends the right form of avoir except
for nous and vous which takes -ons or -ez, as according to the table:
Audio: French native speaker
Subject
Add Ending Conjugated Verb
Je
-ai
Tu
-as
Il / Elle / On -a
Nous
-ons
Vous
-ez
Ils / Elles -ont
réussirai
réussiras
réussira
réussirons
réussirez
réussiront
Les vacances
Audio: French native speaker
Cet été, nous partirons en vacances au bord de la mer
...
Nous partirons en voiture et il y aura certainement beaucoup de bouchons sur l'autoroute
...
A midi nous mangerons puis nous ferons
une bonne sieste car il fera certainement très chaud
...
Vivement les vacances !
Lesson 3
...
You simply
conjugate the first verb, then put the infinitive
...
j'aime tu aimes il/elle aime Nous aimons Vous aimez ils/elles aiement
Aimer
J'aime jouer au tennis (I like to play tennis)
...
Vouloir
Je veux aller au centre commercial (I want to go to the mall)
...
Je veux que tu fasses la vaisselle (I want you to do the dishes)
...
Je le fais réparer
...
Futur Proche
The future proche tense is formed by conjugating aller in the present indicative and adding an infinitive
Je vais aller
...
Pronouns
Pronouns come before the verb they modify, which is not necessarily the first verb in a sentence
Je vais le voir
...
Negation
Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated, each meaning slightly different things
...
- I don't like to run
...
- I like to not run
...
Mais la banque a fermé et je me suis retrouvé au
chômage
...
Je lis les petites annonces et j'envoie des lettres
de candidature
...
Mais aujourd'hui, j'ai obtenu un entretien d'embauche
...
Lesson 3
...
to have a
...
What makes this somewhat easy is that verbs with similar endings normally have similar future stems
...
Verbs like venir (devenir, revenir) have a very
similar stem (deviendr-, reviendr-)
...
The subject is not used when giving a command
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •104 kb • help)
The Imperative L'impératif
-er Verbs
-ir Verbs
Subject Ending Verb Ending
Tu
-e
Parle!
-is
Verb
Finis!
-re Verbs
Ending
-s
Verb
Vends!
Nous -ons
Parlons! -issons Finissons! -ons
Vendons!
Vous -ez
Parlez! -issez
Vendez!
Affirmative
Finissez! -ez
Negative
The negative imperative is formed by placing the imperative between "ne" and "pas/jamais/rien/etcetera
...
They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role,
nor any characteristics of what they modify
...
In most cases, this is done by adding the
suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form
...
As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix: Audio :
Native French Speaker
If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to
the feminine singular form:
vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")
poli → poliment ("polite" → "politely")
If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the corresponding adverb ends in -amment or -emment,
respectively:
constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")
récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently")
Some adjectives make other changes:
précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")
gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")
Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:
bon → bien ("good" → "well")
mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")
meilleur → mieux ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb)
pire → pis ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)
And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:
ainsi ("thus" or "thusly")
Placement
The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs
...
Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:
Jamais je n'ai fait cela or Je n'ai jamais fait cela ("Never have I done that" or "I've never done that")
V: Visiting the Doctor
Audio : Native French Speaker
Le patient :
Je suis malade
...
J'ai mal à la tête
...
J'ai de la fièvre
...
Je vomis
...
(I cough)
Le docteur
Comment allez-vous ?
Prenez de l'aspirine
...
Prenez une cuillère de sirop matin, midi et soir
Il faut passer un "scanner"
Il faut passer des radios
...
V: Visiting the Dentist
Audio : Native French Speaker
J'ai mal aux dents
...
Je dois procéder à une extraction
...
Je vais utiliser la roulette
...
C'est grave !
Je vais aux urgences
...
SAMU=Service Ambulancier Médical d'Urgence
En cas d'accident grave, il faut téléphoner au SAMU (15) ou aux pompiers (18) ou au 112
...
les yeux)
La bouche
La dent
Le nez
L'oreille (f)
Le cou
La langue
Les cheveux
L'ongle (m)
English
Head
Body
Arm
Leg
Chest
Belly
Shoulder
Elbow
Wrist
Hand
Finger
Knee
Foot
Toe
Eye
Mouth
Tooth
Nose
Ear
Neck
Tongue
Hair
Nail
Le poumon
L'estomac (m)
Le cœur
Le foie
L'intestin (m)
L'os (m)
Le crâne
Le muscle
Le cerveau
La rate
L'utérus (m)
Le nombril
Lung
Stomach
Heart
Liver
Intestine
Bone
Skull
Muscle
Brain
Spleen
Womb
Navel,
belly button
V: Body position
And here is the vocabulary for body positions :
French
English
Debout Standing
Assis
Seating
Couché Laying down
À genoux Kneeling
Accroupi Squatted
V: Common sentences
When you 'catch a cold' you 'attrapes un rhume'
...
When you wish to say that
parts of your body are sore, you say "J'ai mal au/à la/à l'/aux [body part]
...
(I
have a headache); J'ai mal aux dents (My teeth hurt)
...
03 1 - Body Parts - Visual Memorization
Point to different parts of the body and recite its name in French par cœur
...
04 - Money
G: Personal Pronouns Review
Main article: w:French personal pronouns
Direct Objects
While the subject of a sentence initiates an action (the verb), the direct object is the one that is affected by
the action
...
Pierre sees the burglar
...
Pierre sees him
...
The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel
...
When the direct object comes before a verb in a perfect tense, a tense that uses a past participle, the
direct object must agree in gender and plurality with the past participle
...
Indirect Objects
An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom
...
It is called
indirect because it occurs usually together with a direct object which is affected directly by the action:
Il donne du pain à Pierre
...
Il lui donne du pain
...
The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:
French me, m' te, t'
lui
nous vous
leur
English to me1 to you1 to him, to her to us1 to you1 to them
Notes:
1
me, te, nous, and vous are also used as direct objects to mean me, you, us, and you respectively
...
The indirect object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject
...
When me, te, nous, and vous are used in a perfect tense, the writer must decide whether they are used
as direct or indirect object pronouns
...
The bread is given by the man (direct)
...
The Pronoun Y
Indirect Object Pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à
...
- J' y réponds
...
- I respond to them
...
Replacement of Places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preoposition
except de (for which en is used)
...
- Les hommes y vont
...
Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de
...
As well, 'en' can mean
'of it' when 'it' is not specified
...
This is because what en does is replace du, de la or
des when there is nothing after it
...
Tu joues du piano? Non, je n'en joue pas
Do you play piano? No, I don't play it
...
Are you having fish? Yes, I'm having some
...
Did you order some water? Yes, we ordered
some
...
These are:
The pronouns are attached the the verb with a hyphen
...
- Find it
...
Donnez-moi les vidéos
...
Le, la, and les precede all other object pronouns
...
- Give it to me
...
05 - Youth
G: Imperfect - Imparfait
The imparfait is used to "set the tone" of a past situation
...
" It tells what was going on when a particular action or event occurred
...
"
In order to conjugate the imperfect,
take the 1st person plural of the verb you want to conjugate:
French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)
jouer to play
singular
plural
first person
je joue
nous jouons
second person
tu joues
vous jouez
il joue
ils jouent
third person
Remove the -ons ending to find the stem, and add these endings:
subject ending
jouer
finir
attendre
(nous jouons) (nous finissons) (nous attendons)
je
-ais jouais
finissais
attendais
tu
-ais jouais
finissais
attendais
jouait
finissait
attendait
il/elle/on
-ait
nous
-ions jouions
finissions
attendions
vous
-iez jouiez
finissiez
attendiez
finissaient
attendaient
ils/elles -aient jouaient
Note: The only verb that has an irregular stem (one not derived from the nous form of the present
idicative) is être
...
Every other verb uses the nous form of the
present indicative as its root
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio: One • Two (238 + 232 kb • help)
Possesive Pronouns Les pronoms possesifs
mon copain ton copain son copain
notre copain votre copain leur copain
my friend your friend his/her friend our friend your friend their friend
le mien
le tien
le sien
le nôtre
le vôtre
le leur
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
mes copains tes copains ses copains nos copains vos copains leurs copains
my friends your friends his/her friends our friends your friends their friends
les miens les tiens
les siens
les nôtres les vôtres
les leurs
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
ma copine ta copine sa copine
notre copine votre copine leurs copine
my friend your friend his/her friend our friend your friend their friend
la mienne la tienne
la sienne
la nôtre
la vôtre
la leur
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
mes copines tes copines ses copines nos copines vos copines leurs copines
my friends your friends his/her friends our friends your friends their friends
les miennes les tiennes les siennes les nôtres les vôtres
les leurs
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
Vous avez votre voiture? - You have your car?
Oui, nous avons la nôtre
...
À + a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence
...
Elle est ta voiture? - Is that your car?
Oui, elle est à moi
...
G: Stem Changing Verbs Review
-exer Verbs
-exer are regular -er verbs, but also are stem changing
...
The stem change involves adding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem
...
Tenses affected by this rule:
-yer Verbs
-yer verbs are regular -er verbs
...
In the present indicative of -yer verbs, this affects all forms except nous and vous
...
Tenses affected by this rule:
-cer Verbs
The last c in the verb changes to ç in the nous form
...
Tenses affected by this rule:
changer
manger
V: Children's Games and Toys
un hochet
un cheval de bois
une poupée
une dinette
un train électrique
des légos
un ours en peluche
une console de jeu (une nintendo, une gameboy, une ps2)
des jeux de société : le monopoly, le cluedo, la bonne paye
des "transformers"
V: The Carnival
See List of Party Words
V: French Children's Poems, Songs, and Stories
Petit Papa Noël
Petit Papa Noël
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N'oublies pas mes petits souliers
Mais avant de partir
Il faudra bien te couvrir
Dehors tu vas avoir si froid
C'est un peu à cause de moi
...
06 - Adolescence
V: Pop Culture
General
un adolescent(m
...
)
preteen
la paresse(f
...
), (petite) copine(f
...
), petite amie(f
...
) (France), centre d'achats(m
...
)
puberty
G: Pronominal Verbs Review
Pronominal verbs are verbs that, put simply, include pronouns
...
When
proniminal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, être is used as the auxiliary verb
...
Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject
...
- I wash myself
...
- We wash ourselves
...
- They wash themselves
...
Je vais me laver
...
Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated each with slightly different meanings
...
- I'm not going to wash myself
...
Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct
object
...
Elle s'est lavée
...
Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s
...
Elle s'est lavé les mains
...
Nous nous sommes lavé les mains
...
Reciprocal Verbs
With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other
...
- We like each other
...
It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as direct
objects
...
- We liked each other
...
Nous nous sommes parlé
...
Elles se sont téléphoné
...
Vous vous êtes écrit souvent? - You write to each other often?
Naturally Pronominal Verbs
Some verbs are pronominal without performing a reflexive or reciprocal action
...
Otherwise, the past
participle agrees with the subject
...
- She remembered
...
rendre - to return, to give back
se rendre (à) - to go (to)
G: Imparfait vs
...
The imperfect is used
for past habitual actions (Quand j'etais petite, je jouais au foot
...
La lune
brillait
...
(Hier, j'ai
joué à Colin Maillard
...
This does not mean that the action had to happen
over a very short time, but that it is understood as a single punctual event, now finished
...
Examples:
Les singes criaient violemment lors de ma visite du zoo When I visited the zoo, the monkeys were loud
...
In English, this is used in a phrase like "I had given him the toy
before he went to sleep
...
The
plus-que-parfait can be used to indicate the occurrence of one before the other
...
In French, the plus-que-parfait is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb in the imparfait and adding the
past participle
...
So, the conjugation of Je
mange in the plus-que-parfait becomes j'avais mangé or, in English, I had eaten
...
Tu m'avais déjà appelé, lorsque je suis parti
...
I spoke French (on one particular occasion)
...
I spoke French (during a period of time, and I don't speak French any more)
...
We passed the test
...
He was my friend (and he is not my friend any more)
Il était mon ami lorsque
...
Ils ont fait leurs devoirs
...
Il est venu
...
He came the day after
...
He came/used to come every day
...
He had already come
...
V: Mass Media
V: Part-Time Jobs
Lesson 3
...
G: Interrogative Pronouns
G: Passé Simple of Regular Verbs
Unlike English, there is a literary past tense, used when writing formally
...
It is relatively simple to predict when to use this tense: for every occurrence of the passé composé in
conversational French, one simply uses the passé simple in literary French
...
Formation
To conjugate in this tense, one finds the stem and appends the following, as according to the table:
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
The Simple Past Le passé simple
Subject
Je
Tu
Il
Nous
Vous
Ils
Ending
-ai
-as
-a
-âmes
-âtes
-èrent
Conjugated Verb
Je dansai
...
Il dansa
...
Vous dansâtes
...
English
I danced
...
He danced
...
They danced
...
Infinitive
Stem
Je
...
J'_____ (entrer) dans le tour
...
Tout d'un coup, mon ami ____ (tomber)
...
Nous _________ (monter) l'éscalier
...
Je _____ (dire) aux professeurs qu'il _______ (regarder) la télé
...
Ils t'_______ (offrir) le plat, et tu le _______ (laisser) tomber
...
08 - Revolution!
Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen - Historical Text for this lesson
...
Others must be memorized
...
Stem
Passé simple
je
tu
il
nous
vous
ils
-i_ Endings
s'asseoir
assis
conduire
m'assis
t'assis
s'assit
nous assîmes vous assîtes s'assirent
conduis conduisis conduisis conduisit conduisîmes conduisîtes conduisirent
conquérir conquis
construire
conqu conquis
conquis
conquit
conquîmes
conquîtes
conquirent
construis construisis construisis construisit construisîmes construisîtes construisirent
craindre
dire
ass
craign craignis
craignit
craignîmes
craignîtes
craignirent
d
dis
dis
dit
dîmes
dîtes
dirent
faire
f
fis
fis
fit
fîmes
fîtes
firent
écrire
écriv
écrivis
écrivis
écrivit
écrivîmes
écrivîtes
écrivirent
mis
mis
mit
mîmes
mîtes
mirent
naquis
naquis
naquit
naquîmes
naquîtes
naquirent
peign peignis
peignis
peignit
peignîmes
peignîtes
peignirent
pris
prit
prîmes
prîtes
prirent
rejoignis
rejoignit rejoignîmes rejoignîtes rejoignirent
ris
ris
rit
rîmes
rîtes
rirent
souris
souris
sourit
sourîmes
sourîtes
sourirent
vainquis
vainquit
vainquîmes
vainquîtes
vainquirent
mettre
dit
craignis
mis
naître
naqu
peindre
prendre
m
pris
rejoindre
pr
rejoin rejoignis
rire
ri
r
sourire
souri
sour
vaincre
pris
vainqu vainquis
-in_ Endings
devenir
dev
tenir
venir
devins
devins
devin
devînmes
devîntes
devinrent
t
tins
tins
tint
tînmes
tîntes
tinrent
v
vins
vins
vint
vînmes
vîntes
vinrent
-u_ Endings
avoir
eu
e
eus
eus
eut
eûmes
eûtes
eurent
boire
bu
b
bus
bus
but
bûmes
bûtes
burent
conn
connus
connus
connut
connûmes
connûtes
connurent
courus
courus
courut
courûmes
courûtes
coururent
connaître connus
courir
couru
cour
croire
cru
cr
crus
crus
crut
crûmes
crûtes
crurent
devoir
dû
d
dus
dus
dut
dûmes
dûtes
durent
f
fus
fus
fut
fûmes
fûtes
furent
fallus
fallus
fallut
fallûmes
fallûtes
fallurent
lus
lus
lut
lûmes
lûtes
lurent
mourus
mourut
mourûmes
mourûtes
moururent
être
falloir
fallu
fall
lire
lut
l
mourir
mour mourus
plaire
plu
pl
plus
plus
plut
plûmes
plûtes
plurent
pleuvoir
plu
pl
=
=
plut
=
=
=
pouvoir
pu
p
pus
pus
put
pûmes
pûtes
purent
recevoir
reçu
reç
reçus
reçus
reçut
reçûmes
reçûtes
reçurent
savoir
su
s
sus
sus
sut
sûmes
sûtes
surent
valoir
valu
val
valus
valus
valut
valûmes
valûtes
valurent
vivre
vécu
véc
vécus
vécus
vécut
vécûmes
vécûtes
vécurent
vouloir
voulu
voul
voulus
voulus
voulut
voulûmes
voulûtes
voulurent
G: Relative Pronouns Qui and Que
Les pronoms relatifs qui et que
relative pronouns begin adjective clauses
the man that was here
the man that I saw
qui is the subject of the clause it introduces
Je vois l'homme qui l'a fait
...
L'homme qui l'a fait est ici
...
que is the direct object of the clause it introduces
Il est l'homme que j'ai vu
...
remember that in perfect tenses, the past participle agrees with the direct object in gender and plurality
if the direct object comes before the verb
Elles sont les femmes que j'ai vues
...
If que is followed by a vowel, it is shortened to qu'
...
- He is the man that he has seen
...
- I see the car that is broken
...
09 - Modern France
G: Past Conditional
The past conditional is fairly simple to form
...
To form the past conditional, you put the auxiliary verb into the conditional and add the past participle of the
verb like so: Je serais allé(e) à l'école, mais j'étais malade
...
+ Verb Comparative
Adjective
Comparative Object
Je suis
plus
intelligent
que
toi
...
I am
less
intelligent
than
you
Je suis
aussi
intelligent
que
toi
...
Adverbs
Sub
...
clearly
than
as
than
you
...
Je
I
Verb
Comparative
Comparative Object
joue
plus/autant/moins
que
play
more
as much
less
than
as
than
toi
...
Nouns
Sub
...
G: Superlative
le/la/les + plus/moins + un adjectif
le/la/les + meilleur(e)(s)/mieux/pire
G: Asking Questions
Copy from French/Grammar/Sentences when complete
...
10 - Current Events
G: Future Perfect
In French, the future perfect tense is called the futur antérieur
...
The
auxiliary verb, avoir or être, is conjugated in the future tense
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
The Future Perfect Le futur antérieur
parler
passer
Subject Avoir Conj
...
Subject Être Conj
...
j'
aurai
parlé
je
serai
passé(e)
tu
auras
parlé
tu
seras
passé(e)
il
aura
parlé
il
sera
passé
elle
aura
parlé
elle
sera
passée
nous
aurons
parlé
nous
serons
passé(e)s
vous
aurez
parlé
vous
serez
passé(e)(s)
ils
auront
parlé
ils
seront
passés
elles
auront
parlé
elles
seront
passées
Use
Phrases constructed in the future perfect tense mean "will have ___ed" in both French and English
...
G: Demonstrative Pronouns
G: Stating If
...
)
fire
le vandalisme
vandalism
l'acte de terrorisme (m
...
L'élection comporte 2 tours : au premier tour
la plupart des partis, petits ou grands, proposent un candidat
...
Il
y a souvent entre 10 et 15 candidats au premier tour
...
En général, il y a un candidat du PS et un
candidat de l'UMP au deuxième tour
...
Le
second tour a donc opposé Jacques Chirac (UMP) et
Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN)
...
Le Président de la République est le chef des armées et il
désigne le Premier Ministre
...
Les députés peuvent renversé le gouvernement si la politique qu'il conduit ne leur convient pas
...
Le Président de la République est donc obligé de
choisir un Premier Ministre ayant la majorité des députés à l'Assemblée Nationale
...
Le sénat :
Il est élu au suffrage indirect : seul les maires et les autres élus peuvent voter pour les sénateurs
...
Questions
Combien de tours l'élection du président comporte-t-elle ?
Y a-t-il des candidats qui ne sont pas soutenus par un parti ?
Qui a gagné l'élection de 2002 au second tour ? Qui a perdu ?
V: French Politics
Quelques hommes politiques
File:Paul Biya
...
L'UMP : Jacques Chirac (Président de la République), Dominique de
Villepin (Premier ministre), Nicolas Sarkozy
(ministre de l'Intérieur)
L'UDF : François Bayrou
...
Lutte Ouvrière(LO) : Arlette Laguiller
...
La politique en France
En France, les partis politiques sont de droite ou de
gauche
...
à gauche : le PS, les Verts, le PCF, la LCR et
LO
...
L'UDF et l'UMP sont actuellement fachés mais ils
ont souvent gouverné ensemble
...
L'UMP et l'UDF refusent
tout contact avec le FN
...
Les gouvernements de gauche sont composés de membres du Parti Socialiste, de quelques membres du PCF
et des Verts
...
GRAMMAR
Grammar Contents
Information
1
...
3
...
5
...
7
...
Adjectives
Adverbs
Grammatical Gender
Negation
Prepositions
Sentences
Tenses
Verbs
Un fleuve au pont de Sainte-Marguerite
Adjectives
Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality
...
Most adjectives, such as those
above, are affected by this rule
...
--> M
...
-->
Masc
...
Singular
-s
un vent hivernal
Notes
Exceptions: fatal (fatals),
final (finals) & naval
(navals)
Irregular feminine formation
Examples
Masc
...
Masculine --> Feminine
Notes
No change -e
-e
égoïste, populaire, sociable,
timide,
énergique, dynamique,
sympathique
* When the masc
...
* The final consonant is pronounced on the
masc
...
When an adjective has one of these endings,
the ending of
the feminine form is doubled
...
-il is pronounced "ee" (as in keen), while -ille
is similar, with a final yod (pronounced like
"ee" in keen with a "y" on the end: [ij] )
...
-en is pronounced euhn and -enne is
pronounced ehne
...
-as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced
ahse
...
Final
Consonant
Doubled
-eux is pronounced euhh and -euse is
pronounced euhsse
...
-ou
change
-ou /
-ol
-olle
fou, fol
mou, mol
folle
molle
-ol forms occur before a vowel or mute h
...
These are:
beau (belle)
joli(e)
nouveau (nouvelle)
vieux (vieille)
jeune +
bon(ne) +
gentil (gentille)
mauvais(e)
vilain(e)
grand(e) +
petit(e)
court(e) +
long(ue)
gros(se) +
large
haut(e)
affreux (affreuse)
dernier (dernière) +
méchant(e) +
meilleur(e)
pauvre
autre
+ sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning
When these adjectives appear before an indefinite plural noun, they will change the article associated with it:
des garçons courageux / de beaux garçons
Changes in meaning
When grand goes before a noun, it means great
...
Likewise, when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate
...
This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even
when used before the nouns
...
Sing
...
Masc
...
Plural
de beaux garçons
Fem
...
(all)
Fem
...
In
French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male
...
First person singular - mon, ma, mes
Second person singular (informal) - ton, ta, tes
Third person singular - son, sa, ses
First person plural - notre, notre, nos
Second person plural (and polite form) - votre, votre, vos
Third person plural - leur, leur, leurs
Note: Exception
...
Example:
Mon ami = ok
Ma amie = error!
Mon amie = ok
...
They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role,
nor any characteristics of what they modify
...
In most cases, this is done by adding the
suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form
...
As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:
If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to
the feminine singular form:
vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")
poli → poliment ("polite" → "politely")
If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the corresponding adverb ends in -amment or -emment,
respectively:
constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")
récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently")
Some adjectives make other changes:
précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")
gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")
Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:
bon → bien ("good" → "well")
mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")
meilleur → mieux ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb)
pire → pire ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)
And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:
ainsi ("thus" or "thusly")
Placement
The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs
...
Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:
Jamais je n'ai fait cela or Je n'ai jamais fait cela ("Never have I done that" or "I've never done that")
List of common adverbs
après
1
...
also a preposition
Grammatical Gender
Gender of nouns
In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender, that is, they are masculine or feminine for the purposes of
grammar only
...
The nouns that express entities without gender (e
...
, objects and abstract concepts) have only one form
...
For example, la voiture (the car) can only be feminine; le stylo (the pen)
can only be masculine
...
With all that being said, there are three nouns in French where gender is altered when put in the plural form:
amour (un bel amour => des belles amours orgue délice
Examples
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •113 kb • help)
Gender of Nouns Genre des Noms
Masculine
le cheval
the horse
le chien
the dog
le livre
the book
le bruit
the noise
Feminine
la colombe
the dove
la chemise
the shirt
la maison
the house
la liberté
liberty
Common Endings Used
With Masculine Nouns:
le fromage
-age
the cheese
le professeur
-r
the teacher
le chat
-t
the cat
le capitalisme
-isme
capitalism
Common Endings Used
With Feminine Nouns:
la boulangerie
-ie
the bakery
la nation
-ion
the nation
la fraternité
-ite/-ité
brotherhood
la balance
-nce
the scales
la fille
-nne
the girl
-mme
l’indienne
-lle
the Indian
Unfortunately, there are many exceptions in French which can only be learned
...
Then there are some that
just don't make sense; la foi is feminine and means a belief, whereas le foie means liver
...
Definite and indefinite articles
The definite article
In English, the definite article is always “the”
...
Gender
2
...
First letter of the word
There are three definite articles and an abbreviation
...
It is similar to english, where "a"
changes to "an" before a vowel
...
The indefinite article
In English, the indefinite articles are "a" and "an"
...
Again, indefinite articles in French take different forms depending on gender and plurality
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •55 kb • help)
The Indefinite Article L'article indéfini
feminine
une une fille
a daughter
singular
masculine
un un fils
a son
des filles some daughters
plural
des
1
some sons
des fils
1
"des fils" does mean "some sons" but is a homograph: it can also mean "some threads"
Also note that des, like les is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English
...
In English, we would say "I am looking at
photographs
...
If you were looking at a set of specific pictures, you would say "Je regarde les
photographies
...
") If you were just flipping through the album, looking at
nothing in particular, you would say, "Je regard des photographies
...
")
Subject pronouns
French has six different types of pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
person plural
...
When referring to a single
person, “vous” or “tu” may be used depending on the situation; see notes in lesson 1
...
The French third person "on" has several meanings, but most closely
matches the now archaic English "one"
...
Also, while the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils"
and "elles" do
...
Also, if a group of people consists of both males and females, the male form is used, even if there
is only one male in a group of thousands of females
...
For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either “On se rencontre
au cinéma à sept heures
...
” (formal)
...
Negation
ne
...
pas around the verb
...
- I do not steal
...
pas wraps around the auxillary verb, not the participle
...
- I haven't stolen
...
pas usually wraps around the conjugated
verb
...
- I do not want to steal
...
Je veux ne pas voler
...
ne goes before any pronoun relating to the verb it affects
...
- I did not steal it
...
- We do not love each other
...
aucun(e)
not any, none, no
ne
...
ni
...
nor
ne
...
pas encore not yet
ne
...
plus
no longer
ne
...
que
only
ne
...
personne wraps around the entire verb set
...
- I did not give it to anyone
...
- I do not want to give it to anybody
...
ni
...
Je ne l'ai donné ni à mon frère, ni à ma sœur
...
Je ne peux voir ni mon frère ni ma sœur
...
In ne
...
Il n'a aucun ami
...
- He has no friend
...
Il n'a aucune feuille de papier
...
- He has no sheet of paper
...
Il n'a qu'une feuille de papier
...
Je ne peux guère voir mon frère et ma sœur - I can hardly see my brother and sister
...
However, it is always used in written French and for
formal conversations
...
Example:
Il n'y a pas de cinéma
...
(meaning: "You can never go partying")
Il n' y a rien à faire ici
...
Prepositions
Common prepositions
Prepostion Translation
à
1
...
at
3
...
in
à côté de
next to,
besides
à l'intérieur
inside
de
après
avec
chez
dans
after
Example
Notes
-Expresses a report/ratio of place
(to), time (at),
Je vais à Paris
...
possession (of or 's), means,
Je pars à cinq heures
...
C'est un ami à moi
...
indirect object or a complement
C'est la voiture à John
...
of attribution, a complement of
the name or adjective
...
The
Dog is next to the cat
...
They are with
their Families
...
He went home
...
The
in
books are in the library
...
with
de
1
...
about
derrière
behind
devant
in front of
Synonym: en
Also an indefinite artcle
...
Your keys
are behind your bed
...
Also a pronoun
...
He Is Here
...
Where is she? She is in that
house over there
...
The School is
far from the beach
...
through
2
...
The
Library is near the beach
pour
for
Ils l'ont fait pour toi
...
IPA: /pur/
sans
without
Elles veulent avoir une fête sans alcool
...
Also a noun: le par - (golf) par
La terre est sous le ciel
...
sous
under
sur
1
...
upon
3
...
above
La maison est sur la terre
...
out of
top of the ground
6
...
In case of unknown persons you have to use
the polite form Vous
...
If they later fall in love, they say Tu
...
" Also,
grammatically, even the singular form of "vous" behaves as though it were a plural, so even if you are
addressing only one person, you would still use verbal grammar consistent with addressing multiple people,
similar to English (as in "you are", "you [all] are", "they are
...
Examples, addressing one person:
Tu chantes - you sing (informal)
Vous chantez - you sing (polite) - (also, to address many persons)
Tu es grand - You are tall (informal)
Vous êtes grand - You are tall (polite, male)
Vous êtes grande - You are tall (polite, female)
Examples, addressing many persons:
Vous êtes grands - You are tall (informal or polite, male, many persons)
Vous êtes grandes - You are tall (informal or polite, female, many persons)
** - Il denotes masculine nouns, elle denotes feminine nouns, and on is for indeterminate subjects (see
below)
...
Examples:
Jack et Philipp parlent - Jack and Philipp speak
Ils parlent - They speak (all-male group)
Jack et Lucy parlent - Jack and Lucy speak
Ils parlent - They speak (mixed group)
Lucy et Dina parlent - Lucy and Dina speak
Elles parlent - They speak (all female group)
The pronoun on
The subject pronoun on is similar to the English personal pronoun one, except that it is not so formal, and is
more common
...
» ("It is by
blacksmithing that one becomes a blacksmith
...
e
...
Because of French's limited passive voice, it is often used as an empty subject when the agent is
unknown or unimportant: « On me l'a donné
...
")
It is used as a less formal substitute for the subject pronoun nous (we)
...
Also, note that the other forms of nous (direct object, indirect object, and
disjunctive) are not replaced by forms of on unless on is the subject as well
...
")
It is not the number 1, and therefore is not used to mean "one of them
...
On does not have ordinary direct- and indirect-object pronouns, only the reflexive pronoun se
...
The
pronoun quelqu'un ("someone") can fill some of the roles of on, in the same way that one and someone are
sometimes interchangeable in English
...
- I see you
...
- I want to see you
...
Je t'ai vu
...
Direct object replacement
Il me voit
...
Il te voit
...
Il nous voit
...
Il vous voit
...
Indirect Object Replacement
Il m'appelle
...
Il te le jette
...
Il nous le jette
...
Il vous le jette
...
l', le, la, and les
l', le, la, and les are pronouns which are used as direct objects and hence are called direct object pronouns
...
Il jette la boule
...
In the above sentence la boule is the direct object
...
Similarly, direct objects, such as "la boule", can be replaced by pronouns
...
Il la jette
...
Il les jettes
...
lui and leur
Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preposition
...
Il jette la boule à Jacques
...
Il jette la boule à Marie
...
Il jette la boule à Jacques et Marie
...
Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns
...
lui - replaces a singular masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human
leur - replaces a plural masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human
An example follows:
Il lui jette la boule
...
Il lui jette la boule
...
Il leur jette la boule
...
Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context
...
When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns
...
- He throws it to him
...
Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened
y
Indirect object pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by a
...
- J' y réponds
...
- I respond to them
...
Replacement of places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preposition
except de (for which en is used)
...
- Les hommes y vont
...
Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de
...
In this case En goes always with the singular, even if there are many items adressed
...
=> J'en veux
...
=> I want some
...
Example: Il a acheté deux pommes
...
Note that no agreement is needed between the past participle (le participe passé) and the object (complément
d'objet direct)
...
Je viens de Paris
...
J' en viens
...
Note that stress pronouns, and not en are used if the object refers to a person or persons
...
If a sentence uses an infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:
Subject
Pronoun Neg
(or noun)
Neg
Direct or Direct Obj Indirect
Indirect Pronouns Objects
je
me
tu
le
te
pas
conjugated
past
il (elle)
la
nous
plus
ne
verb
participle
nous
l'
vous
etc
...
Il me le donne
...
When a sentence uses the indirect object pronouns lui and leur with the direct object pronouns le, la,
and l', le, la, and les go first
...
- He gave it to him/her
...
Il m'emmène à Paris
...
Il m'y emmène
...
Y in conjunction with en is only used in a few cases
...
- There exist several ones
...
(No,) il n'y en a (pas/plus)
...
No, there aren't
...
L'impératif
When expressing positive commands, there are several rules one must remember when using object
pronouns
...
Retrouve-la
...
Me and Te become moi and toi
...
- Give me the videos
...
Donnez-le-moi
...
For the second person singular form, an "s" is added if the object (in the pronoun form) begins with a
vowel or "y"
...
- Go to the blackboard
...
- Go (there)
...
- Come on
...
French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)
Possessive Pronouns Les pronoms possesifs
mon copain ton copain son copain
notre copain votre copain leur copain
my friend your friend his/her friend our friend your friend their friend
le mien
le tien
le sien
le nôtre
le vôtre
le leur
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
mes copains tes copains ses copains nos copains vos copains leurs copains
my friends your friends his/her friends our friends your friends their friends
les miens les tiens
les siens
les nôtres les vôtres
les leurs
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
ma copine ta copine sa copine
notre copine votre copine leurs copine
my friend your friend his/her friend our friend your friend their friend
la mienne la tienne
la sienne
la nôtre
la vôtre
la leur
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
mes copines tes copines ses copines nos copines vos copines leurs copines
my friends your friends his/her friends our friends your friends their friends
les leurs
les miennes les tiennes les siennes les nôtres les vôtres
mine
yours
his/hers
ours
yours
theirs
Vous avez votre voiture? - You have your car?
Oui, nous avons la nôtre
...
À + a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence
...
Elle est ta voiture? - Is that your car?
Oui, elle est à moi
...
Sentences
Subject - Verb - Direct object - Indirect object
If
...
With present tense (le présent):
(1) Si + (le présent), (le futur simple)
Example: If you finish your homework, I'll give you some candies
...
(2) Si + (le présent), (l'impératif)
Example: If you are cold, close the window
...
With imperfect (l'imparfait) past tense (to express hypothetical situations):
(3) Si + (l'imparfait), (le conditionnel)
Example: If I had a million dollars, I would buy a house
...
With "plus-que-parfait" (also to express hypothetical situations):
(4) Si + (le plus-que-parfait), (le conditionnel passé)
Example: If I had known (or "had I known") computers were so useful, I would have taken a computer
course
...
Interrogation
Formation
Intonation
As in English, raising the tone at the end of a sentence can turn it into a question
...
He likes sweets
...
"Est-ce que" literally means "Is it that", understood as "Is it true that", and can be used to form questions
...
", attach "Est-ce que
...
Sometimes "que"
has to be modified to "qu'" for elision
...
=> Est-ce qu'il aime ce film ?
(He likes this film
...
(The indicative form of the following sentences will be placed in parentheses for comparison
...
Example: Do you like apples? (You like apples
...
)
In the case where the verb ends in a vowel while the subject starts with one, a "t" needs to be inserted to
avoid elision
...
)
A-t-elle déjà pris la décision ? (Elle a déjà pris la décision
...
)
For third person plural (verbs ending in "ent"), there is no need to insert the "t"
...
)
Achètent-ils une maison ? (Ils achètent une maison
...
Example: Did Marie choose this shirt? (Marie chose this shirt
...
)
For negative such as "ne
...
)
N'as-tu pas mangé la pizza entière ? (Tu n'as pas mangé la pizza entière
...
Example: Have you been there? (You have been there
...
)
Question words
Où ? - Where?
Quand ? - When?
Pourquoi ? - Why?
Comment ? - How?
Quel/Quels/Quelle/Quelles ? - Which?
Qui ? - Who?
Combien ? - How much?
Quoi ? - What?
Commands
Main article: French/Grammar/Tenses/Imperative
Tenses
Verb tenses sorted by mood
Non-finite forms
Le participe présent (The Present Participle)
Le participe passé (The Past Participle)
Le Verbe Auxiliaire (The Auxiliary Verb)
L'infinitif (The Infinitive)
L'infinitif passé (The Past Infinitive)
L'indicatif (The indicative mood)
Simple tenses
Le présent de l'indicatif (The present indicative)
L'imparfait de l'indicatif (The imperfect)
Le passé simple (The past historic)
Le futur (The future)
Perfect tenses
Le passé composé (The present perfect)
Le plus-que-parfait de l'indicatif (The pluperfect of the indicative)
Le passé antérieur (The past anterior)
Le futur antérieur (The future anterior)
Other tenses
Le passé récent (The recent past)
Le futur proche (The near future)
Le subjonctif (The subjunctive mood)
Le subjonctif (The subjunctive)
L'imparfait du subjonctif (The imperfect subjunctive)
Le subjonctif passé (The past subjunctive)
Le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif (The pluperfect subjunctive)
L'impératif (The imperative mood)
L'impératif (The imperative)
L'impératif passé (The past imperative)
Le conditionnel (The conditional mood)
Le conditionnel (The conditional)
Le conditionnel passé (The past conditional)
Le deuxième forme du conditionnel passé (The second form of the past conditional)
Verb tenses sorted by type
Simple tenses
Le présent de l'indicatif (The present indicative)
L'imparfait de l'indicatif (The imperfect)
Le passé simple (The past historic)
Le futur (The future)
Le conditionnel (The conditional)
Le présent du subjonctif (The present subjunctive)
L'imparfait du subjonctif (The imperfect subjunctive)
Perfect tenses
Le passé composé (The present perfect)
Le plus-que-parfait de l'indicatif (The pluperfect of the indicative)
Le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif (The pluperfect of the subjunctive)
Le passé antérieur (The past anterior)
Le futur antérieur (The future anterior)
Le conditionnel passé (The conditional past)
Le passé du subjonctif (The subjunctive past)
Perfect tense components
Le participe présent (The present participle)
Le participe passé (The past participle)
Le verbe auxiliaire (The auxiliary verb)
Other tenses
Le passé récent (The near past)
Le futur proche (The near future)
L'Impératif (The imperative)
L'impératif passé (The past imperative)
Verb tenses sorted by time
Past
L'imparfait de l'indicatif (The imperfect)
Le passé simple (The past historic)
L'imparfait du subjonctif (The imperfect subjunctive)
Le passé composé (The present perfect)
Le plus-que-parfait de l'indicatif (The pluperfect of the indicative)
Le passé antérieur (The past anterior)
Le passé récent (The near past)
L'imparfait du subjonctif (The imperfect subjunctive)
Le subjonctif passé (The past subjunctive)
Le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif (The pluperfect subjunctive)
L'impératif passé (The past imperative)
Le conditionnel passé (The past conditional)
Le deuxième forme du conditionnel passé (The second form of the past conditional)
Present
Future
Verbs
Due to their specificity, minor verb pages are only included in French/Grammar/Print version
...
Instead of mentioning both, only the masculine form will be used for the sake of brevity
...
In tables showing the endings or conjugations of verbs, an accent mark is shown without a letter below
it indicates that the accent mark is placed above the last letter of the stem
...
For instance, devenir and
revenir follow the same patterns as venir
...
The verb tenses here are organized by mood
...
Literary tenses, which are only used in formal writing, are in italics
...
wikibooks
...
Dates, Time, and Numbers
Le Midi d'Ossau dans les Pyrénées
Les jours de la semaine
The days of the week
...
Les jours de la semaine
...
For phrases relating to the day of the week, see the phrasebook
...
[lay mwah duh lahnay]
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •561 kb • help)
The Months of the Year Les mois de l'année
#
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
French
janvier
février
mars
avril
mai
juin
juillet
août
septembre
octobre
novembre
décembre
Pron
...
For phrases relating to the months of the year, see the phrasebook
Les saisons
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •142 kb • help)
Seasons Les Saisons
la saison
le printemps
l'été (m)
l'automne (m)
l'hiver (m)
season
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Les nombres (adjectifs numéraux cardinaux et ordinaux)
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •337 kb • help)
Numbers Les nombres
Cardinal Numbers 001-019
# French Pron
...
English # French Pronunciation
020 vingt
vahn
prem me ay
vingt et
001 un
uhn
one
1st premier(ère)
1er
first
021
vahntay uh
(air)
un
002 deux
deuh
two
2nd deuxième deuhzee ehm 2ième second Numbers twenty-two to twentyconfigured in the form of vingt003 trois
trwah three
3rd troisième trawhzee ehm 3ième third
For example twenty-two is ving
004 quatre catr
four
4th quatrième catree ehm
4ième fourth 030 trente
trahnt
trente et
005 cinq
sank
five
5th cinquième sankee ehm
5ième fifth
031
trahntay uh
un
006 six
seese
six
6th sixième
seesee ehm
6ième sixth Numbers thrity-two to thirty-nin
configured in the form of trente007 sept
set
seven
7th septième
setee ehm
7ième seventh For example thrity-three is trent
008 huit
weet
eight
8th huitième
weetee ehm
8ième eighth 040 quarante cahrahnt
quarante cahrahntay
009 neuf
neuhf
nine
9th neuvième neuhvee ehm 9ième ninth 041
et un
uhn
Numbers forty-two to forty-nine
010 dix
deese
ten
10th dixième
deezee ehm
10ième tenth configured in the form of
quarante-[02-09]
...
012 douze dooz
tweleve
050 cinquante sankaunte
cinquante sankauntay
013 treize trehz
thirteen
051
et un
uhn
Numbers fifty-two to fifty-nine
014 quatorze catorz fourteen
configured in the form of
cinquante-[02-09]
...
019 dix-neuf deeznuf nineteen
For example sixty-six is soixant
This pattern changes slightly after the sixties:
Numbers seventy to seventy-nine are configured in the form of soixante-[10-19]
...
Number eighty is configured in the form of quatre-vingts (4 - 20's) || catr vahn || eighty
Numbers eighty-one to ninty-nine are configured in the form of quatre-vingt-[01-19]
...
une dizaine (one ten)
une douzaine (one dozen)
cent
100
une centaine (one hundred)
[deux - neuf] cents 200-900
mille
1
...
000
...
000
...
000
For 70-79, it builds upon "soixante" but past that it builds upon a combination of terms for 80-99
Only the first (21,31,41,51,etc) have "et un"; but past this it is simply both words consecutively
(vingt-six, trente-trois, etc)
For 100-199, it looks much like this list already save that "cent" is added before the rest of the
number; this continues up to 1000 and onward
...
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)
The Time L'heure
#
01
02
03
05
06
07
08
09
French
l'heure (f)
une demi-heure
le matin
le midi
l'après-midi (m)
le soir
le minuit
la journée
Pron
...
g
...
m
...
m
...
Use du matin, de l'après midi, and du soir to
disambiguate a given time
...
Alternatively, you could use the 24-hour system: "Il est dix-neuf heures" has no
ambiguity; time is often expressed in this fashion, particularly in professional/commercial settings
...
" (It is noon
...
lexilogos
...
htm) : all online French dictionaries
French dictionary (http://www
...
biz/english/french)
French - English Dictionary
See:
The French wiktionary (http://fr
...
org)
Lexilogos (http://www
...
com/index
...
online-dictionary
...
1526 - a
...
French History
See: European History
For the history of this book, see that page
...
...
org/Presentation?docid=dhdhf2r5_72gfw2wbhs&hl=en) History
Part 2 (https://docs
...
com/a/cameronschools
...
...
org/Presentation?docid=dhdhf2r5_72gfw2wbhs&hl=en)
Nations of the World
Les pays du monde (nations of the world)
A
French
English
l'Afghanistan (m)
Afghanistan
l'Afrique du Sud (f)
South Africa
l'Albanie (f)
Albania
l'Algérie (f)
Algeria
l'Allemagne (f)
Germany
Andorre (f)
Andorra
l'Angleterre (f)
England
l'Angola (f)
Angola
Antigua-et-Barbuda (m) Antigua and Barbuda
l'Arabie saoudite (f)
Saudi Arabia
l'Argentine (f)
Argentina
l'Arménie (f)
Armenia
Aruba
Aruba
l'Australie (f)
Australia
l'Autriche (f)
Austria
l'Azerbaïdjan (f)
Azerbaijan
B
French
English
les Bahamas (f) The Bahamas
le Bahreïn
Bahrain
le Bangladesh
Bangladesh
la Barbade
Barbados
la Belgique
Belgium
le Belize
Belize
le Bénin
Benin
le Bhoutan
Bhutan
la Biélorussie
Belarus
la Birmanie
Burma
la Bolivie
Bolivia
le Botswana
Botswana
le Brésil
Brazil
le Brunéi
Brunei
la Bulgarie
Bulgaria
le Burkina-Faso Burkina Faso
le Burundi
Burundi
C
French
English
le Cambodge
Cambodia
le Cameroun
Cameroon
le Canada
Canada
le Cap-Vert
Cape Verde
le Chili
Chile
la Chine
China
Chypre (f)
Cyprus
la Colombie
Columbia
les Comores (f)
Comores
le Congo
Congo
la Corée du Nord North Korea
la Corée du Sud South Korea
le Costa Rica
Costa Rica
la Côte d'Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire
la Croatie
Croatia
Cuba
Cuba
D
French
English
le Danemark Denmark
Djibouti
Djibouti
la Dominique Dominica
E
French
English
l'Écosse (f)
Scotland
l'Égypte (f)
Egypt
les Émirats arabes unis (m) The United Arab Emirates
l'Équateur (m)
Equador
l'Érythrée (f)
Eritrea
l'Espagne (f)
Spain
l'Estonie (f)
Estonia
les États-Unis (m)
The United States
l'Éthiopie (f)
Ethiopia
F
French
English
les Fidji (f) Fiji
la Finlande Finland
la France
France
G
French
English
le Gabon
Gabon
la Gambie
Gambia
la Géorgie
Georgia
le Ghana
Ghana
la Grèce
Greece
la Grenade
Grenada
le Guatemala
Guatemala
la Republique de Guinée Guinea
la Guinée-Bissao
Guinea-Bissau
la Guinée-équatoriale
Equatorial Guinea
la Guyane
Guyana
I
French
l'Île Maurice (f)
English
Mauritius
les Îles Cook (f)
Cook Islands
les Îles Marshall (f) Marshall Islands
les Îles Salomon (f) Solomon Islands
l'Inde (f)
India
l'Indonésie (f)
Indonesia
l'Iran (m)
Iran
l'Iraq/l'Irak (m)
Iraq
l'Irlande (f)
Ireland
l'Islande (f)
Iceland
Israël (m)
Israel
l'Italie (f)
Italy
J
French
English
la Jamaïque Jamaica
le Japon
Japan
la Jordanie Jordan
K
French
English
le Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
le Kenya
Kenya
le Kirghizstan Kyrgyzstan
Kiribati (f)
Kiribati
le Koweït
Kuwait
L
French
English
le Laos
Laos
le Lesotho
Lesotho
la Lettonie
Latvia
le Liban
Lebanon
le Libéria
Liberia
la Libye
Libya
le Lichtenstein Lichtenstein
la Lituanie
Lithuania
le Luxembourg Luxembourg
M
French
la Macédoine
English
Macedonia
Madagascar (f) Madagascar
la Malaisie
Malaysia
le Malawi
Malawi
les Maldives (f) The Maldives
le Mali
Mali
Malte
Malta
le Maroc
Morocco
la Mauritanie
Mauritania
le Mexique
Mexico
la Micronésie
Micronesia
la Moldavie
Moldavia
Monaco
Monaco
la Mongolie
Mongolia
le Mozambique Mozambique
N
French
English
la Namibie
Namibia
la Nauru
Nauru
le Népal
Nepal
le Nicaragua
Nicaragua
le Niger
Niger
le Nigéria
Nigeria
la Norvège
Norway
la Nouvelle-Zélande New Zealand
O
French
Oman (m)
English
Oman
l'Ouganda (m) Uganda
l'Ouzbékistan Uzbekistan
P
French
English
le Pakistan
Pakistan
le Panama
Panama
la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée Papua New Guinea
le Paraguay
Paraguay
les Pays-Bas (m)
The Netherlands
le Pays de Galles (m)
Wales
le Pérou
Peru
les Philippines (f)
The Philippines
la Pologne
Poland
la Polynésie française
French Polynesia
le Portugal
Portugal
Porto Rico
Puerto Rico
Q
French English
le Qatar Qatar
R
French
English
la République centrafricaine Central African Republic
la République dominicaine Dominican Republic
la République tchèque
Czech Republic
la Roumanie
Romania
le Royaume-Uni
The United Kingdom
la Russie
Russia
le Rwanda
Rwanda
S
French
English
Saint-Christophe-et-Niévès (m)
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Sainte-Lucie (f)
Saint Lucia
Saint-Marin (m)
San Marino
le Saint-Siège (le Vatican)
The Holy See (The Vatican)
Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines (m) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
le Salvador
El Salvador
les Samoa (f)
Samoa
Sao Tomé et Principe (m)
Sao Tomé and Principe
le Sénégal
Senegal
les Seychelles (f)
Seychelles
la Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Singapour
Singapore
la Slovaquie
Slovakia
la Slovénie
Slovenia
la Somalie
Somalia
le Soudan
Sudan
le Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
la Suède
Sweden
la Suisse
Switzerland
le Surinam
Surinam
le Swaziland
Swaziland
la Syrie
Syria
T
French
English
le Tadjikistan (m) Tajikistan
la Tanzanie
Tanzania
le Tchad
Chad
la Thaïlande
Thailand
le Togo
Togo
les Tonga (f)
Tonga
Trinité-et-Tobago Trinidad and Tobago
la Tunisie
Tunisia
le Turkménistan
Turkmenistan
la Turquie
Turkey
Tuvalu
Tuvalu
U
French
l'Ukraine (f)
English
Ukraine
l'Uruguay (m) Uruguay
V
French
English
Vanuatu
Vanuatu
le Vatican
The Vatican
le Venezuela Venezuela
le Viêt-Nam Vietnam
W
[None]
X
[None]
Y
le Yémen
Yemen
la Yougoslavie (m) Yugoslavia
Z
French
la Zambie
English
Zambia
le Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
Phrasebook
TravelWiki phrase book (http://wikitravel
...
Pardonnez-moi, /paʁdɔne mwa mɛ ʒə nə paʁlə pa trɛ bjɛ̃ frɑ̃sɛ/
mais je ne parle
pas très bien
français
/paʁle vu ɑ̃glɛ/
V: Greetings
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •276 kb • help)
Greetings Les salutations
(“par-lay voo ah(n)
-GLAY”)
(par-dohn-ay
MWAH may zheu
neuh parl pah tray
byen frah(n)-SAY)
Pardon m
but I do
speak ve
well Fren
Salut
Hi
...
(informal)
Bonjour
Hello
(more formal than salut) (all day)
Bonsoir
Good evening
Bonne nuit
Good night
bun nwee
Quoi de neuf ? What's up (about you)? (lit
...
Not much
...
no big-thing)
V: How are you?
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •311 kb • help)
How are you? Ça va?
Comment allez-vous? (formal),
Comment vas-tu? (informal),
How are you?
Comment ça va?/Ça va ? (informal)
I'm doing (very) well
Ça va (très) bien
(lit
...
Yes, it goes
...
Very well, thanks
...
Not Bad
pas si bien/pas très bien
not so well
(très) mal
(very) bad
Comme ci, comme ça
...
Désolé(e)
...
Et toi?
And you? (informal)
Et vous?
And you? (formal)
Titles
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •325 kb • help)
Titles Les titres
French
Abbr
...
M
...
, Sir
...
mahdahmn
maydahm
Mrs
...
Ladies
mahdmwoizell Miss, Young lady
maydmwahzell Young ladies
V: Courtesy
French Vocabulary • Print version •
audio (info •434 kb • help)
Courtesy La politesse
S'il te plaît
...
)
Please
S'il vous plaît
...
Thanks (a lot) Merci (beaucoup)
...
(Lit: Of nothing
...
(Lit: Not of what
...
)
You're welcome
...
shtahn pree (informal)
Je vous en prie
jzuh vooz ahn pree (formal)
V: Good-bye
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •202 kb • help)
Good-bye Au revoir
Salut
...
/Bye
...
Good-bye
...
See you tomorrow
...
Bye, see you tomorrow
...
See you (later today)! ah tootah luhr
À la prochaine
...
See you soon
...
chow (Italian)
V: Asking for the day/date/time
French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •612 kb • help)
Asking For The Day, Date, Time Demander le jour, la date, le temps
Asking for the day
...
Today is [day]
...
Tomorrow is [day]
...
Quelle est la date
What is the date
3a
kell ay lah daht
(aujourd'hui)?
(today)?
3b C'est le [#] [month]
...
Asking for the time
...
It is [number] hours
...
Also known as
International French and Received Pronunciation (RP) French
...
IPA chart French vowels
Front
NR
R
i
y
Close-mid e
ø
Close
Central
NR
R
u
Open-mid ɛ ɛ̃ œ (œ̃)
Open
Back
a
o
ə
ɔ ɔ̃
(ɑ) ɑ̃
These tables based upon Wikipedia:French phonology
IPA chart French consonants
Bilabial
Labio- Dental1/ PalatoLabioLabioPalatal
Velar
Uvular
dental Alveolar alveolar
palatal
velar
Plosive
pb
td
Nasal
m
n
Fricative
f v
s z
kg
ɲ
ʃ ʒ
Approximant
Lateral
ŋ
j
ɥ
w
ʁ
l
Slang
Notes on how to use slang
Foreign speakers
It is important to note that, as a foreigner, your use of slang will often be received as cute or funny,
depending greatly upon your overall fluency in spoken French
...
Therefore,
no matter how much slang you use in your native language, limiting your use of slang in French
(proportionally to your level of fluency) will also limit how much you are patronised and giggled at by
native listeners
...
Mixing styles might sound like
saying: "Thy face, it is quite finely rawkin'"
...
Avoid subject-verb inversion in questions
...
When doing this with interrogatives
(qui, quand, comment, etc
...
e
...
There is no such equivalent usage of any word in the French language
...
Examples
noun
"He's a great fuck" = "C'est un bon coup"
"He is such a fuck(er)" = "C'est un pauvre type/enfoiré/enculé/connard/salaud" (insert any insult)
"He's such a fuck-up" = "C'est un pauvre con/un raté/un loser"
verb
sexual: baiser, niquer, coucher avec ; insulting: foutre, enculer
"I fucked up on my French test" = "J'ai foiré/raté mon examen de français"
"I fucked (up) my car" = "J'ai niqué ma bagnole"
"He fucked me over" = "Il m'a planté"
"I fucked your mother/mum/mam/mom" = "J'ai baisé/niqué ta mère"
"Fuck off" = "Va chier!", "Fous le camp" (see the verb 'Foutre')
"Fuck you"/"Go fuck yourself" = "Va te faire foutre/enculer" "VA niquer ta mère"
adjective
"This is fucking awful" = "Putain, ça craint"/"C'est bordelique"/"C'est de la merde"
"I am so fucked-up" = "J'suis barré/perché" (mental state); "J'suis totalement bourré(e)" (drunk);
"J'suis défoncé(e)" (high[marijuana])
adverb
"I am trying to fucking work here" = "J'essaie de bosser putain"
exclamation
"Fuck!" = "Merde !" ; "Putain !" ; "Bordel !"
n
...
: these can also be compounded in French, i
...
, "Putain de merde !" "Putain de bordel de merde"
(for stringing these together, see the scene in the film Matrix Reloaded with the Frenchman in the
restaurant)
Glossary
Notes on Pronunciation:
*To feel how R should be pronounced, gargle with water, then try gargling without water
...
*The U is hardest for English speakers
...
Audio1 Audio2 Audio3 Audio4
Abruti(e)
n
...
, addict
ack-RO
Ado
n
...
, Short for apéritif
...
, flat or apartment; short for 'appartement'
ah-PARRT
Aprèm'
n
...
ah-PRIm
Bagnole
n
...
, Slang for 'high school' (formerly for 'factory')
Barj' or Barjot
adj
...
, a crazy person
BARge
BAHR-joe
Bander
v
...
for 'well'
...
, dick
bEEt
Blaireau
n
...
'badger', Loser
bl-AIR-roh
Le Bled
n
...
, litt
...
Synonym for 'tête', or 'head' in its slang usage; a rough equivalent in English would be
'face' rather than 'head', i
...
:
"Ta boule me manque" = "I miss seeing your sweet face"
Can also mean "balls" (as in testicles) or "arse"/"ass", as in "J'aime Trop Ton Boule" (I Want Your
Ass), a song by by French Rapper Fatal Bazooka
bOOL
Bouffer
v
...
, la bouffe, food
BOOF-fay
Bosser
v
...
, job
bOOL-oh
Se Branler
v
...
to wobble)
suh BRAhn-lay
Ça a été
exp
...
, Sex maniac (lit
...
, A night at the movies
SEE-noh-sh
La cité
n
...
, stupid "J'ai été con quand j'ai décidé de sortir" = "I was dumb when I decided to go out"
n
...
'cunt' (as used in UK English); "Quel con" = "What an idiot"
exp
...
"J'ai cet examen à la con" = "I have this stupid test"
cohÑ
Crever
v
...
, crevé(e), exhausted
...
, la crève, a cold, the flu
...
: "J'ai la crève"
...
or adj
...
Colloquial word meaning 'headmaster'
...
To fuck, to bugger
...
Widely used under the form "va te faire enculer" (litt
...
Also, "enculé" is the participle turned into a substantive, and means "bastard" or "arsehole"
...
: "enculer des mouches" (litt
...
eñ-CU-lay
La fac
n
...
, to pout
...
fer lah tet
Foutre
n
...
v
...
Commonly employed in vulgar/familiar
expressions such as:
"Va te faire foutre" = "Go get fucked/Go fuck yourself"
"J'en ai rien à foutre/battre" = "I don't care"
"J'ai rien à foutre (ici, avec toi)" = "I have nothing to do (here, with you)"
FOO-truh
Hyper
adj
...
Colloquial word meaning 'to like' from arabic noun 'kif' meaning 'cannabis',
...
g Tu me fais trop kiffer
...
Colloquial word meaning "genius" (as used in UK English), "great", "brilliant", "sensational" or
"awesome"
j-knee-al
Grave
adj
...
"severe", roughly means "stupid" e
...
roughly meaning "a lot" or "really" e
...
When used with a
predicate, it can be placed before or after it
...
g "il est débile grave, lui!" or "il est grave débile, lui!"
(he's really stupid)
grah-ve
Gueule
n
...
It can be used in "Ta gueule!" which can be translated into 'Shut
up!'/'Shut your face!'
...
, slang
...
e
...
'Arrête de me gueuler dessus' could be translated into 'Stop shouting at
me'
...
guh-lay ; oñ-guh-lay
MacDo
Short for MacDonald's
...
, excl
...
That is to say, adults use it often, as
well as the youth
...
maRed / with emphasis or in exclamation: mare-DUH
N'importe quoi
exp
...
, bullshit as in "C'est du n'importe quoi, ce qu'il dit"
nahm-poRt-UH-kwah
Niquer
v
...
Often used in insults such as 'Nique ta mère' (Fuck your
mother), sometimes reduced to 'Ta mère!'
...
'Je vais te niquer la gueule (vulgaire)' : je vais me battre contre toi !
e
...
'Cette porte est niquée
...
)
'Ce jeu nique tout
...
)
NEEK-ay
Ouais
'yeah' (as opposed to "oui" = "yes")
waay
Putain
n
...
Roughly equivalent to 'merde' when used as an exclamation
...
'Putain' is the closest equivalent to the English 'fuck' (see note on 'fuck')
...
, 'very', 'really' ; "Je suis super content" = "I'm really happy"
soup-air
Taff
n
...
Stuff
trew-uhk
Tronche
n
...
TRon-shuh
Vachement
adj
...
Literally "cowly", vachement is a synonym for "very", and can be translated in
some cases for the English adjective 'quite'
...
Whilst on the subject of 'vache', a popular French phrase is 'la vache!' which, as an exclamation,
means 'damn!' or 'darn!'
...
It can however be used sometimes as an exclamation of surprise or amazement 'la vache! c'est genial
ce truc'
vah-shuh; vah-shuh-MAWÑ
Zinzin
n
...
Verlan
Verlan is roughly similar to English Pig Latin, in that certain words are split in half, and the two
componenents switch positions, but do not necessarily retain all letters (due to French pronunciation
patterns)
...
The word verlan is in itself an
example of this; it comes from the word l'envers (meaning 'backwards')
...
Common verlan expressions include:
Beur ou rebeu
n
...
from arabe
...
Chelou
adj
...
from louche
...
, Dog
...
"Les ienches, ca me fait flipper
...
"
Kem
n
...
Meuf
n
...
from femme
...
, Crazy, ridiculous
...
Used commonly in the expression "c'est un truc de ouf" ("that is
some crazy shit")
...
, Not funny, difficult, something that sucks
...
(the d is dropped in Verlan because
the final d does not pronounce in lourd)
...
, Rotten, awful, gross
...
, Party
...
Venère
adj
...
from enervé(e)
...
conjugation of
être, "to be")
...
biz
n
...
c
subj+verb, c'est, "it is"
...
dc
conj
...
dsl
adj
...
fok
exp
...
ke
interr
...
ki
interr
...
pron
...
koi
interrogative, quoi, "what"; also seen in pourkoi, "why"
...
, mort(e) de rire, "laughing myself to death", (equivalent of lol, laughing out loud)
...
, mais, "but"
...
, pour, "for"
...
, peté(e) de rire, "bursting with laughter", (equivalent of lol, laughing out loud)
...
tt
adj
...
nrv
adj
...
Solutions to Exercises
Creating exercises
When creating new exercises:
Namescheme: E: [Level]
...
01 1 - School Vocabulary - Complétez
Example: E: 2
...
Replace [
...
{{French Exercises|[namescheme]|
[the exercise text]
|
[the exercise solution text]
}}
Example:
{{French Exercises|E: 2
...
|
* On lève la ''main''
...
One can change their keyboard configuration from their previous setting to a US
(Qwerty) International setting
...
starr
...
In Windows XP:
1
...
3
...
5
...
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel
Regional and Language Options
Languages -> Details
...
Under Input language, choose your native language
...
Now to form accents, you prefix the letter with either ` ' " ~ or ^ So, to get è, one types ` and then e
...
These are
ù Alt+151
û Alt+150
ü Alt+129
The right
examples of the alt-number code method:
or Alt+0249
or Alt+0251
or Alt+0252
Alt key may be required
...
jlg-utilities
...
This layout does not modify the normal US Layout, but extends it
...
) are not dead keys and does not perturb the common user
...
In Mac OS X
You could change your keyboard layout in System Preferences->International->Input Menu or with the
default qwerty keyboard layout you can use meta keys to create the accents
...
The keystrokes for the diffent accents are
...
Just try to pull up a web page or a document that
contains the special characters and paste them into your text
...
Search & replace
If you are working with a text editor you have the option to search for text and replace it with other text
...
The idea is to mark a character for becoming a special
character, for example typing ~a when you mean à
...
Of course you have to either type in the Alt number code
or paste the character, but the point is that you only have to do it once for the whole text and not for every
single à that you want to type
...
You can select one of Right Alt key, Left
Win-key, Right Win-key, Menu key, Right Ctrl key or Caps Lock key (for a USA keyboard layout)
...
See below for how to use the
Compose key
...
If you are using Unix or a derivative operating system (such as Linux) with XFree86, you can define a
compose key by opening a terminal window and typing:
To use the
xmodmap -e
To use the
xmodmap -e
To use the
xmodmap -e
Windows menu key (between the right Windows key and right Ctrl key:
"keysym Menu = Multi_key"
right Windows key:
"keysym R_Meta = Multi_key"
right Alt key:
"keysym Alt_Gr = Multi_key"
To use the Compose key, press and release the Compose key, then type two characters
...
Translators
Google Translator (http://www
...
com/language_tools)
Babelfish Translation (http://babelfish
...
digital
...
...
onlinefrenchhelp
...
com French Language (http://french
...
com/)
Target Language (http://www
...
co
...
homestead
...
html)
BBC (http://www
...
co
...
shtml)
The Mixxer (http://www
...
org) Find a native French speaker for a language
exchange via Skype (http://www
...
com)
Jump-Gate (http://www
...
com/languages/french/)
University of Adelaide (http://www
...
adelaide
...
au/guide/hum/french/learning
...
claritaslux
...
ielanguages
...
html)
BBC Bitesize grammar
(http://www
...
co
...
shtml)
Free resources for language learners (http://loquela-education
...
TravelWiki Phrasebook (http://wikitravel
...
orbilat
...
html)
MIT French I Assignments
(http://ocw
...
edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-301Fall-2004/Assignments/index
...
mit
...
htm
Useful information on the French language can be found on the site of tv5 (www
...
org)
(http://www
...
org/TV5Site/lf/langue_francaise
...
ielanguages
...
html)
FancyFrench (http://fancyfrench
...
com) - Established method for learning French, with a
free online
...
French grammar
Portail lettres (http://www
...
lettres
...
htm)
Verbs : Grammar - Online French Help (http://www
...
com/grammar/verb)
Clo7 (http://membres
...
fr/clo7/)
French grammar lessons (http://french
...
com/library/weekly/bltopicsub-g
...
Meul Etienne) (http://www
...
be/)
Online verb conjugator (http://humanities
...
edu/orgs/ARTFL/forms_unrest/inflect
...
html)
Dictionaries
Lexilogos (http://www
...
com/index
...
online-dictionary
...
com/dictionary/)
Le portail de la culture (http://www
...
fr/Groups/accueil/home_fr)
Cortland (http://www
...
edu/flteach/civ/)
Ambassade de France en Nouvelle-Zélande (http://www
...
net
...
diplomatie
...
fr/thema/dossier
...
com - travel and general interest guide to France (http://about-france
...
org/en/France)
French administration
Le portail de l'administration (http://www
...
gouv
...
Fables de La Fontaine
2
...
1
...
Wikinews
Texts Information
Uncategorized Texts
Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen de 1789
Featured Text
La Marseillaise
L'hymne national de France
...
Wiktionary
Definition
Appendix
Dictionary
(edit template (http://en
...
org/w/wiki
...
wikibooks
...
A tale with the moral of hard work
...
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la Fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu’à la saison nouvelle
...
»
La Fourmi n’est pas prêteuse:
C’est là son moindre défaut
...
— Nuit et jour à tout venant
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise
...
Eh bien ! Dansez maintenant
...
Maître Renard, par l’odeur alléché,
Lui tint à peu près ce langage :
« Hé ! bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau
...
»
A ces mots le Corbeau ne se sent pas de joie ;
Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie
...
»
Le Corbeau, honteux et confus,
Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus
...
Il marchait d’un pas relevé,
Et faisait sonner sa sonnette :
Quand, l’ennemi se présentant,
Comme il en voulait à l’argent,
Sur le mulet du fisc une troupe se jette,
Le saisit au frein et l’arrête
...
Est-ce donc là, dit-il, ce qu’on m’avait promis ?
Ce mulet qui me suit du danger se retire ;
Et moi j’y tombe et je péris !
— Ami, lui dit son camarade,
Il n’est pas toujours bon d’avoir un haut emploi :
Si tu n’avais servi qu’un meunier, comme moi,
Tu ne serais pas si malade
...
The national anthem of France
...
wikibooks
...
phtml?title=Template:French/Texts/National_anthems/Footer&action=edit) )
National
(discussion (http://en
...
org/wiki/Talk:French/Texts/National_anthems) )
Anthems
L'Aube Nouvelle (Benin) • La Brabançonne (Belgium) Le Cantique suisse (Switzerland) La Marseillaise (France) O Canada
(Canada)
La Marseillaise
Introduction
Main article: w:La Marseillaise
How To Read The Anthem
You will not get much out of the anthem if you skim through it or only know the meanings of half the
words
...
The first is to read the French text and English translation below
...
Read a line,
look up (http://translate
...
com/translate_t) words you don't know, then continue on to the next line
...
It may be necessary to repeat this several times
...
You should be able to reread it in no time at all
...
Vocabulary
la Patrie fatherland
le citoyen citizen
The Anthem
French lyrics
English Translation
I
...
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !
Verse I
[show ▼]
Refrain
[show ▼]
Verse II
[show ▼]
Refrain :
Aux armes citoyens
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons
II
...
Quoi ces cohortes étrangères !
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fils guerriers ! (bis)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres des destinées
...
Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
L'opprobre de tous les partis
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros
La France en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre
...
(1) The sentence (in French) is inverted, the non-literal translation is : "The bloody banner of tyranny is
raised against/before
it may be also "Protect us against tyranny, The bloody banner is raised"
Amour sacré deus"
la but
Patrie
Conduis,
soutiens
nos bras
vengeurs
(2) Here
and in the
next line,
this is
often sung as "nos" ("our") rather than "vos" ("your"); "vos" remains
official
...
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents
Questions
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !
UNCATEGORIZED TEXTS
Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen
Introduction and context
Main article: w:Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen de 1789
(http://fr
...
org/wiki/D%C3%A9claration_des_Droits_de_l%27Homme_et_du_Citoyen_de_1789)
Vocabulary
un droit - a right
Text introduction
Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen
Adoptée par l'Assemblée constituante du 20 au 26 août 1789, acceptée par le roi le 5 octobre 1789
Les représentants du peuple français, constitués en Assemblée nationale, considérant que l'ignorance, l'oubli
ou le mépris des droits de l'homme sont les seules causes des malheurs publics et de la corruption des
gouvernements, ont résolu d'exposer, dans une Déclaration solennelle, les droits naturels, inaliénables et
sacrés de l'homme, afin que cette Déclaration, constamment présente à tous les membres du corps social,
leur rappelle sans cesse leurs droits et leurs devoirs; afin que les actes du pouvoir législatif, et ceux du
pouvoir exécutif pouvant à chaque instant être comparés avec le but de toute institution politique, en soient
plus respectés; afin que les réclamations des citoyens, fondées désormais sur des principes simples et
incontestables, tournent toujours au maintien de la Constitution et au bonheur de tous
...
Les distinctions sociales
ne peuvent être fondées que sur l'utilité commune
...
Ces droits sont la liberté, la propriété, la sûreté, et la résistance à
l'oppression
...
Nul corps, nul
individu ne peut exercer d'autorité qui n'en émane expressément
...
Ces bornes ne peuvent être déterminées que par la loi
...
Tout ce qui n'est pas
défendu par la loi ne peut être empêché, et nul ne peut être contraint à faire ce qu'elle n'ordonne pas
...
Tous les citoyens ont droit de concourir
personnellement, ou par leurs représentants, à sa formation
...
Tous les citoyens, étant égaux à ses yeux, sont également
admissibles à toutes dignités, places et emplois publics, selon leurs capacités et sans autre distinction
que celle de leurs vertus et de leurs talents
...
Ceux qui sollicitent, expédient, exécutent ou font exécuter des
ordres arbitraires, doivent être punis; mais tout citoyen appelé ou saisi en vertu de la loi doit obéir à
l'instant; il se rend coupable par la résistance
...
Article IX - Tout homme étant présumé innocent jusqu'à ce qu'il ait été déclaré coupable, s'il est jugé
indispensable de l'arrêter, toute rigueur qui ne sera pas nécessaire pour s'assurer de sa personne doit
être sévèrement réprimée par la loi
...
Article XI - La libre communication des pensées et des opinions est un des droits les plus précieux de
l'homme: tout citoyen peut donc parler, écrire, imprimer librement, sauf à répondre de l'abus de cette
liberté, dans les cas déterminés par la loi
...
Article XIII - Pour l'entretien de la force publique et pour les dépenses d'administration, une
contribution commune est indispensable
...
Article XIV - Chaque citoyen a le droit, par lui-même ou par ses représentants, de constater la
nécessité de la contribution publique, de la consentir librement, d'en suivre l'emploi et d'en déterminer
la quotité, l'assiette, le recouvrement et la durée
...
Article XVI - Toute société dans laquelle la garantie des droits n'est pas assurée, ni la séparation des
pouvoirs déterminée, n'a pas de Constitution
...
Questions
WIKINEWS
Information
Featured News Piece
Fire
(audio)
()
Wikinews (discussion (http://en
...
org/wiki/Talk:French/Texts/Wikinews) )
Fire
Fire
From wikinews:fr:Premier incendie de l'été en région PACA/Brève
Vocabulary
brûler
to burn
l'incendie fire
The News Story
audio
30 juin 2005
...
Le Centre opérationnel départemental d'incendie et de secours du Var a déclaré que le terrain était
« très difficile d'accès en raison de la densité de la végétation »
...
Les raisons de l'incendie
restent inconnues, une enquète est ouverte
...
Q&A
Welcome to the French Questions and Answers page
...
Please sign and date
your entries by inserting -- ~~~~ at the end
...
Ask a question!
(http://en
...
org/w/index
...
Un Feutre= a felt-tipped pen, ie
...
You just have to say felt-tipped pen
...
106
...
220 (talk)
Level
How do I know what level I'm on? Is there any sort of placement test?
You can easily find placement tests online and at various Colleges' and Universities' Websites online
(http://www
...
com/search?q=french+placement+test&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL
...
--Fruitblender 23:06, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
exercise on le futur anterior
Here (http://globegate
...
edu/french/globegate_mirror/gramm
...
--Fruitblender 23:06, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
In French How do I Make a sentence Imperative?
The imperative is used in tu, nous and vous forms; the nous and vous forms are the same as the
indicative in both regular and irregular verbs (except the 3 irregulars shown below)
...
The infinitive can also be used as the imperative, but only for impersonal commands, eg: mettre la
ceinture
...
While there is a
simple past tense in French, it is only used in formal writing, so verbs conjugated in the passé
composé can also be used to mean the English simple tense
...
In French, the passé composé covers "I ate", "I did eat" and "I have
eaten" - J'ai mangé
...
Something was done a certain amount of times in the past
...
If you want to know how to form it, you'll have to look it up
...
--Fruitblender 22:43, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Verbs used as adjectives or nouns
How do you tanslate English "verbals" into French? I am confused about both:
Verbs used as adjectives (in English they would be called "participles")
ex: I see the singing girl
...
Thanks for your help, FerralMoonrender (talk) 20:47, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
Hi
...
In your example, a
French would say "Je vois la fille qui chante"
...
In your example, we
would say "Chanter est amusant"
...
--AurélieM (talk) 00:36, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
Merci beaucoup! FerralMoonrender (talk) 06:53, 3 August 2008 (UTC)
Çava
Passé composé - Reflexive Verbs vs
...
Il m'EST parlé
...
I already know about using the thumb to begin counting, but what makes that so much better than
starting with the index finger? This is for a 6th graders report in French, please! Any assistance would be
appreciated, links, etc
...
Lessons: Lessons planning page
...
2MB
High Quality Images Edition
(http://upload
...
org/wikibooks/en/archive/6/63/20060508094223%21French
...
2MB)
Previous editions:
First Lessons Edition (February 18, 2006)
Second Edition
(http://upload
...
org/wikibooks/en/archive/6/63/20060507021115%21French
...
Lessons information
Lesson Planning
Concept Lessons
Downloadable and Print Versions
Updating:
If a lesson is added or the name of an existing lesson is changed, please update:
The print version
The level one main page, the level two main page, or the level three main page
The level one header, the level two header, or the level three header
The level one footer, the level two footer, or the level three footer
The complete lessons template
The Solutions Appendix
It is not necessary to update these versions if the sections within these main lesson pages are
altered
...
Authors
Hashar - Created this book!
Traroth - Created Intro page, edited several errors
...
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Title: The French language
Description: this are notes that introduce you to the basic knowledge of the french language: The notes contain some of the important french vocabulary like the french alphabet , the days of the week ,months (in french).....
Description: this are notes that introduce you to the basic knowledge of the french language: The notes contain some of the important french vocabulary like the french alphabet , the days of the week ,months (in french).....