Introductory

Lesson 0.01 - Introduction
Lesson 0.02 - The Alphabet
Lesson 0.03 - Greetings
Lesson 0.04 - Formal Speech
Lesson 0.05 - Numbers
Lesson 0.06 - The Date
Lesson 0.07 - Telling Time
Lesson 0 Review
Lesson 0 Test

Lesson 0.01 - Introduction

French (Français, /fʁɑ̃sɛ/) is a Romance language spoken as a first language by around 136 million people worldwide. A total of 500 million speak it as either a first, second, or foreign language. Moreover, some 200 million people learn French as a foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 56 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in France, the rest live essentially in Canada, particularly the province of Quebec, with minorities in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, and Western Canada, as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, and the U.S. states of Louisiana and Maine. Most second-language speakers of French live in Francophone Africa, arguably exceeding the number of native speakers.

French is a descendant of the Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are national languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian and Catalan, and minority languages ranging from Occitan to Neapolitan and many more. Its closest relatives however are the other langues d'oïl and French-based creole languages. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.

It is an official language in 29 countries, plus the Vatican City, which form what is called, in French, La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to the European Union, 129 million (or 26% of the Union's total population), in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million are native speakers and 69 million claim to speak French either as a second language or as a foreign language, making it the third most spoken second language in the Union, after English and German. Twenty-percent of non-Francophone Europeans know how to speak French, totaling roughly 145.6 million people.

In addition, from the 17th century to the mid 20th century, French served as the pre-eminent international language of diplomacy and international affairs as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe. The dominant position of French language has only been overshadowed recently by English, since the emergence of the USA as a major power.

As a result of extensive colonial ambitions of France and Belgium, between the 17th and 20th centuries, French was introduced to America, Africa, Polynesia, South-East Asia, and the Caribbean.

History

During the Roman occupation of Gaul, the Latin language was imposed on the natives. This Latin language (Classic Latin) eventually devolved into what is known as Vulgar Latin, which was still very similar to Latin. Over the centuries, due to Celtic and Germanic influences (particularly the Franks), la langue d'oïl was developed. A dialect of la langue d'oïl known as le francien was the language of the court, and thus became the official language of what was to become the Kingdom of France, and later the Nation-State of France.

From medieval times until the 19th century, French was the dominant language of diplomacy, culture, administration, trade and royal courts across Europe. Due to these factors, French was the lingua franca of this time period.

French has influenced many languages world wide, including English. It is through French (or more precisely Norman, a dialect of la langue d'oïl) that English gets about one third of its vocabulary.

Extent of the language

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. It is also the official language of 29 countries and the Vatican City. Spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Lebanon, Tunisia, 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). All consumer product packages in Canada are required by law to have both English and French labels.

Advice on studying French

See also: How to learn a language

French tends to have a reputation among English speakers as hard to learn. 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. In fact, the French language can be learned in only 10 months, if only for the specific purpose of passing a standardized test, such as the Test d'Evaluation de Français. According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, in order to reach the level of 'Independent User' (after completing Level B2), you must complete 400 hours of effective learning (so if you study 4 hours a week, every single week of the year, you would need two years to achieve it). Any way you look at it, learning any new language requires a long-term commitment. Remember, that like any skill, it requires a certain amount of effort. And it is likely that if you do not practice your French regularly, you will begin to forget it. Try to make French practice a part of your routine; even if it's not daily, at least make it regular.

Also remember that you are learning a new skill. Try to master the easier concepts before moving on to the more complex. We all have to add and subtract before we can do calculus. French is a complete language; thus, while this book can teach you to read and write in French, these are only half of the skills that make up fluency. A written document cannot teach much about listening to and speaking French. You must train on all of these skills, and they will then reinforce one another.

The very best way to learn French is to visit France or another French-speaking country. This allows you to start with a clean slate, as babies do. However, since most of us are unwilling or unable to take that step, the next best option is immersion. If you are serious about learning French, a period of immersion (during which you live in a Francophone culture) is a good idea once you have some basic familiarity with the language. If you can't travel to a French-speaking country, then try listening to French-language programs on the radio, TV, or the Internet. Rent or buy French-language movies (many American and U.K. movies have a French language option). Pay attention to pronunciation. Grab a French speaker you meet and talk to him or her in French. Listen, speak, and practice. Read French newspapers and magazines. Google's news page, which links to French-language news stories, is an excellent source that will enrich your vocabulary.

Written versus modern spoken French

While the French written language is highly standardized, and hasn’t changed much in over two hundred years, the same cannot be said of the spoken language. This book, like all French training material, is oriented towards the written language. The speaking examples are straight from the standardized written language. If you were to become an expert in this French, you would probably be completely confused when you arrive in a French speaking country. Unlike the written language, the spoken language is very dynamic. The French people would not readily understand you, and you would not understand them. You can picture in your mind, a person learning English from a two hundred year old book, and coming to your town and saying "Hast thou" or "Wherefore art thou."

The reason written French is stressed in learning (Schools and Internet courses), is that you can go from this standardized language to modern spoken French much easier than English to spoken French, and then going backwards to learning written French.

A simple example is: Je ne comprends pas (I don't understand). For a business person (not wanting to sound too plebeian) this would be spoken as: Jeun comprends pas, with the Je ne joined together. But most people on the street simplify this even further. The ne is deemed redundant and falls by the wayside, and the hard Je sound is reduced to a sh sound: shcomprends pas. Another example might be Il ne fait pas … (he/it doesn’t…) resulting in y fay pa … (ee-fay-pah), or Il n'y a pas … becoming yapa … (yah-pah…).

French is a language that is read, spoken, and sung. Each has different rules. Lyric and Poetry have pronunciation rules that are different than the written, and spoken French has no rules in comparison. Learning written French is only step one, and modern spoken French is your step two. This book is for learning written French.

What should I learn first?

Many courses of language study assume you are going there for vacation, and so begin their lessons with common survival phrases that people use. There is some of that in this book, but consider that verbs are what makes a language. There are six verbs in French that, when memorized, will give you a head start when moving on to learning sentences.

The distinction between a phrase and a sentence is that a phrase does not have a subject or verb. This is why they are easy to learn, and a main part of vacation-type books. You can't go wrong with a phrase. Unlike a phrase, a sentence is a grammatical unit. You will need nouns, pronouns, adjectives (words that modify nouns), adverbs (words that modify verbs and adjectives), etc. A sentence includes a subject (what/whom the sentence is about), and a predicate (words that tell us about the subject). There are also different types of sentences: declarative (statements), interrogative (questions), exclamative (exclamations), and commandative (commands). The structure of sentences, and not just phrases, must be studied and practiced in order to learn a new language.

The most important thing, at beginning levels, is to get your French face on. This means pronunciation is critical. You do not want to have to unlearn anything when you get to the next level. The textual pronunciation examples here are based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and should be used to prepare your mind. The IPA symbols are designed by scientists, and are no match to listening to French people within their own environment. It is important to actually listen to a real French speaker at this stage. Use the example voices contained in the book, but also watch French media on the Internet. You should be cautioned about French songs. It is acceptable for artists to twist a word for style and for rhyme, and they love to embellish endings. You will also find that mutes are pronounced in lyric and poetry. It is often the case that a singer or poem recitation will say "ewnuh" for une and "veeuh" for vie. You may also note, to prevent boredom, a lyric may be "veeuh" on one verse, and "vee" on the next. Examples, as to why songs and poetry are added experiences in learning and enjoying the French language.

The beginning verbs are:

Être	/ɛtʀ/ (ehtr)	To be	Je suis	/ʒə sɥi/ (zhuh sewee)	I am
Avoir	/a.vwaʀ/ (ah-vwahr)	To have	J'ai	/ʒe/ (zheh)	I have
Savoir	/sa.vwaʀ/ (sah-vwahr)	To know	Je sais	/ʒə sɛ/ (zhuh seh)	I know
Devoir	/də.vwaʀ/ (duh-vwahr)	Ought to, must	Je dois	/ʒə dwa/ (zhuh dwah)	I must
Pouvoir	/pu.vwaʀ/ (poo-vwahr)	Able to, can	Je peux	/ʒə pø/ (zhuh puh)	I can
Vouloir	/vu.lwaʀ/ (voo-lwahr)	Want to	Je veux	/ʒə vø/ (zhuh vuh)	I want

Just as in English, you will use these as a base to create the fourteen (14) French tenses: present, future, conditional, etc. Don't worry about tenses for this exercise. They are complications that will take months and years to master. Generally, only ten (10) tenses are used except for advanced levels of French.

The above verbs must be mastered to even begin. You might think the list is too short, so feel free to add verbs into your flash-card rotation.

The next verb examples, that are important to any language, are the movement-type verbs. While you can "have, know, can, etc." you also need to "go, come, or stay" in many conversations. These verbs are considered basic building blocks.

Aller (/ale/ (ah-lay)	To go	Je vais	/ʒə vɛ/ (zhuh veh)	I go
Venir (/və.niʀ/ (vuh-neer)	To come	Je viens	/ʒə vjɛ̃/ (zhuh vy^uhah⁽ⁿ⁾)	I come
Sortir (/sɔʀ.tiʀ/ (sohr-teer)	To leave, go out	Je sors	/ʒə sɔʀ/ (zhuh sohr)	I go out, I leave
Partir (/paʀ.tiʀ/ (pahr-teer)	To depart	Je pars	/ʒə paʀ/ (zhuh pahr)	I depart
Rester (/ʀɛs.te/ (reh-stay)	To remain, stay	Je reste	(/ʒə ʀɛst/ (zhuh rehst)	I remain, I stay

Again, feel free to add others to your flash-card rotation.

That brings us to the "Big Seven" French question words. These, like the above will quickly become complicated as well. The following is obviously simplified, but your understanding at this level will quickly get you to the next level.

Où	/u/ (oo)	Where	Où est le taxi ?	Where's the taxi?
Quel (quels, quelle, quelles)	/kɛl/ (kel)	Which	Quel est le problème ?,	What's the problem?
Qui	/ki/ (kee)	Who	Qui a pris mon stylo ?	Who took my pen?
Pourquoi	/puʀ.kwa/ (poor-kwah)	Why	Pourquoi êtes-vous ici ?	Why are you here?
Quand	/kɑ̃/ (kah⁽ⁿ⁾)	When	Quand je suis content, je souris.	When I'm happy, I smile.
Comment	/kɔ.mɑ̃/ (koh-mah⁽ⁿ⁾)	How	Comment allons-nous trouver des informations ?	How will we find some information?
Combien	/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/ (kohm-by^uha⁽ⁿ⁾)	How much, how many	Combien ça coûte ?", "Combien font six et trois ?	How much does it cost? How much is six plus three?

Finally, one word that is very often needed:

Parce que (/paʀs(ə)kə/ (pahrs(uh) kuh))ː Because

ex: "Parce que vous êtes trop vieux pour ça !" (Because you are too old for this!)

Making flash-cards of all the above French words, memorizing them (forward to English/backward to French), will give you a head start in all French language courses.

Impediment of learning by tricks

There are many methods for students to learn new subjects, and the first method is to use what are known as "tricks," designed to make it easier (so it would seem). These tricks, in most cases, merely prevent the brain from storing the information for direct lookup. One example is the French word chat. We can form a rule, whereby anytime you see a ch in French, you will substitute a c and voilà - there you go. Others, such as changing -ment to -ly or -ant to -ing are a similar waste of time.

A good example of the damage that can be done by these "tricks", is in learning Morse Code. Many teachers will begin by showing the dit's and dah's visually, and then make the sound using the key following each symbol. So that dah-di-da-dit "-.-." will be stored in the brain as a c, and somehow (magically) retrieved for use later.

Alas, this technique only works up to a certain speed, and then the students brain is so damaged, they have no hope of using the code any faster than 10 Words Per Minute. It was found (in the 1850's), that if you just associate the whole sound with a letter, and ignore the combinations of dit's and dah's, that new students listening to 20 Words Per Minute for several weeks, were able to go to work immediately. A famous Scottish-American named Andrew Carnegie went from a message boy to head telegraph operator by learning to associate sounds with whole words, and not just writing down each character, as the method used by his peers.

The advice offered in this book, is to avoid these tricks, and to associate word and sentence sounds with their meaning. Listen to the new word or sentence, and store the meaning in your brain. Do not try to translate one language into your native language before responding. When someone hands you a stick of /di.na.mit/ (dee-nah-meet) you should quickly drop it and run, and not stop to translate it into dynamite first. Simply associate the word or sentence, but do not translate it.

When you go shopping, and hear customers saying in English "How much is that?" then you form an association of that sentence to the person wanting to know a price. Similarly, if you hear people in the market asking "Combien ça coûte?" you don't have to translate the sentence, you associate it with people wanting to know a price (or more often wanting to know a lower price while smiling seductively at the assistant). After associating ten things about the word "Combien" the brain will simplify matters for you, much like it pulls the steering wheel with your arm, after the eyes see a pot-hole ahead. Forever more, "Combien" will be associated with a quantity "How much", or "How many" just as pot-holes are associated with "avoid."

Lesson 0.02 - The Alphabet

French is based on the Latin alphabet (also called the Roman alphabet), and there are 26 letters. Originally there were 25 letters, with 'W' being added by the mid-nineteenth century. Unlike the English, who call it a "double-u," the French use "double-v" and pronounce it doo-bluh-vay after the 'V' which is pronounced (vay). During the period from Old French to Modern French, the letter 'K' was added. These two letters are used mostly with adopted foreign words. The French alphabet used today is less than 200 years old.

The twenty-six letters are parted into :

20 Consonants (Consonnes): B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V W X Z
6 Vowels (Voyelles): A E I O U Y

In addition, French uses several accents: grave accents (à, è, and ù) and acute accents (é). A circumflex applies to all vowels, except Y (considered as a vowel): â, ê, î, ô, û. A tréma (French for dieresis) is also applied: ë, ï, ü, ÿ. Two combined letters (called orthographic ligatures) are used: æ and œ. Finally, a cedilla is used on the c to make it sound like an English s: ç.

Letters and examples


Letter	Name in French	Pronunciation
Aa	/a/ (ah)	like a in father
Bb	/be/ (bay)	like b in maybe
Cc	/se/ (say)	before e and i: like c in center before a, o, or u: like c in cat
Dd	/de/ (day)	like d in dog
Ee	/ə/ (uh)	approximately like u in burp
Ff	/ɛf/ (ehf)	like f in fog
Gg	/ʒe/ (zhay)	before e and i: like s in measure before a, o, or u: like g in get
Hh	/aʃ/ (ahsh)	See Supplementary Notes below: never pronounced
Ii	/i/ (ee)	like ea in team
Jj	/ʒi/ (zhee)	like s in measure
Kk	/ka/ (kah)	like k in kite
Ll	/ɛl/ (ehl)	like l in lemon
Mm	/ɛm/ (ehm)	like m in minute
Nn	/ɛn/ (ehn)	like n in note
Oo	/o/ (oh)	closed: approximately like u in nut open: like o in nose
Pp	/pe/ (pay)	like p in pen
Qq	/ky/ (kew)	like k in kite
Rr	/ɛʁ/ (ehr)	force air through the back of your throat near the position of gargling, but sounding soft
Ss	/ɛs/ (ehs)	like s in sister at beginning of word or with two s's or like z in amazing if only one s
Tt	/te/ (tay)	like t in top
Uu	/y/ (ew)	say the English letter e, but make your lips say oo
Vv	/ve/ (vay)	like v in violin
Ww	/dubləve/ (doo-bluh-vay)	depending on the derivation of the word, like v as in violin, or w in water
Xx	/iks/ (eeks)	either /ks/ in socks, or /gz/ in exit
Yy	/igʁɛk/ (ee-grehk)	like ea in leak
Zz	/zɛd/ (zehd)	like z in zebra

Supplementary orthography · Notes

Final consonants

In French, certain consonants are silent when they are the final letter of a word. The letters p (as in coup (blow, shock) /ku/ (koo)), s (as in héros (hero) /e.ʁɔ/ (ay-roh)), t (as in chat (cat) /ʃa/ (shah)), d (as in marchand (shopkeeper) /maʁ.ʃɑ̃/ (mahr-shah⁽ⁿ⁾)), and x (as in paresseux (lazy, sloth) /pa.ʁɛ.sø/ (pah-reh-sew)), are generally not pronounced at the end of a word. They are pronounced if there is an e letter after it (coupe (bowl, goblet) /kup/ (koop), chatte (she-cat) /ʃat/ (shaht), marchande (female shopkeeper) /maʁ.ʃɑ̃d/ (mahr-shah⁽ⁿ⁾d)).

Dental consonants

The letters d, l, n, s, t and z are pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth and the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. In English, one would pronounce these letters with the tip of the tongue at the roof of one's mouth. It is very difficult to pronounce a word like voudrais /vud.ʁɛ/ properly with the d formed in the English manner.

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. In terms of phonetics, the difference in the French b and p and their English counterparts is one of aspiration. Fortunately, in English both aspirated and unaspirated variants (allophones) exist, but only in specific environments. If you're a native speaker, say the word pit and then the word spit out loud. Did you notice the extra puff of air in the first word that doesn't come with the second? The p in 'pit' is aspirated ([pʰ]); the p in 'spit' is not (like the p in any position in French).

q

The letter 'q' is always followed by a 'u'. There are only two exceptions, 'cinq' (five) and 'coq' (rooster).

r

A final 'r' after 'e' is generally mute, but it is pronounced on words of one syllable 'fer' (iron), 'mer' (sea) and 'hier' (yesterday).

Aspirated and non-aspirated h

In French, the letter h can be aspirated (h aspiré), or not aspirated (h non aspiré), depending on which language the word was borrowed from. The h is never pronounced, whether it is aspirated or not aspirated.

For example, the word héros /e.ʁɔ/ has an aspirated h. When a definite article (le, la, l', les) is placed before it, the result is le héros, and both words must be pronounced separately. However, the feminine form of héros, héroïne /eʁɔin/ is a non-aspirated h. Therefore, when you put a definite article in front of it, it becomes l'héroïne, and is pronounced as one word.

The only way to tell if the h at the beginning of a word is aspirated is to look it up in the dictionary. Some dictionaries will place an asterisk (*) in front of the entry word in the French-English H section if the h is aspirated. Other dictionaries will include it in the pronunciation guide after the key word by placing an apostrophe ( ' ) before the pronunciation. In short, the words must be memorized.

Here is a table of some basic h words that are aspirated and not aspirated:

(upload audio)
aspirated	non-aspirated
héros, hero (le héros)	héroïne, heroine (l'héroïne)
haïr, to hate (je hais)	habiter, to live (j'habite)
huit, eight (le huit novembre)	harmonie, harmony (l'harmonie)

Supplementary orthography · Punctuation · La ponctuation


&	esperluette, et commercial	,	virgule	{ }	accolades	~	tilde
'	apostrophe	=	égal	%	pourcent	@	arobase, a commercial, arobe
*	astérisque	$	dollar	.	point
« »	guillemets	!	point d'exclamation	+	plus
\	barre oblique inverse	>	supérieur à	#	dièse
[ ]	crochets	<	inférieur à	?	point d'interrogation
:	deux points	-	moins, tiret, trait d'union	_	soulignement
;	point virgule	( )	parenthèses	/	barre oblique

The punctuation symbols in French operates very similarly to English with the same meaning. The only punctuation symbol not present in French would be the quotation marks; these are replaced by the guillemets shown in the table above. For speech in fiction, no quotation marks are used. The two stroke punctuation marks (such as ;, :, ?, !) may require a non-breaking space before or after the mark in question.

Supplementary orthography · Diacritics

Five different kinds of accent marks are used in written French. In many cases, an accent changes the sound of the letter to which it is added. In others, the accent has no effect on pronunciation. Accents in French never indicate stress (which always falls on the last syllable). Accentuated letters are usually never followed by a double consonant (except châssis for instance); moreover on e accent becomes useless because a following double consonant changes its pronunciation (e.g.: jeter ([ə],throw) but je jette (pronounced è, I throw). The following table lists every French accent mark and the letters with which it can be combined:

(upload audio)
Accent	Letters used	Examples
acute accent (accent aigu)	é	éléphant /e.le.fɑ̃/
grave accent (accent grave)	è, à, ù	fièvre /fjɛvʁ/, là /la/, où /u/
circumflex (accent circonflexe)	â, ê, î, ô, û	gâteau /ɡa.tɔ/, être /ɛtʁ/, île /il/, chômage /ʃɔ.maʒ/, dû /dy/
diaeresis (tréma)	ë, ï, ü, ÿ	Noël /nɔ.ɛl/, maïs /ma.is/, aigüe /e.ɡy/
cedilla (cédille)	ç	français /fʁɑ̃.sɛ/

Note that the letter ÿ is only used in very rare words, mostly old town names like L'Haÿ-Les-Roses, a Paris surburb or Aÿ in Champagne region. This letter is pronounced like ï.

Note also that as of the spelling reform of 1990, the diaresis indicating gu is not a digraph on words finishing in guë and is now placed on the u in standard (académie française) French: aigüe and not aiguë; cigüe and not ciguë; ambigüe and not ambiguë. Since this reform is relatively recent and mostly unknown to laypeople, the two spellings can be used interchangeably.

Acute accent · Accent aigu

The acute accent is the most common accent used in written French. It is only used with the letter e and is always pronounced /e/ (ay).

One use of the accent aigu is to form the past participle of regular -er verbs.

(upload audio)
Infinitive	Past participle
aimer (to love)	aimé (loved)
regarder (to watch)	regardé (watched)

Grave accent · Accent grave

à and ù

In the case of the letters à and ù, the grave accent is used to graphically distinguish one word from another.

(upload audio)
Without accent grave	With accent grave
a (3rd pers. sing of avoir, to have)	à (preposition, to, at, etc.)
la (definite article for feminine nouns)	là (there)
ou (conjunction, or)	où (where)

è

Unlike à and ù, è is not used to distinguish words from one another. The è is used for pronunciation. In careful speech, an unaccented e is pronounced like an a on the end of a word in English /ə/, as in "Angela", and in rapid speech is sometimes not pronounced at all. The è is pronounced like the letter e in pet.

Circumflex accent · Accent circonflexe

This accent is often called a 'hat' in language and mathematics, and usually indicates the disappearance of the old-French s after the vowel wearing it (the hat) but this s can still be found in a noun or a verb of the same lexical family. Examples are: hospital --> hôpital but hospitalité, maistre --> maître, gâteau from old french gastel, ê is pronounced like è: Fenestre --> fenêtre but défenestrer, forest --> forêt but forestier.

Circumflex accent may be used to have closed-o (la Drôme (French department), un dôme... ô is pronounced [o] like in château, without this accent it would be said like the english word hot ; whereas this pronunciation is not really applied in the south of France.)

In the past participle of devoir (must), dû a circumflex accent is written to distinguish it from the article du.

According to the spelling reform of 1990 some circumflex accents are no longer compulsory (maître --> maitre, boîte --> boite...)

Cedilla · Cédille

The cedilla is used only with the letter c, and is said to make the c soft, making it equivalent to the English and French s.

garçon

Supplementary exercises

ExercisePronouncing b and p

Get a loose piece of printer paper or notebook paper.
Hold the piece of paper about one inch (or a couple of centimeters) in front of your face.
Say the words baby, and puppy like you normally would in English. 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.'), and papa (the French equivalent of "Dad").

If the paper moved, your pronunciation is slightly off. Concentrate, and try it again.
If the paper didn't move, congratulations! You pronounced the words correctly!

ExerciseFinding h words

Grab a French-English dictionary and find at least ten aspirated h words, and ten non-aspirated h words
On a piece of paper, write down the words you find in two columns
Look at it every day and memorize the columns

Lesson 0.03 - Greetings

Vocabulary · Greetings · Les salutations


Salut	/sa.ly/ (sah-lew)	Hi./Bye.	informal
Bonjour	/bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/ (boh⁽ⁿ⁾-zhoor)	Hello	the normal greeting; all day
Bonsoir	/bɔ̃.swaʁ/ (boh⁽ⁿ⁾-swahr)	Good evening, good night, hello	after 19h00 (7pm)
Bonne soirée	/bɔn swa.ʁe/ (bohn swah-ray)	Good evening	une soirée can also mean a party
Bonne nuit	/bɔn nɥi/ (bohn nooee)	Good night	the normal farewell after dark
Quoi de neuf ?	/kwɑ də nœf/ (kwah duh nuhf)	What's up?, How's it going?	lit: what's new
Pas grand-chose.	/pɑ gʁɑ̃ ʃoz/ (pah grah⁽ⁿ⁾ shohz)	Not much.	lit: no big-thing

When talking to one's peers or to children, Salut is used as a greeting. Its English equivalents would be hi and hey. Bonjour, literally meaning good day, should be used for anyone else. One way of remembering these greetings, is that they come in masculine/feminine pairs. One is upon arrival, the other upon departure.

jour : bonjour / bonne journée
matin : bonjour / bonne matinée (early in the morning), bonne journée (early or late in the morning)
après-midi : bonjour / bon(ne) après-midi (early in the afternoon), bonne journée (early or late in the afternoon), bonne soirée (late in the afternoon)
soir : bonjour, bonsoir / bonne soirée (early or late in the evening), bonne nuit (very late in the evening)
nuit : bonjour, bonsoir / bonne nuit

The French never say Bon matin, they do use matinée, journée, soirée but never use nuitée.

Vocabulary · Good-bye · Au revoir


Salut	/sa.ly/ (sah-lew)	Hi./Bye.	informal
Au revoir	/o ʁə.vwaʁ/ (oh ruh-vwahr)	Good-bye	lit: to/until seeing again
À demain	/a də.mɛ̃/ (ah duh-ma⁽ⁿ⁾)	See you tomorrow	lit: to/until tomorrow
À tout à l'heure	/a tu‿ta lœʁ/ (ah too-tah luhr)	See you (later today)	idiomatic, lit: to all to the hour
À la prochaine	/a la proʃɛn/ (ah lah proh-shehn)	See you (tomorrow)	lit: to/until next time
À bientôt	/a bjɛ̃.to/ (ah by^uhe⁽ⁿ⁾-toh)	See you soon	lit: to/until soon
À plus tard	/a ply taʁ/ (ah plew tahr)	See you later	À plus (short version for "see you")
Ciao	/tʃao/ (chow)	Bye	Italian
Bonne soirée	/bɔn swaʁ.e/ (bohn swahr-ay)	Have a good evening
Bonne journée	/bɔn ʒuʁ.ne/ (bohn zhoor-nay)	Have a nice day

In addition to being used as an informal greeting, Salut also means bye. Again, it should only be used among friends. Another informal greeting is ciao, an Italian word commonly used in France. Au revoir is the only formal way to say Good-bye. If you will be meeting someone again soon, use À bientôt or À tout à l'heure. À demain is used if you will be seeing the person the following day.

Vocabulary · Names

Tu t'appelles comment ? is used to informally ask someone for his or her name. It is normal to just reply by stating your name, however you may also respond with je m'appelle , meaning I am called....

(upload audio)
Jacques	Bonsoir, Marie.
Jacques	Good evening, Marie.
Marie	Euh ? Tu t'appelles comment ?
Marie	Eh? What's your name?
Jacques	Moi, je m'appelle Jacques.
Jacques	Me, my name is Jacques.
Marie	Ah, oui. Quoi de neuf, Jacques ?
Marie	Ah, yes. What's new, Jacques?
Jacques	Pas grand-chose. Alors, au revoir, à demain, Marie.
Jacques	Not much. Then, bye, see you tomorrow, Marie.
Marie	À la prochaine, Jacques.
Marie	See you, Jacques.

Vocabulary · How are you? · Ça va ?


Comment allez-vous ? (formal) , Comment vas-tu ? (informal) , Comment ça va ? / Ça va ? (informal)	/kɔ.mɑ̃‿tal.e vu/ (help·info), /kɔ.mɑ̃ va ty/ (help·info), /kɔ.mɑ̃ sa va/ (help·info)	How are you?	lit: How do you go?, It goes?
Est-ce que vous allez bien ?	/es.kə vu.z‿al.e bjɛ̃/ (help·info)	Are you well?
Ça va (très) bien	/sa va (tʁɛ) bjɛ̃/ (help·info)	I'm doing (very) well.	lit. It's going (very) well
Je vais bien	/ʒə ve bjɛ̃/ (help·info)	I am well.
Ça va Oui, ça va	/sa va/ (help·info) /wi sa va/ (help·info)	Things are going fine. Yes, I'm fine.
Très bien, merci	/tʁɛ bjɛ̃ mɛʁ.si/ (help·info)	Very well, thanks.
Pas mal	/pɑ mal/ (help·info)	Not Bad
Pas si bien/pas très bien	/pɑ si (tʁɛ) bjɛ̃/ (help·info)	Not so well
(très) mal	/tʁɛ mal/ (help·info)	(very) bad
Comme ci, comme ça	/kɔm si kɔm sa/ (help·info)	So-so
Désolé(e)	/de.zɔ.le/ (help·info)	Sorry.	Désolée if feminine, same pronunciation
Et toi ? Et vous ?	/e twɑ/ (help·info) /e vu/ (help·info)	And you? (informal) And you? (formal)

DIALOGUE: Two good friends, Olivier and Luc, are meeting.

(upload audio)
Olivier	Salut Luc. Ça va ?
Olivier	Hi Luc. How are you?
Luc	Ça va bien, merci. Et toi, ça va ?
Luc	I'm well, thanks. And you, how are you?
Olivier	Pas mal.
Olivier	Not bad.
Luc	Quoi de neuf ?
Luc	What's new?
Olivier	Pas grand-chose. Au revoir Luc.
Olivier	Not much. Goodbye, Luc.
Luc	Au revoir, à demain.
Luc	Goodbye, see you tomorrow.

Ça va ? is used to ask someone how they are doing. The phrase literally means It goes?, referring to the body and life. A more formal way to say this is Comment allez-vous ?. You can respond by using ça va as a statement; Ça va. in this case is used for I'm fine. The adverb bien /bjɛ̃/ is used to say well, and is often said both alone and as Ça va bien. Bien is preceded by certain adverbs to specify the degree to which you are well. Common phrases are assez bien, meaning rather well, très bien, meaning very well, and vraiment bien, meaning really well. The adverb mal /mal/ is used to say badly. Pas^not /pɑ/ is commonly added to mal to form Pas mal., meaning Not bad. Comme ci, comme ça., literally translating to Like this, like that., is used to say So, so.

To be polite, you can add merci /mɛʁ.si/, meaning thank you, in your responses to the questions e.g., très bien, merci.

Exercises

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Translate from French to English.

Bonne soirée	Have a good evening.
À tout à l'heure	See you (later today)
Je vais bien.	I am well.
Et vous ?	And you? (formal)
À demain	See you tomorrow
Comment allez-vous ?	How are you? (formal)
Salut	Hi./Bye.
Très bien, merci.	Very well, thanks.
Est-ce que vous allez bien ?	Are you well?
Je m'appelle	My name is
Bonne nuit	Good night
À bientôt	See you soon
Pas si bien/pas très bien	Not so well
Ça va bien	I'm doing well.
Bonjour	Hello

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Translate from English to French.

What's your name?	Tu t'appelles comment ?
Have a nice day	Bonne journée
Hi./Bye.	Salut.
Not much.	Pas grand-chose.
Have a good evening	Bonne soirée

ExerciseResponses

Your friend François sees you and starts a conversation. How might you respond?

François: Salut. Comment vas-tu ?
You: _________
François: Quoi de neuf ?
You: _________
François: À la prochaine.
You: _________

ExerciseBasic phrases dialogue

Put the following conversation in order:

	First	Second	Third	Fourth
1. Michel	Je ne vais pas très bien.	Bonjour, Jacques	Au revoir	Comment ça va?
2. Jacques	Désolé.	Ça va très bien! Et vous? Allez-vous bien?	À demain.	Salut, Michel!

Solution

	First	Second	Third	Fourth
1. Michel	Bonjour, Jacques	Comment ça va?	Je ne vais pas très bien.	Au revoir
2. Jacques	Salut, Michel!	Ça va très bien! Et vous? Allez-vous bien?	Désolé.	À demain.

Lesson 0.04 - Formal Speech

Dialogue · A formal conversation · Une conversation formelle

Two people—Monsieur Bernard and Monsieur Lambert—are meeting for the first time:


Monsieur Bernard	Bonjour. Comment vous appelez-vous ?
Monsieur Bernard	Hello. What's your name?
Monsieur Lambert	Je m'appelle Jean-Paul Lambert. Et vous ?
Monsieur Lambert	I am Jean-Paul Lambert. And you?
Monsieur Bernard	Moi, je suis Marc Bernard. Enchanté.
Monsieur Bernard	Me, I am Marc Bernard. Nice to meet you.
Monsieur Lambert	Enchanté.
Monsieur Lambert	Nice to meet you.

Grammar · Vous vs. tu

This is an important difference between French and English today. English no longer distinguishes between the singular, and the plural, formal version of you. The use of thou for the informal singular version faded almost completely by the mid-nineteenth century.

In French, it is important to know when to use vous /vu/ and when to use tu /ty/.

Vous is the plural form of you. This is somewhat equivalent to you all, you guys, all of you, except that it does not carry any familiarity when used with the plural. You would use it to address your friends as well as when talking to the whole government at a press conference.

Vous is also used to refer to single individuals to show respect, to be polite or to be neutral. It is used when talking to someone who is important, someone who is older than you are, or someone with whom you are unfamiliar. This is known as Vouvoiement. Note the conversation between M. Bernard and M. Lambert above as an example of this use.

Conversely, tu is the singular and informal form of vous (you) in French. It is commonly used when referring to a friend or a family member, and is also used between children or when addressing a child. If it is used when speaking to a stranger, it signals disrespect. This is known as Tutoiement. As a rule of thumb, use tu only when you would call that person by his first name, otherwise use vous. French people will make it known when they would like you to refer to them by tu. The use of vous is less common in Quebequois than in French from France.

In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction describes the situation wherein a language has second-person pronouns that distinguish varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee. The expressions T-form (informal) and V-form (formal), with reference to the initial letters of these pronouns in Latin, tu and vos. In Latin, tu was originally the singular, and vos the plural, with no distinction for honorific or familiar. It was only between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries that the norms for the use of T- and V-forms crystallized.

Vocabulary · Courtesy · La politesse


Please	S'il te plaît	(Lit: If it pleases you.)
Please	S'il vous plaît	(formal).
Thanks (a lot)	Merci (beaucoup)
You're welcome.	De rien	(Lit: It's nothing.)
	Pas de quoi	(No problem.)
	Je t'en prie	I pray you (informal)
	Je vous en prie	(formal)

Vocabulary · Titles · Les titres

Vocabulary Titles · Les titres
French	Abbr.	Pronunciation	English, Usage
Monsieur	M.	/mə.sjø/ (muh-sy^uhew)	Mr., Sir
Messieurs	M.	/mesjø/ (maysy^uhew)	Gentlemen
Madame	M^me	/ma.dam/ (mah-dahm)	Mrs., Ma'am
Mesdames	M^me	/me.dam/ (may-dahm)	Ladies
Mademoiselle	M^lle	/mad.mwa.zɛl/ (mahd-mwah-zehl)	Miss, Young lady
Mesdemoiselles	M^lle	/med.mwa.zɛl/ (mayd-mwah-zehl)	Young ladies

It's acceptable to use /mɛ.dam/ or /me.dam/ (meh-dahm) or (may-dahm)
Do not forget to liaison if saying Mesdames et Messieurs /me.dam z‿e me.sjø/ (may-dam-zay-maysy^uhew).

Vocabulary · Asking for one's name · Demander le nom de quelqu'un


Comment vous appelez-vous ? Quel est votre nom ?		What is your name? (formal) What is your name?
Tu t'appelles comment ?		What is your name? (informal)
Je m'appelle… Je suis… Moi, je suis…		My name is… I am… I'm…

Note that with vous, the verb appelez is spelled with one 'l', whereas with tu it has two l's (appelles). This is an irregular conjugation which will be covered more in-depth in a later lesson.

Exercises

ExerciseIntroductions

You are at your first business conference representing your new company, and your manager begins to speak with a colleague you have never met. You want to greet him, tell him your name, and ask him his name.

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Translate from French to English.

S'il vous plaît	Please
Comment vous appelez-vous ?	How do you call yourself?
Mesdames	Ladies
Je vous en prie.	You're welcome.
Merci beaucoup	Thanks a lot

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Translate from English to French.

Gentlemen	Messieurs
Miss	Mademoiselle
My name is…	Je m'appelle…
Please	S'il te plaît, S'il vous plaît

ExerciseChoose between tu and vous. Which would you use for the following people?

a teacher
a best friend
someone you just met
a group of your friends
a parent
a sibling
a waiter at a restaurant

Solution

vous (to show respect)
tu (familiarity)
vous (unfamiliar)
vous (plural group, even though it is informal)
tu (familiar)
tu (familiar)
vous (likely unfamiliar, but also to show respect and to be polite)

Lesson 0.05 - Numbers

Vocabulary · Cardinal numbers


zéro	/ze.ʁo/ (help·info)	0
un(e)	/œ̃/ (help·info), /yn/ (help·info)	1
deux	/dø/ (help·info)	2
trois	/tʁwa/ (help·info)	3
quatre	/katʁ/ (help·info)	4
cinq	/sɛ̃k/ (help·info)	5
six	/sis/ (help·info)	6
sept	/sɛt/ (help·info)	7
huit	/ɥit/ (help·info)	8
neuf	/nœf/ (help·info)	9
dix	/dis/ (help·info)	10
onze	/ɔ̃z/ (help·info)	11
douze	/duz/ (help·info)	12
treize	/tʁɛz/ (help·info)	13
quatorze	/ka.tɔʁz/ (help·info)	14
quinze	/kɛ̃z/ (help·info)	15
seize	/sɛz/ (help·info)	16
dix-sept	/dis.sɛt/ (help·info)	17
dix-huit	/dis.ɥit/ (help·info)	18
dix-neuf	/dis.nœf/ (help·info)	19
vingt	/vɛ̃/ (help·info)	20
vingt et un, vingt-et-un	/vɛ̃ -te-œ̃/ (help·info)	21
vingt-[deux - neuf]		22-29
trente	/tʁɑ̃t/ (help·info)	30
trente et un, trente-et-un	/tʁɑ̃.t‿e œ̃/ (help·info)	31
trente-[deux - neuf]		32-39
quarante	/ka.ʁɑ̃t/ (help·info)	40
cinquante	/sɛ̃.kɑ̃t/ (help·info)	50
soixante	/swa.sɑ̃t/ (help·info)	60
soixante-dix	/swa.sɑ̃t.dis/ (help·info)	70
soixante-et-onze		71
soixante-[douze - dix-neuf]		72-79
quatre-vingt	/kat.ʁvɛ̃t/ (help·info)	80
quatre-vingt-un	/kat.ʁvɛ̃.œ̃/ (help·info)	81
quatre-vingt-[deux - neuf]		82-89
quatre-vingt-dix	/kat.ʁvɛ̃.dis/ (help·info)	90
quatre-vingt-[onze - dix-neuf]		91-99
cent	/sɑ̃(t)/ (help·info)	100
[deux - neuf] cents		200-900
deux cent un		201
neuf cent un		901
mille	/mil/ (help·info)	1.000 (10³)
(un) million	/mi.ljɔ̃/ (help·info)	1.000.000 (10⁶)
(un) milliard	/miljaʁ/ (help·info)	1.000.000.000 (10⁹)

We can remark that 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 can have et un with or without a hyphen; otherwise this it is simply both words consecutively (vingt-six, trente-trois, etc) with a hyphen in between. For 100-199, cent is added before the rest of the number; this continues up to 1000 and onward. Many speakers of French outside of France refer to the numbers 70 to 99 in the same pattern as the other numbers. For instance, in Switzerland and Belgium, 70 is septante /sɛp.tɑ̃t/, 71 is septante-et-un, 72 is septante-deux, and so on; 90 is nonante /nɔ.nɑ̃t/, 91 is nonante-et-un /nɔ.nɑ̃t.e.œ̃/, 92 is nonante-deux, and so on. In Switzerland, 80 is huitante or octante /ɔk.tɑ̃t/.

Supplementary vocabulary · Collective nouns

(upload audio)
une unité	/y.ni.te/ (help·info)	a unity
une huitaine	/ɥi.tɛn/ (help·info)	about eight
une dizaine	/di.zɛn/ (help·info)	about ten
une douzaine	/du.zɛn/ (help·info)	about twelve
une quinzaine	/kɛ̃.zɛn/ (help·info)	about fifteen
une vingtaine	/vɛ̃.tɛn/ (help·info)	about twenty
une trentaine	/tʁɑ̃.tɛn/ (help·info)	about thirty
une quarantaine	/ka.ʁɑ̃.tɛn/ (help·info)	about forty
une cinquantaine	/sɛ̃.kɑ̃.tɛn/ (help·info)	about fifty
une soixantaine	/swa.sɑ̃.tɛn/ (help·info)	about sixty
une centaine	/sɑ̃.tɛn/ (help·info)	one hundred, about a hundred
un millier	/mi.lje/ (help·info)	one thousand, about a thousand

Supplementary vocabulary · Mathematics · Les mathématiques

In French, the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are as follows:

Calculez:

un plus un = (égale) deux (the final 's' of 'plus' must be pronounced)

dix moins sept = trois

quatre fois trois = douze

vingt divisé par dix = deux

You may sometimes use un plus un font deux.

Supplementary dialogue · In school · À l'école

Toto est un personnage imaginaire qui est un cancre à l'école. Il y a beaucoup d'histoires drôles sur Toto !

Toto is an imaginary character that is a dunce at school. There are a lot of funny stories about Toto!

(upload audio)
L'instituteur	Bonjour, les enfants! Aujourd'hui c'est mardi, nous allons réviser la table d'addition. Combien font huit plus six ?
L'instituteur	Hello, children! Today is Tuesday, we will review the addition table. What is eight plus six?
Toto	Treize, monsieur !
Toto	Thirteen, sir!
L'instituteur	Non Toto tu t'es trompé! Huit plus six égal quatorze. Et combien font cinq plus neuf ?
L'instituteur	No Toto you were wrong! Eight plus six equals fourteen. And how much is five plus nine?
Clément	Quatorze !
Clément	Fourteen!
L'instituteur	Très bien Clément.
L'instituteur	Very good, Clément.

Supplementary vocabulary · Ordinal numbers · Les nombres ordinaux

(upload audio)
premier, première	/pʁə.mje/ (help·info), /pʁə.mjɛʁ/ (help·info)	first
deuxième	/dø.zjɛm/ (help·info)	second
troisième	/tʁwa.zjɛm/ (help·info)	third
quatrième	/ka.tʁi.jɛm/ (help·info)	fourth
cinquième	/sɛ̃.kjɛm/ (help·info)	fifth
sixième	/si.zjɛm/ (help·info)	sixth
septième	/sɛ.tjɛm/ (help·info)	seventh
huitième	/ɥi.tjɛm/ (help·info)	eighth
neuvième	/nœ.vjɛm/ (help·info)	ninth
dixième	/di.zjɛm/ (help·info)	tenth
onzième	/ɔ̃.zjɛm/ (help·info)	eleventh
douzième	/du.zjɛm/ (help·info)	twelfth
treizième	/tʁɛ.zjɛm/ (help·info)	thirteenth
quatorzième	/ka.tɔʁ.zjɛm/ (help·info)	fourteenth
quinzième	/kɛ̃.zjɛm/ (help·info)	fifteenth
seizième	/sɛ.zjɛm/ (help·info)	sixteenth
dix-septième	/di.sɛ.tjɛm/ (help·info)	seventeenth
dix-huitième	/di.zɥi.tjɛm/ (help·info)	eighteenth
dix-neuvième	/diz.nœ.vjɛm/ (help·info)	nineteenth
vingtième	/vɛ̃.tiɛm/ (help·info)	twentieth
vingt-et-unième	/vɛ̃.te.y.njɛm/ (help·info)	twenty-first
vingt-deuxième	/vɛ̃t.dø.zjɛm/ (help·info)	twenty-second
trentième	/tʁɑ̃.tjɛm/ (help·info)	thirtieth
quarantième	/ka.ʁɑ̃.tjɛm/ (help·info)	fortieth
quarante-et-unième		forty-first
cinquantième	/sɛ̀.kɑ̃.tjɛm/ (help·info)	fiftieth
cinquante-et-unième		fifty-first
soixantième	/swa.sɑ̃.tjɛm/ (help·info)	sixtieth
soixante-dixième	/swa.sɑ̃t di.zjɛm/ (help·info)	seventieth
quatre-vingtième	/katʁ.vɛ̃.tjɛm/ (help·info)	eightieth
quatre-vingt-dixième	/ka.trə.vɛ̃.di.zjɛm/ (help·info)	ninetieth
centième	/sɑ̃.tjɛm/ (help·info)	hundredth

Exercises

ExerciseNumber 1-10

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Write the number represented by each word.

un	1
huit	8
cinq	5
trois	3
neuf	9
dix	10
deux	2
quatre	4
sept	7
six	6

ExerciseNumbers 11-20

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Write the number represented by each word.

douze	12
dix-huit	18
quinze	15
treize	13
quatorze	14
dix-neuf	19
seize	16
vingt	20
onze	11
dix-sept	17

ExerciseNumbers 21-100

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Write the number represented by each word.

soixante-et-onze	71
cinquante	50
trente-et-un	31
quarante-cinq	45
soixante-huit	68
vingt-sept	27
quatre-vingt-un	81
cent	100
cinquante-trois	53
quatre-vingt-dix-neuf	99
soixante-dix	70
vingt-et-un	21
quarante-quatre	44

ExerciseNumber 1-10

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Write the French word for each number.

7	sept
8	huit
6	six
9	neuf
4	quatre
3	trois
10	dix
1	un
2	deux
5	cinq

ExerciseNumbers 11-20

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Write the French word for each number.

19	dix-neuf
16	seize
15	quinze
14	quatorze
13	treize
11	onze
12	douze
20	vingt
17	dix-sept
18	dix-huit

ExerciseNumbers 21-100

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Write the French word for each number.

44	quarante-quatre
50	cinquante
70	soixante-dix
99	quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
68	soixante-huit
71	soixante-et-onze
81	quatre-vingt-un
31	trente-et-un
100	cent
53	cinquante-trois
45	quarante-cinq
21	vingt-et-un
27	vingt-sept

Supplementary exercises

ExerciseCollective nouns

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Translate from French to English.

une vingtaine	about twenty
un millier	one thousand, about a thousand
une huitaine	about eight
une unité	a unity
une quarantaine	about forty
une soixantaine	about sixty
une trentaine	about thirty

ExerciseComputations

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

huit plus cinq égal ____	huit plus cinq égal treize
cinq et un égal ____	cinq et un égal six
neuf plus huit égal ____	neuf plus huit égal dix-sept
trente-deux plus quarante-neuf égal ____	trente-deux plus quarante-neuf égal quatre-vingt-un
soixante plus vingt égal ____	soixante plus vingt égal quatre-vingts
cinquante-trois plus douze égal ____	cinquante-trois plus douze égal soixante-cinq
dix-neuf plus cinquante égal ____	dix-neuf plus cinquante égal soixante-neuf
quarante-sept plus vingt-sept égal ____	quarante-sept plus vingt-sept égal soixante-quatorze
Soixante-trois plus trente-deux égal ____	soixante-trois plus trente-deux égal quatre-vingt-quinze
soixante plus trente-deux égal ____	soixante plus trente-deux égal quatre-vingt-douze

ExerciseOrdinal numbers

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)

Translate from French to English.

quatorzième	fourteenth
trentième	thirtieth
neuvième	ninth
quatrième	fourth
quarante-et-unième	forty-first
dixième	tenth
vingt-deuxième	twenty-second
soixante-dixième	seventieth
quatorzième	fourteenth
seizième	sixthteenth

Lesson 0.06 - The Date

Vocabulary · Days · Les jours

Vocabulary The days of the week · Les jours de la semaine
French	Pronunciation	English	Origin
lundi	/lœ̃di/ (luh⁽ⁿ⁾-dl and Chantal are talkee)	Monday	(Moon)
mardi	/maʁdi/ (mahr-dee)	Tuesday	(Mars)
mercredi	/mɛʁkʁədi/ (mehr-kruh-dee)	Wednesday	(Mercury)
jeudi	/ʒødi/ (zhew-dee)	Thursday	(Jupiter)
vendredi	/vɑ̃dʁədi/ (vah⁽ⁿ⁾-druh-dee)	Friday	(Venus)
samedi	/samdi/ (sahm-dee)	Saturday	(Saturn)
dimanche	/dimɑ̃ʃ/ (dee-mah⁽ⁿ⁾sh)	Sunday	(Dies Domini)

The days of the week are not capitalized in French.
The calender starts on Monday, unlike the English Sunday.

Vocabulary Asking for the day · Demander le jour
Aujourd'hui on est quel jour ?	/oʒuʁdɥi ɔ̃‿nɛ kɛl ʒuʁ/ (oh-zhoor-dewee oh⁽ⁿ⁾nay kehl zhoor)	Today is what day?
Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd'hui? Quel jour est-on aujourd'hui? On est quel jour aujourd'hui?^[1]	/kɛl ʒuʁ sɔm nu oʒuʁdɥi/ (kehl zhoor sohm noo oh-zhoor-dewee) /kɛl ʒuʁ ɛ‿tɔ̃ oʒuʁdɥi/ (kehl zhoor ehtoh⁽ⁿ⁾ oh-zhoor-dewee) /ɔ̃‿nɛ kɛl ʒuʁ oʒuʁdɥi/ (oh⁽ⁿ⁾eh kehl zhoor oh-zhoor-dewee)	What day is it today?
Aujourd'hui c'est [jour]. Aujourd'hui on est [jour].	/oʒuʁdɥi sɛ/ (oh-zhoor-dewee seh) /oʒuʁdɥi ɔ̃‿nɛ/ (oh-zhoor-dewee oh⁽ⁿ⁾neh)	Today is [day].
C'est [day]. Nous sommes [day]. On est [day].	/sɛ/ (seh) /nu sɔm/ (noo sohm) /ɔ̃‿nɛ/ (oh⁽ⁿ⁾neh)	It is [day].
Demain c'est quel jour ?	/dəmɛ̃ sɛ kɛl ʒuʁ/ (duhma⁽ⁿ⁾ seh kehl zhoor)	Tomorrow is what day?
Demain c'est [jour].	/dəmɛ̃ sɛ/ (duhma⁽ⁿ⁾ seh)	Tomorrow is [day].

^ On est quel jour aujourd'hui? is less formal but more common.

Vocabulary Relative days · Les jours relatifs
avant-hier	/avɑ̃‿tjɛʁ/ (ahvah⁽ⁿ⁾ty^uhehr)	the day before yesterday
hier	/jɛʁ/ (y^uhehr)	yesterday
aujourd'hui	/oʒuʁdɥi/ (oh-zhoor-dewee)	today
ce soir	/sə swaʁ/ (suh swahr)	tonight
demain	/dəmɛ̃/ (duhma⁽ⁿ⁾)	tomorrow
après-demain	/apʁɛ dəmɛ̃/ (ahpreh duhma⁽ⁿ⁾)	the day after tomorrow

Nous sommes... is not used with hier, aujourd’hui, or demain. C'était (past) or C'est (present/future) must be used accordingly.

Vocabulary · Months · Les mois

Vocabulary The months of the year · Les mois de l'année
French	Pron.	English
janvier	/ʒɑ̃vje/ (zhah⁽ⁿ⁾-vy^uhay)	January
février	/fevʁije/, /fevʁje/ (fay-vree-y^uhay / fay-vry^uhay)	February
mars	/maʁs/ (mahrs)	March
avril	/avʁil/ (ahv-reel)	April
mai	/mɛ/ (meh)	May
juin	/ʒɥɛ̃/ (zhoo-a⁽ⁿ⁾)	June
juillet	/ʒɥijɛ/ (zhoo-ee-y^uheh)	July
août	/ut/, /u/ (oot/oo)	August
septembre	/sɛptɑ̃bʁ/ (sehp-tah⁽ⁿ⁾-br)	September
octobre	/ɔktɔbʁ/ (ohk-toh-br)	October
novembre	/nɔvɑ̃bʁ/ (noh-vah⁽ⁿ⁾-br)	November
décembre	/desɑ̃bʁ/ (day-sah⁽ⁿ⁾-br)	December

The months of the year are not capitalized in French.

Vocabulary Asking for the date · Demander la date
Quelle est la date (d'aujourd'hui) ?	/kɛl ɛ la dat/ (kehl eh lah daht)	What is the date (today)?
C'est le [#] [month].	/sɛ lə/ (seh lah)	It's [month] [#].

On May 5, one would say "C'est le cinq mai." However, the first of the month uses "le premier" (the first): C'est le premier août (August 1).

Dialogue · What day is it?

Vocabulary · Seasons · Les saisons

Vocabulary The Seasons · Les Saisons
la saison	/la sɛ.zɔ̃/ (lah seh-zoh⁽ⁿ⁾)	season
le printemps	/lə pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ (luh pra⁽ⁿ⁾-tah⁽ⁿ⁾)	Spring
l'été (m)	/le.te/ (lay-tay)	Summer
l'automne (m)	/lo.tɔn/ (loh-tohn)	Autumn
l'hiver (m)	/li.vɛʁ/ (lee-vehr)	Winter

Vocabulary · Age

(upload audio)
Quel âge as-tu ?	How old are you?	lit: You have what age?
J'ai trente ans.	I'm thirty (years old).	lit: I have thirty years
Quel âge avez vous ?	How old are you? (formal)
Quel âge a-t-il ?	How old is he?
Quel âge a-t-elle ?	How old is she?

Dialogue · How old are you?

Marcel and Chantal are talking about how old they are. They are good friends.

Chantal - Quel âge as-tu, Marcel ?
Marcel - J'ai huit ans. Et toi ?
Chantal - J'ai dix ans. Quel âge a-t-elle ?
Marcel - Elle a six ans.

Lesson 0.07 - Telling Time

Vocabulary · Time · Le temps

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). Unlike in English, it is always important to use heures (hours) when referring to the time. In English, it is okay to say It’s nine, but this wouldn’t make sense in French.


Quelle heure est-il ?		What time is it?
Il est une heure.		It is one o’clock.
Il est trois heures.		It is three o’clock.
Il est dix heures.		It is ten o’clock.
Il est midi.		It is noon.
Il est minuit.		It is midnight.
Il est quatre heures cinq.		It is five past four.
Il est quatre heures et quart.		It is a quarter past four.
Il est quatre heures moins le quart		It is a quarter till 4.
Il est quatre heures quinze.		It is four fifteen.
Il est quatre heures et demie.		It is half past four.
Il est quatre heures trente.		It is four thirty.
Il est cinq heures moins vingt.		It is twenty to five.
Il est quatre heures quarante.		It is four forty.

Time is often abbreviated using h for heure(s). For example, 9 o'clock AM would be 9h or 9h00. They also use 24-hour time in this format, so 10 o'clock PM would be 22h.

Supplementary vocabulary · More time expressions

(upload audio)
une heure		1:00
deux heures cinq		2:05
trois heures dix		3:10
quatre heures et quart		4:15
cinq heures vingt		5:20
six heures vingt-cinq		6:25
sept heures et demie		7:30
huit heures moins vingt-cinq		7:35
neuf heures moins vingt		8:40
dix heures moins le quart		9:45
onze heures moins dix		10:50
midi (minuit) moins cinq		11:55
minuit		midnight
midi		noon

Vocabulary · Times of day · L'heure relative


le lever du jour	daybreak	lit: the rise of the day
le lever du soleil	sunrise	lit: the rise of the sun
le soleil levant	rising sun
le matin	morning
...du matin	A.M.	lit: of the morning
hier matin	yesterday morning
le midi	noon, midday
le minuit	midnight
l'après-midi (m)	afternoon
le soir	evening, in the evening
...du soir	P.M.	lit: of the evening
la nuit	night
le coucher du soleil	sunset

Dialogue · What time is it?

Jean-Quelle heure est-il?
Paul-Il est midi.

Jean -Quelle heure est-il?
Paul-Il est deux heures du matin.

Supplementary dialogue · The director · Le directeur


Daniel	(frappe à la porte : toc toc toc)
Daniel	(knocks on the door: knock knock knock)
Le directeur	Entrez !
Le directeur	Enter!
Daniel	Bonjour, monsieur le directeur. Est-ce que vous allez bien ?
Daniel	Hello, Mr. Director. Are you well?
Le directeur	Je vais bien merci. Et vous, comment allez-vous ?
Le directeur	I am well, thank you. And you, how are you?
Daniel	Je vais bien. Je veux vous demander s'il est possible d'organiser une fête pour mon anniversaire. Je l'organiserais le 3 mars vers 14 h.
Daniel	I'm well. I want to ask you if it is possible to organize a party for my birthday. I would organize it on the third of March around 02:00 PM.
Le directeur	Et vous voulez l'organiser où ?
Le directeur	And where do you want to organise it?
Daniel	Dans la grande salle de réunion au deuxième étage. On en aurait besoin jusqu'à 16 h, le temps de tout nettoyer.
Daniel	In the large conference room on the second floor. We would need it until 04:00 PM, the time of cleaning everything.
Le directeur	Entendu ! J' espère que je serais invité ?
Le directeur	Agreed! I hope that I would be invited?
Daniel	Bien sûr ! Merci Beaucoup !
Daniel	Of course! Thanks a lot!
Le directeur	Au revoir !
Le directeur	Good-bye!
Daniel	Au revoir et encore merci !
Daniel	Good-bye and thanks again.

Lesson 0 - Review

G: The French alphabet

Grammar The French Alphabet · L'alphabet français
Characters	Aa	Bb	Cc	Dd	Ee	Ff	Gg	Hh	Ii	Jj	Kk	Ll	Mm
Pronunciation	ah	bay	say	day	uh	ehf	zhay	ahsh	ee	zhee	kah	ehl	ehm
Characters	Nn	Oo	Pp	Qq	Rr	Ss	Tt	Uu	Vv	Ww	Xx	Yy	Zz
Pronunciation	ehn	oh	pay	kew	ehr	ehs	tay	ew	vay	doo-bluh-vay	eeks	ee-grehk	zehd

In addition, French uses several accents which are worth understanding. These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents) and é (acute accent). A circumflex applies to all vowels: â, ê, î, ô, û. A tréma (French for dieresis) is also applied: ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ. Two combined letters are used: æ and œ, and a cedilla is used on the c to make it sound like an English s: ç.

V: Basic phrases

Vocabulary Basic Phrases · Les expressions de base
bonjour, salut	hello (formal), hi (informal)
Comment allez-vous ? (formal), Comment vas-tu ? (informal), Comment ça va ? / Ça va ? (informal)	(lit: How you go/How it goes?)
ça va (très) bien	I'm doing (very) well (lit. It goes (very) well)
merci	thank you
et toi ? et vous ?	and you? (informal) and you? (formal)
pas mal	not bad
bien	well
pas si bien/pas très bien	not so well
comme ci, comme ça	so-so
Désolé(e)	I'm sorry.
quoi de neuf ?	what's up with you? (lit. what's new)
pas grand-chose	not much (lit. no big-thing)
au revoir	bye
à demain	see you tomorrow (lit. at tomorrow)
à plus tard	see you later
Au revoir, à demain.	Bye, see you tomorrow

V: Numbers

Vocabulary 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
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	100	une centaine (one hundred)
[deux - neuf] cents	200-900
deux cent un	201
neuf cent un	901
mille	1.000	un millier (one thousand)
(un) million	1.000.000
(un) milliard	1.000.000.000
(un) billion	1.000.000.000.000

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 (21,31,41,51,61 and 71, but not 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.
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.

V: Asking for the day/date/time

Vocabulary Asking For The Day, Date, Time · Demander le jour, la date, le temps
Asking for the day.
1a	Aujourd'hui c'est quel jour?	Today is what day?	(oh-zhur-dewee seh kehl zhoor)
1b	Aujourd'hui c'est [jour].	Today is [day].
2a	Demain c'est quel jour	Tomorrow is what day?	(duh-ma⁽ⁿ⁾ seh kehl zhoor)
2b	Demain c'est [jour].	Tomorrow is [day].
Asking for the date.
3a	Quelle est la date (aujourd'hui)?	What is the date (today)?	(kehl eh lah daht)
3b	C'est le [#] [month].	It's [month] [#].
Asking for the time.
4a	Quelle heure est-il?	What hour/time is it?	(kehl ewr eh-teel)
4b	Il est quelle heure?	What hour/time is it?	(eel eh kehl ewr)
5	Il est [nombre] heure(s).	It is [number] hours.	(eel eh [nombre] ewr)

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"). Unlike in English, it is always important to use “heures” (“hours”) when referring to the time. In English, it is OK to say, “It’s nine,” but this wouldn’t make sense in French. The French time system traditionally uses a 24-hour scale. Shorthand for writing times in French follows the format "17h30", which would represent 5:30PM in English.

Vocabulary Time · Le temps
Quelle heure est-il ?	What time is it?
Il est une heure.	It is one o’clock.
Il est trois heures.	It is three o’clock.
Il est dix heures.	It is ten o’clock.
Il est midi.	It is noon.
Il est minuit.	It is midnight.
Il est quatre heures cinq.	It is five past four.
Il est quatre heures et quart.	It is a quarter past four.
Il est quatre heures quinze.	It is four fifteen.
Il est quatre heures et demie.	It is half past four.
Il est dix-neuf heures moins le quart.	It is a quarter to seven, or six forty-five.
Il est quatre heures trente.	It is four thirty.
Il est cinq heures moins vingt.	It is twenty to five.
Il est quatre heures quarante.	It is four forty.

V: The days of the week.

Vocabulary The days of the week · Les jours de la semaine
French	Pronunciation	English	Origin
lundi	/lœ̃di/ (luh⁽ⁿ⁾-dee)	Monday	(Moon)
mardi	/maʁdi/ (mahr-dee)	Tuesday	(Mars)
mercredi	/mɛʁkʁədi/ (mehr-kruh-dee)	Wednesday	(Mercury)
jeudi	/ʒødi/ (zhur-dee)	Thursday	(Jupiter)
vendredi	/vɑ̃dʁədi/ (vah⁽ⁿ⁾-druh-dee)	Friday	(Venus)
samedi	/samdi/ (sahm-dee)	Saturday	(Saturn)
dimanche	/dimɑ̃ʃ/ (dee-mah⁽ⁿ⁾sh)	Sunday	(Dies Domini)

The days of the week are not capitalized in French.
For phrases relating to the day of the week, see the phrasebook.

Notes:

What day is it today? is equivalent to Quel jour sommes-nous ?.
Quel jour sommes-nous ? can be answered with Nous sommes..., C'est... or On est... (last two are less formal).
Nous sommes... is not used with hier, aujourd’hui, or demain. C'était (past) or C'est (present/future) must be used accordingly.

V: The months of the year

Vocabulary The months of the year · Les mois de l'année
French	Pron.	English
janvier	/ʒɑ̃vje/ (zhah⁽ⁿ⁾-vyay)	January
février	/fevʁije/ (fay-vree-yay)	February
mars	/maʁs/ (mahrs)	March
avril	/avʁil/ (ahv-reel)	April
mai	/mɛ/ (meh)	May
juin	/ʒɥɛ̃/ (zhoo-a⁽ⁿ⁾)	June
juillet	/ʒɥijɛ/ (zhoo-ee-yeh)	July
août	/ut/, /u/ (oot/oo)	August
septembre	/sɛptɑ̃bʁ/ (sehp-tah⁽ⁿ⁾-br)	September
octobre	/ɔktɔbʁ/ (ohk-toh-br)	October
novembre	/nɔvɑ̃bʁ/ (noh-vah⁽ⁿ⁾-br)	November
décembre	/desɑ̃bʁ/ (day-sah⁽ⁿ⁾-br)	December

V: Relative date and time

Vocabulary Relative Date and Time · Date et heure relatives
Times of Day
le lever du jour	daybreak lit:the rise of the day
le lever du soleil	sunrise lit: the rise of the sun
le soleil levant	rising sun.
le matin	morning
...du matin	A.M., lit: of the mornng
hier matin	yesterday morning
le midi	noon, midday
l'après-midi (m)	afternoon
le soir	evening, in the evening
...du soir	P.M. lit: of the evening
le coucher du soleil	sunset
la nuit	night
Relative Days
avant-hier	the day before yesterday
hier	yesterday
aujourd'hui	today
ce soir	tonight
demain	tomorrow
après-demain	the day after tomorrow

V: Seasons

Vocabulary The Seasons · Les Saisons
la saison	/la sɛ.zɔ̃/ (lah seh-zoh⁽ⁿ⁾)	season
le printemps	/lə pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ (luh pra⁽ⁿ⁾-taw⁽ⁿ⁾)	Spring
l'été (m)	/le.te/ (lay-tay)	Summer
l'automne (m)	/lo.tɔn/ (loh-tawn)	Autumn
l'hiver (m)	/li.vɛʁ/ (lee-vehr)	Winter

Dialogue · A conversation between friends · Une conversation entre amis

(upload audio)
Daniel	Bonjour Hervé. Comment vas-tu ?
Daniel	Hello, Hervé. How are you?
Hervé	Je vais bien, merci. Et toi ça va ?
Hervé	I'm good,¹ thank you. And you, it goes (fine)?
Daniel	Ça va bien. Est-ce que² tu viens à mon anniversaire ? J'organise une petite fête.
Daniel	It goes well. You're coming to my party? I'm organizing a little party.
Hervé	C'est quand ?
Hervé	When is it?
Daniel	Le 3 mars à 20h.
Daniel	March 3 at 08:00 PM.
Hervé	Le 3 mars, entendu. Tu fais ça chez toi³ ?
Hervé	March 3, agreed. You're having it at your place?
Daniel	Oui c'est chez moi. J'ai invité une vingtaine d'amis. On va danser toute la nuit.
Daniel	Yes, it's at my place. I have invited (a set of) twenty friends. We⁴ are going to dance all night.
Hervé	C'est très gentil de m'inviter, merci. A bientôt.
Hervé	It's very nice to invite me, thank you. So long.
Daniel	A demain, bonne journée.
Daniel	Until tomorrow, good day.

^1 Bien... is an adverb meaning well. Its adjective equivalent is bon(ne), which means good. Since je vais, meaning I go, uses an action verb,
the adverb bien is used. In English, I'm good, which uses the linking verb am, is followed by an adjective rather than an adverb.

^2 Est-ce que... doesn't mean anything (like the Spanish upside down question mark) and is used to start a question.
This can be used in a similar manner to do in English. Instead of You want it?, one can say Do you want it?

^3 chez... is a preposition meaning at the house of.... Chez moi is used to say at my place. Chez [name] is used to say at [name's] place.

^4 on... can mean we or one.

Lesson 0 - Test

The following test will confirm your progress in the French introduction. Try to answer the questions to the best of your ability without turning to the previous chapters or consulting the test answers.

Grammar

Verb forms

Name the verb forms for the subject and infinitive specified. (1 point each)

Translating

English to French

Translate the following phrases and sentences into French. (2 points each)

What day is today?
How are you?
What is your name?

French to English

Translate this dialogue between Henri and Jacques into English. Each phrase is worth 1 points. (11 points total)

Bonjour! Quel est ton nom?
Je m'appelle Jacques. Comment vous-appelez vous?
Je m'appelle Henri. Comment ça va?
Pas mal. Et toi, comment ça va?
Trés bien, merci. À demain Jacques!
À demain Henri.

Reading comprehension

Fill in the blank

Fill in the blanks in these conversations. Note: Every blank is one word. (1 point each)

Vocabulary

Matching

Match the French words with their English definitions. (1 point each)

Level one

Lesson 1.01 - Basic Grammar
Lesson 1.02 - To Be
Lesson 1.03 - Description
Lesson 1.04 - Family
Lesson 1.05 - Recreation
Lesson 1.06 - The House
Lesson 1.07 - Weather
Lesson 1.08 - Travel
Lesson 1.09 - Art
Lesson 1.10 - Science

Lesson 1.01 - Basic Grammar

By the end of this lesson, you should understand:

Qu’est-ce que c’est ? C'est une colombe.

Voici les deux garçons !

Grammar · Gender of nouns · Genre des noms

Nouns are words that represent something perceived or conceived, like an apple or a thought. In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculine (m) or feminine (f).

Most nouns that express people or animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. For example, the two words for the cat in French are le chat (m) and la chatte (f).

However, there are some nouns that talk about people or animals whose gender is fixed, regardless of the actual gender of the person or animal. For example, la personne^{the person} is always feminine, even when it's talking about your uncle; le professeur^{the teacher} is always masculine, even when it's talking about your female professor or teacher.

The nouns that express things without an obvious gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) have only one form. This form can be masculine or feminine. For example, la voiture^{the car} can only be feminine; le stylo^{the pen} can only be masculine.

Supplementary grammar · Common endings

(upload audio)
Masculine nouns
-age	le fromage	the cheese
-d	le pied	the foot
-g	le rang	the rank
-isme	le matérialisme	materialism
-ment	le mouvement	the movement
-n	le ballon	the balloon
-r	le professeur	the teacher
-t	le chat	the cat
Feminine nouns
-ce	la grâce	the grace
-che	la touche	the touch
-ée	la durée	the duration
-ie	la boulangerie	the bakery
-ion	la nation	the nation
-ite/-ité	la stabilité	stability
-lle	la fille	the girl
-nce	la balance	the scales
-nne	la personne	the person
-ure	la figure	the figure

Exceptions

There are many exceptions to gender rules in French which can only be learned. There are even words that are spelled the same, but have a different meaning when masculine or feminine; for example, le livre means the book, but la livre means the pound. Some words that appear to be masculine (such as la photo, which should be masculine but is not because it is actually short for la photographie) are in fact feminine, and vice versa. Then there are some that just don't make sense; la foi is feminine and means faith or belief, whereas le foie is masculine and means liver.

Vocabulary · Example nouns

Vocabulary gallery

le cheval (

/ʃəval/)

le chien (

/ʃjɛ̃/)

le livre (

/livʁ/)

la colombe (

/kɔlɔ̃b/)

la chemise (

/ʃə.miz/)

la maison (

/mɛ.zɔ̃/)

(upload audio)
Masculine nouns
le cheval	/ʃəval/ (help·info)	the horse
le chien	/ʃjɛ̃/ (help·info)	the dog
le livre	/livʁ/ (help·info)	the book
le bruit	/bʁɥi/ (help·info)	the noise
Feminine nouns
la colombe	/kɔlɔ̃b/ (help·info)	the dove
la chemise	/ʃə.miz/ (help·info)	the shirt
la maison	/mɛ.zɔ̃/ (help·info)	the house
la liberté	/li.bɛʁ.te/ (help·info)	the liberty

Grammar · Articles

The definite article · L'article défini

In English, the definite article is always the.

In French, the definite article is changed depending on the noun's:

gender
number
first letter

There are three definite articles and an abbreviation. 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 is singular and begins with a vowel or silent h (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where a changes to an before a vowel.


singular	feminine	la	/la/ (lah)	la fille	(lah fee-y^uh)	the daughter
singular	masculine	le	/lə/ (luh)	le fils	(luh fees)	the son
singular, starting with a vowel sound		l’	/l/	l’enfant	(lah⁽ⁿ⁾-fah⁽ⁿ⁾)	the child
plural		les	/le/ (lay)	les filles	(lay fee-y^uh)	the daughters
				les fils	(lay fees)	the sons
				les enfants	(lay-zah⁽ⁿ⁾-fah⁽ⁿ⁾)	the children

Unlike English, the definite article is used to talk about something in a general sense, a general statement or feeling about an idea or thing.

Elision

Elision refers to the suppression of a final unstressed vowel immediately before another word beginning with a vowel. The definite articles le and la are shortened to l’ when they come before a noun that begins with a vowel or silent h. When pronounced, the vowel sound is dropped.

(upload audio)
(le) ami	→	l'ami	(lah-mee)	the (male) friend
(la) amie	→	l'amie	(lah-mee)	the (female) friend
(le) élève	→	l'élève	(lay-lehv)	the pupil
(la) heure	→	l'heure	(lewr)	the hour, the time

Elision does not occur on an aspired h:

(le) héros: le héros^{the hero}

In addition to the definite article, elision will also occur with other words, such as que, je, le, ce, ne, and de. The details on these words will be covered in later sections of the book.

The indefinite article · L'article indéfini

In English, the indefinite articles are a and an. Some is used as a plural article in English.

Again, indefinite articles in French take different forms depending on gender and number. The articles un and une literally mean one in French.


singular	feminine	une	/yn/ (ewn)	une fille^[2]	a daughter
singular	masculine	un	/œ̃/ (uh⁽ⁿ⁾)	un fils	a son
plural		des	/dɛ/ (deh)	des filles	some daughters
plural		des	/dɛ/ (deh)	des fils^[3]	some sons

^ une is often (more often than not) pronounced (ewnuh) in poetry and lyric.
^ Des fils does mean some sons, but is a homograph: it can also mean some threads (when pronounced like /fil/ (help·info)).

Some

Note that des, like les, is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English. For example, you are looking at photographs in an album. The English statement I am looking at photographs. cannot be translated to French as Je regarde photographies. because an article is required to tell which photographs are being looked at. If it is a set of specific pictures, the French statement should be Je regarde les photographies.^{I am looking at the photographs.} On the other hand, if the person is just browsing the album, the French translation is Je regarde des photographies.^{I am looking at some photographs.}

Plurality, pronunciation, and exceptions

The plural of most nouns is formed by adding an -s. However, the -s ending is not pronounced. It is the article that tells the listener whether the noun is singular or plural.

Most singular nouns do not end in -s. The -s is added for the plural form of the noun. Fils is one exception. Whenever the singular form of a noun ends in -s, there is no change in the plural form.


le fils the son	les fils the sons	un fils a son	des fils (some) sons
le cours the course	les cours the courses	un cours a course	des cours (some) courses

The final consonant is almost always not pronounced unless followed by an -e (or another vowel). Fils /fis/ is also an exception to this rule.

Liaison

Remember that the last consonant of a word is typically not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound (or silent h), the consonant often becomes pronounced. This is a process called liaison. When a vowel goes directly after un, the normally unpronounced n sound becomes pronounced.

(upload audio)
(un) ami	un_nami	/ɶ̃‿na.mi/ (help·info)	a (male) friend
(un) élève	un_nélève	/ɶ̃‿ne.lɛv/ (help·info)	a pupil

Compare the pronunciation to words without liaison:

un garçon /ɶ̃ gaʁsɔ̃/

Une is unaffected by liaison.

Liaison also occurs with les and des.

(upload audio)
(les) amis	les_zamis	/le‿za.mi/ (help·info)	(some) (male) friends
(des) amis	des_zamis	/dɛ‿za.mi/ (help·info)	(some) (male) friends
(des) amies	des_zamies	/dɛ‿za.mi/ (help·info)	(some) (female) friends

As with elision, an aspired h isn't liaised:

(les) hangars: les hangars le æŋgəʁ

Vocabulary · People · Les personnes

(upload audio)
la personne	/la pɛʁ.sɔn/ (help·info)	person
Gender and age
l'homme (m)	/lɔm/ (help·info)	man
la femme	/la fam/ (help·info)	woman
le garçon	/lə gaʁ.sɔ̃/ (help·info)	boy
la fille	/la fi.j/ (help·info)	girl
la fillette	/la fi.jɛt/ (help·info)	little girl
Friends
l'ami (m) le copain	/la.mi/ (help·info) /lə kɔ.pɛ̃/ (help·info)	male friend
l'amie (f) la copine	/la.mi/ (help·info) /la kɔ.pin/ (help·info)	female friend

Vocabulary · Expressions

Qu’est-ce que c’est ?

To say What is it? or What is that? in French, Qu’est-ce que c’est ? /kɛs kə sɛ/ is used.

Qu'est-ce que…?^{What is it that ?} is used often to say What…? at the beginning of sentences.

To respond to this question, you say C’est un(e) [nom]., meaning It is a [noun]:

C'est un livre.^{It's a book.}

Remember that the indefinite article (un or une) must agree with the noun it modifies:

C'est une chemise.^{It's a shirt.}

Il y a

Il y a /il.ja/ is used to say there is or there are. Il y a expresses the existence of the noun it introduces.

Il y a une pomme.^{There is an apple.}

The phrase is used for both singular and plural nouns. Unlike in English (is → are), il y a does not change form.

Il y a des pommes.^{There are (some) apples.}

The -s at the end of the most pluralised nouns tells you that the phrase is there are instead of there is. In spoken French, when both the singular and plural forms almost always sound the same, the article (and perhaps other adjectives modifying the noun) is used to distinguish between singular and plural versions.

A is the present third person singular form of the verb to have, and y is a pronoun meaning there. The phrase il y a, then, literally translates to he has there. This phrase is used in all French tenses. It is important to remember that verb stays as a form of have and not be.

Voici and voilà

Like in English, il y a… is not often used to point out an object. To point out an object to the listener, use voici /vwa.si/, meaning over here is/are or right here is/are, and voilà /vwa.la/, meaning over there is/are, or there you have it.

Voici les deux garçons !^{Here are the two boys!}

Examples

(upload audio)
C'est un chien.		It's a dog.
Il y a un problème.		There is a problem.
Il y a deux personnes ici.		There are two people here.
Il y a deux tables dans le salon.		There are two tables in the lounge.
Il n’y a pas de chat.		There is no cat.
il n’y a pas que toi.		You are not the only one.
Voici le fromage.		Here's the cheese.
Voila une pomme		There's an apple.

Exercises

ExerciseRespond according to the pictures.

Qu’est-ce que c’est?

C'est ….

pomme

poire

chat

chien

Solution(upload audio)

ExerciseMatching

Match each noun with its corresponding image.

une colombe

des livres

une chemise

des chevaux

une maison

Solution

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate each phrase from English to French

the boy	le garçon
the female friend	l'amie, la copine
the man	l'homme
the little girl	la fillette
the woman	la femme
the person	la personne
the girl	la fille
the male friend	l'ami, le copain

ExerciseTranslation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate each phrase from French to English

l'amie	the female friend
la fillette	the little girl
la personne	the person
la femme	the woman
l'ami	the male friend
la copine	the female friend
le garçon	the boy
la fille	the girl
le copain	the male friend
l'homme	the man

Supplementary exercises

ExerciseGender

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Classify each noun as masculine or feminine based on its ending.

rapidité	feminine
mutisme	masculine
récréation	feminine
bricolage	masculine
paille	feminine
découpage	masculine
grenouille	feminine
gallicisme	masculine
robinet	masculine
différence	feminine
rondelle	feminine
optimisme	masculine
question	feminine
modernisme	masculine
vaisselle	feminine
paysage	masculine
ambulance	feminine
originalité	feminine
famille	feminine
sévérité	feminine
couronne	feminine
particularité	feminine
anarchisme	masculine
feuille	feminine
mobilité	feminine
télévision	feminine
oreille	feminine
panne	feminine
frite	feminine
ordonnance	feminine
professionnalisme	masculine
sincérité	feminine
invitation	feminine
passage	masculine
abeille	feminine
résolubilité	feminine
canne	feminine
attention	feminine
validité	feminine
bagage	masculine
coquillage	masculine
créativité	feminine
chance	feminine
monolinguisme	masculine
village	masculine