French.pdf

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French

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Main Contents

Lessons

Grammar

Appendices

Texts

Q&A

About the Book

GFDL

LESSONS

Contents

Introductory Lessons

Level One Lessons

Level Two Lessons

Level Three Lessons

GNU Free Documentation License

INTRODUCTORY

Introductory Lessons Contents

Lesson 0.01 - Introduction

Lesson 0.02 - Learning French

Lesson 0.03 - The Alphabet

Lesson 0.04 - Accents

Lesson 0.05 - Greetings

Lesson 0.06 - Formal Speech

Lesson 0.07 - How are you?

Lesson 0.08 - Numbers

Lesson 0.09 - The Date

Lesson 0.10 - Telling Time

Lesson 0 Review

Lesson 0 Test

Bonjour! - Introductory French

01 Leçon 01 : Introduction

History of the French Language

Extent of the French Language

Lesson 01 : Introduction

02 Leçon 02 : Apprendre le français

Reasons To Learn French, Book Organization

Advice on Studying French

Lesson 02 : Learning French

03 Leçon 03 : L'alphabet

Letters

Punctuation

Lesson 03 : The Alphabet

04 Leçon 04 : Les accents

Acute Accent, Grave Accent

Tonic Accent, Stress

Lesson 04 : Accent Marks

05 Leçon 05 : Les salutations

Greetings

Good-byes, Names

Lesson 05 : Greetings

06 Leçon 06 : Le discours formel

Vous vs. tu, Courtesy

Titles, Asking For One's Name

Lesson 06 : Formal Speech

07 Leçon 07 : Ça va?

Asking How One Is Doing

Lesson 07 : How are you?

08 Leçon 08 : Les nombres

Cardinal Numbers

Ordinal Numbers

Lesson 08 : Numbers

09 Leçon 09 : Les dates

Numbers 01-31, Seasons

Days of the week, Months of the Year

Lesson 09 : Dates

10 Leçon 10 : L'heure

Numbers 30-60, Times of Day

Asking for the time

Lesson 10 : Telling Time

Rv Revue

Introductory review

Revue de l'introduction

Review

Ex L'examen

Chapter test

Chapitre l'examen

Test

Lesson 0.01 - Introduction

Introduction

See also: w:French language

French is a Romance language descended from Latin which developed as a result of Celtic and Frankish

influences in Gaul (now France). Being a Romance language, it is closely related to Portuguese, Spanish,

Italian, and Romanian, as well as many other languages. There are over 87 million native French speakers

and an additional 68 million non-native speakers in the world.

History

Further information: w:History of the French language

During the Roman occupation of Gaul, the Latin language was imposed on the natives. This Latin language

eventually developed 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

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. It is also the official language of 29 countries and

is spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg, 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).

Allons-y! Bonne chance!

French is spoken all around the

world.

Lesson 0.02 - Learning French

Reasons to learn French

As mentioned earlier, French is a major diplomatic language. You are bound to find speakers almost

anywhere in the world. In addition to these societal reasons, there are hundreds of famous French novels and

nonfiction works in a wide variety of subjects. Because much can be lost in translation, the best way to read

these works is in the original language.

Advice on studying French

Main article: 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

(http://web.archive.org/web/20071211081522/http://en.wikinerds.org/index.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.

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 simple stuff before moving on to the

more complex concepts. We all have to add and subtract before we can do calculus. French is a complete

language. While this course 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 all of these skills, and they will reinforce one another. For listening and speaking, find a native speaker

to help you.

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.

Book organization

This book is divided into one set of preliminary lessons, the page you are reading now, and four increasingly

complex lesson levels. The introductory lessons will teach you pronunciation and phrases. In the first level,

you will learn basic grammar, including pronouns, the present indicative, most common present tense, and

several irregularly-conjugated verbs. In the second level, the passé composé, the most common past tense, is

given, along with many other irregular verbs. In the third level, you will learn several more tenses and

complex grammar rules. The fourth level (still in development), will be conducted in French and will focus

on French literature and prose writing. For more on course structure, and information on how you can help

improve this book, see the lessons planning page.

Lesson 0.03 - The Alphabet

Introduction

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •101 kb • help)

The French Alphabet L'alphabet français

Characters

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii

Pronunciation

ah bay say day euh eff jhay ash ee

Characters

Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr

Pronunciation

ghee kah el emm enn oh pay ku air

Characters

Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz

Pronunciation

ess tay oo vay dubla-vay eeks ee-grehk zed

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: ë, ï, 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. More information on accents will be found in the next section.

Letters and examples

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •101 kb • help)

The French Alphabet L'alphabet français

letter pronunciation

name in French

(in IPA transcription)

Aa like a in father

/a/

Bb like b in may"be

/be/

before e and i: like c in center

before a, o, or u: like c in cat

/se/

Dd like d in dog

/de/

Ee approx. like u in burp**

/ə/

Ff like f in fog

/ɛf/

before e and i: like s in measure

before a, o, or u: like g in get

/ʒe/

aspirated h: see note below*

non-aspirated h: not pronounced***

/aʃ/

Ii like ea in team

/i/

Jj like s in measure

/ʒi/

Kk like k in kite

/ka/

Ll like l in lemon

/ɛl/

Mm like m in minute

/ɛm/

Nn like n in note

/ɛn/

closed: approx. like u in nut

open: like o in nose

/o/

Pp like p in pen*

/pe/

Qq like k in kite

/ky/ see 'u'

for details

force air through the back of your throat

near the position of gargling,

but sounding soft

/ɛʀ/

like s in sister at beginning

of word or with two s's

or like z in amazing if only one s

/ɛs/

Tt like t in top

/te/

Say the English letter e,

but make your lips say "oo".

/y/

Vv like v in violin

/ve/

Depending on the derivation of the word,

like v as in violin, or w in water

/dubləve/

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. The letters p (as in 'coup'), s

(as in 'héros'), t (as in 'chat'), d (as in 'marchand'), and x (as in 'paresseux'), are generally not pronounced at

the end of a word. They are pronounced if there is an e letter after ('coupe', 'chatte', 'marchande', etc.)

Dental consonants

The letters d, l, n,s, t, and z are pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the lower 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' 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. (This is not the same as the similarly-named concept of 'h' aspiré discussed below). 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).

Exercise

Get a loose piece of printer paper or notebook paper.1.

Hold the piece of paper about one inch (or a couple of centimeters) in front of your face.2.

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!

Aspirated vs. 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. What do these terms mean?

Ex.: the word héros, (hero) has an aspirated h, because when the definite article le is placed before it,

the result is le héros, and both words must be pronounced separately. However, the feminine form of

héros, héroïne is a non-aspirated h. Therefore, when you put the definite article in front of it, it

becomes l'héroïne, and is pronounced as one word.

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. 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 a (')

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:

aspirated non-aspirated

héros, hero (le héros) héroïne, heroine (l'héroïne)

haïr, to hate (je hais or j'haïs...) habiter, to live (j'habite...)

huit, eight (le huit novembre) harmonie, harmony (l'harmonie)

Exercise

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 columns2.

Look at it every day and memorize the columns3.

Punctuation

From Wiktionary:

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •608 kb • help)

Punctuation La ponctuation

esperluette, et

commercial

virgule

{ }

accolades

tilde

[show ▼]

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.

The two stroke punctuation marks (such as ;, :, ?, !) may require a non-breaking space before or after the

mark in question. For purposes of this textbook, this style will be used to maintain consistency with other

projects on WikiMedia - however, the location and context at which you will use French may have different

spacing rules. 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.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipédia:Conventions_typographiques#Espaces)

French Style Guide (http://www.cprp.ca/guide.php?category_name=autres-ressources/#english) ,

Nova Scotia Department of Education (for Canadian French)

EXERCISE • Translator (http://translate.google.com/translate_t) • Exercise Appendix • Print version

• E: 0.03 1 - Punctuation - State the Word

Lesson 0.04 - Accents

Introduction

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). The following table lists every French accent

mark and the letters with which it can be combined:

accent

letters

used

examples

acute accent

(accent aigu)

é only

éléphant: elephant

grave accent

(accent grave)

è, à, ù

fièvre: fever, là: there, où: where

circumflex

(accent circonflexe)

â, ê, î,

ô, û

gâteau: cake, être: to be, île: island,

chômage: unemployment,

dû: past participle of devoir

diaeresis

(tréma)

ë, ï, ü, ÿ

[1]

Noël: Christmas, maïs: corn, aigüe: acute(fem)

[2]

cedilla

(cédille)

ç only

français: French

↑ Note: The letter ÿ is only used in very rare words, mostly old town names like L'Haÿ-Les-Roses, a

Paris surburb. This letter is pronounced like ï.

↑ Note: As of the spelling reform of 1990, the diaresis indicating gu is not a digraph on words

finishing in guë is now placed on the u in standard (AKA "académie française" French) : aigüe and not

aiguë, cigüe and not ciguë, ambigüe and not ambiguë (acute(fem), conium, ambiguous). 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 (French, accent aigu) is the most common accent used in written French. It is only used

with the letter e and is always pronounced /e/.

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

infinitive past participle

aimer, to love

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.

Grave accent - Accent grave

à and ù

In the case of the letters à and ù, the grave accent (Fr. accent grave), is used to graphically distinguish one

word from another.

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)

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 the article a in english (a schwa), and in rapid speech is

sometimes not pronounced at all. The è is pronounced like the letter e in pet.

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.

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. There are two methods of doing so - some modern word processing software allow

entering accents using a key combination, while other applications may require using an Alt code.

In supporing word processing software, you can initiate an accent by entering an appropriate key

combination.

accent key combination

acute accent

(accent aigu)

CTRL-'

grave accent

(accent grave)

CTRL-`

circumflex

(accent circonflexe)

CTRL-SHIFT-6

diaeresis

(tréma)

CTRL-;

cedilla

(cédille)

CTRL-,

On applications that do not support the key combinations, the alternate method available to students is to

hold down the ALT key, and enter the code number on the keypad. In some applications, you may also need

to have the numlock turned on to avoid undesirable effects.

Character code Character code

à 133 À 0192

â 131 Â 0194

ä 132 Ä 142

æ {ae} 145 Æ {ae} 146

œ {oe} 0156 Œ {oe} 0140

ç 135 Ç 128

é 130 É 144

ê 136 Ê 0202

è 138 È 0200

ë 137 Ë 0203

î 140 Î 0206

ï 139 Ï 0207

ô 147 Ô 0212

ù 151 Ù 0217

û 150 Û 0219

ü 129 Ü 154 or 0220

« 174 » 175

Lesson 0.05 - Greetings

D: Greetings

French Dialogue • Print version • audio (upload)

Greetings Les salutations

Jacques et Marie

Jacques

Bonsoir, Marie.

Marie

Euh ? Tu t'appelles comment ?

Jacques

Moi

[1]

, je m'appelle Jacques.

Marie

Ah, oui. Quoi de neuf, Jacques ?

Jacques

Pas grand-chose. Alors

[2]

, au revoir, à demain, Marie.

Marie

À la prochaine, Jacques.

Olivier et Luc

Olivier

Salut.

Luc

Bonjour.

Olivier

Tu t'appelles comment ?

Luc

Luc. Et toi ?

[3]

Olivier

Je suis Olivier.

Luc

Ah, oui. Alors, à bientôt, Olivier.

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./Bye. (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. what's new)

Pas grand-chose. Not much. (lit. no big-thing)

Formal Lesson - Greetings

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. Bonsoir is used to say Good

evening. Bonne nuit is used to say Good night before going to bed.

V: Good-bye

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •202 kb • help)

Good-bye Au revoir

Salut. Hi./Bye. (informal)

Au revoir. Good-bye. ohrvwahr (ev not pronounced)

À demain. See you tomorrow. ah duhman (Lit: To/Until Tomorrow)

Au revoir, à demain. Bye, see you tomorrow.

À tout à l'heure. See you (later today)! ah tootah luhr

À la prochaine. See you (tomorrow)! ah lah proh shayn

À bientôt. See you soon. ah byantoe

Ciao Bye. chow (Italian)

Formal lesson - Good-byes

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.

V: 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 Je m'appelle [name] (I am called...). In the next lesson,

you will learn more formal ways of asking someone for their name.

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. You want to introduce yourself to him, tell him your name, and ask "What's

up?"

Lesson 0.06 - 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:

Monsieur Bernard

Bonjour. Comment vous appelez-vous ?

Monsieur Lambert

Je m'appelle Jean-Paul Lambert. Et vous ?

Monsieur Bernard

Moi, je

[4]

suis Marc Bernard. Enchanté.

Monsieur Lambert

Enchanté

[5]

^ I (I is not capitalized in French (unless, of course, beginning a sentence))

^ Nice to meet you (lit. enchanted)

G: Vous vs. tu

This is an important difference between French and English. 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.

In French, it is important to know when to use "vous" and when to use "tu".

"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'd 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.

V: Courtesy

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •160 kb • help)

Courtesy La politesse

Please

S'il te plaît. (Lit: If it pleases you.)

S'il vous plaît. (formal).

Thanks (a lot) Merci (beaucoup).

You're welcome.

De rien. (Lit: It's nothing.)

Pas de quoi. (Lit: Not of what.) (No problem.)

Je t'en prie. I pray you (informal)

Je vous en prie (formal)

V: Titles

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •99 kb • help)

Titles Les titres

French Abbr. Pronunciation English, Usage

Singular

Plural

Monsieur

Messieurs.

muhsyeu

mehsyeu

Mr., Sir.

Gentlemen.

Singular

Plural

Madame

Mesdames

mahdamn

maydahm

Mrs., Ma'am.

Ladies

Singular

Plural

Mademoiselle

Mesdemoiselles

lle

mahdmwahzell

mehdmwahzell

Miss, Young lady

Young ladies

Formal lesson - Titles

The titles monsieur, madame, and mademoiselle are almost always used alone, without the last name of the

person. When beginning to speak to a professor, employer, or generally someone older than you, it is polite

to say monsieur, madame, or mademoiselle.

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 ?

Quel est votre nom ?

How do you call yourself? (formal)

What is your name?

Tu t'appelles comment ?

What is your name? (informal)

(lit: How do you call yourself?)

Je m'appelle...

Je suis...

My name is... (lit. I call myself...)

I am...

Lesson 0.07 - How are you?

D: A simple conversation

Two good friends—Marie and Jean—are meeting:

Marie: Salut Jean. Ça va ?

Jean: Ça va bien, merci. Et toi, ça va ?

Marie: Pas mal.

Jean: Quoi de neuf ?

Marie: Pas grand-chose.

Marie: Au revoir Jean.

Jean: Au revoir, à demain.

V: How are you?

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •105 kb • help)

How are you? Ça va?

Comment allez-vous ? (formal),

Comment vas-tu ? (informal),

Comment ça va ? / Ça va ? (informal)

How are you?

Ça va (très) bien

I'm doing (very) well

(lit. It's going (very) well)

Oui, ça va. Yes, it goes.

Très bien, merci. Very well, thanks.

Pas mal. Not Bad

pas si bien/pas très bien not so well

(très) mal (very) bad

Comme ci, comme ça. So-So.

Désolé(e). Sorry.

Et toi ?

Et vous ?

And you? (informal)

And you? (formal)

Check for understanding

Write down as many ways to respond to Ça va? as you can think of off the top off your head. Then go back to

the vocabulary and learn other ways.

E: Basic phrases - Dialogue

French Exercise • Print version • audio (info •60 kb • help)

Basic Phrases Expressions de base

Exercise

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.

Formal lesson - Asking how one is doing

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. roughly means I'm fine. The adverb bien 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 is used to say badly. Pas 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, add

merci, meaning thank you to responses to questions.

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. Address them in different ways, depending on their

relation to you. Ask them how they are doing, and finally say goodbye.

Lesson 0.08 - 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 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

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.

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.

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, seventy is "septante," 71 is "septante et un,"

72 "septante deux," and so on. Ninety is "nonante". In Switzerland, Eighty is "huitante" or "octante".

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".

Exercises

huit plus cinq égal : (treize)

cinq et un égal : (six)

neuf plus huit égal (dix-sept)

trente-deux plus quarante-neuf égal (quatre-vingt-un)

soixante plus vingt égal (quatre-vingts)

cinquante-trois plus douze égal (soixante-cinq)

dix-neuf plus cinquante égal (soixante-neuf)

quarante-sept plus vingt-sept égal (soixante-quatorze)

Soixante-trois plus trente-deux égal (quatre-vingt-quinze)

soixante plus trente-deux égal (quatre-vingt-douze)

D: In school

Toto est un personnage imaginaire qui est un cancre à l'école. 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. There are a lot of funny stories about Toto, one day I

will tell you one of them!

- L'instituteur : Bonjour, les enfants! Aujourd'hui c'est mardi, nous allons réviser la table d'addition.

Combien font huit plus six ?

- Toto : Treize, monsieur !

- L'instituteur : Non Toto tu t'es trompé! Huit plus six égal quatorze. Et combien font cinq plus neuf ?

- Clément : Quatorze !

- L'instituteur : Très bien Clément.

Lesson 0.09 - The Date

V: The days of the week.

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •127 kb • help)

The Days of the Week. Les jours de la semaine.

# French Pronunciation English Origin

1 lundi luhndee Monday Moon

2 mardi mahrdee Tuesday Mars

3 mercredi maircruhdee Wednesday Mercury

4 jeudi juhdee Thursday Jupiter

5 vendredi vahndruhdee Friday Venus

6 samedi sahmdee Saturday Saturn

7 dimanche deemahnsh Sunday 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..., C'est... or Nous

sommes ... / On est...

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

must be used accordingly.

The days of the week are not capitalized in French.

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]. Today is [day].

2a Demain c'est quel jour ? Tomorrow is what day? Duhman say kell jzoor

2b Demain c'est [jour]. Tomorrow is [day].

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

# French Pronounced English

01 janvier jzahnvyay January

02 février fayvryay February

03 mars mahrse March

04 avril ahvrill April

05 mai maye May

06 juin jzwan June

07 juillet jzuyay July

08 août oot/oo August

09 septembre septahmbruh September

10 octobre oktuhbr October

11 novembre novahmbr November

12 décembre daysahmbr December

The months of the year are not capitalized in French.

For phrases relating to the months of the year, see the phrasebook

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •99 kb • help)

Asking For The Date Demander la date

Quelle est la date

(d'aujourd'hui) ?

What is the date

(today)?

kell ay lah daht

C'est le [#] [month]. It's [month] [#]. say leuh...

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 0.10 - Telling Time

V: Asking for the time

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •164 kb • help)

Asking For The Day, Date, Time Demander le jour/la date/le temps

Asking for the time.

4a Quelle heure est-il ?

What hour/time is it?

kell er ayteel

4b Quelle heure il est ? kell er eel ay

5 Il est [nombre] heure(s). It is [number] hours. 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"). 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.

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •145 kb • help)

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 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.

V: Times of day

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •183 kb • help)

Times of Day L'heure relatif

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

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

D: The Principal

French Dialogue • Print version • audio (info •505 kb • help)

The Principal Le directeur

Daniel

(frappe à la porte : toc toc toc)

(knocks on the door: knock knock knock)

Le directeur

Entrez !

Enter!

Daniel

Bonjour, monsieur le directeur. Est-ce que vous allez bien ?

Hello, Mr. Director. Are you well?

Le directeur

Je vais bien merci. Et vous, comment allez-vous ?

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.

I'm well. I want to ask you if it is possible to organize a party for my

birthday. I would organize it the third of March around 02:00 PM.

Le directeur

Et vous voulez l'organiser où ?

And you want to organize it where?

Daniel

Dans la grande salle de réunion au deuxième étage. On en

aurait besoin jusqu'à 16 h, le temps de tout nettoyer.

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 ?

Agreed! I hope that I would be invited?

Daniel

Bien sûr ! Merci Beaucoup !

Of course! Thanks a lot!

Le directeur

Au revoir !

Good-bye!

Daniel

Au revoir et encore merci !

Good-bye and thanks again.

Lesson 0 - Review

G: The French alphabet

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •101 kb • help)

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 euh eff jhay ash ee zhee kah el em

Characters

Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz

Pronunciation

enn oh pay ku air ess tay ue vay dubl-vay eeks ee-grehk zedh

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

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),

Comment ça va ? / Ça va ? (informal)

How are you?

ça va (très) bien I'm doing (very) well (lit. It's going (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 (about you)? (lit. what's new)

pas grand-chose not much (lit. no big-thing)

au revoir bye (lit. with reseeing, akin to German auf Wiedersehen)

à demain see you tomorrow (lit. at tomorrow)

Au revoir, à demain. Bye, see you tomorrow

V: Numbers

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

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

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.

1a Quel jour c'est Aujourd'hui ? What day is today ? kell jzoor say ojzoordwee

1b c'est [jour]. Today is [day].

2a Quel jour c'est demain ? What day is tomorrow ? kell jzoor say duhman

2b Demain c'est [jour]. Tomorrow is [day].

Asking for the date.

Quelle est la date

(aujourd'hui) ?

What is the date

(today) ?

kell ay lah daht

3b C'est le [#] [month]. It's [month] [#].

Asking for the time.

4a Quelle heure est-il ?

What hour/time is it ?

kell er ayteel

4b Il est quelle heure ? eel ay kell er

5 Il est [nombre] heure(s). It is [number] hours. 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"). 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.

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •145 kb • help)

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.

Les jours de la semaine [lay jzoor duh lah suhmen]

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •420 kb • help)

The Days of the Week. Les jours de la semaine.

# French Pronunciation English Origin

1 lundi luhndee Monday Moon

2 mardi mahrdee Tuesday Mars

3 mercredi maircruhdee Wednesday Mercury

4 jeudi juhdee Thursday Jupiter

5 vendredi vahndruhdee Friday Venus

6 samedi sahmdee Saturday Saturn

7 dimanche deemahnsh Sunday Sun

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

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •561 kb • help)

The Months of the Year Les mois de l'année

# French Pron. English

01 janvier jzahnveeyay January

02 février fayvreeyay February

03 mars mahrse March

04 avril ahvrill April

05 mai maye May

06 juin jzwan June

07 juillet jzooeeyay July

08 août oot/oo August

09 septembre septahmbruh September

10 octobre oktuhbruh October

11 novembre novahmbruh November

12 decembre daysahmbruh December

V: Relative date and time

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •883 kb • help)

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

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

Bonjour Hervé. Comment vas-tu ?

Hello, Hervé. How are you? [lit: How go you?]

Hervé

Je vais bien, merci. Et toi ça va ?

I'm good,

thank you. And you, it goes (fine)?

Daniel

Ça va bien. Est-ce que

tu viens à mon anniversaire ? J'organise une petite fête.

It goes well. You're coming to my party? I'm organizing a little party.

Hervé

C'est quand ?

When is it? [lit: It is when?]

Daniel

Le 3 mars à 20h.

March 3rd at 08:00 PM.

Hervé

Le 3 mars, entendu. Tu fais ça chez toi

March 3rd, 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.

Yes, it's at my place. I have invited (a set of) twenty friends. We

are going to dance all night.

Hervé

C'est très gentil de m'inviter, merci. A bientôt.

It's very nice to invite me, thank you. So long.

Daniel

A demain, bonne journée.

Until tomorrow, good day.

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.

Est-ce que... literally means Is is that... and is often used to start questions. This is used in a similar manner to do in English.

Instead of You want it?, one can say Do you want it? Est-ce que... has no real meaning, other than signifying that a question

follows.

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.

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?1.

How are you?2.

What is your name?3.

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?1.

Je m'appelle Jacques. Comment vous-appelez vous?2.

Je m'appelle Henri. Comment ça va?3.

Pas mal. Et toi, comment ça va?4.

Trés bien, merci. À demain Jacques!5.

À demain Henri.6.

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

Level One Lessons Contents

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

If you haven't done so already, spend a few minutes to first read the course's introductory lessons. Once

that's done, you're ready to begin your very first traditional French lesson! After you have completed this

level, you can move on to the next level. Finally, go to the lessons planning page if you would like to help

improve this course.

Allons! - Basic French

Leçon 01 :

Grammaire de

base

G: Gender, Articles,

Subject Pronouns

V: People

Lesson 01 : Basic

Grammar

02 Leçon 02 : Être

G: Conjugation, Être

Lesson 02 : To be

Leçon 03 : La

description

G: Conjugation, Être,

Adjectives

V: Colors, Numbers

Lesson 03 :

Description

Leçon 04 : La

famille

G: Avoir, le, la, and les

V: Family

Lesson 04 :

Family

Leçon 05 :

Récréation

G: -er Verbs, lui and

leur

V: Games, Sports,

Places, Playing

Lesson 05 :

Recreation

Leçon 06 : La

maison

G: Faire, me, te, nous,

and vous

V: Household,

Housework, Furniture

Lesson 06 : The

House

Leçon 07 : Le

temps

G: Negation,

Contractions, Aller

V: Weather

Lesson 07 :

Weather

Leçon 08 : Les

voyages

G: -ir Verbs,

Possessive Adjectives

V: Hotels, Directions

Lesson 08 : Travel

09 Leçon 09 : L'art

G: -re Verbs, Beau,

Nouveau, and Vieux

V: Museums, Music,

Plays

Lesson 09 : Art

Leçon 10 : La

science

G: Prendre

V: Elements,

Astronomy

Lesson 10 :

Science

Ex L'examen

Chapter test

Chapitre l'examen

Test

Lesson 1.01 - Basic Grammar

G: Gender of nouns

In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculin (m) or feminin (f).

Most nouns that express people or animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. For example, the two

words for "the actor" in French are l'acteur (m) and l'actrice (f). The two words for "the cat" are le chat (m)

and la chatte (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. For example, la personne (f) (the person) is always feminine, even

when it's talking about your uncle! Le professeur (m) (the professor) is always masculine, even when it's

talking about your female professor/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.

Unfortunately, there are many exceptions 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 (m)

means the book, but la livre (f) means the pound! Some words that appear to be masculine (like le photo,

which 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 a belief, whereas le foie means liver. To help overcome

this hurdle which many beginners find very difficult, be sure to learn the genders along with the words.

When you think of a noun in French, think of the noun with its article (le or la). While this may seem

difficult now, it is absolutely essential in la langue française (the French language), as you will see later on!

Here is a chart which depicts some tendencies of French nouns. 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

Common Endings Used

With Masculine Nouns:

le cheval

[6]

the horse

-age

le fromage

the cheese

le chien the dog

-r

le professeur

[7]

the teacher

le livre the book

-t

le chat

the cat

le bruit the noise

-isme

le capitalisme

capitalism

Feminine

Common Endings Used

With Feminine Nouns:

la colombe the dove

-ie

la boulangerie

the bakery

la chemise the shirt

-ion

la nation

the nation

la maison the house

-ite/-ité

la fraternité

brotherhood

la liberté liberty

-nce

la balance

the scales

-nne

-mme

-lle

la fille

the girl

l’indienne

the Indian

^ Professeur can be shortened to prof (in a familiar context). While the long form, professeur, is always

masculine, even when referring to female teachers, prof can be either masculine or feminine. (le prof - the

(male) teacher) (la prof - the (female) teacher)

'^ In this book, the definite article will come before a noun in vocabulary charts. If the definite article is l

due to elision, (m) will follow a noun to denote a masculine gender and (f) will follow a noun to denote a

feminine gender.

G: Definite and indefinite articles

The definite article

In English, the definite article is always “the”.

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.

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

Gender1.

Plurality2.

First letter of the word3.

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 begins with a vowel or silent "h" (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where "a"

changes to "an" before a vowel.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •78 kb • help)

The Definite Article L'article défini

singular

feminine la la fille the daughter

masculine le

le fils

[8]

the son

singular, starting with a vowel sound l’ l’enfant the child

plural les

les filles the daughters

les fils the sons

les enfants the children

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.

^ Fils: 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

Secondly, the final consonant is almost always not pronounced unless followed by an -e (or another vowel).

Fils (pronounced feece) is also an exception to this rule.

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.

(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 details on these words will be covered in later sections of the book.

The indefinite article

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 plurality. The articles "Un"

and "une" literally mean "one" in French.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •55 kb • help)

The Indefinite Article L'article indéfini

singular

feminine une oon une fille a daughter

masculine un uh un fils a son

plural des day

des filles some daughters

des fils

some sons

"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. 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.

(un) ami - un

ami (uhnahmee) - a (male) friend

(un) élève - un

élève (uhnay lev) - a student

Compare the pronunciation to words without liaison:

un garçon (uh gehrsoh)

Une is unaffected by liaison.

Liaison also occurs with les and des.

(les) amis - les

amis (layzahmee) - (some) (male) friends

(des) amis - des

amis (dayzahmee) - (some) (male) friends

(des) amies - des

amies (dayzahmee) - (some) (female) friends

In this book, you will see liaison denoted with

between two words.

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

(les) hangars - les hangars

"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 randomly

browsing the album, the French translation is "Je regarde des photographies." ("I am looking at some

photographs.")

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)

le copain

male friend

ahmee

co pahn

l'amie (f)

la copine

female friend

ahmee

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.

Qu’est-ce que c’est ? - What is it?

Literally, Qu’est-ce que c’est? translates to What is it that it is? You will be using Qu'est-ce que...? 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.

C'est un chien. - It's a dog.

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

C'est une chemise. - It's a shirt.

Check for understanding - Qu’est-ce que c’est?

Respond according to the pictures.

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 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.

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. The phrase il y a, then, literally translates to he has there. You will see

this phrase used in all French tenses. It is important to remember that verb stays as a form of have and not

be.

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 ("over here is/are" or "right here is/are") and voilà ("over there is/are").

une pomme

une poire

un chaton (un chat)

un chien

Lesson 1.02 - 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. Dis donc, tu es d’où?

Léon

Je suis de Paris, Quentin.

Quentin

Alors, tu es français?

Léon

Oui, exactement.

Quentin

Et Marie, elle est d’où?

Léon

Elle est de Marseille. Elle est française, aussi.

Quentin

Merci, Léon. Au revoir.

G: Subject pronouns

French has six different types of pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

person plural.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •61 kb • help)

Subject Pronouns Les pronoms soumis

1st person

singular

plural

nous

2nd person

singular

you

plural

vous

you

3rd person

singular

il, elle, on

he, she, one

plural

ils, elles

they (masculine)

they (feminine)

When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, “vous” must be used. When referring to a single

person, “vous” or “tu” may be used depending on the situation; see notes in the introductory lessons.

The pronoun it does not exist in French. Il replaces all masculine nouns, even those that are not human. The

same is true with elle and feminine nouns.

In addition to the nuances between vous and tu, as discussed earlier, French pronouns carry meanings that do

not exist in English pronouns. The French third person "on" has several meanings, but most closely matches

the now archaic English "one". While in English, "One must be very careful in French grammar" sounds

old-fashioned, the French equivalent "On doit faire très attention à la grammaire française" is quite

acceptable. Also, while the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils"

and "elles" do. However, when pronounced, they normally sound the same as "il" and "elle", so

distinguishing the difference requires understanding of the various conjugations of the verbs following the

pronoun. 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.

In everyday language, “on” is used, instead of “nous”, to express “we”; the verb is always used in the 3rd

person singular. For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either “On se rencontre

au cinéma à sept heures.” (colloquial) or “Nous nous rencontrons au cinéma à sept heures.” (formal) (there

are two words "nous"). For more, see the Wikipedia entry.

G: Introduction to Verbs

A verb is a word that describes an action or mental or physical state.

Tenses and Moods

French verbs can be formed in four moods, each of which express a unique feeling. Each mood has a

varying number of tenses, which indicate the time when an action takes place. The conjugations in the

present tense of the indicative mood, the present indicative, is discussed in the next section. There is one

conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns.

Infinitives

The infinitive form is the basic form of a verb. It does not refer to a particular tense, person or subject. In

this book, the infinitive form of the verb is used to identify it. In English, the infinitive form is to ___. In

French, the infinitive is one word. For example, parler translates to to speak, finir translates to to finish, and

aller translates to to go.

Conjugation

French verbs conjugate, which means they take different shapes depending on the subject. English verbs

only have one conjugation; that is the third person singular (I see, you see, he/she sees, we see, they see).

The only exception is the verb "to be" (I am; (thou art); you are; he/she is; we are; they are;). Most French

verbs will conjugate into many different forms. Most verbs are regular, which means that they conjugate in

the same way. The most common verbs, however, are irregular.

G: Être - To Be

Être translates as to be in English. As in most languages, it is an irregular verb, and is not conjugated like

any other verb.

Formation

French Verb • Print version • audio (info •103 kb • help)

être to be

Singular Plural

first person je suis

jeuh swee I am

nous sommes

noo sum we are

second person tu es

too ay you are

vous êtes

voozett you are

third person

il est

eel ay he is

ils sont

eelsohn

they are

(masc. or mixed)

elle est

ell ay she is

on est

ohn ay one is

elles sont

ellsohn they are (fem.)

Examples

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •87 kb • help)

To Be Examples Exemples d'Être

Je suis avocat. I am (a) lawyer. jzeuh sweez ah voh cah

Tu es à la banque. You are at the bank. too ay ah lah bahnk

Il est beau. He is handsome. eel ay boh

Try to learn all these conjugations. They will become very useful in forming tenses.

Idioms

Ça y est! - I've done it! Finished!

J'y suis! - I get it!

Vous y êtes? - Are you ready?

Expressing Agreement

Tu es d’accord ou pas?, Tu es d’accord? (lit: You are of agreement?), or simply D'accord? is used

informally to ask whether someone agrees with you.

To respond positively, you say Oui, je suis d'accord. or simply D'accord. D'accord corresponds to the

English okay.

G: Cities and Nationalities

To say what city you are from, you use the preposition de.

Il est de Paris.

When stating your nationality or job, it is not necessary to include the article. This is an exception to the

normal rule.

Je suis Australien(ne). - I am [an] Australian.

There is both a masculine and feminine form of saying your nationality - for males and females respectively.

Il est Australien. - He is [an] Australian.

Elle est Australienne. - She is [an] Australian.

In the next lesson, you will learn how to say the nationality of more than one person.

Check for understanding

Please use the the nationalities list to find out what your nationality is in French. Then say what city you are

from and what nationality you are. Then say what nationality some of your friends are, and what city they are

from. For example, Marie est italienne. Elle est de Rome.

Lesson 1.03 - Description

G: Adjectives - Les adjectifs

Main article: French/Grammar/Adjectives

Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality.

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. Most adjectives, such as those

above, are affected by this rule.

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.

Exceptions and Irregularities

Adjectives that end in e in the masculine form do not change in gender. When an adjective, such as gros,

ends in -s, it does not change in the masculine plural form. Sometimes the final consonant is doubled in the

feminine form. See French/Grammar/Adjectives for more.

V: Describing People

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •1636 kb • help)

Describing People Décrire des personnes

Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural

size and weight

Il est petit.

Elle est petite. Ils sont petits. Elles sont petites.

Il est moyen.

Elle est moyenne. Ils sont moyens. Elles sont moyennes.

Il est grand.

Elle est grande. Ils sont grands. Elles sont grandes.

Il est gros.

Elle est grosse.

Ils sont gros.

Elles sont grosses.

hair color

Il est blond.

Elle est blonde. Ils sont blonds. Elles sont blondes.

Il est brun.

Elle est brune. Ils sont bruns. Elles sont brunes.

attitude and personality

Il est intelligent.

Elle est intelligente. Ils sont intelligents. Elles sont intelligentes.

Il est intéressant.

Elle est intéressante. Ils sont intéressants. Elles sont intéressantes.

Il est amusant.

Elle est amusante. Ils sont amusants. Elles sont amusantes.

V: Common Adjectives

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •1018 kb • help)

Common Adjectives Les adjectifs communs

Attitude and Personality Size and Weight

sympa(thique)(s) nice gros(se)(ses) fat

amusant(e)(s) funny petit(e)(s) small

intelligent(e)(s) intelligent moyen(ne)(s) average

intéressant(e)(s) interesting grand(e)(s) tall,big

patient(e)(s) patient

sociable(s) sociable

Actions

timide(s) timid bon(ne)(s) good

dynamique(s) outgoing mauvais(e)(s) bad

gentil(le)(s) nice, gentle

Difficulty

strict(e)(s) strict facile(s) easy

fort(e)(s) strong difficile(s) difficult

V: Colors

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •160 kb • help)

Colors Les couleurs

Masculine Feminine English

blanc blanche white

gris grise gray

noir noire black

rouge rouge red

orange orange orange

jaune jaune yellow

vert verte green

bleu bleue blue

violet violette violet

marron marron brown (everything but hair)

brun brune brown (hair - dark haired)

rose rose pink

safran safranne saffron

G: Adverbs Expressing Degree

assez - rather, enough

Il est assez intelligent. - He is rather intelligent.

très - very

Il est très

intelligent.

[9]

- He is very intelligent.

vraiment - truly, really

Il est vraiment intelligent. - He is really intelligent.

^ In this book, liaison is shown that the sound is connected using

or some letter. See also

French/Lessons/Basic_grammar#Liaison.

Lesson 1.04 - Family

G: The verb avoir

"Avoir" can be translated as "to have".

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (100 kb • help)

avoir to have

Singular Plural

first person j'ai

jay I have

nous

avons

noozahvoh

we have

second person tu as

too ah you have

vous

avez

voozahvay you have

third person

il a

eel ah he has

ils

ont

eelzohn

they have

(masc. or mixed)

elle a

ell ah she has

ohnah one has

elles

ont

ellzohn

they have (fem.)

Examples

J'ai deux stylos. I have two pens.

Tu as trois frères. You have three brothers.

Il a une idée. He has an idea.

Expressing Age

Avoir is used to express age.

Tu as quel âge? - How old are you? [lit: You have what age?]

J'ai trente ans. - I'm thirty (years old). [lit: I have thirty years]

There is/are - Il y a

The expression il y a means there is or there are.

Il y a un livre. - There is a book.

Il y a des livres. - There are books.

V: The Family

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •1245 kb • help)

The Family La Famille

Immediate Family Extended Family

ma famille my family ma famille éloignée my extended family

les parents parents les grand-parents grandparents

la mère mother la grand-mère grandmother

le père father le grand-père grandfather

la femme wife les petits-enfants grandchildren

le mari husband le petit-fils grandson

la soeur sister la petite-fille granddaughter

le frère brother l'oncle, tonton uncle

l'enfant child (m or f) la tante, tati aunt

les enfants children le neveu nephew

la fille daughter la nièce niece

le fils son le/la cousin(e) cousin (m or f)

Step Family

la belle-mère stepmother la demi-soeur half sister

le beau-père stepfather le demi-frère half brother

To speak about more complex family relations, such as "my grandmother's cousin", you must use the de

mon/ma/mes form - "le cousin de ma grandmère".

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. A direct object is a noun that is acted upon by a verb.

Il lance la balle. - He throws the ball.

In the above sentence la balle is the direct object.

You have learned earlier that names and regular nouns can be replaced by the subject or nominative

pronouns "I, you, he..." (je, tu, il...). Similary, direct objects, such as "la balle", can be replaced by pronouns.

These are a different set of pronouns (accusative). As in English, you would say "She gave him," and not

"Her gave he." He/she are subjects used in the nominative case, while him/her are direct objects used in the

accusative case.

le - replaces a masculine singular direct object

la - replaces a feminine singular direct object

l' - replaces le and la if they come before a vowel

les - replaces plural direct objects, both masculine and feminine

The direct object pronouns come before the verb they are linked to.

Il la lance. - He throws it.

Il les lance. - He throws them.

Le, la, and les can replace either people or inanimate objects.

Lesson 1.05 - Recreation

G: Regular -er Verbs

Formation

Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs. To conjugate, drop the -er to find the "stem" or "root".

Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.

jouer - to play

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •184 kb • help)

-er Verb Formation Formation de verbes en -er

pronoun ending verb

je -e

joue

tu -es

joues

il/elle -e

joue

nous -ons

jouons

vous -ez

jouez

ils/elles -ent

jouent

Elision and Liaison

In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel or silent h. Example: J'attends, J'habite.... If a

phrase is negative, ne changes to n'.

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.

Common -er Verbs

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

Formation of Common -er Verbs Formation des verbes communs en -er

Infinitive Stem Present Indicative Conjugation

First Person Second Person Third Person

parler parl

Je parle Tu parles Il parle

Singular

to speak Nous parlons Vous parlez Ils parlent

Plural

habiter habit

J'habite Tu habites Il habite

Singular

to live Nous habitons Vous habitez Ils habitent

Plural

écouter écout

J'écoute Tu écoutes Il écoute

Singular

to listen Nous écoutons Vous écoutez Ils écoutent

Plural

S'amuser

Main article: French/Grammar/Verbs/Pronominal

The verb s'amuser means to have fun in English. 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. Literally translated, the verb means To amuse oneself.

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 Second Person Third Person

s'amuser amus

Je m'amuse Tu t'amuses Il s'amuse

Singular

to have fun Nous nous amusons Vous vous amusez Ils s'amusent

Plural

Conjugated Verb + Infinitive

Like in English, some verbs can be followed by infinitives. The most common -er verbs used in this manner

are aimer and détester.

J'aime parler. - I like to talk.

Nous détestons travailler. - We hate working.

When negating a sentence, remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb.

Je n'aime pas parler. - I don't like to speak.

D: Recreation

Here is a short dialog about people planning/doing leisure activities. Besides the new vocabulary you should

also have a look at how the verbs are conjugated depending on the subject of the sentence.

Jean-Paul : Qu'est-ce que vous faites ?

Marc et Paul : Nous jouons au tennis.

Marie : Je finis mes devoirs.

Michel : J'attends mon amie.

Pierre : Je vais au parc.

Christophe : Je viens du stade.

V: Recreation

Qu'est-ce que vous faites? What are you doing?

jouer to play

finir

[10]

to finish

attendre

[11]

to wait (for)

aimer to like

détester to hate

(mon) ami(e)

[12]

(my) friend

^ Finir and attendre are not -er verbs. You will learn their conjugation in a later lesson.

^ Mon is often substituted for ma when the following word begins with a vowel. Thus, mon amie is used

instead of ma amie, while ma bonne amie would be okay.

V: Places

la bibliothèque

library

le parc park

la piscine swimming pool

la plage beach

le restaurant restaurant

salle de concert concert hall

le stade stadium

le théâtre theater

Caution: a librairie is a bookshop.

G: Indirect Object Pronouns lui and leur

Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preposition, a direct object is a noun that

receives the action of a verb.

Il jette la balle à Jacques. - He throws the ball to Jack.

Il jette la balle à Marie. - He throws the ball to Mary.

Il jette la balle à Jacques et Marie. - He throws the ball to Jack and Mary.

Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns. They replace nouns referring to people and mean to him/her and to

them respectively.

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. - He throws the ball to him.

Il lui jette la balle. - He throws the ball to her.

Il leur jette la balle. - He throws the ball to them.

Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context.

In English, "He throws him the ball" is also said, and means the same thing.

When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns.

Il la lui jette. - He throws it to him.

Note that while le, la, and les are used to replace people or inanimate objects, lui and leur are not used to

replace innanimate objects and things.

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. It can be used to refer to both sports and instruments.

When referring to sports, use jouer à, but when referring to instruments, use jouer de...

As always, jouer must be conjugated rather than left in the infinitive.

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Play Jouer

jouer à... jouer de...

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

(singular

in French)

au tennis tennis

au volley volleyball

aux cartes cards

aux dames checkers/ draughts

aux échecs chess

Lesson 1.06 - The House

V: The House

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

The House La maison

General Actions

la rue

[13]

street arriver (à la maison) to arrive (home)

la (belle) vue (beautiful) sight, view rentrer (à la maison) to go back home

(tout) près (de)

(pas) (tout) loin (de)

(very) close (to)

(not) (very) far (from)

quitter (la maison)

[14]

quitter (une salle)

to leave (home)

to leave (a room)

chez [person]

at the house of [person]

at [person]'s house

donner sur la rue

donner sur la cour

to overlook the street

to overlook the courtyard

Houses

habiter to live (somewhere)

la maison

la maisonnette

le pavillon

house, home

small house

individual house

habiter en ville

habiter en banlieue

to live downtown

to live in the suburb

l'immeuble (m) (apartment) building

Floors

l'appartement (m) flat/apartment l'étage (m) level

le studio studio le rez-de-chaussée lobby, ground floor

H.L.M.

(Habitations à

Loyer Modéré)

low income housing

le premier étage

le deuxième étage

le troisième étage

second floor

third floor

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

la chambre

room le plafond ceiling

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

(f) (no singular)

water-closet, restroom

(only toliet, no bath)

monter en ascenseur

prendre l'ascenseur

to go up by elevator

to take the elevator

le bureau office monter à pied to go up by foot

Outside a House

la porte door

la voiture car l'entrée (f) entry(way)

la terrasse patio

Furniture

le balcon balcony le rideau curtain

le jardin garden la chaise chair

la fleur flower la table table

l'arbre (m) tree l'armoire (f) cupboard

la cour courtyard le lit bed

le (la) voisin(e) neighbor le tapis carpet

le fauteuil armchair

^ To express to live on ____ street, you say habiter rue ____

J'habite Rue Lecourbe. - I live on Lecourbe Street.

Il habite Rue de Rennes. - He lives on Rennes Street.

^ Quitter must be followed by a direct object, usually a room or building.. Partir is used in other phrases.

You will learn how to conjugate these verbs in a future lesson.

G: Faire

The verb faire is translated to to do or to make. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -re

verb).

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (432 kb • help)

faire to do, to make

Singular Plural

first person je fais

jeuh fay I do

nous faisons

noo fezoh

we do

second person tu fais

too fay you do

vous faites

voo feht you do

third person

il fait

eel fay he does

ils font

eel fohn

they do

(masc. or mixed)

elle fait

ell fay she does

on fait

oh fay one does

elles font

ell fohn

they do (fem.)

Uses For Faire

sports (in French you do sports rather than play them)

weather

tasks

le faire causatif

faire (conjugated) + infinitive - to have something done for oneself

Je fais réparer le fourneau. - I make/have the stove repaired.

Related Words

défaire - to demolish

malfaire - to do badly

refaire - to remake

Expressions with Faire

faire attention - to pay attention

faire connaissance - to get acquainted

faire la morale - to scold

faire la queue - to wait in line

s'en faire - to worry

V: Housework

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •524 kb • help)

Housework Le ménage

faire la cuisine to do the cooking

faire la lessive/le linge to do the laundry

faire le jardin to do the gardening

faire le lit to make the bed

faire le ménage to do the housework

faire la vaisselle to do the dishes

faire les carreaux to do the windows

faire les courses to do the shopping/errands

faire le repassage to do the ironing

G: me, te, nous, and vous

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

Meanings

me - me, to me

te - you, to you (singular, informal)

nous - us, to us

vous - you, to you (plural, formal)

Place in sentences

These pronouns are placed before the verb that they modify

Je te vois. - I see you.

Je veux te voir. - I want to see you.

If a perfect tense is used, these pronouns go before the auxiliary verb.

Je t'ai vu. - I saw you.

Direct Object Replacement

Il me voit. - He sees me.

Il te voit. - He sees you.

Il nous voit. - He sees us.

Il vous voit. - He sees you.

Indirect Object Replacement

Il me l'appelle. - He calls to me.

Il te le jette. - He throws it to you.

Il nous le jette. - He throws it to us.

Il vous le jette. - He throws it to you.

Exercises

Try to describe your house or bedroom using the vocabulary. Don't forget prepositions.

You may also wish to talk about what housework you do.

Chez moi

J'habite une villa à Mornant, à côté de

[15]

Lyon en France. Ma maison a deux chambres : la première pour

moi et ma femme avec un grand lit. La deuxième est plus petite : c'est la chambre de mon fils. Nous avons

aussi un bureau avec trois ordinateurs

[16]

: un par personne ! La salle de séjour est très grande et à coté, il y a

un petit salon. Nous aimons regarder

[17]

la télévision allongés dans le fauteuil. La cuisine est toute petite et

nous y

[18]

mangeons

[19]

le soir. Il y a une petite table et quatre chaises. La maison est de plein pied et ne

comporte pas d'étage. Le jardin est assez grand et nous y faisons pousser des fleurs.

^ 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 1.07 - Weather

G: Standard Negation

In order to say that one did not do something, the ne ... pas construction must be used. The ne is placed

before the verb, while the pas is placed after.

Formation and Rules

Simple negation is done by wrapping ne...pas around the verb.

Je ne vole pas. - I do not steal.

In a perfect tense, ne...pas wraps around the auxillary verb, not the participle.

Je n'ai pas volé. - I have not stolen.

When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne...pas usually wraps around the conjugated

verb.

Je ne veux pas voler. - I do not want to steal.

ne pas can also go directly in front of the infinitive for a different meaning.

Je veux ne pas voler. - I want not to steal.

ne goes before any pronoun relating to the verb it affects.

Je ne le vole pas. - I am not stealing it.

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.

He is [a] lawyer.

He is not [a] lawyer.

Nous faisons nos devoirs.

Nous ne faisons pas nos devoirs.

We are doing our homework.

We are not doing our homework.

Je joue du piano.

Je ne joue pas du piano.

I play the piano.

I do not play the piano.

Vous vendez votre voiture.

Vous ne vendez pas votre voiture.

You sell your car.

You do not sell your car.

Negation of Indefinite Articles

The indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d’) when negating a sentence.

J'ai un livre. - I have a book.

Je n'ai pas de livre. - I don't have any book.

J'ai des livres. - I have some books.

Je n'ai pas de livres. - I don't have any books.

Examples

Il est belge..

Il n'est pas belge.

He is Belgian.

He is not Belgian.

Nous lisons un livre.

Nous ne lisons pas de livre.

We read a book.

We do not read a book.

Je mange une cerise.

Je ne mange pas de cerise.

I eat a cherry.

I do not eat a cherry.

G: Contractions

Contractions have been discussed previously in the form of elision. They are a combination of two or more

consecutive words that have been integrated into the language, for example, aujourd'hui.

A common contraction occurs with the words à (at) and de (from), when combined with the definite

pronouns le and les. The definite pronoun la remains in full form.

à + le = au

à + les = aux

de + le = du

de + les = des

The contractions do not occur with the la, or with any contracted pronoun:

à + la = à la

à + l' = à l'

de + la = de la

de + l' = de l'

V: Weather - Le temps

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Weather Le temps

[20]

General Cloudy Weather

le soleil sun

le nuage

Il y a des nuages.

cloud

It's cloudy.

lit: There are some clouds.

le ciel sky nuageux(-euse) cloudy

couvert(e)(s) overcast, lit: covered

Warm Weather

l'éclaircie (f) clearing, break (in clouds)

Il fait beau It's nice.

Cold and Windy Weather

Il fait chaud. It's warm. Il fait froid. It's cold.

Le ciel est dégagé.

Le ciel se dégage.

The sky is clear.

lit: The sky is freed.

The sky is clearing up.

le vent

Il fait du vent.

Le vent souffle.

wind

It's windy.

The wind blows.

Le soleil brille. The sun is shining. la rafale gust of wind

Rainy Weather Snowy Weather

la brume fog, haze, mist l'hiver (m) winter

le brouillard fog

la neige

Il neige.

snow

It's snowing.

la bruine drizzle

la grêle

Il tombe de la grêle.

hail

It's hailing.

lit: It falls of the hail.

une goutte de pluie a drop of rain

Extreme weather

la pluie

La pluie tombe.

rain

The rain falls.

un orage

orageux(-euse)

Il y a un orage!

a storm

stormy

There's a storm!

Il pleut.

il a plu.

Il va pleuvoir.

It's raining.

It rained.

It's going to rain.

l'éclair (m)

la foudre

flash (of lightning)

lightning

pluvieux(-euse)

Le temps est pluvieux.

rainy

It's raining.

lit: The weather is rainy.

la tempête storm, tempest

de gros nuages noirs. large black clouds agité(e)(s) stormy, agitated

l'averse (f) downpour le tonnerre thunder

^ Le temps means both the weather and the time.

G: Aller

The verb aller is translated to to go. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -er verb).

Formation

In the present indicative, aller is conjugated as follows:

French Verb • Print version • audio (info •327 kb • help)

aller to go

Singular Plural

first person je vais

jeuh vay I go

nous

allons

nouzah lohn we go

second person tu vas

too vah you go

vous

allez

vouzah lay you go

third person

il va

eel vah he goes

ils vont

eel vohn

they go

(masc. or mixed)

elle va

ell vah she goes

on va

ohn vah one goes

elles vont

ell vohn they go (fem.)

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.

Aller must be used with a place and cannot stand alone.

The preposition à, meaning in, at, or to, is used, followed by the place.

Tu vas à l'école? - You're going to school.

Remember that à le contracts to au and à les contracts to aux.

Je vais au stade. - I'm going to the stadium.

Instead of a preposition and place, you can use the pronoun y, meaning there. Y comes before the verb.

Remember that aller must be used with a place (there or a name) when indicating that you are going

somewhere, even if a place wouldn't normally be given in English.

J'y vais. - I'm going there.

Tu y vas. - You're going there.

Nous y allons. - We're going there.

The negative form of aller with the y pronoun has both the verb and pronoun enclosed between ne and pas.

Il n'y va pas. - He's not going there.

Futur Proche

The structure aller + infinitive is used to say that something is going to happen in the near future.

Il va pleuvoir demain. - It's going to rain tomorrow.

Il va faire froid. - It's going to be cold.

Remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb.

Il ne va pas pleuvoir demain. - It's not going to rain tomorrow.

Idioms

Allons-y - ahlonzee - Let's go! (impératif)

Ça va? - How are you? (lit: It goes?)

On y va! - Let's get going!

On y va? - Should we go?

Liaison

Usually, whenever a vowel sound comes after ...ons or ...ez, the usually unpronounced s and z change to a

sharp z sound and link to the next syllable. (This process is called liaison.) However, since allons and allez

begins with vowels, nous allons is pronounced nyoozahloh and vous allez is pronounced voozahlay. In order

to have a pleasing and clean sound, two liaisons should not go consecutively. There is therefore no liaison in

allons à when it comes right after nous and allez à when it comes after vous.

In the phrase Vous allez à l'école?, vous allez à is pronounced vouzahlay ah.

In the phrase vous et Marie allez à l'école?", allez à is pronounced ahlayzah.

Lesson 1.08 - Travel

G: Regular -ir Verbs

The second category of regular French verbs is -ir verbs. To conjugate, drop the -ir to find the "stem" or

"root". Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.

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 Second Person Third Person

Singular

mon, ma, mes my ton, ta, tes 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.

C'est mon livre. - It's my book.

In English the possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother). But in French, possessive

adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

Possesive Adjective Usage Utilisation des adjectifs possessifs

Masculine Noun

le livre

Feminine Noun

la voiture

le livre de Marc

the book of Marc

son livre

his book

la voiture de Marc

the car of Marc

sa voiture

his car

les livres de Marc

the books of Marc

ses livres

his books

les voitures de Marc

the cars of Marc

ses voitures

his cars

le livre de Marie

the book of Marie

son livre

her book

la voiture de Marie

the car of Marie

sa voiture

her car

les livres de Marie

the books of Marie

ses livres

her books

les voitures de Marie

the cars of Marie

ses voitures

her cars

Whether the third person singular possessive adjectives son, sa and ses are his or her is indicated by context.

Elle lit son livre. - She reads her book.

Liaison and Adjective Changes

Liaison occurs when mon, ton, and son are followed by a vowel.

Il est mon

ami. - He is my friend.

Il est ton

ami. - He is your friend.

Il est son

ami. - He is his/her friend.

Liaison also occurs with all plural forms, since they all end in s.

Ils sont mes

amis. - They are my friends.

Ils sont nos

amis. - They are our friends.

Mon, ton, and son are used before a feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h. Elision (to

m', t', or s') does not occur.

Elle est mon

amie. - She is my friend.

V: Travel

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Travel Voyage

General Vehicles

l'aéroport (m) Airport l'auto (f) car

le billet ticket (for train, airplane) l'avion (m) Airplane

la poste post office l'autobus (m) bus

la station station le bateau Boat

le métro subway, underground le train train

les bagages baggage le taxi taxi

le ticket ticket (for bus, métro) la voiture car

la valise suitcase

Hotels

la chambre room

chambre de libre free room

Lesson 1.09 - Art

G: Regular -re Verbs

The third category of regular verbs is made up of -re' verbs. To conjugate, drop the -re to find the "stem" or

"root". Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense, as demonstrated below for the present tense.

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

attends

il/elle - attend

nous -ons

attendons

vous -ez

attendez

ils/elles -ent

attendent

Vendre

The verb vendre is a regular -re verb:

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

vendre to sell

Singular Plural

first person je vends

jeuh vahn I sell

nous vendons

noo vahn doh

we sell

second person tu vends

too vahn you sell

vous vendez

voo vahn day' you sell

third person

il vend

eel vahn he sells

ils vendent

eel vahnde

they sell

(masc. or mixed)

elle vend

ell vahn she sells

on vend

oh vahn one sells

elles vendent

ell vahnde they sell (fem.)

Common -re Verbs

Compared to -er verbs, -re verbs are not very common. You will however see the following verbs fairly

often:

prendre - to get, to take

Irregular conjugation: je prends, tu prends, il/elle/on prend, nous prenons, vous prenez, ils/elles

prennent

mettre - to put, to place

Irregular conjugation: je mets, tu mets, il/elle/on met, nous mettons, vous mettez, ils/elles

mettent

connaître - to know (Note: "savoir" may also mean to know)

Irregular conjugation: je connais, tu connais, il/elle/on connaît, nous connaissons, vous

connaissez, ils/elles connaissent

V: Music

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •287 kb • help)

Music La musique

écouter de la musique to listen to music

des paroles lyrics (la parole = word)

Composing

le musicien musician

le compositeur composer

l’auteur (des paroles) (lyrics) writer

Instruments

l'instrument (m) instrument

la clarinette clarinet

le violon violin

la harpe harp

la guitare guitar

le piano piano

la flûte flute

V: French Museums

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Museums Les musées

la portraitiste portraitist

G: Beau, Nouveau, and Vieux

Musée du Louvre

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole

Musée des arts et métiers

Formation

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

The Adjectives Beautiful, New, and Old Beau, Nouveau, and Vieux

Masc. Consonant Masc. Vowel Fem. Sing. (all)

Beau

Singular

un beau garçon un bel individu une belle fillette

Plural

de beaux garçons

de beaux

individus

de belles fillettes

Nouveau

Singular

un nouveau camion un nouvel ordre une nouvelle idée

Plural

de nouveaux camions

de nouveaux

ordres

de nouvelles idées

Vieux

Singular

un vieux camion un vieil ordre une vieille idée

Plural

de vieux camions

de vieux

ordres

de vieilles idées

Sentences Placement

As you have already learned, most adjectives come after the noun they modify in French.

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.

une jolie voiture - a pretty car

Des is replaced with de when an adjective comes before the noun.

de jolies voitures - pretty cars

Note that in informal speech, des is very often used in place of de.

V: Plays

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Plays Les pièces

At the Theater Play Genres

le théâtre theater le ballet ballet

la pièce (de théâtre)

(theatrical) play

lit: (theatrical) piece

la comédie comedy

l'acte (f)

la scène

l'entracte (m)

act

scene

intermission

la comédie musicale musical comedy

chanter

le (la) chanteur (-euse)

to sing

singer

le drame drama

danser

le (la) danseur (-euse)

to dance

dancer

la tragédie tragedy

V: French Artists and Entertainers

Charles Aznavour

Gilbert Becaud

Jacques Brel

Robert Charlebois

Joe Dassin

Raymond Devos

Celine Dion

Garou

Juliette Greco

Edith Piaf

Lesson 1.10 - Science

G: Prendre

Prendre is an irregular -re verb, and is conjugated differently.

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

prendre to take

Singular Plural

first person je prends

jeuh prahn I take

nous prenons

noo prenn oh

we take

second person tu prends

too prahn you take

vous prenez

voo prennay you take

third person

il prend

eel prahnn he takes

ils prennent

eel prehn

they take

(masc. or mixed)

elle prend

ell prahnn she takes

on prend

oh prahnn one takes

elles prennent

ell prehn they take (fem.)

Related Words

prendre - to take

apprendre - to learn

comprendre - to comprehend/understand

se méprendre - to be mistaken

surprendre - to surprise

Idioms and Related Expressions

prendre - to take, to have something to eat

prendre conscience (de) - to become aware (of)

prendre la correspondance - to change trains

prendre une décision - to make a decision

prendre des kilos - to gain weight

prendre part (à) - to take part (in)

prendre la parole - to start talking

prendre le pas sur - to surpass

prendre le petit déjeuner - to eat breakfast

prendre rendez-vous - to make an appointment

prendre le métro - to get the subway

prendre un café - to have a coffee

V: The Sciences - Les Sciences

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

The Sciences and Scientists Les sciences et les savants

General Biology - La biologie

le savant

scientist

une personne qui expérimente

a person who experiments

la bio(logie)

biology

l’étude des organismes vivants

the study of living organisms

observer

analyser

to observe

to analyse

la botanique

botany

l’étude des plantes

the study of plants

Physics - La physique

l’anatomie (f)

anatomy

l’étude du corps humain

the study of the human body

la physique

physics

l’étude de la matière et de l’énergie

the study of matter and energy

la zoologie

zoology

l’étude des animaux

the study of animals

le physicien physicist le biologiste biologist

Chemistry - La chimie

la cellule a cell

la chimie

chemistry

l’étude des éléments

the study of elements

des microbes

des bactéries

des virus

germs

bacteria

virus

le chimiste chemist le microscope microscope

V: Elements - Les éléments

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Elements Les éléments

l'argent (m) silver Also: money

l'azote (m) nitrogen

le chrome chromium /krom/

le cuivre copper Also a conjugation of cuivrer

le fer iron

l'hydrogène (m) hydrogen Also a conjugation of hydrogéner.

le manganèse manganese

l'or (m) gold Also a conjunction meaning yet, however.

l'oxygène (m) oxygen

le soufre sulphur /sufr/ (audio)

le xénon xenon

le zinc zinc

/zɛ̃ɡ/, /zE~g/

Also: (informal) counter

Also: (in a bar, café, etc), bar

For a complete listing of the elements, see Tableau périodique des éléments.

V: Astronomy

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Astronomy L'astronomie

The Planets

Mercure Mercury

Vénus Venus

La (planete) terre Earth

Mars Mars

Jupiter Jupiter

Saturne Saturn

Uranus Uranus

Neptune Neptune

Pluton Pluto

Other Obejcts

Le soleil sun

La lune moon

L'étoile star

LEVEL TWO

Level Two Lessons Contents

Lesson 2.01 - School

Lesson 2.02 - Culture

Lesson 2.03 - Shopping

Lesson 2.04 - Going Out

Lesson 2.05 - Transportation

Lesson 2.06 - Everyday Life

Lesson 2.07 - Rural Life

Lesson 2.08 - Food and Drink

Lesson 2.09 - Dining

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. Inside, you will learn the passé composé, the most common French past

tense, and review the grammar you have already learned. The grammar now becomes a lot more advanced,

and each lesson now gives much more information. After you have completed this level, you can move on to

the next level. Also remember to go to the lessons planning page if you would like to help improve this

course.

Toujours Là? - Slightly More Advanced French

01 Leçon 01 : L'école

G: Passé Composé of Regular Verbs, Lire, Écrire

V: School, School Subjects

Lesson 01 : School

02 Leçon 02 : La culture

G: Regular Verbs Review, Croire & Voir

V: Life, Religions, Holidays, Celebrations (Birthdays, Christmas, Bastille

Day)

Lesson 02 : Culture

Leçon 03 : Faire des

courses

G: exer Verbs (Acheter), -yer Verbs (Payer), Object Pronoun Review,

Irregular Past Participles (so far)

V: Shopping, Clothing, Shoes

Lesson 03 : Shopping

04 Leçon 04 : Sortir

G: Sortir & Partir, -enir Verbs (Venir), -éxer Verbs

V: Leisure Activities, Directions, How to Get to Places, Places to go, Movies

Lesson 04 : Going Out

05 Leçon 05 : Le transport

G: -uire Verbs (Conduire), -rir Verbs (Ouvrir), Y, Passé Composé with Être

V: Local Travelling, Methods of transportation

Lesson 05 :

Transportation

06 Leçon 06 : Le quotidien

G: Devoir, Falloir, Reflexive Verbs

V: Employment, Waking up, Preparing for work, Driving to Work, Sleep

Lesson 06 : Everyday

Life

07 Leçon 07 : La vie rurale

G: Suivre, Vivre, Naître, Passé Composé with Reflexive Verbs

Lesson 07 : Rural Life

V: Pets, Farm Animals

08 Leçon 08 : La nourriture

G: Manger, Boire, Partitive Article, En, Mettre

V: Meat, Dairy Products, Drinks, Desserts

Lesson 08 : Food and

Drink

09 Leçon 09 : Dîner

G: -cer Verbs, Servir, Vouloir & Pouvoir

V: Meals, Silverware, Dining at a Restaurant

Lesson 09 : Dining

Leçon 10 : La

communication

G: Dire, -aître Verbs, Connaître & Savoir, Envoyer, Recevoir

V: Mail, Calling Others, Computers

Lesson 10 :

Communication

Level Two Test and the Answers

[show ▼]

Lesson 2.01 - School

G: Introduction to Perfect Tenses

The next section is optional. You will eventually learn everything that is covered in it, but if you would like

a preview, read it, and if not, continue on to the school section.

Introduction to Perfect Tenses

G: Introduction to Moods and Tenses

Like the above section, this is also optional. You will eventually learn everything in here.

V: School

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

School L'école

General

Classes / Grades

[21]

le professeur

[22]

teacher 12th Grade Classe Terminale

la bourse scholarship 11th Grade 1ère (la première classe)

le diplôme (professionnel) diploma 10th Grade 2ème (la deuxième classe)

le bac(calauréat) high school exit exam 9th Grade 3ème (la troisième classe)

la bibliothèque library 8th Grade 4ème (la quatrième classe)

les notes grades (as on a test) 7th Grade 5ème (la cinquième classe)

les cours classes or courses 6th Grade 6ème (la sixième classe)

la classe grade (e.g. 6th Grade) 5th Grade CM2 (CM = cours moyen)

en cours de [...] in [...] class 4th Grade CM1

Pendant les cours - During Classes

3rd Grade CE2 (CE=cours élémentaire)

le tableau chalkboard 2nd Grade CE1

la craie chalk 1st Grade CP1 (CP = cours préparatoire)

le pupitre desk

Verbs

l'examen (m) test

passer

un examen

to take a test

les devoirs homework étudier to study

la classe class

écrire

[23]

to write

la cantine

déjeuner

cafeteria

to (eat) lunch

lever (la main)

[24]

to raise (your hand)

la récré(ation)

la cour

recess

courtyard

poser

(une question)

to ask (a question)

Schools and Students

parler to speak

l'école (f) school écouter

to listen (to)

[25]

[show ▼]

l'étudiant

l'étudiante

student (m)

student (f)

entendre

to hear (of)

[26]

le collège

(classes 6-4)

jr. high school

(grades 6-9)

regarder to watch

le collégien jr. high school student déjeuner to (have) lunch

le lycée

(classes 3-terminale)

high school

(grades 10-12)

le lycéen high school student

Describing Teachers and Students

l'université (f)

la fac(ulté)

university

intelligent(e) intelligent

nul(le) not good, not bright

l'enseignement supérieur

higher education

graduate school

strict(e) strict

Des fournitures scolaires - School Supllies

la craie chalk cray

le tableau the board tahbloh

le stylo(-bille) pen steeloh (bee)

le crayon pencil krayoh

la calculatrice calculator

le livre

le bouquin

book leevr

le cahier notebook kie ay

le papier

la feuille de papier

paper

sheet of paper

pahpeeyay

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 only case

when "professeur" can be preceded by feminine determinant is either when contracting it in colloquial

language "la prof", or when adding a few words before : "madame/mademoiselle la/le professeur".

^ The way that grades are numbered in France is opposite the way they are in the US. Whereas American

grade numbers go up as you approach your senior year, they descend in France.

^ Écrire is an irregular verb. You will learn to conjugate it in the next section.

^ In French, you do not "own" body parts. While in English, you would say my hand or your hand, the

definite article is almost always used in French.

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. But you must say "Ma main est cassée" (My hand is broken) and not "La main est cassée" (lit. The

hand is broken) if you speak about your own hand.

^ To and of are built into the verbs écouter and entendre respectively. It is not necessary to add a

preposition to the verb. Other verbs, such as répondre {à), meaning to respond (to), are almost always

followed by a preposition.

EXERCISE • Translator (http://translate.google.com/translate_t) • Exercise Appendix • Print version

• E: 2.01 1 - School Vocabulary - Complétez

G: Écrire & Lire

Écrire is an irregular french verb, meaning to write. It varies from other '-re' verbs in the plural conjugation,

by adding a 'v'.

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

écrire to write

past participle: écrit

Singular Plural

first person j' écris

jay cree I write

nous écrivons

noozay creevohn we write

second person tu écris

tue aycree you write

vous écrivez

voozay creevay you write

third person

il écrit

eel aycree he writes

ils écrivent

eel zaycreeve

they write

(masc. or mixed)

elle écrit

ell aycree she writes

on écrit

ohn aycree one writes

elles écrivent

ell zaycreeve they write (fem.)

Lire is an irregular french verb, meaning to read. It's plural conjugation adds an additional 's'.

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

lire to read

past participle: lu

Singular Plural

first person je lis

jeuh lee I read

nous lisons

noo leezonn we read

second person tu lis

tue lee you read

vous lisez

voo leezay you read

third person

il lit

eel lee he reads

ils lisent

eel leez

they read

(masc. or mixed)

elle lit

ell lee she reads

on lit

ohn lee one reads

elles lisent

ell leez they read (fem.)

V: School Subjects

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

School Subjects Les matières d'enseignement

les langues languages

les mathématiques

les maths

mathematics

l'anglais English l'algèbre (f) algebra

le français French le calcul calculus

l'espagnol Spanish la géométrie geometry

l'allemand German

les sciences

sociales

social

sciences

le russe Russian l'économie economics

l'italien Italian la géo(graphie) geography

l'histoire (f) history

les sciences

naturelles

natural

sciences

d'autres

matières

other subjects

la biologie

la bio

biology le dessin drawing

la chimie chemistry l'informatique (f) computer science

la technologie engineering la littérature literature

la physique physics la musique music

G: Passé Composé with Regular Verbs

Main article: French/Grammar/Tenses/Present perfect

The passé composé is a perfect tense, and is therefore composed of an auxiliary verb and a past participle.

With most verbs, that auxiliary verb is avoir.

Meaning

In English, verbs conjugated in the passé composé literally mean have/has ____ed. 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.

For example, the passé composé form of parler (to speak), [avoir] parlé, literally mean has/have

spoken, but also means spoke.

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.

Auxiliary Verb - Avoir

Conjugate avoir in the present indicative.

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.

Formation of the Past Participle

Verb Group Infinitive Stem Past Participle

-er verbs jouer

jou

joué

-ir verbs finir

fin

fini

[show ▼]

-re verbs répondre

répond

répondu

Avoir + Past Participle

J'ai joué. I have played Nous avons joué. We have played.

Tu as joué. You have played. Vous avez joué. You have played.

Il a joué. He has played. Ils ont joué. They have played.

EXERCISE • Translator (http://translate.google.com/translate_t) • Exercise Appendix • Print version

• E: 2.01 2 - Passé Composé - English to French

EXERCISE • Translator (http://translate.google.com/translate_t) • Exercise Appendix • Print version

• E: 2.02 3 - Passé Composé - Present Indicative to Passé Composé

Lesson 2.02 - Culture

This lesson is on the culture of France. The culture of France is diverse, reflecting regional differences as

well as the influence of recent immigration. Also, try and reflect on how your culture is similar and different

to French culture.

G: General Verbs Review

Most verbs in French are regular -er verbs. Others are regular -ir or -re verbs or are simply irregular.

Formation

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

Regular Verbs Les verbes réguliers

-er Verbs -ir Verbs -re Verbs

Stem:

parl... fin... vend...

Subject Ending Example Ending Verb Ending Example

-e parle -is finis -s vends

-es parles -is finis -s vends

-e parle -it finit - vend

Nous

-ons parlons -issons finissons -ons vendons

Vous

-ez parlez -issez finissez -ez vendez

Ils

-e parlent -issent finissent -ent vendent

Irregular Verbs Ending in -er

aller

Common -ir Verbs

Finir

Irregular Verbs Ending in -ir

servir | venir | voir | vouloir

Common -re Verbs

attendre - to wait (for)

répondre - to answer

Irregular Verbs Ending in -re

G: Croire & Voir

Croire is an irregularly conjugated -re verb.

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

croire to believe

(past participle - cru)

Singular Plural

first person 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

third person

il croit

eel crah he believes

ils croient

eel crah

they believe

(masc. or mixed)

elle croit

ell crah she believes

on croit

oh crah one believes

elles croient

ell crah they believe (fem.)

Voir is an irregularly conjugated -re verb.

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

voir to see

(past participle - vu)

Singular Plural

first person je vois

jeuh vwah I see

nous voyons

noo vwahyoh we see

second person tu vois

too vwah you see

vous voyez

voo vwah ay you see

third person

il voit

eel vwah he sees

ils voient

eel vwah

they see

(masc. or mixed)

elle voit

ell vwah she sees

on voit

oh vwah one sees

elles voient

ell vwah they see (fem.)

V: Religion

la religion religion

le Christianisme Christianity

l'Islam Islam

le Judaïsme Judaism

le Chrétien/la Chrétienne Christian

le Musulman/la Musulmane Muslim

le Juif/la Juive Jew

l'athée (m.) atheist

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?

J'ai ____ ans.

I am ____ years old.

[lit: I have ___ years.]

le gâteau cake

le cadeau gift

la bougie candle

la fête party

inviter to invite

donner une fête to throw a party

V: Marriage

Marriage

Le mari Husband

La femme Wife

V: Holidays

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Holidays Les jours fériés

New Year's Day le Nouvel An 1 janvier

Labor Day La Fête du Travail

Memorial Day ; Armistice Day jour de l'Armistice

Independance Day la Fête Nationale 4 juillet

Christmas Eve le Réveillon 24 décembre

Christmas ; Yule Noël 25 décembre

V: Bastille Day and Parades

V: Islamic Holidays

Lesson 2.03 - Shopping

V: Shopping

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Shopping Les achats

To Go Shopping Buying Goods

faire des courses

faire du shopping

to go shopping

le(la) vendeur(euse)

le(la) cassier(-ière)

salesperson

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

payer à la caisse

to pay

to pay at the counter

la caisse

cash register

checkout counter

vendre to sell coûter to cost

acheter to buy

C’est combien?

Ça coûte combien?

How much is it?

[lit: It's how much?]

[lit:It costs how much?]

Combien coûte [nom]?

How much does [noun] cost?

[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

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

delicatessen

le marché outdoor market la crémerie dairy store

la pâtisserie pastry shop; pâtisserie

la poissonnerie seafood store; fishmonger

l'épicerie (f)

grocery

French butchers do not sell pork, pork products, nor horsemeat. For these products, go to a

charcuterie. However, a lot of boucheries are also charcuteries, and are called boucherie-charcuterie

In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread; e.g. the bread is baked on site. Places where they sell bread

that is not fresh are called dépôt de pain.

'Charcuteries' sell things besides pork products, including pâté, salami, cold meats, salads, quiches

and pizzas.

An alternative to an 'épicerie' is an alimentation générale (a general foodstore).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. A direct object pronoun is used to refer to the direct object of a previous sentence:

Pierre voit le cambrioleur. Pierre sees the burglar.

Pierre le voit. Pierre sees him.

The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:

French

me, m' te, t' le, l' la, l' nous vous les

English

you

him, it her, it

you

them

Notes:

me, te, nous, and vous are also used as indirect objects to mean to me, to you, to us, and to you

respectively.

The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.

The direct object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.

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. For example, in the phrase Je

les ai eus, or I had them, the past participle would be spelled eus if the direct object, les, was referring

to a masculine object, and eues if les is referring to a feminine object.

Indirect Objects

An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom...? or From 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. He gives some bread to Pierre.

Il lui donne du pain. He gives bread to him.

The following table shows the various types of indirect object pronouns:

French

me, m' te, t' lui nous vous leur

English

to me

to you

to him, to her

to us

to you

to them

Notes:

me, te, nous, and vous are also used as direct objects to mean me, you, us, and you respectively.

The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.

The indirect object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.

The indirect object pronouns do not agree with the past participle like the direct object pronouns do.

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. This is done by looking at the verb and seeing what type of

action is being performed.

The bread is given by the man (direct). Pierre gets the given bread (indirect).

G: -exer Verbs

-exer are regular -er verbs, but also are stem changing. The stem change applies to all forms except nous and

vous. The stem change involves adding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem.

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

acheter to buy

(past participle - acheté)

Singular Plural

first person j'achète

jzah shet I buy

nous

achetons

noozashtoh we buy

second person tu achètes

too ahshet you buy

vous

achetez

voozahshtay you buy

third person

il achète

eel ahshet he buys

ils

achètent

eelzahshet

they buy

(masc. or mixed)

elle achète

ell ahshet she buys

achète

ohnahshet one buys

elles

achètent

ellzahshet they buy (fem.)

Other -exer Verbs

peser - to weigh

mener - to carry out

emmener - to take along

amener - to bring

surmener - to overwork

lever - to raise

soulever - to raise

V: Clothing

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Clothing Habillement

les vêtements habillés - dress

clothes

les vêtements sport - casual

clothes

les chaussures - shoes

la chemise button down shirt la casquette cap les chaussures shoes

la cravate tie le tee-shirt t-shirt

la paire de

chaussures

pair of shoes

le pantalon pants le polo polo shirt les baskets

basketball

shoes

trainers

le complet

le costume

suit le pull(over) a sweater les tennis tennis shoes

le manteau coat le sweat-shirt sweatshirt les sandales sandals

le tailleur women's suit

le blouson

la veste

jacket

la robe dress le jean jeans

le chemisier blouse

les chaussettes / les

bas

socks

la jupe skirt

G: -yer verbs

-yer verbs are irregular -er verbs. When y is part of the last syllable, it changes to i in order to keep the ay

sound. In the present indicative of -yer verbs, this affects all forms except nous and vous.

Payer

The verb payer translates to to pay.

Formation

In the present indicative, payer (and all other -yer verbs) is conjuagted as follows:

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

payer to pay

(past participle - payé)

Singular Plural

first person je paie

jeuh pay I pay

nous payons

noo pay oh we pay

second person tu paies

too pay you pay

vous payez

voo pay yay you pay

third person

il paie

eel pay he pays

ils paient

ou payent

eel

they pay

(masc. or mixed)

elle paie

ell pay she pays

on paie

oh pay one pays

elles paient

ou payent

ell they pay (fem.)

Other -yer Verbs

appuyer - to support

employer - to employ

essayer - to try

essuyer - to wipe

nettoyer - to clean

tutoyer - to address as tu, to call someone informally

G: Irregular Past Participles

Many of the verbs you have learned so far have irregular past participles.

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. À la boulangerie (At the bakery)

Bernard (le boulanger) : Bonjour madame

Camille (la cliente) : Bonjour monsieur

Bernard : Que voulez-vous ?

Camille : Je voudrais acheter une baguette, s'il vous plaît

Bernard : Ce sera tout ?

Camille : Non, je voudrais deux croissants aussi

Bernard : Très bien - ça fait deux euros, s'il vous plaît

Camille : Merci beaucoup

Useful vocabulary:

"Que voulez-vous ?" or "Que désirez-vous ?" - What would you like?

"Je voudrais..." - I would like...

"Ce sera tout ?" - Is that all?

"Ça fait deux euros" - That will be two euros

acheter (to buy).

2. Au marché (At the market)

Marie (la marchande) : Bonjour monsieur

Clément (le client) : Bonjour madame

Clément : Qu'est-ce que vous avez à vendre ?

Marie : J'ai un grand choix de fruits et légumes

Clément : Très bien. Est-ce que vous avez des cerises ?

Marie : Oui... elles coûtent deux euros le kilo

Clément : Bon, je voudrais trois kilos, s'il vous plaît

Marie : Très bien, monsieur. Alors, pour trois kilos il faut payer six euros, s'il vous plaît.

Useful vocabulary:

"Qu'est-ce que vous avez... ?" - 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).

Lesson 2.04 - 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.

When le follows à, the à and le combine into au. Similarly, à and les combine into aux.

The preposition de can indicate an origin, contents, possession, cause, manner, and several other things

which will be covered later.

When le follows de, the de and le combine into du. Similarly, de and les combine into des.

V: Leisure Activites

Les loisirs refers to leisure activities.

le cinéma cinema

la musique music

le baladeur walkman

une sortie going out

un spectacle a show

le théâtre the theater

le repos rest

le vacancier a vacationer

la danse dance

allumer/éteindre to turn on/turn off

la télévision television

le(la) téléspectateur(trice)

television

viewer

le sport sport

G: Partir & Sortir

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

partir to leave

(past participle - parti(e)(s))

Singular Plural

first person je pars

jeuh pahr I leave

nous partons

noo partoh we leave

second person tu pars

too pahr you leave

vous partez

voo pahrtay you leave

third person

il part

eel pahr he leaves

ils partent

eel part

they leave

(masc. or mixed)

elle part

ell pahr she leaves

on part

oh pahr one leaves

elles partent

ell part they leave (fem.)

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

sortir to go out, to take out

(past participle - sorti(e)(s))

Singular Plural

first person je sors

jeuh sore I go out

nous sortons

noo sortoh we go out

second person tu sors

too sore you go out

vous sortez

voo sortay you go out

third person

il sort

eel sore he goes out

ils sortent

eel sort

they go out

(masc. or mixed)

elle sort

ell sore she goes out

on sort

oh sore one goes out

elles sortent

ell sort they go out (fem.)

Some other verbs use sortir and partir as stems.

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)

le film (étranger) (en DVD)

(domestic) movie (on video)

(foreign) movie (on DVD)

V.O. (Version originale)

les sous-titres

unaltered

sub-titles

l'acteur (m)

l'actrice (f)

actor

actress

la vidéo

le DVD

video

DVD

louer to rent

The Movie Theater Film Genres

le cinéma the (movie) theater le dessin animé cartoon

la salle du cinéma

theater showing room

lit: room of the the theater

le documentaire documentary

la séance showing le film d’amour love story

le guichet ticket window le film d’aventures adventure movie

la place

le fauteuil

seat/place to sit

chair

le film d’horreur horror film

coûter to cost le film policier police film

jouer to play le film de science-fiction sci-fi film

Un fauteuil is the physical chair that one sits on. One would normally use "une place" whenever "a

seat" is used in English.

Prenez place ! - Take a seat! (very common expression. No article before place, you should not

say Prenez la place)

Les films sont fascinants! Allez-vous au cinéma? Pourquoi? Vous aimez les films? Pour demander quels

films jouent au cinéma, on dit Qu’est-ce qui joue au cinéma? . On achète les places au guichet, où

l'employé(e) les vend. On entre dans la salle du cinéma pour regarder un film. Quel est votre genre de film

préféré? Louez-vous des vidéos? des DVDs?.

G: -enir verbs

-enir verbs are irregularly conjugated (they do not count as regular -ir verbs).

Venir

The most common -enir verb is venir.

The verb venir is translated to to come.

When it means to come from, venir is used with the preposition de.

Nous venons du stade.

You can also use venir with a verb to state that you have recently accomplished an action. **Je viens

de finir mes devoirs (I've just finished my homework).

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 Plural

first person je viens

jeuh vee ehn I come

nous venons

noo venn oh we come

second person tu viens

too vee ehn you come

vous venez

voo vennay you come

third person

il vient

eel vee ehn he comes

ils viennent

eel vee ehn

they come

(masc. or mixed)

elle vient

ell vee ehn she comes

on vient

oh vee ehn one comes

elles viennent

ell vee ehn they come (fem.)

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.

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

suggérer to suggest

(past participle - suggéré)

Singular Plural

first person je suggère

jeuh soo

zjair

I suggest

nous

suggérons

noo soo

zjairoh

we suggest

second

person

tu suggères

too soo zjair you suggest

vous suggérez

voo soo zjairay you suggest

third person

il suggère

eel soo zjair he suggests

ils suggèrent

eel soo zjair

they suggest

(masc. or mixed)

elle suggère

ell soo zjair she suggests

on suggère

oh soo zjair one suggests

elles suggèrent

ell soo zjair

they suggest

(fem.)

Other -éxer Verbs

accélérer - to accelerate

célébrer - to celebrate

espérer - to hope

oblitérer - to obliterate

préférer - to prefer

sécher - to dry

Directions

Sometimes when you go out, you may get lost, or come across someone who is lost. This should help you

ask for and give directions.

Pardonnez-moi/Excusez-moi, mademoiselle/madame/monsieur. - Excuse me, Miss/Mrs/Mr.

Je suis perdu. - I am lost.

Je cherche... - I'm looking for...

La poste - the post office

La gare - the train station

Le supermarché - the supermarket

Le stade - the football stadium

Le camping - the camping grounds

La plage - the beach

Le parc - the park

Vous prenez... - You take...

la première rue - the first street

à gauche - to the left

à droite - to the right

tout droit - straight ahead

Merci beaucoup! - Thanks so much!

De rien. - It was nothing/No worries.

Lesson 2.05 - Transportation

G: -uire Verbs

-uire verbs are conjugated irregularly.

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

conduire to drive

(past participle - conduit)

Singular Plural

first person je conduis

jeuh

cohndwee

I drive

nous

conduisons

noo cohndweezoh we drive

second

person

tu conduis

too cohndwee you drive

vous conduisez

voo cohndweezay you drive

third person

il conduit

eel cohndwee he drives

ils conduisent

eel cohndweez

they drive

(masc. or

mixed)

elle conduit

ell cohndwee she drives

on conduit

oh cohndwee

one

drives

elles conduisent

ell cohndweez

they drive

(fem.)

Other -uire Verbs

produire - to produce

traduire - to translate

reduire - to reduce

V: Driving

ouvrir to open

fermer to close

G: -rir Verbs

These verbs are conjugated irregularly, and normally follow the -er conjugation scheme. A common -rir verb

is ouvrir.

Formation

j'ouvre

tu ouvres

il ouvre

nous ouvrons

vous ouvrez

ils ouvrent

past participle: ouvert

Other Standard -rir verbs

In past participle form, -ir is replaced with -ert for these verbs.

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

past participle: mort(e)(s)

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).

Acquérir - To Acquire

j'acquiers

tu acquiers

il acquiert

nous acquérons

vous acquérez

ils acquièrent

past participle: acquis

V: Traffic Signs and Laws

G: Passé Composé with Être

Most verbs form the passé composé with avoir, however there are a small number of verbs that are always

conjugated with être. In a general case, these verbs indicate a change in state or position.

List of Verbs

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

Perfect Past with Être Passé composé avec être

Verb Example

aller Je suis allé au cinéma. I went to the cinema.

venir Je suis venu en France. I came to France.

arriver Le train est arrivé. The train has arrived.

partir Elle est partie travailler. She left to go to work.

rester Je suis resté à la maison. I stayed home.

retourner Il est retourné au restaurant. He returned to the restaurant.

tomber Je suis tombé dans la piscine. I fell into the pool.

naître Je suis né en octobre. I was born in october.

mourir Il est mort en 1917. He died in 1917.

passer Il est passé devant la maison. It happened in front of the house.

monter Je suis monté au sommet. I climbed to the top.

descendre Il est descendu du train. He got out of the train.

sortir Je suis sorti avec mes amies. I went out with my friends.

entrer Je suis entré dans ma chambre. I entered my room.

rentrer Il est rentré tôt de l'école. He came back early from school.

The verbs that take être can be easily remebered by the acronym MRS. 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.

Direct Objects

One must know that these verbs take their conjugated avoir when they are immediately followed by a direct

object

For Example:

Je suis descendu with the direct object "mes bagages"

becomes:

J'ai descendu mes bagages.

Another example:

Je suis monté with the direct object "mes bagages"

becomes:

J'ai monté mes bagages.

Yet another example but with ils instead of Je:

Ils sont sortis with direct object "leur passeport"

becomes:

Ils ont sorti leur passeport.

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. Note that there is no agreement if these verbs are conjugated with avoir.

If the subject is masculine singular, there is no change in the past participle.

If the subject is feminine singular, an -e is added to the past participle.

If the subject is masculine plural, an -s is added to the past participle.

If the subject is feminine plural, an -es is added to the past participle.

J suis allé(e). Nous sommes allé(e)s.

Tu es allé(e). Vous êtes allé(e)(s).

Il est allé.

Ils sont allés.

Elle est allée. Elles sont allées.

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.

Je réponds aux (à les) questions. - J'y réponds.

I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.

Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.

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 vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.

The men go to France - The men go there.

Note that en, and not y is used when the preposition of the object is de.

Idioms

Ça y est! - It's Done!

J'y suis! - I get it!

V: Taking a Taxi

Taking a Taxi

Lesson 2.06 - Everyday Life

G: Dormir

Dormir, to sleep, is an irregular French verb.

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (upload)

dormir to sleep

(past participle - dormi)

Singular Plural

first person je dors

jeuh door I sleep

nous dormons

noo doormoh we sleep

second person tu dors

too door you sleep

vous dormez

voo doormay you sleep

third person

il dort

eel door he sleeps

ils dorment

eel dorm

they sleep

(masc. or mixed)

elle dort

ell door she sleeps

on dort

oh door one sleeps

elles dorment

ell dorm they sleep (fem.)

V: Waking up and Getting Yourself Ready

se lever: to get up

se laver: to wash (oneself)

se raser : to shave

se doucher: to shower

se baigner: to bathe (oneself)

se brosser les cheveux/les dents: to brush one's hair/teeth

se peigner les cheveux: to comb one's hair

s'habiller: to dress (oneself)

If the subject is performing the action on him or herself, the verbs are reflexive. 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 m'habille: I get (myself) dressed.

Je t'habille: I get you dressed.

In the passé composé, the participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.

Pierre s'est habillé.

Alice s'est habillée.

Georges et Martin se sont habillés.

Lisette et Rose se sont habillées.

Marc et Claire se sont habillés.

Je m'appelle Lucie, et je me suis levée à six heures.

Jean et Paul, vous vous êtes levés assez tard.

G: Pronominal Verbs

Pronominal verbs are verbs that, put simply, include pronouns. 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. There are

three types of pronominal verbs: reflexive verbs, reciprocal verbs, and naturally pronominal verbs.

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject.

Je me lave. - I wash myself.

Nous nous lavons. - We wash ourselves.

Ils se lavent. - They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs can also be used as infinitives.

Je vais me laver. - I'm going to wash myself.

Je ne vais pas me laver. - I'm not going to wash myself.

Reciprocal Verbs

With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other.

Nous nous aimons. - We like each other.

Naturally Pronominal Verbs

Some verbs are pronominal without performing a reflexive or reciprocal action. 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 Plural

first person je dois

jeuh dwah I have to

nous devons

noo dehvohn we have to

second person tu dois

too dwah you have to

vous devez

voo dehvay you have to

third person

il doit

eel dwah he has to

ils doivent

eel dwahve

they have to

(masc. or mixed)

elle doit

ell dwah she has to

on doit

ohn dwah one has to

elles doivent

ell dwahve they have to (fem.)

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 is always used with the impersonal il only in the 3rd

person singular, whereas devoir can be used with all subject pronouns in all tenses.

Falloir expresses general necessities, such as "To live, one must eat" or "To speak French well, one must

conjugate verbs correctly."

Devoir expresses more personally what someone must do; "I want to pass my French test, so I must study

verb conjugations."

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."

Lesson 2.07 - Rural Life

G: Suivre

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

suivre to follow

past participle: suivi

Singular Plural

first person 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

third person

il suit

eel swee he follows

ils suivent

eel sweeve

they follow

(masc. or mized)

elle suit

ell swee she follows

on suit

ohn swee one follows

elles suivent

ell sweeve they follow (fem.)

G: Vivre

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

vivre to live

past participle: vécu [vaycoo]

Singular Plural

first person 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

third person

il vit

eel vee he lives

ils vivent

eel veeve

they live

(masc. or mized)

elle vit

ell vee she lives

on vit

ohn vee one lives

elles vivent

ell veeve they live (fem.)

G: Naître

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

naître to be born

past participle: né(e)(s)

Singular Plural

first person je nais

jeuh nay I am born

nous naissons

noo nehssohn we are born

second person tu nais

too nay you are born

vous naissez

voo nehssay you are born

third person

il naît

eel nay he is born

ils naissent

eel nesse

they are born

(masc. or mized)

elle naît

ell nay she is born

on naît

ohn nay one is born

elles naissent

ell nesse they are born (fem.)

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).

G: Reflexive Verbs with Perfect Tenses

When proniminal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, être is used as the auxiliary verb.

Reflexive Verbs

In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object

pronoun, in gender and plurality. Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct

object. Also remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb.

Elle s'est lavée. - She washed herself.

Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s. - We washed ourselves.

Elle s'est lavé les mains. - She washed her hands.

Nous nous sommes lavé les mains. - We washed our hands.

Reciprocal Verbs

Like reflexive verbs, the past participle of reciprocal verbs agrees in number and gender with the

direct object if it goes before the verb. It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as

direct objects.

Nous nous sommes aimé(e)s. - We liked each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can also function as an indirect object without a direct object pronoun.

Nous nous sommes parlé. - We spoke to each other.

Elles se sont téléphoné. - They called one another.

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. Otherwise, the past

participle agrees with the subject.

Elle s'est souvenue. - She remembered.

Le chien se couche. - The dog lies down.

Note that assis(e)(es), the past participle of s'asseoir (to sit), does not change in the masculine plural form.

Lesson 2.08 - Food and Drink

G: -ger Verbs

-ger verbs are regular -er verbs that are also stem changing. The most common -ger verb is manger. For

manger and all other regular -ger verbs, the stem change is adding an e after the g. This only applies in the

nous form. 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.

Formation

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

manger to eat

past participle - mangé

Singular Plural

first person je mange

jeuh mahnge I eat

nous mangeons

noo vmahnge ohn we eat

second person tu manges

too mahnge you eat

vous mangez

voo mahngay we eat

third person

il mange

eel mahnge he eats

ils mangent

eel mahnge

they eat

(masc. or mized)

elle mange

ell mahnge she eats

on mange

ohn mahnge one eats

elles mangent

ell mahnge they eat (fem.)

Other -ger Verbs

changer - to change

exiger - to require

nager - to swim

soulager - to relieve

voyager - to travel

V: Food

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Food La nourriture

les fruits - fruits les légumes - vegetables

la banane banana la carotte carrot

la cerise cherry les épinards (m pl) spinach

le citron lemon l'oignon (m) onion

la fraise strawberry les petits pois (m pl) peas

l'orange (f) orange la pomme de terre potato

la pomme apple la tomate tomato

le raisin grape les asperges (f pl) asparagus

le pamplemousse grapefruit les haricots (m pl) beans

la viande - meat les fruits de mer (m pl) - shellfish, seafood

l'agneau (m) lamb La coquille Saint-Jacques (f) scallop

la dinde turkey le crabe crab

le jambon

le poisson - fish

le porc pork les anchois (m pl) anchovies

le poulet chicken le saumon salmon

le boeuf beef l'anguille (f) eel

la saucisse

Other Foods

les produits laitiers - dairy products

le croissant crescent roll

le beurre butter les frites (f pl) "French fries"

le fromage cheese la crêpe pancakes

le lait milk la mayonnaise mayonnaise

le yaourt/le yoghurt yogurt la moutarde mustard

le dessert - dessert

le pain bread

le bonbon candy la pâitsserie pastry

le chocolat chocolate le beurre butter

le gâteau cake la tartine de pain beurré slice of buttered bread

la glace ice cream le poivre pepper

la mousse mousse le riz rice

la tarte (aux pommes) (apple) pie le sel salt

la glace (au chocolat) (chocolate) ice cream le sucre sugar

la glace (à la vanille) (vanilla) ice cream la confiture jam

G: Boire

The verb boire is translated to to drink. 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 Plural

first person je bois

jeuh bwah I drink

nous buvons

noo boovohn we drink

second person tu bois

too bwah you drink

vous buvez

voo boovay you drink

third person

il boit

eel bwah he drinks

ils boivent

eel bwahve

they drink

(masc. or mized)

elle boit

ell bwah she drinks

on boit

ohn bwah one drinks

elles boivent

ell bwahve they drink (fem.)

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. As learned earlier, de and le contract

(combine) into du, as de and les contract into des. Also, instead of du or de la, de l' is used in front of

vowels.

When speaking about food, the partitive article is used at some times while the definite article (le, la, les) is

used at other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet another set of situations. 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)). The indefinite article refers to an entire unit of a food (I would like a (whole) pie).

When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:

J'aime la glace. I like ice cream.

Nous préférons le steak. We prefer steak.

Vous aimez les frites You like French fries.

When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use of each article.

Def. art. specific/whole items

J'ai mangé la tarte. I ate the (whole) pie.

Ind. art. known quantity

J'ai mangé une tarte. I ate a pie.

Part. art. unknown quantity

J'ai mangé de la tarte. I ate some pie.

In the negative construction, certain rules apply. As one has learned in a previous lesson, un or une changes

to de (meaning, in this context, any) in a negative construction. Similarly, du, de la, or des change to de in

negative constructions.

Nous avons mangé une tarte. We ate a pie.

Nous n'avons pas mangé de tarte. We did not eat a pie/ We did not eat any pie.

Nous avons mangé de la tarte. We ate some pie.

Nous n'avons pas mangé de tarte. We did not eat some pie/ We did not eat any pie.

Note : Now you should understand better how that "Quoi de neuf?"(what's new?) encountered in the very

first lesson was constructed... "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. Additionally, 'en' can

mean 'of it' when 'it' is not specified. 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'. This is because en replaces du, de la or des

when there the noun is not specifically mentioned in that sentence.

Like with 'me', 'te' and other pronouns, en (meaning 'some') comes before the verb.

Tu joues du piano? Non, je n'en joue pas Do you play piano? No, I don't play it.

Vous prenez du poisson? Oui, j'en prends. Are you having fish? Yes, I'm having some.

Vous avez commandé de l'eau? Oui, nous en avons

commandé.

Did you order some water? Yes, we ordered

some.

For more detailed information, see French Pronouns

G: Mettre

Formation

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

mettre to put

past participle - mis

Singular Plural

first person je mets

jeuh may I put

nous mettons

noo mettohn we put

second person tu mets

too may you put

vous mettez

voo mettay you put

third person

il met

eel may he puts

ils mettent

eel met

they put

(masc. or mized)

elle met

ell may she puts

on met

ohn may one puts

elles mettent

ell met they put (fem.)

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

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 2.09 - Dining

V: General Dining

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Dining Diner

Places Actions and Feelings

la cuisine kitchen avoir faim to be hungry

la salle à manger dining room avoir soif to be thirsty

le restaurant restaurant manger to eat

Meals

boire to drink

le repas the meal prendre to take

le petit-déjeuner breakfast vouloir to want

le déjeuner lunch mettre le couvert to set the table

le dîner dinner préparer un repas to prepare a meal

le goûter snack

Food Stores Quantity

la boucherie

butcher shop

le gramme gram

la boulangerie

bakery

le kilo(gramme) kilogran

le dépôt de pain

a place that sells bread

le litre liter

la charcuterie

delicatessen

la bouteille

bottle

l'épicerie (f)

grocery

la boîte can

la crémerie dairy store la livre

pack, pound

la poissonnerie seafood store le paquet packet

le marché outdoor market le pot pot

la pâtisserie pastry shop

Canadian and Belgian French has an off-by-one behaviour with meals : breakfast is called déjeuner, lunch is

called dîner and dinner is souper.

French butchers do not sell pork, pork products, nor horsemeat. For these products, go to a

charcuterie.

In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread. Places where they sell bread that is not fresh are called dépôt

de pain.

'Charcuteries' sell things besides pork products, including pâte, salami, cold meats, salads, quiches

and pizzas.

An alternative to an 'épicerie' is an alimentation générale (a general foodstore).4.

-eille is pronounced ay5.

Do not confuse with le livre (book).6.

G: Vouloir & Pouvoir

The verb vouloir is translated to to want. 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 Plural

first person 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

third person

il veut

eel veuh he wants

ils veulent

eel veuhl

they want

(masc. or mized)

elle veut

ell veuh she wants

on veut

ohn veuh one wants

elles veulent

ell veuhl they want (fem.)

Pouvoir is conjugated in a similar manner:

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

pouvoir to be able to

past participle - pu

Singular Plural

first person je peux

jeuh

peuh

I can/am able to

nous

pouvons

noo

poovohn

we can/are able to

second

person

tu peux

too peuh

you can/are able

vous pouvez

voo poovay you can/are able to

third person

il peut

eel peuh he can/is able to

ils peuvent

eel peuhve

they can/are able to

(masc. or mized)

elle

peut

ell peuh she can/is able to

on peut

ohn peuh one can/is able to

elles peuvent

ell peuhve

they can/are able to

(fem.)

V: Dining at a Restaurant

arriver to arrive

la table occupée

la table libre

an occupied table

a free table

trouver to find

commander to order

déjeuner

lunch

to eat lunch

peiti déjeuner breakfast

dîner

to dine

to eat dinner

désirer to desire

le serveur

la serveuse

waiter

waitresse

la carte menu

l'addition check

le pourboire tip

laisser to leave

je voudrais.. I would like...

G: Servir

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

servir to serve

past participle: servi

Singular Plural

first person 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

third person

il sert

eel sair he serves

ils servent

eel sairve

they serve

(masc. or mized)

elle sert

ell sair she serves

on sert

ohn sair one serves

elles servent

ell sairve they serve (fem.)

V: Ordering

G: -cer Verbs

-cer verbs are regular -er verbs, but are also stem changing. The most common -cer verb is commencer.

Formation

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

commencer to begin

past participle - commencé

Singular Plural

first person je commence

jeuh coe

mahnce

I begin

nous

commençons

noo coe

mahnsohn

we begin

second

person

commences

too coe

mahnce

you begin

vous commencez

voo coe

mahnsay

you begin

third person

il commence

eel coe

mahnce

he begins

ils commencent

eel coe mahnce

they begin

(masc. or

mized)

elle

commence

ell coe mahnce

she

begins

on commence

ohn coe

mahnce

one

begins

elles

commencent

ell coe mahnce

they begin

(fem.)

Other -cer Verbs

effacer - to erase

V: Silverware, Etc.

le couvert cover

l'assiette (f) plate

le bol bowl

la soucoupe saucer

le couteau knife

la cuillère spoon

la fourchette fork

la serviette napkin

la nappe tablecloth

la tasse cup

le verre glass

Lesson 2.10 - Communication

G: -aître Verbs

Formation

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

connaître to know (personally)

past participle: connu

Singular Plural

first person 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

third person

il connaît

eel cohnay he knows

ils connaissent

eel cohnesse

they know

(masc. or mixed)

elle connaît

ell cohnay she knows

on connaît

ohn cohnay one knows

elles connaissent

ell cohnesse they know (fem.)

Other -aître verbs

apparaître - to appear

connaître - to know

disparaître - to disappear

naître - to be born

Naître has an irregular past participle (né) and takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses.

G: Connaître & Savoir

Connaître is used to say that you know someone. Savoir is used to say that you know a fact or piece of

information.

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

savoir to know (as a fact)

past participle: su

Singular Plural

first person je sais

jeuh say I know

nous savons

noo sahvohn we know

second person tu sais

too say you know

vous savez

voo sahvay you know

third person

il sait

eel say he knows

ils savent

eel sahve

they know

(masc. or mized)

elle sait

ell say she knows

on sait

ohn say one knows

elles savent

ell sahve they know (fem.)

V: Calling Others

Téléphoner (à) is used to say that you are calling (to) someone. In French, you call to someone, so the verb

is used with indirect, and not direct, objects.

Je téléphone à Jacques. - I'm calling Jacques.

G: Appeler

Appeler is used to say what your name is. Je m'appelle... literally means I call myself.., but in English you

would say My name is... Appeler is a regular -er verb, but, as you may have noticed, is also stem changing.

In the present indicative, it is conjuagted as follows:

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

appeler to call

past participle: appelé

Singular Plural

first person j' appelle

jahhpell I call

nous appelons

newzahh pell ohn we call

second person tu appelles

too ahhpell you call

vous appelez

voozahh pellay you call

third person

il appelle

eel ahhpell he calls

ils appellent

eel ahhpell

they call

(masc. or mized)

elle appelle

ell ahhpell she calls

on appelle

ohn ahhpell one calls

elles appellent

ell ahhpell they call (fem.)

G: Dire

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

dire to say

past participle: dit

Singular Plural

first person je dis

jeuh dee I say

nous disons

noo deezohn we say

second person tu dis

too dee you say

vous dites

voo deet you say

third person

il dit

eel dee he says

ils disent

eel deez

they say

(masc. or mized)

elle dit

ell dee she says

on dit

ohn dee one says

elles disent

ell deez they say (fem.)

V: Mail

le poste

le courier

le lettre

la boîte aux lettres

envoyer

recevoir

G: Envoyer & Recevoir

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

envoyer to send

past participle: envoyé

Singular Plural

first person j' envoie

jahnvwah I send

nous envoyons

newzahnvwahyohn we send

second person tu envoies

too ahnvwah you send

vous envoyez

voozahnvwahyay you send

third person

il envoie

eel ahnvwah he sends

ils envoient

eelzahnvwah

they send

(masc. or mized)

elle envoie

ell ahnvwah she sends

on envoie

ohn ahnvwah one sends

elles envoient

ellzahnvwah they send (fem.)

French Verb • Print version • audio (upload)

recevoir to receive

past participle: reçu

Singular Plural

first person je reçois

jeuh rehswah I receive

nous recevons

newzay rehsevohn we receive

second person tu reçois

too rehswah you receive

vous recevez

voo resehvay you receive

third person

il reçoit

eel rehswah he receives

ils reçoivent

eel rehswahve

they receive

(masc. or mized)

elle reçoit

ell rehswah she receives

on reçoit

ohn rehswah one receives

elles reçoivent

ell rehswahve they receive (fem.)

V: Computers & the Internet

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

Technology La technologie

Computer Hardware Computer Software

le hardware hardware le software software

l'ordinateur (m) computer l’information information

l'écran (m) monitor le logiciel software (program)

le clavier keyboard

le programme

la programmation

program

programming (adj)

la souris mouse le document document

l'imprimante (f) printer le fichier file

le CD-ROM CD-ROM

The Internet

la disquette floppy disk aller sur Internet to go on the Internet

Computer Use

le modem modem

utiliser to use la connexion connection

taper (un texte) to type (a text)

connecter

être connecté

to connect

to be connected

sauvegarder (un fichier) to save (a file) le site site

exécuter to run, carry out l'e-mail (m) e-mail

stocker (des données) to store (data) naviguer (sur Internet) to navigate (the Internet)

cliquer to click télécharger to download

allumer to turn on transmettre to transmit

éteindre

to turn off

(to extinguish)

French fact: the name of the company Logitech comes from the French term logiciel technolgie.

LEVEL THREE

Level Three Lessons Contents

Lesson 3.01 - Vacations

Lesson 3.02 - Work

Lesson 3.03 - Health

Lesson 3.04 - Money

Lesson 3.05 - Youth

Lesson 3.06 - Adolescence

Lesson 3.07 - Ancient History

Lesson 3.08 - Revolution!

Lesson 3.09 - Modern France

Lesson 3.10 - Current Events

After having completed the second level of the Wikibooks French language course, you can graduate to the

third level. This is a much more rigorous presentation of the French language. Several verb tenses will be

introduced in this level, and there will now be more vocabulary sections in each lesson. 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.wikisource.org/wiki/Fables_de_La_Fontaine) . After you have completed this level, you can move

on to the next level. Also remember that if you would like to help develop this course, go to the lessons

planning page.

Formidable! - Intermediate French

01 Leçon 01 : Les vacances

G: Geography Prepositions, Perfect Tenses Introduction, Simple Future of

Regular Verbs

V: General Travelling, International Travelling, Nationalities

Lesson 01 : Vacations

02 Leçon 02 : Le travail

G: Irregular Past Participles Review, Conjugated Verb + Infinitive Review

(Futur Proche, Faire Causitif)

V: Companies, Blue-collar, White-collar, Service, Government, The Office,

Office Supplies

Lesson 02 : Work

03 Leçon 03 : La santé

G: Simple Future of Irregular Verbs, Adverbs, Commands

V: Visiting the Doctor, Emergencies, Medecine, the Dentist, Healthcare

Lesson 03 : Health

04 Leçon 04 : L'argent

G: Personal Pronouns Review, Present Conditional, Pronouns with

Commands

V: Forms of Money, Payment, Handling Money, Going to a Bank

Lesson 04 : Money

05 Leçon 05 : Jeunesse

G: Imparfait, Possesive Pronouns, Stem Changing Verbs Review

V: Children's Games and Toys, French Children's Poems, Songs, and Stories

Lesson 05 : Life as a

Child

06 Leçon 06 : L'adolescence

G: Imparfait vs. Passé Composé, Pronominal Verbs Review, Plus-Que-Parfait

Lesson 06 : Adolescence

V: Pop Culture, Mass Media, Part-Time Jobs

Leçon 07 : L'histoire

Antique

G: Passé Simple of Regular Verbs, Interrogative Pronouns

V: Farming and Peasant Life, Noble Life, The King, The Rennaissance, The

Reformation

Lesson 07 : Ancient

History

08 Leçon 08 : Révolution!

G: Passé Simple of Irregular Verbs, Relative Pronouns (Qui, Que, Dont)

V: Enlightenment, French Rev., Democracy, Napoleonic Era, Post-Napoleon

France, Industrial Rev.

Lesson 08 : Revolution!

Leçon 09 : La France

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...

V: News, France's Role in Global Politics, European Union, Social Problems,

Government, Politics

Lesson 10 : Current

Events

Level Three Test and the answers.

Lesson 3.01 - Vacations

V: General Traveling

Audio: Ogg French native speaker (Kb)

General

il y a there is, there are

l’aéroport (m.) airport

l’autobus (m.) bus

l’avion (m.) aircraft, airplane

les bagages baggage

le billet ticket (for train, airplane)

le métro subway, underground

la poste post office

le taxi taxi

le ticket ticket (for bus, métro)

le train train

la valise suitcase

la voiture 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... (d') I am from...

V: Geography

Geography

the world le monde

Political Geography

a city une ville

a village un village

a country un pays

a state un état

Natural Geography

river le fleuve

mountain la montagne

lake le lac

ocean l'océan (m)

Cardinal Directions

Continents

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)

Oceans

l'Océan atlantique (m)

l'Océan glacial arctique (m)

l'Océan indien (m)

l'Océan pacifique (m)

north le nord

south le sud

east l'est

west l'ouest

Audio : French native speaker

G: Geography Prepositions

Cities

French native speaker

à is used to say in, at, to

Je vais à Paris. - I'm going to Paris

de is used to say from.

Je reviens de Paris. - I return from Paris.

cities that have articles as part of their names contract with the preposition if the city is masculine.

le Caire - Je vais au Caire. - Je reviens du Caire.

le Havre - Je vais au Havre. - Je reviens du Havre.

la Nouvelle-Orléans - Je vais à la Nouvelle-Orléans. - Je reviens de la Nouvelle-Orléans.

Feminine Regions, Countries, and Continents

Most geographical areas are feminine

Every French geographical area that ends in -e is feminine, with one or two exceptions.

Every continent is feminine.

en is used to say in, at, to for all feminine geographical areas except cities

Je vais en France. - I go to France.

de is used to say from for all feminine geographical areas except cities

Je reviens de France. - I return from France.

de is contracted to d' when followed by a vowel.

Je vais en Espagne. - Je reviens d' Espagne

Masculine Regions

all regions that do not end in a slient e are mascuiline

Audio : French native speaker

dans le is used to say in, at, to for most masculine regions, provinces, and states

Je vais dans le Limousin. - I'm going to Limousin.

du, a contraction of de + le, is used to say from for most regions, provinces, and states

Je reviens du Limousin. - I return from Limousin.

If a region is thought of or considered as its own sovereign state, au is used instead of dans le

Je vais au Québec. - Je reviens du Québec. (Note: This is for the province of Québec. For the

city of Québec, Je vais à Québec should be used. - Je reviens de Québec.)

Je vais au Texas. - Je reviens du 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. - I'm going to Portugal.

du is used to say from for masculine countries beginning with a consonant

Je reviens du Portugal. - I return from 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. - I'm going to the United States. (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. - I return from the United States.

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. - I'm going to Israel.

d' is used to say from for all masculine countries beginning with a vowel

Je reviens d' Israël. - I return from Israel.

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? ...the province of Quebec?

V: Airports and Airplanes

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio: One • Two (258 + 205 kb • help)

Airports and Airplanes Les aéroports et les avions

The Airport Baggage

l'aéroport (m)

airport (pronounced

ahehrohpor)

les bagages (f pl) baggage

le passeport passport les bagages à main carry-on baggage

un chariot a (shopping/baggage) cart

la livraison des

bagages

baggage claim

les arrivées (f pl) arrivals

enregistrer (ses

bagages)

to check in (one's

baggage)

les départs (m pl) departures

arriver (en avance/en retard) to arrive (early/late)

The Terminal The Airplane

l'aérogare terminal l'avion (m) plane

la compagnie (aérienne) a(n airline) company l'appareil (m)

plane, machine,

(body) system

le billet

(d'avion/simple/aller-retour)

(plane/one-way/round trip)

ticket

décoller

le décollage

to take off

take-off

la classe tourisme

la première classe

coach

first class

le vol flight (also theft)

passer à la douane to go through customs le pilote pilot

le contrôleur

le contrôle de sécurité

security officer

security check

l'hôtesse (de l'air)

(f)

flight attendant

la porte gate (also door) le passager passenger

embarquer to board

atterrir

l'atterrissage (m)

to land

landing

V: Places

Audio : French native speaker

French Regions

Île-de-France

- Paris

Basse-Normandie

- Caen

Bourgogne

- Dijon

Bretagne

- Rennes

Audio : French native speaker

European Countries

la France

* Paris

France

* Paris

la Belgique

* Bruxelles

Belgium

* Bruxelles

le Portugal

* Lisbonne

Portugal

* Lisbon

l'Espagne

* Madrid

Spain

* Madrid

l'Italie

* Rome

Italy

* Rome

la Grande-Bretagne

* Londres

Great Britain

* London

l'Irlande

* Dublin

Ireland

* Dublin

le (grand-duché du) Luxembourg

* Luxembourg

Luxembourg

* Luxembourg

les Pays-Bas

* Amsterdam

Netherlands

* Amsterdam

l'Allemagne

* Berlin

Germany

* Berlin

l'Autriche

* Vienne

Austria

* Vienna

la Suisse

* Berne

Switzerland

* Bern

La principauté de Monaco

* Monaco

Monaco

* Monaco

la Pologne

* Varsovie

Poland

* Warsaw

la République Tchèque

* Prague

Czech Republic

* Prague

la Slovaquie

* Bratislava

Slovakia

* Bratislava

la Hongrie

* Budapest

Hungary

* Budapest

la Bulgarie

* Sofia

Bulgaria

* Sofia

la Roumanie

* Bucarest

Romania

* Bucharest

la Grèce

* Athènes

Greece

* Athens

La principauté d'Andorre

* Andorre-la-Vieille

Andorra

* Andorra la Vella

la Moldavie

* Chisinau

Moldova

* Chişinău

la Biélorussie

* Minsk

Belarus

* Minsk

la Lituanie

* Vilnius

Lithuania

* Vilnius

la Lettonie

* Riga

Latvia

* Riga

l'Estonie

* Tallinn

Estonia

* Tallinn

la Finlande

* Helsinki

Finland

* Helsinki

la Suède

* Stockholm

Sweden

* Stockholm

la Norvège

* Oslo

Norway

* Oslo

la Russie

* Moscou

Russia

* Moscow

l'Ukraine

* Kiev

Ukraine

* Kiev

Nations of the World

More audio pronunciation: here

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/French_pronunciation/Names#Places) .

V: Nationalities

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio: One • Two • (v2 300kb) (250 + 234 +186 kb • help)

Nationalities Les nationalités

Masculine Feminine English

allemand allemande German

américain américaine American

anglais anglaise English

australien australienne Australian

belge belge Belgian

birman birmane Burmese

britannique britannique British

cambodgien cambodgienne Cambodian

canadien canadienne Canadian

chinois chinoise Chinese

coréen coréenne Korean

écossais écossaise Scottish

espagnol espagnole Spanish

français française French

indien indienne Indian

indonésien indonésienne Indonesian

israëlien israëlienne Israeli

italien italienne Italian

japonais japonaise Japanese

malaisien malaisienne Malaysian

mauricien mauricienne Mauritian

néerlandais néerlandaise Dutch

philippin philippine Filipino

portugais portugaise Portuguese

singapourien singapourienne Singaporean

suédois suédoise Swedish

suisse suisse Swiss

thaïlandais thaïlandaise Thai

vénézuélien vénézuéliene Venezuelan

vietnamien vietnamienne Vietnamese

Nationalities are not capitalized as often in French as they are in English. If you are referring to a person, as

in an Arab person or a Chinese person, the French equivalent is un Arabe or un Chinois. However, if you are

referring to the Arabic language or Chinese language, the French would not capitalize: l'arabe; le chinois. If

the nationality is used as an adjective, it is normally left uncapitalized; un livre chinois, un tapis arabe.+Ŀ

G: Perfect Tenses

You will be learning several new perfect tenses in this level. Review the grammar behind them. This time,

make sure you know all the rules.

The perfect tenses are also called the compound or composed tenses.

The perfect tenses are all composed of a conjugated auxillary verb and a fixed past participle.

Auxillary Verb Formation

The auxillary verb is always either avoir or être.

The tense of the verb depends upon the tense that avoir or être is conjugated in.

When the auxillary verb is conjugated in the passé composé, for example, the auxillary verb is

conjugated in the present indicative.

J'ai fini. - I have finished.

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.

the direct object is masculine singular - no change

J'ai fini le jeu. - I have finished the game.

Je l'ai fini. - I have finished it.

the direct object is feminine singular - add an e to the past participle

J'ai fini la tâche. - I have finished the task.

Je l'ai finie. - I have finished it.

the direct object is masculine plural - add an s to the past participle.

J'ai fini les jeux. - I have finished the games.

Je les ai finis. - I have finished them.

the direct object is feminine plural - add an es to the past participle.

J'ai fini les tâches. - I have finished the tasks.

Je les ai finies. - I have finished them.

Avoir ou Être?

In most circumstances, the auxillary verb is avoir.

However, under certain situations, the auxillary verb is être.

This occurs when:

The verb is one of 16 special verbs that take être.

Note that when a direct object is used with these verbs, the auxillary verb becomes avoir.

The verb is reflexive.

That is, the subject of the verb is also its object.

List of Tenses

There are seven perfect tenses in French. These are:

Le passé composé (The Present Perfect)1.

Le plus-que-parfait de l'indicatif (The Pluperfect of the Indicative)2.

Le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif (The Pluperfect Subjunctive)3.

Le passé antérieur (The Past Anterior)4.

Le futur antérieur (The Future Anterior)5.

Le conditionnel passé (The Past Conditional)6.

Le passé du subjonctif (The Past Subjunctive)7.

G: Simple Future of Regular Verbs

There are three versions of the future tense in French, the futur simple the futur composé, and the futur

antérieur(future perfect). The futur composé is formed by inserting the present form of aller before the

infinitive, e.g. 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 réussirai

Tu -as réussiras

Il / Elle / On -a réussira

Nous -ons réussirons

Vous -ez réussirez

Ils / Elles -ont réussiront

Les vacances

Audio: French native speaker

Cet été, nous partirons en vacances au bord de la mer. Nous allons passer une semaine à Nice sur la côte

d'Azur. Nous partirons en voiture et il y aura certainement beaucoup de bouchons sur l'autoroute. Nous nous

baignerons le matin et je ferai des châteaux de sable avec mon fils. A midi nous mangerons puis nous ferons

une bonne sieste car il fera certainement très chaud. L'après-midi, nous irons visiter des expositions de

peintures ou alors nous irons dans des parc d'attractions. Vivement les vacances !

Lesson 3.02 - Work

G: Irregular Past Participles Review

Audio : french native speaker

avoir - eu (to have)

boire - bu (to drink)

conduire - conduit (to drive) (and all other -uire verbs)

connaître - connu (to know (personally))

courir - couru (to run)

croire - cru (to believe)

dire - dit (to say)

devoir - dû (to have to, to owe)

être - été (to be)

faire - fait (to do, to make)

falloir - fallu (to be necessary)

lire - lu (to read)

mettre - mis (to put (on)) (and all words adding prefixes to mettre)

ouvrir - ouvert (to open) (and most other -rir verbs)

pouvoir - pu (to be able to)

pleuvoir - plu (to rain)

prendre - pris (to take)

recevoir - reçu (to receive)

rire - ri (to laugh)

savoir - su (to know (as a fact))

sourire - souri (to smile)

suivre - suivi (to follow)

vivre - vécu (to live)

voir - vu (to see)

vouloir - voulu (to want)

G: Conjugated Verb + Infinitive Review

Formation

The formation of a conjugated verb+infinitive is the same in French as it is in English. You simply

conjugate the first verb, then put the infinitive. Examples follow.

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).

J'aime lire le journal au lit (I like to read the newspaper in bed).

Vouloir

Je veux aller au centre commercial (I want to go to the mall).

However, when one uses vouloir to request something of someone else, one must use the subjunctive.

Je veux que tu fasses la vaisselle (I want you to do the dishes).

Pouvoir

Faire Causitif

Audio : french native speaker

The faire causitif is formed by conjugating faire and adding an infinitive.

Je le fais réparer. - I have it fixed.

Futur Proche

The future proche tense is formed by conjugating aller in the present indicative and adding an infinitive

Je vais aller. - I'm going to go.

Pronouns

Pronouns come before the verb they modify, which is not necessarily the first verb in a sentence

Je vais le voir. - I'm going to see it.

Negation

Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated, each meaning slightly different things.

Je n'aime pas marcher. - I don't like to run.

J'aime ne pas marcher. - I like to not run.

V: Private Employment

V: Government Occupations

V: The Office

V: Office Supplies

Le chômage

Audio : french native speaker

Avant j'avais un travail : je travaillais dans une banque. Mais la banque a fermé et je me suis retrouvé au

chômage. Je n'ai plus de travail et j'en cherche tous les jours. Je lis les petites annonces et j'envoie des lettres

de candidature. Je n'ai pas souvent de réponses. Mais aujourd'hui, j'ai obtenu un entretien d'embauche. Avec

un peu de chance, j'obtiendrai le travail...

Lesson 3.03 - Health

V: Illness

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (115 kb • help)

Illness La maladie

To ache

avoir mal au/à la/à l'/aux... to have a ...ache, to hurt avoir mal au ventre to have a bellyache

avoir mal à la tête to have a headache avoir mal partout to ache all over

avoir mal à l'oreille to have an earache avoir des maux de cœur to feel sick, nauseaus

avoir mal aux dents to have a toothache

Actions

Sickness and Pain

éternuer to sneeze

être malade to be sick s'évanouir to faint

avoir la grippe to have the flu saigner to bleed

avoir de la fièvre to have a fever tousser to cough

être enrhumé to have a cold vomir to throw up

G: Simple Future of Irregular Verbs

The simple future of irregular verbs, like the passé composé of many irregular verbs, must be memorized.

What makes this somewhat easy is that verbs with similar endings normally have similar future stems.

For example, the future stem of the verb venir is viendr-. Verbs like venir (devenir, revenir) have a very

similar stem (deviendr-, reviendr-).

G: Issuing Commands in French - l'impératif

The nous form commands are used to say "Let's...".

The subject is not used when giving a command.

Formation

Take away the ending and add on the following shown in the table.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •104 kb • help)

The Imperative L'impératif

-er Verbs -ir Verbs -re Verbs

Subject Ending Verb Ending Verb Ending Verb

-e Parle! -is Finis! -s Vends!

Nous

-ons Parlons! -issons Finissons! -ons Vendons!

Vous

-ez Parlez! -issez Finissez! -ez Vendez!

Affirmative

Negative

The negative imperative is formed by placing the imperative between "ne" and "pas/jamais/rien/etcetera."

Ne parle pas! (Don't speak!)

Ne regarde jamais le soleil! (Never look at the sun!)

G: Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or

clauses. 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.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the

suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of

lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, heureux →

heureusement ("happy" → "happily").

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. Audio : Native

French Speaker

An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

complètement vrai ("completely true")

pas possible ("not possible")

tellement discrètement ("so discreetly")

An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

marcher lentement ("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), plus ("not any more"), and jamais come before the infinitive:

ne pas marcher ("not to walk")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

Lentement il commença à marcher or Il commença lentement à marcher ("Slowly, he began to walk"

or "He began slowly to walk").

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. (I am ill).

J'ai mal à la tête. (I have a headache).

J'ai de la fièvre. (I am fevrish)

J'ai mal au ventre.

Je vomis.

Je tousse. (I cough)

Le docteur

Comment allez-vous ?

Prenez de l'aspirine.

Je vais vous prescrire un médicament.

Prenez une cuillère de sirop matin, midi et soir

Il faut passer un "scanner"

Il faut passer des radios.

Il faut vous opérer.

V: Visiting the Dentist

Audio : Native French Speaker

J'ai mal aux dents.

Vous avez une carie.

Je dois procéder à une extraction. (Il va enlever la dent)

J'ai un appareil dentaire.

Je vais utiliser la roulette.

Ahhhhhhhhhh !

V: Healthcare

V: Emergencies

Audio : Native French Speaker

Je vais à l'hôpital.

C'est grave !

Je vais aux urgences.

J'ai eu un accident de voiture.

SAMU=Service Ambulancier Médical d'Urgence

En cas d'accident grave, il faut téléphoner au SAMU (15) ou aux pompiers (18) ou au 112.

V: Medicine

V: Body parts

Here is the vocabulary to speak about body parts :

Audio : Native French Speaker

French English

La tête Head

Le corps Body

Le bras Arm

La jambe Leg

La poitrine Chest

Le ventre Belly

L'épaule (f) Shoulder

Le coude Elbow

Le poignet Wrist

La main Hand

Le doigt Finger

Le genou Knee

Le pied Foot

L'orteil (m) Toe

L'œil (m)

(pl. les yeux)

Eye

La bouche Mouth

La dent Tooth

Le nez Nose

L'oreille (f) Ear

Le cou Neck

La langue Tongue

Les cheveux Hair

L'ongle (m) Nail

Le poumon Lung

L'estomac (m) Stomach

Le cœur Heart

Le foie Liver

L'intestin (m) Intestine

L'os (m) Bone

Le crâne Skull

Le muscle Muscle

Le cerveau Brain

La rate Spleen

L'utérus (m) Womb

Le nombril

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're sick, tu es malade. 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] ...". Example: J'ai mal à la tete. (I

have a headache); J'ai mal aux dents (My teeth hurt).

E: 3.03 1 - Body Parts - Visual Memorization

Point to different parts of the body and recite its name in French par cœur.

Lesson 3.04 - 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. A direct object pronoun is used to refer to the direct object of a previous sentence:

Pierre voit le cambrioleur. Pierre sees the burglar.

Pierre le voit. Pierre sees him.

The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:

French

me, m' te, t' le, l' la, l' nous vous les

English

you

him, it her, it

you

them

Notes:

me, te, nous, and vous are also used as indirect objects to mean to me, to you, to us, and to you

respectively.

The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.

The direct object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.

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. For example, in te phrase Je

les ai eus, or I had them, the past participle would be spelled eus if the direct object, les, was referring

to a masculine object, and eues if les is referring to a feminine object.

Indirect Objects

An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom...? or From 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. The man gives some bread to Pierre.

Il lui donne du pain. He gives bread to him.

The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:

French

me, m' te, t' lui nous vous leur

English

to me

to you

to him, to her

to us

to you

to them

Notes:

me, te, nous, and vous are also used as direct objects to mean me, you, us, and you respectively.

The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.

The indirect object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.

The indirect object pronouns do not agree with the past participle like the direct object pronouns do.

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. This is done by looking at the verb and seeing what type of

action is being performed.

The bread is given by the man (direct). Pierre gets the given apple (indirect).

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.

Je réponds aux questions. - J' y réponds.

I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.

Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the the object refers to a person or persons.

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 vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.

The men go to France - The men go there.

Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de.

Idioms

Ça y est! - It's Done!

J'y suis! - I get it!

Note how we say Je veux du pain to say 'I want some bread' ? But what happens when we want to say 'I

want some' without specifying what we want? In these cases, we use the pronoun 'en'. As well, 'en' can mean

'of it' when 'it' is not specified. For instance, instead of saying J'ai besoin de l'argent, if the idea of money

has already been raised, we can just say 'J'en ai besoin'. This is because what en does is replace du, de la or

des when there is nothing after it.

Like with 'me', 'te' and other pronouns, en (meaning 'some') comes before the verb.

Tu joues du piano? Non, je n'en joue pas Do you play piano? No, I don't play it.

Vous prenez du poisson? Oui, j'en prends. Are you having fish? Yes, I'm having some.

Vous avez commandé de l'eau? Oui, nous en avons

commandé.

Did you order some water? Yes, we ordered

some.

G: Commands with Pronouns - L'impératif

When expressing positive commands, there are several rules one must remember when using object

pronouns. These are:

The pronouns are attached the the verb with a hyphen.

Retrouve-la. - Find it.

Me and Te become moi and toi.

Donnez-moi les vidéos. - Give me the videos.

Le, la, and les precede all other object pronouns.

Donnez-le-moi. - Give it to me.

G: Present Conditional

To conjugate a verb in the Conditional, one takes the infinitive and appends the same endings as when using

the imparfait, as according to the table:

Subject Add Ending Conjugated Verb

Je -ais réussirais

Tu -ais réussirais

Il / Elle / On -ait réussirait

Nous -ions réussirions

Vous -iez réussiriez

Ils / Elles -aient réussiraient

V: Forms of Payment

V: Economics

V: Handling Money

saving, investing, etc

V: Going to a Bank

Lesson 3.05 - Youth

G: Imperfect - Imparfait

The imparfait is used to "set the tone" of a past situation. An example in English being: "We were singing

when Dad came home." It tells what was going on when a particular action or event occurred. In French, the

above example would be: "Nous chantions quand papa est rentré."

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

third person

il joue ils jouent

Remove the -ons ending to find the stem, and add these endings:

subject ending

jouer

(nous jouons)

finir

(nous finissons)

attendre

(nous attendons)

je -ais

jouais finissais attendais

tu -ais

jouais finissais attendais

il/elle/on -ait

jouait finissait attendait

nous -ions

jouions finissions attendions

vous -iez

jouiez finissiez attendiez

ils/elles -aient

jouaient finissaient attendaient

Note: The only verb that has an irregular stem (one not derived from the nous form of the present

idicative) is être. The imperfect endings are added to ét___. Every other verb uses the nous form of the

present indicative as its root.

G: Possesive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive article + noun sets.

French Grammar • Print version • audio: One • Two (238 + 232 kb • help)

Possesive Pronouns Les pronoms possesifs

mon copain

my friend

ton copain

your friend

son copain

his/her friend

notre copain

our friend

votre copain

your friend

leur copain

their friend

le mien

mine

le tien

yours

le sien

his/hers

le nôtre

ours

le vôtre

yours

le leur

theirs

mes copains

my friends

tes copains

your friends

ses copains

his/her friends

nos copains

our friends

vos copains

your friends

leurs copains

their friends

les miens

mine

les tiens

yours

les siens

his/hers

les nôtres

ours

les vôtres

yours

les leurs

theirs

ma copine

my friend

ta copine

your friend

sa copine

his/her friend

notre copine

our friend

votre copine

your friend

leurs copine

their friend

la mienne

mine

la tienne

yours

la sienne

his/hers

la nôtre

ours

la vôtre

yours

la leur

theirs

mes copines

my friends

tes copines

your friends

ses copines

his/her friends

nos copines

our friends

vos copines

your friends

leurs copines

their friends

les miennes

mine

les tiennes

yours

les siennes

his/hers

les nôtres

ours

les vôtres

yours

les leurs

theirs

Vous avez votre voiture? - You have your car?

Oui, nous avons la nôtre. - Yes, we have ours.

À + a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence. This usually occurs

in sentences with être.

Elle est ta voiture? - Is that your car?

Oui, elle est à moi. - Yes, it is mine.

G: Stem Changing Verbs Review

-exer Verbs

-exer are regular -er verbs, but also are stem changing. The stem change applies to all forms except nous and

vous. The stem change involves adding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem.

Tenses affected by this rule:

-éxer Verbs

Like -exer verbs, the accent aigu above the e ( é ) changes to an accent grave ( è ).

Tenses affected by this rule:

-yer Verbs

-yer verbs are regular -er verbs. However, when y is part of the last syllable, it changes to i in order to keep

the ay sound. In the present indicative of -yer verbs, this affects all forms except nous and vous.

Tenses affected by this rule:

appuyer

payer

Appeler

All forms except nous and vous have the l doubled.

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:

commencer

-ger Verbs

An e is added after the g 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

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

...

Lesson 3.06 - Adolescence

V: Pop Culture

General

un adolescent(m.) teenager

un pré-adolescent(m.) preteen

la paresse(f.) lazyness

Faire l'école buissonnière Skip classes

Flâner avec les copains Hang out with friends

Flics cops

policiers, gendarmes police officers

(petit) copain(m.), (petite) copine(f.) boyfriend, girlfriend

petit ami(m.), petite amie(f.) boyfriend, girlfriend

faire du shopping (France), magasiner (Canada) do some shopping

centre commercial(m.) (France), centre d'achats(m.)(Canada) shopping mall

puberté(f.) puberty

G: Pronominal Verbs Review

Pronominal verbs are verbs that, put simply, include pronouns. 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. When

proniminal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, être is used as the auxiliary verb. There are three types of

pronominal verbs: reflexive verbs, reciprocal verbs, and naturally pronominal verbs.

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject.

Je me lave. - I wash myself.

Nous nous lavons. - We wash ourselves.

Ils se lavent. - They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs can also be used as infinitives.

Je vais me laver. - I'm going to wash myself.

Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated each with slightly different meanings.

Je ne vais pas me laver. - I'm not going to wash myself.

In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object

pronoun, in gender and plurality. Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct

object. Also remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb.

Elle s'est lavée. - She washes herself.

Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s. - We wash ourselves.

Elle s'est lavé les mains. - She washed her hands.

Nous nous sommes lavé les mains. - We washed our hands.

Reciprocal Verbs

With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other.

Nous nous aimons. - We like each other.

Like reflexive verbs, the past participle of reciprocal verbs agrees in number and gender with the direct

object if it goes before the verb. It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as direct

objects.

Nous nous sommes aimé(e)s. - We liked each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can also function as an indirect object without a direct object pronoun.

Nous nous sommes parlé. - We spoke to each other.

Elles se sont téléphoné. - They called to one another.

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. Tu te souviens? - You

remember?

In perfect tenses, these verbs agree with the direct object if it goes before the verb. Otherwise, the past

participle agrees with the subject.

Elle s'est souvenue. - She remembered.

Some verbs have different meanings as pronominal verbs.

rendre - to return, to give back

se rendre (à) - to go (to)

G: Imparfait vs. Passé Composé

The difference between the passe compose and l'imparfait can be difficult to master. The imperfect is used

for past habitual actions (Quand j'etais petite, je jouais au foot.), to set the scene (C'etait samedi. La lune

brillait.). The passé composé, as well as the passé simple, are used to express punctual actions. (Hier, j'ai

joué à Colin Maillard. La lune a brillé pendant trois nuits). 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. The imparfait will

express a more general statement while the passé composé will express a more precise action.

Examples:

Les singes criaient violemment lors de ma visite du zoo When I visited the zoo, the monkeys were loud.

Lorsque je suis passé devant leur cage, les singes ont crié

violemment

When I walked by their cage, the monkeys

shouted violently

G: Plus-Que-Parfait

The plus-que-parfait is used when there are two occurrences in the past and one wants to symbolise that one

occurrence happened before the other. In English, this is used in a phrase like "I had given him the toy

before he went to sleep." In this example, there are two past tenses, but they occur at different times. The

plus-que-parfait can be used to indicate the occurrence of one before the other. Essentially, the past before

the past.

In French, the plus-que-parfait is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb in the imparfait and adding the

past participle. So to conjugate je mange (I eat) in the plus-que-parfait, one finds the appropriate auxiliary

verb (avoir), conjugates it (avais) and finds the past participle of manger (mangé). So, the conjugation of Je

mange in the plus-que-parfait becomes j'avais mangé or, in English, I had eaten.

Examples:

À ce moment, j'ai mangé le pain que tu m'avais

donné.

At that moment, I ate the bread that you had given

Tu m'avais déjà appelé, lorsque je suis parti. When I left, you had already called me

General Examples

J'ai parlé français. I spoke French (on one particular occasion).

Je parlais français. I spoke French (during a period of time, and I don't speak French any more).

Nous avons réussi à l'examen. We passed the test.

Il a été mon ami. He was my friend (and he is not my friend any more)

Il était mon ami lorsque... He was my friend when . . .

Ils ont fait leurs devoirs. They did their homework.

Il est venu. He came (and I don't need to say when)

Il vint le lendemain. He came the day after. (this is the passé simple)

Il venait tous les jours. He came/used to come every day.

Il était déjà venu. He had already come.

It should be noted that these examples are making use of all the possible past tenses; not just the

plus-que-parfait.

V: Mass Media

V: Part-Time Jobs

Lesson 3.07 - Ancient History

L'histoire de la France jusqu'en 1700.

G: Interrogative Pronouns

G: Passé Simple of Regular Verbs

Unlike English, there is a literary past tense, used when writing formally. This past tense is the passé simple.

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. Note that the passé simple is not

a composed tense, and therefore does not have an auxiliary verb like the passé composé does.

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 Ending Conjugated Verb English

Je -ai Je dansai. I danced.

Tu -as Tu dansas. You danced.

Il -a Il dansa. He danced.

Nous -âmes Nous dansâmes. We danced

Vous -âtes Vous dansâtes. You danced.

Ils -èrent Ils dansèrent. They danced.

Regular Normally-Irregular Verbs

The following verbs are irregular in the present indicative, but are regular in their passé simple stems.

Infinitive Stem Je...

-ir verbs

dormir

dorm dormis

partir

part partis

sentir

sent sentis

servir

serv servis

sortir

sort sortis

-rir Verbs

couvrir

couvr couvris

découvrir

découvr découvris

offrir

offr offris

ouvrir

ouvr ouvris

souffrir

souffr souffris

-re Verbs

combattre

combatt combattis

rompre

romp rompis

suivre

suiv suivis

Exercises

Complétez les phrases suivantes en conjuguant les verbes au passé simple:

1. J'_____ (entrer) dans le tour.

2. Tout d'un coup, mon ami ____ (tomber).

3. Nous _________ (monter) l'éscalier.

4. Je _____ (dire) aux professeurs qu'il _______ (regarder) la télé.

5. Ils t'_______ (offrir) le plat, et tu le _______ (laisser) tomber.

V: Farming and Peasant Life

V: Noble Life

V: The King

V: The Renaissance

V: The Reformation

Lesson 3.08 - Revolution!

Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen - Historical Text for this lesson.

G: Passé Simple of Irregular Verbs

Some passé simple stems are based off the past participle. Others must be memorized.

Ending Formation

-i_ Endings

je tu il nous vous ils

-is -is -it -îmes -îtes irent

-in_ Endings

je tu il nous vous ils

-ins -ins -int -înmes -întes inrent

-u_ Endings

je tu il nous vous ils

-us -us -ut -ûmes -ûtes urent

Irregular Verb List

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

Simple Past Irregular Verbs Des verbes irréguliers du passé simple

Infinitive

Past

Part.

Stem Passé simple

je tu il nous vous ils

-i_ Endings

s'asseoir assis ass

m'assis t'assis s'assit nous assîmes vous assîtes s'assirent

conduire conduis

conduisis conduisis conduisit conduisîmes conduisîtes conduisirent

conquérir conquis conqu

conquis conquis conquit conquîmes conquîtes conquirent

construire construis

construisis construisis construisit construisîmes construisîtes construisirent

craindre craign

craignis craignis craignit craignîmes craignîtes craignirent

dire dit d

dis dis dit dîmes dîtes dirent

faire f

fis fis fit fîmes fîtes firent

écrire écriv

écrivis écrivis écrivit écrivîmes écrivîtes écrivirent

mettre mis m

mis mis mit mîmes mîtes mirent

naître naqu

naquis naquis naquit naquîmes naquîtes naquirent

peindre peign

peignis peignis peignit peignîmes peignîtes peignirent

prendre pris pr

pris pris prit prîmes prîtes prirent

rejoindre rejoin

rejoignis rejoignis rejoignit rejoignîmes rejoignîtes rejoignirent

rire ri r

ris ris rit rîmes rîtes rirent

sourire souri sour

souris souris sourit sourîmes sourîtes sourirent

vaincre vainqu

vainquis vainquis vainquit vainquîmes vainquîtes vainquirent

-in_ Endings

devenir dev

devins devins devin devînmes devîntes devinrent

tenir t

tins tins tint tînmes tîntes tinrent

venir 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

connaître connus conn

connus connus connut connûmes connûtes connurent

courir couru cour

courus courus courut courûmes courûtes coururent

croire cru cr

crus crus crut crûmes crûtes crurent

devoir dû d

dus dus dut dûmes dûtes durent

être f

fus fus fut fûmes fûtes furent

falloir fallu fall

fallus fallus fallut fallûmes fallûtes fallurent

lire lut l

lus lus lut lûmes lûtes lurent

mourir mour

mourus mourus mourut mourûmes mourûtes moururent

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. - I see the man that did it.

L'homme qui l'a fait est ici. - The man that did it is here.

que is the direct object of the clause it introduces

Il est l'homme que j'ai vu. - He is the man that I have seen.

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. - They are the women that I have seen.

If que is followed by a vowel, it is shortened to qu'.

Il est l'homme qu'il a vu. - He is the man that he has seen.

qui is never shortened, even when followed by a vowel

qui and que can modify both people and things

Je vois la voiture qui est cassé. - I see the car that is broken.

qui and que can modify both masculine and feminine nouns

qui and que can modify both singular and plural nouns

in the phrases ce qui and ce que, which literally mean that which, but more naturally mean what, ce is

the noun

V: French Revolution

V: Democracy

V: The Napoleonic Era

V: Post-Napoleon France

V: The Industrial Revolution

V: The Enlightenment

Les Lumières

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Voltaire Denis Diderot

Lesson 3.09 - Modern France

G: Past Conditional

The past conditional is fairly simple to form. It is used to express what you would have done if a certain

condition had been met (I would have gone to school).

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.

G: Comparative

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

The Comparative Le Comparatif

Adjectives

Sub. + Verb Comparative Adjective Comparative Object

Je suis

plus

intelligent

que

toi.

I am

intelligent

than

you

Je suis

moins

intelligent

que

toi.

I am

less

intelligent

than

you

Je suis

aussi

intelligent

que

toi.

I am

intelligent

you.

Adverbs

Sub. + Verb Comparative Adverb Comparative Object

Je vois

plus/aussi/moins

clairement

que

toi.

I see

less

clearly

than

you.

Verbs

Sub. Verb Comparative Comparative Object

Je joue

plus/autant/moins que

toi.

I play

as much

less

than

you.

Nouns

Sub. + Verb Comparative Noun Comparative Object

Je joue à

plus de

autant de

moins de

jeux

que

toi

I play

as many

less/fewer

games

than

you.

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.

V: The 20th Century

V: 20th Century Advancements and Changes

V: Modern War

Europaturm

Paris, France

La Tour Eiffel

Lesson 3.10 - Current Events

G: Future Perfect

In French, the future perfect tense is called the futur antérieur.

Formation

The future perfect is a perfect tense, and therefore consists of an auxiliary verb and a past participle. The

auxiliary verb, avoir or être, is conjugated in the future tense. All rules that apply to the passé composé and

other perfect tenses, such as certain verbs using être as an auxiliary verb, apply to the future perfect as well.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

The Future Perfect Le futur antérieur

parler passer

Subject Avoir Conj. Past Part. Subject Être Conj. Past Part.

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. This

construction is used to say that before an event occurs, something else "will have" occurred by that time.

G: Demonstrative Pronouns

G: Stating If...

V: News

un quotidien a daily newspaper

un hebdomadaire a weekly magazine

l'actualité news, current events

les nouvelles news

les faits divers local news items

se tenir informé(e) to stay informed

la une the frontpage

V: France's Role in Global Politics

V: French Social Problems

le cambrioleur burglar

un voleur a thief

l'incendie (f.) fire

le vandalisme vandalism

l'acte de terrorisme (m.) or un attentat terrorism

la criminalité crime

V: European Union

V: French Government

L'élection présidentielle :

Le président de la république est élu pour 5 ans au suffrage

universel direct. L'élection comporte 2 tours : au premier tour

la plupart des partis, petits ou grands, proposent un candidat. Il

existe aussi de nombreux candidats soutenus par aucun parti. Il

y a souvent entre 10 et 15 candidats au premier tour. Les 2

candidats arrivant en tête au premier tour s'affrontent lors du

deuxième tour. En général, il y a un candidat du PS et un

candidat de l'UMP au deuxième tour.

En 2002, à la surprise générale, Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) est

arrivé deuxième au premier tour devant Lionel Jospin (PS). Le

second tour a donc opposé Jacques Chirac (UMP) et

Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN). Jacques Chirac l'a largement emporté

avec 80% des voix.

Le Président de la République est le chef des armées et il

désigne le Premier Ministre.

L'Assemblée Nationale :

Les députés sont élus au suffrage universel direct à 2 tours.

Les députés peuvent renversé le gouvernement si la politique qu'il conduit ne leur convient pas.

Le Premier Ministre doit alors démissionner. Le Président de la République est donc obligé de

choisir un Premier Ministre ayant la majorité des députés à l'Assemblée Nationale.

L'Assemblée Nationale vote les lois proposées par le gouvernement.

Le sénat :

Il est élu au suffrage indirect : seul les maires et les autres élus peuvent voter pour les sénateurs. Les

sénateurs peuvent modifier certaines lois mais ont assez peu de pouvoir.

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 ?

French government

V: French Politics

Quelques hommes politiques

Le Parti Socialiste (PS) : Lionel Jospin, François Hollande, Ségolène

Royal, Jack Lang,....

L'UMP : Jacques Chirac (Président de la République), Dominique de

Villepin (Premier ministre), Nicolas Sarkozy

(ministre de l'Intérieur)

L'UDF : François Bayrou.

Le Parti Communiste Français (PCF) :

Marie-Georges Buffet

Les Verts : Dominique Voynet

Front national (FN) : Jean-Marie Le Pen (extrême

droite)

La ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR) :

Olivier Besancenot.

Lutte Ouvrière(LO) : Arlette Laguiller.

La politique en France

En France, les partis politiques sont de droite ou de

gauche.

à droite : l'UMP, l'UDF et le Front National

(FN).

à gauche : le PS, les Verts, le PCF, la LCR et

LO.

En 2005, le gouvernement est soutenu par l'UMP.

L'UDF et l'UMP sont actuellement fachés mais ils

ont souvent gouverné ensemble. Le FN est un parti

souvent classé à l'extrême-droite et certains

l'accusent de racisme. 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. La LCR et LO sont souvent classés à l'extrême gauche et refusent de participer à tout

gouvernement.

File:Paul Biya.jpg

President of the Republic

Jacques Chirac on the right.

French political party division.

GRAMMAR

Grammar Contents

Information

Adjectives1.

Adverbs2.

Grammatical Gender3.

Negation4.

Prepositions5.

Sentences6.

Tenses7.

Verbs8.

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.

Regular formation

Spelling

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. Most adjectives, such as those

above, are affected by this rule.

Masculine Pronuciation: intéressan, amusan, len

Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent

Irregular formation

Irregular plural formation

Examples

M Sing. --> M. Pl. Masc. Singular --> Masc. Plural Notes

No change

-s -s

un plafond bas

un gros porc

des plafonds bas

des gros porcs

-x -x

un homme

généreux

un garçon furieux

des hommes

généreux

des garçons furieux

Add x

-eau -eaux un nouveau jeu des nouveaux jeux

-al -aux un vent hivernal des vents hivernaux

Exceptions: fatal (fatals),

final (finals) & naval

(navals)

Irregular feminine formation

Examples

Masc. --> Fem. Masculine --> Feminine Notes

No change

-e -e

égoïste, populaire, sociable,

timide,

énergique, dynamique,

sympathique

* When the masc. form ends in an -e, there is

no change.

* The final consonant is pronounced on the

masc. form.

Final

Consonant

Doubled

-el -elle cruel cruelle

When an adjective has one of these endings,

the ending of

the feminine form is doubled. There is no

change of

pronunciation when changing from -el to -elle.

-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] ).

-on is pronounced ohhn and -onne is

pronounced uhhne.

-en is pronounced euhn and -enne is

pronounced ehne.

-os is pronounced oh and -osse is pronounced

ohse.

-as is pronounced ah and -asse is pronounced

ahse.

-il -ille gentil gentille

-on -onne

bon

breton

bonne

bretonne

-en -enne

ancien

parisien

ancienne

parisienne

-os -osse gros grosse

-as -asse bas basse

-c

change

-c -che

blanc

franc

blanche

franche

-eur

change

-eur -euse

accrocheur

prometteur

accrocheuse

prometteuse

-eux

change

-eux -euse

furieux

généreux

furieuse

généreuse

-eux is pronounced euhh and -euse is

pronounced euhsse.

-g

change

-g -gue long longue

-if

change

-if -ive

sportif

actif

sportive

active

change

-er -ère

étranger

cher

étrangère

chère

-er is pronounced ay and -ère is pronounced

air, though exceptions such as "cher" exist in

which both forms are pronounced with an

ending similar to the word "air".

-et

change

-et -ète

inquiet

complet

inquiète

complète

-et is pronounced ay and -ète is pronounced

ette.

-ou

change

-ou /

-ol

-olle

fou, fol

mou, mol

folle

molle

-ol forms occur before a vowel or mute h.

Special rules

Adjectives that precede nouns

List

Adjectives that are used frequently before nouns. 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. However, when it goes after the noun, it means tall.

Likewise, when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate. When it comes after the noun, it means

financially poor. This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even

when used before the nouns.

Beau, nouveau, and vieux

These three adjectives behave differently when placed before a singular masculine noun starting with a

vowel or silent h:

Masc. Sing. Cons. Masc. Sing Vowel Masc. Plural Fem. Sing. (all) Fem. Plural

Beau

un beau garçon un bel individu de beaux garçons une belle fillette de belles fillettes

Nouveau

un nouveau camion un nouvel ordre de nouveaux ordres une nouvelle idée de nouvelles idées

Vieux

un vieux camion un vieil ordre de vieux camions une vieille idée de vieilles idées

Possessive adjectives

In English, we say "her car" when the owner of the car is a woman and "his car" when the owner is a man. In

French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of

the possessive adjective but the object owned.

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. When a feminine noun starts with a vowel or silent 'h', you should utilize "Mon" instead of

"Ma". Example:

Demonsrative adjectives

There are four adjectives that demonstrate a specific object:

Ce garçon (masculin)

Cet ami (masculin before vowel or silent h)

Cette fille (feminine)

Ces enfants (plural)

Mon ami = ok

Ma amie = error!

Mon amie = ok.

Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or

clauses. 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.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the

suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of

lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, heureux →

heureusement ("happy" → "happily").

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.

An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

complètement vrai ("completely true")

pas possible ("not possible")

tellement discrètement ("so discreetly")

An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

marcher lentement ("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), plus ("not any more"), and jamais come before the infinitive:

ne pas marcher ("not to walk")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

Lentement il commença à marcher or Il commença lentement à marcher ("Slowly, he began to walk"

or "He began slowly to walk").

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

afterwards

On va au cinéma après

We'll go to the cinema afterwards

also a preposition2.

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.

Most nouns that express entities with gender (people and animals) use both a feminine form and a masculine

form, for example, the two words for "actor" in French are acteur (m) and actrice (f).

The nouns that express entities without 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.

There are some nouns that express entities with gender for which there is only one form, which is used

regardless of the actual gender of the entity, for example, the word for person; personne; is always feminine,

even if the person is male, and the word for teacher; professeur; is always masculine even if the teacher is

female.

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

Common Endings Used

With Masculine Nouns:

le cheval the horse

-age

le fromage

the cheese

le chien the dog

-r

le professeur

the teacher

le livre the book

-t

le chat

the cat

le bruit the noise

-isme

le capitalisme

capitalism

Feminine

Common Endings Used

With Feminine Nouns:

la colombe the dove

-ie

la boulangerie

the bakery

la chemise the shirt

-ion

la nation

the nation

la maison the house

-ite/-ité

la fraternité

brotherhood

la liberté liberty

-nce

la balance

the scales

-nne

-mme

-lle

la fille

the girl

l’indienne

the Indian

Unfortunately, there are many exceptions 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, un livre (m)

means a book, but une livre (f) means a pound! Some words that appear to be masculine (like la photo,

which 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 a belief, whereas le foie means liver. To help overcome

this hurdle which many beginners find very difficult, be sure to learn the genders along with the words.

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:

Gender1.

Plurality2.

First letter of the word3.

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 begins with a vowel or silent "h" (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to english, where "a"

changes to "an" before a vowel.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •78 kb • help)

The Definite Article L'article défini

singular

feminine la la fille the daughter

masculine le le fils the son

singular, starting with a vowel sound l’ l’enfant the child

plural les

les filles the daughters

les fils the sons

les enfants the children

Note: 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.

The indefinite article

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 plurality. The articles "Un"

and "une" literally mean "one" in French.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •55 kb • help)

The Indefinite Article L'article indéfini

singular

feminine une une fille a daughter

masculine un un fils a son

plural des

des filles some daughters

des fils

some sons

"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. Let's

imagine you are looking at photographs in an album. In English, we would say "I am looking at

photographs." In French, you cannot say, "Je regarde photographies," you must tell which photographs you

are looking at using an article. If you were looking at a set of specific pictures, you would say "Je regarde les

photographies." ("I am looking at the photographs.") If you were just flipping through the album, looking at

nothing in particular, you would say, "Je regard des photographies." ("I am looking at some photographs.")

Subject pronouns

French has six different types of pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

person plural.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (info •61 kb • help)

Subject Pronouns Les pronoms soumis

1st person

singular je I

plural nous we

2nd person

singular tu you

plural vous you

3rd person

singular il, elle, on he, she, one

plural ils, elles

they (masculine)

they (feminine)

When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, “vous” must be used. When referring to a single

person, “vous” or “tu” may be used depending on the situation; see notes in lesson 1.

In addition to the nuances between vous and tu, as discussed in lesson 1, French pronouns carry meanings

that do not exist in English pronouns. The French third person "on" has several meanings, but most closely

matches the now archaic English "one". While in English, "One must be very careful in French grammar"

sounds old-fashioned, the French equivalent "On doit faire très attention à la grammaire française" is quite

acceptable. Also, while the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils"

and "elles" do. However, when pronounced, they normally sound the same as "il" and "elle", so

distinguishing the difference requires understanding of the various conjugations of the verbs following the

pronoun. 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.

In everyday language, “on” is used, instead of “nous”, to express “we”; the verb is always used in the 3rd

person singular. For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either “On se rencontre

au cinéma à sept heures.” (colloquial) or “Nous nous rencontrons au cinéma à sept heures.” (formal). For

more, see the Wikipedia entry.

Negation

ne..pas

Simple negation is done by wrapping ne...pas around the verb.

Je ne vole pas. - I do not steal.

In a perfect tense, ne...pas wraps around the auxillary verb, not the participle.

Je n'ai pas volé. - I haven't stolen.

When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne...pas usually wraps around the conjugated

verb.

Je ne veux pas voler. - I do not want to steal.

ne pas can also go directly in front of the infinitive for a different meaning.

Je veux ne pas voler. - I want not to steal.

ne goes before any pronoun relating to the verb it affects.

Je ne l'ai pas volé. - I did not steal it.

Nous ne nous aimons pas. - We do not love each other.

Other negative expressions

ne...aucun(e) not any, none, no

ne...jamais never

ne...ni...ni neither...nor

ne...pas du tout not at all

ne...pas encore not yet

ne...personne nobody

ne...plus no longer

ne...guère hardly

ne...que only

ne...rien nothing

ne...personne wraps around the entire verb set.

Je ne l'ai donné à personne. - I did not give it to anyone.

Je ne veux le donner à personne. - I do not want to give it to anybody.

ne...ni...ni requires two objects, either direct or indirect, and comes before them.

Je ne l'ai donné ni à mon frère, ni à ma sœur. - I gave it neither to my brother nor my sister.

Je ne peux voir ni mon frère ni ma sœur. - I am able to see neither my brother nor my sister.

In ne...aucun(e), aucun(e) goes before an object.

Il n'a aucun ami. Aucun. - He has no friend. None.

Il n'a aucune feuille de papier. Aucune. - He has no sheet of paper. None.

Il n'a qu'une feuille de papier. - He has only one piece of paper.

Je ne peux guère voir mon frère et ma sœur - I can hardly see my brother and sister.

Spoken French

Now, the 'ne' sometimes disappears when one speaks. However, it is always used in written French and for

formal conversations.

Je ne l'ai donné à personne (I didn't give it to anyone)

Je ne sais pas (I don't know)

Summary

To say not, never or other negative verbs you have to 'sandwich' the negative words around a verb.

Example:

Il n'y a pas de cinéma. (meaning: "There is not a cinema")

On ne peut jamais aller en boite. (meaning: "You can never go partying")

Il n' y a rien à faire ici. (meaning: "There is nothing to do here")

If " ne " is before a vowel then it changes to " n' ".

Prepositions

Common prepositions

Prepostion Translation Example Notes

1. to

2. at

3. of

4. in

Je vais à Paris. -- I am going to Paris.

Je pars à cinq heures. -- I am leaving at five

C'est un ami à moi. -- This is a friend of

mine.

C'est la voiture à John. -- This is John's car.

-Expresses a report/ratio of place

(to), time (at),

possession (of or 's), means,

manner, price.

- Introduced a complement of

indirect object or a complement

of attribution, a complement of

the name or adjective.

à côté de

next to,

besides

Le chien est à côté du (du= de le) chat. The

Dog is next to the cat.

à l'intérieur

inside

l'air à l'intérieur de la maison

the air inside the house

Alternative: dedans (rarely used

as a preposition)

après after

On mange après avoir bu

We eat after we drink

Also an adverb.

avec with

Ils sont avec leurs familles. They are with

their Families.

chez at the home of Il est allé chez lui. He went home.

dans in

Les livres sont dans la bibliothèque. The

books are in the library.

Synonym: en

1. of, from

2. about

Also an indefinite artcle.

Contractions: du, des

IPA: /də/

derrière behind

Vos clés sont derrière votre lit. Your keys

are behind your bed.

devant in front of

en in

Used mostly to indicate distance

in time or space.

Also a pronoun.

ici here

Il est ici. He Is Here.

là there

Où est-elle? Elle est là, dans cette

maison-là. Where is she? She is in that

house over there.

loin de far

Le lycée est loin de la plage. The School is

far from the beach.

par

1. through

2. by, for

Also a noun: le par - (golf) par

près de near

La bibliothèque est près de la plage. The

Library is near the beach

pour for

Ils l'ont fait pour toi. They made it for you.

IPA: /pur/

sans without

Elles veulent avoir une fête sans alcool.

They want to have a party without alcohol.

sous under

La terre est sous le ciel. The Earth is under

the sky.

sur

1. on

2. upon

3. on top of

4. above

5. out of

6. sept sur dix

(seven out of

ten)

La maison est sur la terre. The house is on

top of the ground

Synonyms: au-dessus de (above)

Antonyms: sous (below, under)

Antonyms: dessous,

au-dessous-de (below)

Also an adjective: m sing,

meaning sure

IPA: /syr/ (audio)

Pronouns

Subject pronouns

Singular Plural

First person

(I)

Second person

(you)

Third person

(he, she, it)

First person

(we, us)

Second person

(you)

Third person

(they)

Je Tu, (Vous*) Il, Elle, On** Nous Vous Ils, Elles***

* Tu is informal and used only with well-known acquaintances. In case of unknown persons you have to use

the polite form Vous. A good example, to explain that is the following: If two business acquaintances meet

another, they say Vous. If they later fall in love, they say Tu. When unsure, it is better to say "vous." 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.") Nevertheless, the adjectives or past participles

are declined according to the true number of the referring pronoun.

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).

*** - Ils is used with all-male or mixed groups, elles is only used when all members of the group are female.

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 has a number of uses:

It is used in the same ways as the English personal pronoun one:

It is used in expressing generalities: « C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. » ("It is by

blacksmithing that one becomes a blacksmith.")

It is the implicit subject for an infinitive that has no other implicit subject: « penser qu'on a

raison » ("to think that one is right," i.e. "to think oneself right").

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. » ("[On] gave it to me" or "I was given it" or "It was

given to me.")

It is used as a less formal substitute for the subject pronoun nous (we). In this case, note that even

though on always takes a third-person singular verb, it takes plural adjectives (« On est américains »,

"We're American"). 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. (Hence, « Ils nous l'ont

donné », "They gave it to us," but « On se l'est donné », "We gave it to ourselves.")

It is not the number 1, and therefore is not used to mean "one of them." In French as in English,

numbers can be used as pronouns — « Deux sont entrés et un est ressorti »,

"Two went in and one came back out" — but the number 1 is un(e), not on.

On does not have ordinary direct- and indirect-object pronouns, only the reflexive pronoun se. Similarly, its

disjunctive-pronoun form, soi, is only used when on is the subject and soi refers to the same entity. 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.

me, te, nous, and vous

Direct and indirect object pronouns

Meanings

me - me, to me

te - you, to you (singular, informal)

lui - to him/her

nous - us, to us

vous - you, to you (plural, formal)

leur - to them

Place in sentences

These pronouns are placed before the verb that they modify

Je te vois. - I see you.

Je veux te voir. - I want to see you.

If a perfect tense is used, these pronouns go before the auxillary verb.

Je t'ai vu. - I saw you.

Direct object replacement

Il me voit. - He sees me.

Il te voit. - He sees you.

Il nous voit. - He sees us.

Il vous voit. - He sees you.

Indirect Object Replacement

Il m'appelle. - He calls to me.

Il te le jette. - He throws it to you.

Il nous le jette. - He throws it to us.

Il vous le jette. - He throws it to you.

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. A

direct object is a noun that receives the action of a verb.

Il jette la boule. - He throws the ball.

In the above sentence la boule is the direct object.

You have learned earlier that names and regular nouns can be replaced by the subject pronouns (je, tu...).

Similarly, direct objects, such as "la boule", can be replaced by pronouns.

le - replaces a masculine singular direct object

la - replaces a feminine singular direct object

l' - replaces le and la if they come before a vowel

les - replaces plural direct objects, both masculine and feminine

The direct object pronouns come before the verb they are linked to.

Il la jette. - He throws it.

Il les jettes. - He throws them.

lui and leur

Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preposition. An indirect object is a noun that

receives the action of a verb.

Il jette la boule à Jacques. - He throws the ball to Jack.

Il jette la boule à Marie. - He throws the ball to Mary.

Il jette la boule à Jacques et Marie. - He throws the ball to Jack and Mary.

Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns. They replace nouns referring to people and mean to him/her and to

them respectively.

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. - He throws the ball to him.

Il lui jette la boule. - He throws the ball to her.

Il leur jette la boule. - He throws the ball to them.

Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context.

In English, "He throws him the ball" is also said, and means the same thing.

When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns.

Il la lui jette. - He throws it to him.

Note that while le, la, and les are used to replace people or inanimate objects, lui and leur are not used to

replace innanimate objects and things.

Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened

Indirect object pronoun - to it, to them

The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by a.

Je réponds aux questions. - J' y réponds.

I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.

Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.

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 vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.

The men go to France - The men go there.

Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de.

Idioms

Ça y est! - It's done!

J'y suis! - I get it!

Replacement of a partitive construction

The pronoun en replaces a noun with a partitive article (l'article partitif: du, de la, de, des) at the front.

In this case En goes always with the singular, even if there are many items adressed.

Je veux du pain. => J'en veux. - I want some bread. => I want some.

Replacement of quantified nouns

If the quantity of the object is specified, "en" is used for the replacement of the noun.

Example: Il a acheté deux pommes. => Il en a acheté deux.

Note that no agreement is needed between the past participle (le participe passé) and the object (complément

d'objet direct).

Replacement of phrases with de

The pronoun en replaces prepositional phrases beginning with de if the object of the preposition is

referring to a thing or place.

Je viens de Paris. - I come from Paris.

J' en viens. - I come from it.

Note that stress pronouns, and not en are used if the object refers to a person or persons.

Pronoun order

Order chart

If a sentence uses no infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:

Subject

Pronoun

(or noun)

Neg

Direct or

Indirect

Direct Obj

Pronouns

Indirect

Objects

Neg

il (elle)

nous

vous

ils (elles)

nous

vous

se (reflexive)

les

lui

leur

y en

conjugated

verb

pas

plus

etc...

past

participle

If a sentence uses an infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:

Subject

Pronoun

(or noun)

Neg Neg

Direct or

Indirect

Direct Obj

Pronouns

Indirect

Objects

il (elle)

nous

vous

ils (elles)

conjugated

verb

pas

plus

etc...

past

participle

nous

vous

se (reflexive)

les

lui

leur

y en infinitive

Order rules

When a sentence uses the indirect object pronouns me, te, nous, and vous with the direct object

pronouns le, la, and les, me, te, nous, and vous go first.

Il me le donne. - He gave it to me.

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.

Il le lui donne. - He gave it to him/her.

When y is used in the same sentence as other pronouns, y goes after all of them with the exception of

en.

Il m'emmène à Paris. - He takes me to Paris.

Il m'y emmène. - He takes me there.

Y in conjunction with en is only used in a few cases.

Il y en a. - There exist several ones.

Est-ce qu'il y a des pommes? (Oui,) il y en a. (No,) il n'y en a (pas/plus). - Are there any apples

(left)? Yes, there are. No, there aren't.

When there are two pronouns in a sentence, en always go last.

L'impératif

When expressing positive commands, there are several rules one must remember when using object

pronouns. Theses are:

The pronouns are attached to the verb with a hyphen.

Retrouve-la. - Find it.

Me and Te become moi and toi.

Donnez-moi les vidéos. - Give me the videos.

Le, la, and les precede all other object pronouns.

Donnez-le-moi. - Give it to me.

For the second person singular form, an "s" is added if the object (in the pronoun form) begins with a

vowel or "y".

Va au tableau. - Go to the blackboard. BUT Vas-y. - Go (there).

Vas-y. - Come on.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive article + noun sets.

French Grammar • Print version • audio (upload)

Possessive Pronouns Les pronoms possesifs

mon copain

my friend

ton copain

your friend

son copain

his/her friend

notre copain

our friend

votre copain

your friend

leur copain

their friend

le mien

mine

le tien

yours

le sien

his/hers

le nôtre

ours

le vôtre

yours

le leur

theirs

mes copains

my friends

tes copains

your friends

ses copains

his/her friends

nos copains

our friends

vos copains

your friends

leurs copains

their friends

les miens

mine

les tiens

yours

les siens

his/hers

les nôtres

ours

les vôtres

yours

les leurs

theirs

ma copine

my friend

ta copine

your friend

sa copine

his/her friend

notre copine

our friend

votre copine

your friend

leurs copine

their friend

la mienne

mine

la tienne

yours

la sienne

his/hers

la nôtre

ours

la vôtre

yours

la leur

theirs

mes copines

my friends

tes copines

your friends

ses copines

his/her friends

nos copines

our friends

vos copines

your friends

leurs copines

their friends

les miennes

mine

les tiennes

yours

les siennes

his/hers

les nôtres

ours

les vôtres

yours

les leurs

theirs

Vous avez votre voiture? - You have your car?

Oui, nous avons la nôtre. - Yes, we have ours.

À + a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence. This usually occurs

in sentences with être.

Elle est ta voiture? - Is that your car?

Oui, elle est à moi. - Yes, it is mine.

Sentences

Subject - Verb - Direct object - Indirect object

If...

Si...

With present tense (le présent):

(1) Si + (le présent), (le futur simple)

Example: If you finish your homework, I'll give you some candies.

Si tu finis tes devoirs, je te donnerai des bonbons.

(2) Si + (le présent), (l'impératif)

Example: If you are cold, close the window.

Si tu as froid, ferme la fenêtre.

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.

Si j'avais un million de dollars, j'achèterais une maison.

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.

Si j'avais su que les ordinateurs étaient si utiles, j'aurais suivi un cours de l'informatique.

Interrogation

Formation

Intonation

As in English, raising the tone at the end of a sentence can turn it into a question.

Example:

Il aime les bonbons. He likes sweets.

Il aime les bonbons? Does he like sweets?

Est-ce que...

"Est-ce que" literally means "Is it that", understood as "Is it true that", and can be used to form questions. To

form a question with "Est-ce que...", attach "Est-ce que..." at the beginning of the sentence. Sometimes "que"

has to be modified to "qu'" for elision.

Example: Il aime ce film. => Est-ce qu'il aime ce film ?

(He likes this film. => Does he like this film?)

Inversion

This is considered to be the most formal way to ask a question out of the three.

(The indicative form of the following sentences will be placed in parentheses for comparison.)

To ask a question by inversion, simple invert the verb and the subject (the pronoun) and insert a hyphen (un

trait d'union) in between.

Example: Do you like apples? (You like apples.)

Aimes-tu les pommes ? (Tu aimes les pommes.)

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.

Example: Did she make the decision already? (She made the decision already.)

A-t-elle déjà pris la décision ? (Elle a déjà pris la décision.)

(Notice that for compound tense [les temps composés], only the avoir or être part is interchanged with the

subject.)

For third person plural (verbs ending in "ent"), there is no need to insert the "t".

Example: Are they buying a house? (They are buying a house.)

Achètent-ils une maison ? (Ils achètent une maison.)

If the subject is a noun instead of a pronoun, invert the verb and the pronoun that represents the subject.

Example: Did Marie choose this shirt? (Marie chose this shirt.)

'Marie a-t-elle choisi cette chemise ? (Marie a choisi cette chemise.)

For negative such as "ne...pas", the verb should be inserted in between:

Example: Didn't you eat the whole pizza? (You didn't eat the whole pizza.)

N'as-tu pas mangé la pizza entière ? (Tu n'as pas mangé la pizza entière.)

If there is a direct or indirect object (complément d'objet [in]direct), it goes before the verb.

Example: Have you been there? (You have been there.)

Y es-tu allé(e) ? (Tu y es allé(e).)

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.

Irregular verb conjugations

Verb negations

Pronominal verbs

Verb tenses

General notes

The masculine form and feminine form of the third person are conjugated in exactly the same manner.

Instead of mentioning both, only the masculine form will be used for the sake of brevity. One may

assume that il includes elle and ils includes elles unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

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.

Derivatives of a verb are conjugated in the same manner as that verb. For instance, devenir and

revenir follow the same patterns as venir. In this appendix, when the conjugation of the root verb is

given, it is assumed that the reader will know that derivative verbs are similarly conjugated.

The verb tenses here are organized by mood. The general uses of a particular mood will be covered in

the page linked to by the section heading.

Literary tenses, which are only used in formal writing, are in italics.

APPENDICES

()

Appendices

(discussion (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Talk:French/Appendices) )

Dates, Time, and Numbers • Exercises • E-F dictionary • F-E dictionary • French authors • Hints and Common

Errors • French History • Nations of the World • Phrasebook • Pronunciation Index • Slang • Vocabulary Index •

Typing Characters • Verb Dictionary • Web Resources

Updates:

If a section is added or the name of an

existing section is changed, please update:

This page

The appendices header

The appendices footer

It is not necessary to update these versions if

only the sections within these main

appendices are altered.

Dates, Time, and Numbers

Le Midi d'Ossau dans les Pyrénées

Les jours de la semaine

The days of the week. [lay jzoor duh lah suhmen]

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •420 kb • help)

The Days of the Week. Les jours de la semaine.

# French Pronunciation English Origin

1 lundi luhndee Monday Moon

2 mardi mahrdee Tuesday Mars

3 mercredi maircruhdee Wednesday Mercury

4 jeudi juhdee Thursday Jupiter

5 vendredi vahndruhdee Friday Venus

6 samedi sahmdee Saturday Saturn

7 dimanche deemahnsh Sunday Sun

The days of the week are not capitalized in French.

For phrases relating to the day of the week, see the phrasebook.

Les mois de l'année

The months of the year. [lay mwah duh lahnay]

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •561 kb • help)

The Months of the Year Les mois de l'année

# French Pron. English

01 janvier jzahnveeyay January

02 février fayvreeyay February

03 mars mahrse March

04 avril ahvrill April

05 mai maye May

06 juin jzwan June

07 juillet jzooeeyay July

08 août oot/oo August

09 septembre septahmbruh September

10 octobre oktuhbruh October

11 novembre novahmbruh November

12 décembre daysahmbruh December

The months of the year are not capitalized in French.

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 season

le printemps Spring

l'été (m) Summer

l'automne (m) Autumn

l'hiver (m) Winter

Les nombres (adjectifs numéraux cardinaux et ordinaux)

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •337 kb • help)

Numbers Les nombres

Cardinal Numbers 001-019 Ordinal Numbers 001-010 Cardinal Numbers 020 - 069

# French Pron. English # French Pronunciation Abbr. English # French Pronunciation

000 zéro zairo zero 020 vingt vahn

001 un uhn one 1st premier(ère)

prem me ay

(air)

1er first 021

vingt et

vahntay uh

002 deux deuh two 2nd deuxième deuhzee ehm 2ième second

Numbers twenty-two to twenty-nine are

configured in the form of vingt-[02-09].

For example twenty-two is vingt-deux.

003 trois trwah three 3rd troisième trawhzee ehm 3ième third

004 quatre catr four 4th quatrième catree ehm 4ième fourth 030 trente trahnt

005 cinq sank five 5th cinquième sankee ehm 5ième fifth 031

trente et

trahntay uh

006 six seese six 6th sixième seesee ehm 6ième sixth

Numbers thrity-two to thirty-nine are

configured in the form of trente-[02-09].

For example thrity-three is trente-trois.

007 sept set seven 7th septième setee ehm 7ième seventh

008 huit weet eight 8th huitième weetee ehm 8ième eighth 040 quarante cahrahnt

009 neuf neuhf nine 9th neuvième neuhvee ehm 9ième ninth 041

quarante

et un

cahrahntay

uhn

010 dix deese ten 10th dixième deezee ehm 10ième tenth

Numbers forty-two to forty-nine are

configured in the form of

quarante-[02-09].

For example forty-four is

quarante-quatre.

011 onze ohn eleven

012 douze dooz tweleve 050 cinquante sankaunte

013 treize trehz thirteen 051

cinquante

et un

sankauntay

uhn

014 quatorze catorz fourteen

Numbers fifty-two to fifty-nine are

configured in the form of

cinquante-[02-09].

For example fifty-five is cinquante-cinq.

015 quinze canz fifteen

016 seize sehz sixteen 060 soixante swahsahnt

017 dix-sept deeset seventeen 061

soixante

et un

swahsahntay

uhn

018 dix-huit deezweet eighteen

Numbers sixty-two to sixty-nine are

configured in the form of

soixante-[02-09].

For example sixty-six is soixante-six.

019 dix-neuf deeznuf nineteen

This pattern changes slightly after the sixties:

Numbers seventy to seventy-nine are configured in the form of soixante-[10-19]. For example

seventy is soixante-dix (60-10), seventy-three is soixante-treize (60-13), and seventy-seven is

soixante-dix-sept (60-10-7).

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]. For

example eighty-one is quatre-vingt-un (4*20-one), ninty is quatre-vingt-dix (4*20-10), and

ninty-four is quatre-vingt-quatorze(4*20-14).

une dizaine (one ten)

une douzaine (one dozen)

cent 100 une centaine (one hundred)

[deux - neuf] cents 200-900

mille 1.000 un millier (one thousand)

(un) million 1.000.000

(un) milliard 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.

L'heure

Time.

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (upload)

The Time L'heure

# French Pron. English

01 l'heure (f) ? time, (one) hour, o'clock

02 une demi-heure ? half-hour (half an hour)

03 le matin ? morning

05 le midi ? noon

06 l'après-midi (m) ? afternoon

07 le soir ? night

08 le minuit ? midnight

09 la journée ? daytime

Use heure in between the hour and the minutes when telling the time, e.g., Il est cinq heures dix

Note that there is no "a.m." or "p.m." in French. Use du matin, de l'après midi, and du soir to

disambiguate a given time. "Il est sept heures du soir" makes it clear that it is 7 o'clock at night, and

not in the morning. 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.

Midi and minuit can be used without an article when telling the time: "Il est midi." (It is noon.)

English - French Dictionary

See:

Lexilogos (http://www.lexilogos.com/index.htm) : all online French dictionaries

French dictionary (http://www.online-dictionary.biz/english/french)

French - English Dictionary

See:

The French wiktionary (http://fr.wiktionary.org)

Lexilogos (http://www.lexilogos.com/index.htm) : all online French dictionaries

French dictionary (http://www.online-dictionary.biz/english/french)

French Authors

Middle ages

Chrétien de Troyes (around 1135 - around 1183)

16th century

Francois Rabelais (around 1483 or 1494 – 1553)

Pierre de Ronsard (1524 – 1585)

Louise Labé (a.1526 - a.1565)

17th century

René Descartes (1596 - 1650)

Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)

Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695)

Molière (1622–1673)

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)

Charles Perrault (1628–1703)

Jean Racine (1639–1699)

18th century

Marivaux (1688–1763)

Montesquieu (1689–1755)

Voltaire (1694–1778)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778)

Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784)

Beaumarchais (1732 - 1799)

19th century

François-René de Chateaubriand (1768 - 1848)

Honoré de Balzac (1799 - 1850)

Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870)

Prosper Mérimée (1803 - 1870)

George Sand (1804 - 1876)

Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857)

Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)

Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880)

Jules Verne (1828 - 1905)

Alphonse Daudet (1840 - 1897)

Emile Zola (1840 - 1902)

Paul Verlaine (1844 - 1896)

Henri Bergson (1859 - 1941)

Edmond Rostand (1868 - 1918)

20th century

Paul Claudel (1868 - 1955)

Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 - 1918)

Jean Cocteau (1892 - 1963)

Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894 - 1961)

Jean Giono (1895 - 1970)

Marcel Pagnol (1895 - 1974)

André Breton (1896 - 1966)

Jacques Prévert (1900 - 1977)

André Malraux (1901 - 1976)

Raymond Queneau (1903 - 1976)

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 - 1980)

Robert Merle (1908 - 2004)

Nicolas Bouvier (1929 - 1998)

Georges Perec (1936 - 1982)

Antoine Marie Roger de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

Albert Camus (1913 – 1960)

Colette (1873 - 1954)

Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)

Simone de Beauvoir (1908 - 1986)

Links

List of French authors in the French Wikipedia.

French History

See: European History

For the history of this book, see that page.

History Part 1

(https://docs.google.com/a/cameronschools.org/Presentation?docid=dhdhf2r5_72gfw2wbhs&hl=en) History

Part 2 (https://docs.google.com/a/cameronschools.org/Presentation?docid=dhdhf2r5_128gsjdgdg6&hl=en)

[27] (https://docs.google.com/a/cameronschools.org/Presentation?docid=dhdhf2r5_72gfw2wbhs&hl=en)

Nations of the World

Les pays du monde (nations of the world)

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

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

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

French English

le Danemark Denmark

Djibouti Djibouti

la Dominique Dominica

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

French English

les Fidji (f) Fiji

la Finlande Finland

la France France

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

French English

l'Île Maurice (f) 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

French English

la Jamaïque Jamaica

le Japon Japan

la Jordanie Jordan

French English

le Kazakhstan Kazakhstan

le Kenya Kenya

le Kirghizstan Kyrgyzstan

Kiribati (f) Kiribati

le Koweït Kuwait

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

French English

la Macédoine 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

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

French English

Oman (m) Oman

l'Ouganda (m) Uganda

l'Ouzbékistan Uzbekistan

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

French English

le Qatar Qatar

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

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

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

French English

l'Ukraine (f) Ukraine

l'Uruguay (m) Uruguay

French English

Vanuatu Vanuatu

le Vatican The Vatican

le Venezuela Venezuela

le Viêt-Nam Vietnam

[None]

le Yémen Yemen

la Yougoslavie (m) Yugoslavia

French English

la Zambie Zambia

le Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

Phrasebook

TravelWiki phrase book (http://wikitravel.org/en/French_phrasebook)

Common Phrases

Translation Phrase IPA Pronunciation

Literal

meaning

French

français

/frɑ̃sɛ/ (“fraw(n)-SAY”)

hello

bonjour

/bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ (“boh(n)-ZHURE”)

good day

good-bye

au revoir

/o ʁ

vwaʁ/

(“oh-reh-VWAR”)

to the

seeing-again

please

s'il vous plaît

/sil vu plɛ/ (“seal voo PLAY”

)

if it pleases

you

thank you

merci

/mɛʁsi/ (“mare-SEE”)

you're

welcome

je vous en prie,

de rien

/ʒə vu zɑ̃ pʁi/

(“zhe voo zah(n)

pree”, “de ree

ah(n)”)

I beg you of

it, (It's)

nothing

that one

cela

/səla/ (“suh-LAH”)

this one

ceci

/səsi/ (“suh-SEE”)

how much?

combien

/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/ (“ko(n)m-BYEN”)

English

anglais

/ɑ̃glɛ/ (“ah(n)-GLAY”)

yes

oui

/wi/ (“wee”)

non

/nɔ̃/ (“noh(n)”)

sorry

pardon

excusez-moi

/paʁdɔ̃/

/ɛkskyze

mwa/ ||(“pahr-DO(n)”)

(“ex-ku-zay-MWA”)

I don’t

understand

Je ne

comprends pas

/ʒə nə kõpʁɑ̃ pa/

(“zhe ne co(n)

m-pro(n) PAH”)

where's the

toilet?

Où sont les

toilettes ?

/u sɔ̃ le twalɛt/

(“ooh so(n) lay

twa-LET”)

Where are

the toilets?

generic

toast

Santé !

Tchin !

(familiar)

/sɑ̃te/

/ʧin/ ||(“sah(n)-TAY”)

(“cheen”)

Santé ! =

Health!

Do you

speak

English?

Parlez-vous

anglais ?

/paʁle vu ɑ̃glɛ/

(“par-lay voo ah(n)

-GLAY”)

Excuse me,

I don’t

speak

French very

well.

Pardonnez-moi,

mais je ne parle

pas très bien

français

/paʁdɔne mwa mɛ ʒə nə paʁl

pa trɛ bjɛ̃ frɑ̃sɛ/

(par-dohn-ay

MWAH may zheu

neuh parl pah tray

byen frah(n)-SAY)

Pardon me,

but I do not

speak very

well French.

V: Greetings

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •276 kb • help)

Greetings Les salutations

Salut Hi./Bye. (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. what's new)

Pas grand-chose. Not much. (lit. 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),

Comment ça va?/Ça va ? (informal)

How are you?

Ça va (très) bien

I'm doing (very) well

(lit. It's going (very) well)

Oui, ça va. Yes, it goes.

Très bien, merci. Very well, thanks.

Pas mal. Not Bad

pas si bien/pas très bien not so well

(très) mal (very) bad

Comme ci, comme ça. So-So.

Désolé(e). I'm sorry.

Et toi?

Et vous?

And you? (informal)

And you? (formal)

Titles

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •325 kb • help)

Titles Les titres

French Abbr. Pronunciation English, Usage

Singular

Plural

Monsieur

Messieurs.

muhsyu

mehsyu

Mr., Sir.

Gentlemen.

Singular

Plural

Madame

Mesdames

mahdahmn

maydahm

Mrs., Ma'am.

Ladies

Singular

Plural

Mademoiselle

Mesdemoiselles

lle

mahdmwoizell

maydmwahzell

Miss, Young lady

Young ladies

V: Courtesy

French Vocabulary • Print version • audio (info •434 kb • help)

Courtesy La politesse

Please

S'il te plaît. (Lit: If you please.)

S'il vous plaît. (formal).

Thanks (a lot) Merci (beaucoup).

You're welcome.

De rien. (Lit: Of nothing.)

Pas de quoi. (Lit: Not of what.) (No problem.)

Je t'en prie. 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. Hi./Bye. (informal)

Au revoir. Good-bye. ohrvwahr (ev not pronounced)

À demain. See you tomorrow. ah duhman (Lit: To/Until Tomorrow)

Au revoir, à demain. Bye, see you tomorrow.

À tout à l'heure. See you (later today)! ah tootah luhr

À la prochaine. See you (tomorrow)! ah lah proh shayn

À bientôt. See you soon. ah byantoe

Ciao Bye. 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.

1a Aujourd'hui c'est quel jour? Today is what day? ojzoordwee say kell jzoor

1b Aujourd'hui c'est [jour]. Today is [day].

2a Demain c'est quel jour Tomorrow is what day? Duhman say kell jzoor

2b Demain c'est [jour]. Tomorrow is [day].

Asking for the date.

Quelle est la date

(aujourd'hui)?

What is the date

(today)?

kell ay lah daht

3b C'est le [#] [month]. It's [month] [#].

Asking for the time.

4a Quelle heure est-il?

What hour/time is it?

kell er ayteel

4b Il est quelle heure? eel ay kell er

5 Il est [nombre] heure(s). It is [number] hours. eelay [nombre] er

Physical and mental health

Reacting to events

Thanking

Complementing

(Dis)agreeing

Invitations

Meetings

Expressing opinions

Pronunciation Index

IPA pronunciation for Standard French

The following pronunciation guide using IPA symbols is for Standard French. Also known as

International French and Received Pronunciation (RP) French. Although it is considered snobbish by

some, it is generally understood by all French speakers.

IPA chart French vowels

Front

Central

Back

NR R NR R

i y u

Close-mid

e ø

Open-mid

ɛ ɛ̃ œ (œ̃) ɔ ɔ̃

Open

a (ɑ) ɑ̃

These tables based upon Wikipedia:French phonology

IPA chart French consonants

Bilabial

Labio-

dental

Dental

Alveolar

Palato-

alveolar

Palatal

Labio-

palatal

Velar

Labio-

velar

Uvular

Plosive

p b t d k g

Nasal

m n ɲ ŋ

Fricative

f v s z ʃ ʒ

Approximant

j ɥ w

Lateral

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. To understand this, think about how it would

sound to you if a foreigner—with a strong accent and odd rhythm of speech—came up to you and said

"Dude, what a sketchy-ass hater that bizz-natch was, I totally was just like 'fuck off fo-sheezy'". 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.

Slang: consistency & style

To use slang efficiently, it is important to maintain a consistency of style. Mixing styles might sound like

saying: "Thy face, it is quite finely rawkin'".

Avoid vous unless a plural is necessary.

Avoid subject-verb inversion in questions. Use rather question formations where there is no inversion

or 'est-ce que', only the raised tone at the end of the sentence. When doing this with interrogatives

(qui, quand, comment, etc.), place them at the end of the sentence; i.e. "On va bouffer quand?"

Translating 'fuck'

The English-language term 'fuck' is exceptional as it can serve as noun, verb, adjective, exclamation, and

others. There is no such equivalent usage of any word in the French language. Therefore the translation of

'fuck' into French depends on the corresponding part of speech.

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.b.: these can also be compounded in French, i.e., "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

Audio1 Audio2 Audio3 Audio4

Abruti(e)

n., A retard, an idiot

ah-BROO-tee

Accro

n., addict

ack-RO

Ado

n., teen; short for 'adolescent'

AH-doh

Apéro

n., Short for apéritif.

ah-PAIR-roh

Appart'

n., flat or apartment; short for 'appartement'

ah-PARRT

Aprèm'

n., Short for après-midi.

ah-PRIm

Notes on Pronunciation:

*To feel how R should be pronounced, gargle with water, then try gargling without water.

That is what your throat should be doing when pronouncing the R.

*The U is hardest for English speakers. The back of the throat should be stretched out as if you see

a mouse and are saying "eee!", but the lips should be in a tight circle as if you are saying "ooo".

Bagnole

n., Slang for 'car'

ban-YOLE

Bahut

n., Slang for 'high school' (formerly for 'factory')

Barj' or Barjot

adj., crazy

n., a crazy person

BARge

BAHR-joe

Bander

v., to become erect, to get a hard-on

BAHN-day

Ben

interj. for 'well'. often used at the beginning of a phrase, and followed by "ouais" or "non"

Baañ ('baa' like the sound a sheep makes with a nasalized sound at the end)

Bite

n., dick

bEEt

Blaireau

n., litt. 'badger', Loser

bl-AIR-roh

Le Bled

n., the boondocks

blED

Boule

n., litt. 'ball'. Synonym for 'tête', or 'head' in its slang usage; a rough equivalent in English would be

'face' rather than 'head', i.e.:

"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., to eat

n., la bouffe, food

BOOF-fay

Bosser

v., to work

boss-SAY

Boulot

n., job

bOOL-oh

Se Branler

v., to masturbate (lit. to wobble)

suh BRAhn-lay

Ça a été

exp., it went well; also a question "Ta présentation, ça a été ?" = "How'd your presentation go?" ;

Answers to this question: "Ouais, ça a été" (Yes, it went well) / "Pas du tout" (Not at all)

saw ah AY-TAY

Chaud lapin

n., Sex maniac (lit. hot rabbit)

show lah-PAÑ

Les Chiottes

n, The loo

SEE-ott

Cinoche

n., A night at the movies

SEE-noh-sh

La cité

n., ghetto

see-TAY

Con

adj., stupid "J'ai été con quand j'ai décidé de sortir" = "I was dumb when I decided to go out"

n., litt. 'cunt' (as used in UK English); "Quel con" = "What an idiot"

exp. "à la con", stupid, in a stupid way. "J'ai cet examen à la con" = "I have this stupid test"

cohÑ

Crever

v., to burst or explode; to die, 'to kick the bucket'

adj., crevé(e), exhausted. As in "Je suis crevé(e)" = "I'm exhausted"

n., la crève, a cold, the flu. exp.: "J'ai la crève".

creh-vay

lah crehve

Débile

n. or adj. slang for "stupid"

DAY-beel

Dirlo

n. Colloquial word meaning 'headmaster'.

dear-loh

Enculer

v. To fuck, to bugger.

Equivalent to "fuck in the arse" ("cul"="arse"). Widely used under the form "va te faire enculer" (litt.

"go to get fucked in the arse", in UK English "go and get fucked in the arse") which stands for "fuck

off".

Also, "enculé" is the participle turned into a substantive, and means "bastard" or "arsehole".

exp. : "enculer des mouches" (litt. "to fuck flies in the arse") means "to nit-pick".

eñ-CU-lay

La fac

n., college or university; short for 'faculté'

fack

Faire la tête

exp., to pout. Synonyms: 'bouder'(to brood); "faire la gueule".

fer lah tet

Foutre

n. Sperm.

v. Vulgar equivalent of the verb 'faire'; to do or to make. 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., 'very', 'really' ; "Je suis hyper triste" = "I'm really sad"

EE-pair

Kiffer

v. Colloquial word meaning 'to like' from arabic noun 'kif' meaning 'cannabis', . Sometimes used under

the form faire kiffer, e.g Tu me fais trop kiffer.

keef-ay

Génial

adj. Colloquial word meaning "genius" (as used in UK English), "great", "brilliant", "sensational" or

"awesome"

j-knee-al

Grave

adj. litt. "severe", roughly means "stupid" e.g "mes parents sont graves" (my parents are stupid)

adv. roughly meaning "a lot" or "really" e.g "je la kiffe grave!" (I really like her). When used with a

predicate, it can be placed before or after it. e.g "il est débile grave, lui!" or "il est grave débile, lui!"

(he's really stupid)

grah-ve

Gueule

n., slang for 'mouth' or 'face'. It can be used in "Ta gueule!" which can be translated into 'Shut

up!'/'Shut your face!'.

gull

Gueuler

v., slang. Means 'to shout'. e.g. 'Arrête de me gueuler dessus' could be translated into 'Stop shouting at

me'.

Exists also engueuler, slang for 'to reprimand'.

guh-lay ; oñ-guh-lay

MacDo

Short for MacDonald's.

mack-doh

Merde

n., excl., translated as 'shit', merde is not seen as vulgar as 'shit'. That is to say, adults use it often, as

well as the youth. It can also mean 'rubbish', for example 'Ce repas, c'est de la merde', or 'The meal is

crap'

This word has produced the phrase «le mot de cinq lettres», an exact transcribed meaning of the

English phase "four-letter word".

maRed / with emphasis or in exclamation: mare-DUH

N'importe quoi

exp., 'whatever'

n., bullshit as in "C'est du n'importe quoi, ce qu'il dit"

nahm-poRt-UH-kwah

Niquer

v. Slang for 'to have sexual intercourse'. Often used in insults such as 'Nique ta mère' (Fuck your

mother), sometimes reduced to 'Ta mère!'. Metaphorically, slang for 'to break' or 'to be great'.

'Je vais te niquer la gueule (vulgaire)' : je vais me battre contre toi !

e.g. 'Cette porte est niquée.' (This door is out of order.)

'Ce jeu nique tout.' (This game is great.)

NEEK-ay

Ouais

'yeah' (as opposed to "oui" = "yes")

waay

Putain

n., excl. Roughly equivalent to 'merde' when used as an exclamation. As a name, old form for 'pute'

(whore). 'Putain' is the closest equivalent to the English 'fuck' (see note on 'fuck').

pew-tAÑ

Super

adj., 'very', 'really' ; "Je suis super content" = "I'm really happy"

soup-air

Taff

n. work, job, task

taff

Truc

n. Stuff

trew-uhk

Tronche

n. Colloquial word meaning 'face'.

TRon-shuh

Vachement

adj., France, slang. Literally "cowly", vachement is a synonym for "very", and can be translated in

some cases for the English adjective 'quite'. For instance - 'Il est vachement idiot' could be translated

as 'He is quite stupid'.

Whilst on the subject of 'vache', a popular French phrase is 'la vache!' which, as an exclamation,

means 'damn!' or 'darn!'. For example - 'tu as perdu!' could be greeted with 'la vache!' or 'mince!' or

other such expressions of discontent.

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. Colloquial word meaning 'crazy'.

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). For example, if you have word [12], in verlan it will become [2-1]. The word verlan is in itself an

example of this; it comes from the word l'envers (meaning 'backwards'). Verlan is, unlike Pig Latin, quite

commonly used among young adults and even adults. Common verlan expressions include:

Beur ou rebeu

n., A person of Arab descent. from arabe. ('Beur' is so commonly used that it now has its own Verlan

form, 'reub').

Chelou

adj., Fishy, shady, suspicious. from louche.

Ienche

n., Dog. from "chien". "Les ienches, ca me fait flipper." (Pronounced "ee-ansh")

Keuf

Policeman (not polite) from flic "Il est chelou ce mec ! j'vais le balancer aux keufs."

Kem

n., man, guy, dude, from mec.

Meuf

n., Woman, chick, girl. from femme.

Ouf

adj., Crazy, ridiculous. from fou. Used commonly in the expression "c'est un truc de ouf" ("that is

some crazy shit").

Relou

adj., Not funny, difficult, something that sucks. from lourd, heavy. (the d is dropped in Verlan because

the final d does not pronounce in lourd).

Ripou

adj., Rotten, awful, gross. from pourri

Ripou = un policier qui commet des actes graves illégaux

pl : des ripoux

Teuf

n., Party. from fête.

Venère

adj., aggravated, angry, pissed off. from enervé(e).

Common chat abbreviations

There are two general guidelines:

é can be susbstituted for all homophonic equivalents including "-ais", "-ait", "-es" (such as in the

articles les and des), the conjunction "et" (and), and the verb "est" (third person sing. conjugation of

être, "to be").

words that end in a silent -s commonly drop this s: such as pas (pa), and vois (voi).

biz

n., bisous, "kisses".

subj+verb, c'est, "it is".

subj+verb, c'était, "it was"; imparfait (past) conjugation of c'est.

conj., donc, "therefore, so".

dsl

adj., désolé(e), "sorry".

fok

exp., il faut que, "it is necessary".

interr. and relative pronoun, que, "that".

interr. and rel. pron., qui, "that" or "which".

koi

interrogative, quoi, "what"; also seen in pourkoi, "why".

mdr

exp., mort(e) de rire, "laughing myself to death", (equivalent of lol, laughing out loud).

mé

conj., mais, "but".

prep., pour, "for".

ptdr

exp., peté(e) de rire, "bursting with laughter", (equivalent of lol, laughing out loud). stronger than

mdr.

adj., tout(e), "all"; also seen in the expression tout le monde.

nrv

adj. enervé(e), pissed off, angry, aggravated.

Solutions to Exercises

Creating exercises

When creating new exercises:

Namescheme: E: [Level].[Lesson] # - [Subject] - [Title]

Example: E: 2.01 1 - School Vocabulary - Complétez

Example: E: 2.01 2 - Passé Composé - English to French

Add the following to both the lesson where the exercise goes and the appropriate section on this page.

Replace [...] with the specified lesson info.

Example:

Lesson exercises

Introductory lessons

Level One lessons

Level Two lessons

Level Three lessons

Vocabulary Index

Common French words by category

Typing Characters

International keyboard configuration

Commonly one memorises the alt-number code for inserting non-English characters (below), but there is a

much better method. One can change their keyboard configuration from their previous setting to a US

(Qwerty) International setting. See http://www.starr.net/kbh for more information.

In Windows XP:

Now to form accents, you prefix the letter with either ` ' " ~ or ^ So, to get è, one types ` and then e. To get

Ë, one types " and then E.

{{French Exercises|[namescheme]|

[the exercise text]

[the exercise solution text]

}}

{{French Exercises|E: 2.01 1 - School Vocabulary - Complétez|

* On lève la _____.

* On lève la ''main''.

}}

1. Start -> Settings -> Control Panel

2. Regional and Language Options

3. Languages -> Details ...

4. Click Add.

5. Under Input language, choose your native language.

6. Under Keyboard layout/IME, choose United States-International.

JLG extended keyboard layout for US

You can download the JLG Extended Keyboard Layout for US (freeware) on http://www.jlg-utilities.com.

This layout does not modify the normal US Layout, but extends it. Thus the punctuation characters (', ", ^,

etc.) are not dead keys and does not perturb the common user. Thousand of Unicode characters can be

reached, included the French characters, generally with intuitive combinations, for instance:

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. For instance if you want to

create an "`" accent you would press option+` then press the vowel you want to appear under the letter to

create à, è, ì, ò, or ù. The keystrokes for the diffent accents are...

Copy & paste

This method can be useful if you are just writing a short text (for example an e-mail) and don't have a

computer where you can/want change language settings. Just try to pull up a web page or a document that

contains the special characters and paste them into your text. For longer texts, however, this can become

quite tedious.

Search & replace

If you are working with a text editor you have the option to search for text and replace it with other text.

This feature can be used to 'type' special characters. The idea is to mark a character for becoming a special

character, for example typing ~a when you mean à. After you have written your text you replace marked

characters (the ~a) with special characters (the 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.

Unix and the Compose key

If you are using Ubuntu Linux with Gnome you select the Compose key from System: Preferences:

Keyboard then Layouts: Layout Options: Compose key position. 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). The

Keyboard preferences dialog has an area you can use to test the settings. See below for how to use the

Compose key. Ubuntu with a different window manager, such as KDE should have a similar keyboard

These are examples of the alt-number code method:

ù Alt+151 or Alt+0249

û Alt+150 or Alt+0251

ü Alt+129 or Alt+0252

The right Alt key may be required.

é = CTRL + ' then e

à = CTRL + ` then a

Î = CTRL + ^ then I

œ = ALTGR + o then e

« = ALTGR + [

» = ALTGR + ]

etc.

option + "`" = `

option + "e" = ´

option + "i" = ˆ

option + "u" = ¨

preferences utility.

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 Compose key, press and release the Compose key, then type two characters. Combinations useful

for typing in French follow:

Web Resources

Link collections

Wikipedia French language external links - Dozens of valuable links.

Translators

Google Translator (http://www.google.com/language_tools)

Babelfish Translation (http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/babelfish/tr?) : A translation website

Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/) - automatic translate on mouseover of a word (English to

French only)

Learning French

Online French Help (http://www.onlinefrenchhelp.com/)

About.com French Language (http://french.about.com/)

Target Language (http://www.targetlanguage.co.uk/)

Anne Fox (http://www.homestead.com/Anne_Fox/LearningFrench.html)

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/index.shtml)

The Mixxer (http://www.language-exchanges.org) Find a native French speaker for a language

To use the Windows menu key (between the right Windows key and right Ctrl key:

xmodmap -e "keysym Menu = Multi_key"

To use the right Windows key:

xmodmap -e "keysym R_Meta = Multi_key"

To use the right Alt key:

xmodmap -e "keysym Alt_Gr = Multi_key"

à Compose + a + `

â Compose + a + ^

ä Compose + a + "

ç Compose + c + ,

è Compose + e + `

é Compose + e + '

ê Compose + e + ^

ë Compose + e + "

É Compose + E + '

î Compose + i + ^

ï Compose + i + "

ô Compose + o + ^

ö Compose + o + "

ù Compose + u + `

û Compose + u + ^

ü Compose + u + "

exchange via Skype (http://www.skype.com)

Jump-Gate (http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/)

University of Adelaide (http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/guide/hum/french/learning.html) ,

Australia

French Language Learning Software (http://www.claritaslux.com)

Free Online French Tutorial (http://www.ielanguages.com/french.html)

BBC Bitesize grammar

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/other/sos/french/grammar/index.shtml)

Free resources for language learners (http://loquela-education.net) - Practice speaking french online

with ausio forums.

TravelWiki Phrasebook (http://wikitravel.org/en/French_phrasebook)

Orbis Latinus French (http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/French/index.html)

MIT French I Assignments

(http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-301Fall-2004/Assignments/index.htm

MIT French II Assignments

(http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-Languages-and-Literatures/21F-302Fall-2004/Assignments/index.htm

Useful information on the French language can be found on the site of tv5 (www.tv5.org)

(http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/lf/langue_francaise.php) - Dictionnaire de langue francaise, Dictionnaire

de synonymes, Conjugaisons, Dictionnaire anglais/francais, Dictionnaire francais/anglais, and lots

more!

Informal French & Slang - with sound (http://www.ielanguages.com/frenchslang.html)

FancyFrench (http://fancyfrench.mypodcast.com) - Established method for learning French, with a

free online .pdf textbook to accompany the free podcast lessons.

French grammar

Portail lettres (http://www.portail.lettres.net/j__grammaire_et_orthographe.htm)

Verbs : Grammar - Online French Help (http://www.onlinefrenchhelp.com/grammar/verb)

Clo7 (http://membres.lycos.fr/clo7/)

French grammar lessons (http://french.about.com/library/weekly/bltopicsub-g.htm)

Exercises on French grammar (Dr. Meul Etienne) (http://www.etienne-meul.be/)

Online verb conjugator (http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ARTFL/forms_unrest/inflect.query.html)

Dictionaries

Lexilogos (http://www.lexilogos.com/index.htm) : all online French dictionaries

French dictionary (http://www.online-dictionary.biz/english/french)

French culture

Online A-Z dictionary of modern France (http://about-france.com/dictionary/)

Le portail de la culture (http://www.culture.fr/Groups/accueil/home_fr)

Cortland (http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/civ/)

Ambassade de France en Nouvelle-Zélande (http://www.france.net.nz/)

Travel in France

Ministère des Affaires Etrangères français

(http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/thema/dossier.asp?DOS=ETRANGERS)

About-France.com - travel and general interest guide to France (http://about-france.com)

TravelWiki (http://wikitravel.org/en/France)

French administration

Le portail de l'administration (http://www.service-public.gouv.fr)

Associated Wikimedia for French language

Commons

Category

Images

Wikipedia

Article

Encyclopedia

Wikiquote

Article

Quotes

Wiktionary

Definition

Dictionary

Associated Wikimedia for France

Commons

Category

Images

Wikinews

Portal

Category

News

Wikipedia

Article

Portal

Encyclopedia

Wikisource

Category

Texts

Wiktionary

Definition

Appendix

Dictionary

TEXTS

Contents

Texts Information

Fables de La Fontaine1.

National Anthems2.

Due to the story's length, Le Petit Prince is only included in French/Texts/Print version.

Uncategorized Texts1.

Wikinews2.

Texts Information

Uncategorized Texts

Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen de 1789

Featured Text

La Marseillaise

L'hymne national de France.

The national anthem of France.

(edit template (http://en.wikibooks.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template:French_Texts_Footer&action=edit) )

(discussion (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Talk:French/Texts) )

[show ▼]

Texts

Fables de La Fontaine par Jean de La Fontaine • National Anthems • Miscellaneous • Wikinews

FABLES DE LA FONTAINE

Information

Featured Fable

La Cigale et la Fourmi

The Cicada and the Ant.

A tale with the moral of hard work.

La Cigale et la Fourmi

Vocabulary

The Fable

En français

La Cigale, ayant chanté

Tout l'été,

Se trouva fort dépourvue

Quand la bise fut venue:

Pas un seul petit morceau

De mouche ou de vermisseau.

Elle alla crier famine

Chez la Fourmi sa voisine,

La priant de lui prêter

Quelque grain pour subsister

Jusqu’à la saison nouvelle.

« Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle,

Avant l’Août, foi d’animal,

Intérêt et principal. »

La Fourmi n’est pas prêteuse:

C’est là son moindre défaut.

« Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud ?

In English

[show ▼]

Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.

— Nuit et jour à tout venant

Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.

— Vous chantiez ? J’en suis fort aise.

Eh bien ! Dansez maintenant. »

Questions

Le Corbeau et le Renard

Vocabulary

The Fable

En français

Maître Corbeau, sur un arbre perché,

Tenait dans son bec un fromage.

Maître Renard, par l’odeur alléché,

Lui tint à peu près ce langage :

« Hé ! bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau.

Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !

Sans mentir, si votre ramage

Se rapporte à votre plumage,

Vous êtes le Phénix des hôtes de ces bois. »

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 Renard s’en saisit, et dit : « Mon bon Monsieur,

Apprenez que tout flatteur

Vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute :

Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. »

Le Corbeau, honteux et confus,

Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus.

In English

Questions

Les Deux Mulets

Vocabulary

The Fable

Deux mulets cheminaient, l’un d’avoine chargé,

(edit template (http://en.wikibooks.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template:French/Texts/National_anthems/Footer&action=edit) )

(discussion (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Talk:French/Texts/National_anthems) )

L’autre portant l’argent de la gabelle

Celui-ci, glorieux d’une charge si belle,

N’eût voulu pour beaucoup en être soulagé.

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.

Le mulet, en se défendant,

Se sent percé de coups ; il gémit, il soupire.

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.

Questions

NATIONAL ANTHEMS

Information

Featured National Anthem

La Marseillaise

L'hymne national de France.

The national anthem of France.

National

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

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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. There are two ways you can read it. The first is to read the French text and English translation below.

The second way will lead to a greater understanding of the anthem, but is more time consuming. Read a line,

look up (http://translate.google.com/translate_t) words you don't know, then continue on to the next line.

When you finish reading a verse, you should reread both in French and English to make sure you understand

both the overall picture and each line. It may be necessary to repeat this several times. After reading the

entire anthem once, quickly read it a second time. You should be able to reread it in no time at all. If you

find yourself having trouble rereading the anthem, read it a third time until you are comfortable reading it.

Vocabulary

la Patrie fatherland

le citoyen citizen

The Anthem

French lyrics English Translation

Allons enfants de la Patrie

Le jour de gloire est arrivé !

Contre nous de la tyrannie

L'étendard sanglant est levé (bis)

Entendez-vous dans nos campagnes

Mugir ces féroces soldats ?

Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras.

Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !

Verse I

Refrain :

Aux armes citoyens

Formez vos bataillons

Marchons, marchons

Qu'un sang impur

Abreuve nos sillons

Refrain

II.

Que veut cette horde d'esclaves

De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?

Pour qui ces ignobles entraves

Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis)

Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage

Quels transports il doit exciter ?

C'est nous qu'on ose méditer

De rendre à l'antique esclavage !

Verse II

(refrain)

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French English

III.

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.

Verse III

(refrain)

French English

IV.

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.

Verse IV

(refrain)

French English

Français, en guerriers magnanimes

Portez ou retenez vos coups !

Épargnez ces tristes victimes

À regret s'armant contre nous (bis)

Mais ces despotes sanguinaires

Mais ces complices de Bouillé

Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié

Déchirent le sein de leur mère !

Verse V

(refrain)

French English

VI.

Amour sacré de la Patrie

Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs

Liberté, Liberté chérie

Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis)

Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire

Accoure à tes mâles accents

Que tes ennemis expirants

Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !

Verse VI

(1) The sentence (in French) is inverted, the non-literal translation is : "The bloody banner of tyranny is

raised against/before us" but it may be also "Protect us against tyranny, The bloody banner is raised"

(2) Here and in the next line, this is often sung as "nos" ("our") rather than "vos" ("your"); "vos" remains

official.

(3) "la carrière" ("the career"), that is, of being in the army.

Questions

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.wikipedia.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.

Questions

Text Declaration of Rights

En conséquence, l'Assemblée nationale reconnaît et déclare, en présence et sous les auspices de l'Être

suprême, les droits suivants de l'homme et du citoyen:

Article premier - Les hommes naissent et demeurent libres et égaux en droits. Les distinctions sociales

ne peuvent être fondées que sur l'utilité commune.

Article II - Le but de toute association politique est la conservation des droits naturels et

imprescriptibles de l'homme. Ces droits sont la liberté, la propriété, la sûreté, et la résistance à

l'oppression.

Article III - Le principe de toute souveraineté réside essentiellement dans la nation. Nul corps, nul

individu ne peut exercer d'autorité qui n'en émane expressément.

Article IV - La liberté consiste à faire tout ce qui ne nuit pas à autrui: ainsi l'exercice des droits

naturels de chaque homme n'a de bornes que celles qui assurent aux autres membres de la société la

jouissance de ces mêmes droits. Ces bornes ne peuvent être déterminées que par la loi.

Article V - La loi n'a le droit de défendre que les actions nuisibles à la société. 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.

Article VI - La loi est l'expression de la volonté générale. Tous les citoyens ont droit de concourir

personnellement, ou par leurs représentants, à sa formation. Elle doit être la même pour tous, soit

qu'elle protège, soit qu'elle punisse. 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.

Article VII - Nul homme ne peut être accusé, arrêté ni détenu que dans les cas déterminés par la loi, et

selon les formes qu'elle a prescrites. 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 VIII - La loi ne doit établir que des peines strictement et évidemment nécessaires, et nul ne

peut être puni qu'en vertu d'une loi établie et promulguée antérieurement au délit et légalement

appliquée.

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 X - Nul ne doit être inquiété pour ses opinions, même religieuses, pourvu que leur

manifestation ne trouble pas l'ordre public établi 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 XII - La garantie des droits de l'homme et du citoyen nécessite une force publique: cette force

est donc instituée pour l'avantage de tous et non pour l'utilité particulière de ceux auxquels elle est

confiée.

Article XIII - Pour l'entretien de la force publique et pour les dépenses d'administration, une

contribution commune est indispensable. Elle doit être également répartie entre tous les citoyens, en

raison de leurs facultés.

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 XV - La société a le droit de demander compte à tout agent public de son administration.

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.

Article XVII - La propriété étant un droit inviolable et sacré, nul ne peut en être privé, si ce n'est

lorsque la nécessité publique, légalement constatée, l'exige évidemment, et sous la condition d'une

juste et préalable indemnité.

Questions

WIKINEWS

Information