Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bienvenu(e)
Merci (beaucoup) De rien. / Je vous en prie.
/bj ɛvəny/
̃
/mɛʀsi boku/ /də ʀj ɛ/̃ / ʒəvu z ɑ̃ pri/
Welcome (also You're
Thank you (very much) You're welcome.
welcome in Quebec)
Monsieur, Madame,
Enchanté(e) Mesdames et Messieurs
Mademoiselle
/ ɑʃɑ
̃ ̃te/ /medam/ /mesjø/
/məsjø/ /madam/ /madwazɛl/
Nice to meet you. Ladies and gentlemen
Mister, Misses, Miss
Tu es d'où ?
Vous êtes d'où ? Je suis de...
/ty ɛ du/
/vu zɛt du/ /ʒə sɥi də/
Where are you from?
Where are you from? (formal) I am from...
(informal)
Tu parles anglais ?
Parlez-vous français ? Je (ne) parle (pas)...
/ty paʀl ɑ̃gl ɛ/
/paʀle vu fr ɑ̃s ɛ/ /ʒə (nə) paʀl pa/
Do you speak English?
Do you speak French? (formal) I (don't) speak...
(informal)
Comprenez-vous? / Tu
comprends? Je (ne) comprends (pas) Je (ne) sais (pas)
/k ɔp̃ ʀəne vu/ /ty k ɔp̃ ʀɑ̃/ /ʒə nə k ɔ̃p ʀɑ̃ (pa)/ /ʒə(n) sɛ (pa)/
Do you understand? (formal / I (don't) understand I (don't) know
informal)
Pouvez-vous m'aider ? / Tu
peux m'aider ? Bien sûr. Comment?
/puve vu mede/ /ty pø mede/ /bj ɛ̃ sy ʀ/ /kɔm ɑ̃/
Can you help me? (formal / Of course. What? Pardon?
informal)
Il y a ... / Il y avait...
Où est ... / Où sont ... ? Voici / Voilà
/il i a/ /il i avɛ/
/u ɛ/ /u s ɔ/̃ /vwasi/ /vwala/
There is / are... / There was /
Where is ... / Where are ... ? Here is... / Here it is.
were...
Je suis fatigué(e) / malade. J'ai faim / J'ai soif. J'ai chaud / J'ai froid.
/ʒə sɥi fatiɡe/ /ʒe f ɛ/̃ / ʒe swaf/ /ʒe ʃo/ /ʒe fʀwɑ/
I'm tired / sick. I'm hungry / I'm thirsty. I'm hot / I'm cold.
Quoi de neuf ? / Ça
Tenez / Tiens Pas grand chose.
boume ?
/təne/ /tj ɛ/̃ /pa g ʀɑ̃ ʃoz/
/kwɑ də nœf/ /sa bum/
Hey / Here (formal / informal) Not a whole lot.
What's new? / What's up?
Notice that French has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is
more than one meaning to "you" in French (as well as in many other languages.) The informal
you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used
when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like
to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to
more than one person.
Also notice that some words take an extra e, shown in parentheses. If the word refers to a
woman or is spoken by a woman, then the e is added in spelling; but in most cases, it does not
change the pronunciation.
To make verbs negative, French adds ne before the verb and pas after it. However, the ne is
frequently dropped in spoken French, although it must appear in written French.
French semi-vowels
Phonetic Sample General
IPA
spelling words spelling
fois, oui,
[w] w oi, ou
Louis
[ɥ] ew-ee lui, suisse ui
oreille,
[j] yuh ill, y
Mireille
French nasal vowels
Phonetic
Sample words General spelling
spelling
awn gant, banc, dent en, em, an, am, aon, aen
in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein, eim, un, um, en, eng, oin, oing, oint,
ahn pain, vin, linge
ien, yen, éen
uhn brun, lundi, parfum Un
Ohn rond, ongle, front on, om
[œ̃] is being replaced with [ɛ̃] in modern French
In words beginning with in-, a nasal is only used if the next letter is a consonant. Otherwise,
the in- prefix is pronounce een before a vowel.
French Consonants
ex + vowel egz examen, exercice
ex + consonant eks exceptionnel, expression
ch (Latin origin) sh architecte, archives
ch (Greek origin) k orchestre, archéologie
ti + vowel (except é) see démocratie, nation
c + e, i, y; or ç s cent, ceinture, maçon
c + a, o, u k caillou, car, cube
g + e, i, y zh genou, gingembre
g + a, o, u g gomme, ganglion
Th t maths, thème, thym
J zh jambe, jus, jeune
qu, final q k que, quoi, grecque
H silent haricot, herbe, hasard
vowel + s + vowel z rose, falaise, casino
x + vowel z six ans, beaux arts
final x s six, dix, soixante (these 3 only!)
There are a lot of silent letters in French, and you usually do not pronounce the final
consonant, unless that final consonant is C, R, F or L (except verbs that end in -r).
Liaison: French slurs most words together in a sentence, so if a word ends in a consonant that
is not pronounced and the next word starts with a vowel or silent h, slur the two together as if it
were one word. S and x are pronounced as z; d as t; and f as v in these liaisons. Liaison is
always made in the following cases:
It is optional after pas, trop fort, and the forms of être, but it is never made after et.
Silent e: Sometimes the e is dropped in words and phrases, shortening the syllables and
slurring more words.
Stress & Intonation: Stress on syllables is not as heavily pronounced as in English and it
generally falls on the last syllable of the word. Intonation usually only rises for yes/no
questions, and all other times, it goes down at the end of the sentence.
10. Days of the Week / Les jours de la semaine [ mp3 - 481 KB ] [ English
to French Flashcards ] [ French to English Flashcards ]
Monday lundi /lõdi/
Tuesday mardi /maʀdi/
Wednesday mercredi /mɛʀkʀədi/
Thursday jeudi /ʒdi/
Friday vendredi /v ɑ̃d ʀədi/
Saturday samedi /samdi/
Sunday dimanche /dim ɑʃ̃ /
day le jour /lə ʒuʀ/
week la semaine /la s(ə)mɛn/
today aujourd'hui /oʒuʀdɥi/
yesterday hier /jɛʀ/
tomorrow demain /dəm ɛ/̃
next prochain / prochaine /p ʀɔʃɛ/̃ /p ʀɔʃɛn/
last dernier / dernière /dɛʀnje/ /dɛʀnjɛʀ/
day before yesterday avant-hier /av ɑ̃tj ɛʀ/
day after tomorrow après-demain /apʀɛdm ɛ/̃
the following day le lendemain /lə l ɑ̃dəm ɛ/̃
the day before la veille /la vɛj/
Note: Articles are not used before days, except to express something that happens habitually
on a certain day, such as le lundi = on Mondays. Days of the week are all masculine in gender
and they are not capitalized in writing.
11. Months of the Year / Les mois de l'année [ mp3 - 383 KB ] [ English to
French Flashcards ] [ French to English Flashcards ] + Seasons & Directions
January janvier / ʒɑ̃vje/
February février /fevʀije/
March mars /maʀs/
April avril /avʀil/
May mai /mɛ/
June juin / ʒɥɛ/̃
July juillet /ʒɥijɛ/
August août /u(t)/
September septembre /sɛpt ɑ̃b ʀ/
October octobre /ɔktɔbʀ/
November novembre /nɔv ɑ̃b ʀ/
December décembre /des ɑ̃b ʀ/
month le mois /lə mwa/
year l'an / l'année /l ɑ̃/ /lane/
decade la décennie /deseni/
century le siècle /lə sjɛkl/
millennium le millénaire /milenɛʀ/
Note: To express in a certain month, such as in May, use en before the month as in "en mai."
With dates, the ordinal numbers are not used, except for the first of the month: le premier
mai but le deux juin. Also note that months are all masculine and not capitalized in French
(same as days of the week).
Islands à de / d'
In general, if a region, province or state ends in -e, it is feminine. Californie, Caroline du Nord /
Sud, Floride, Géorgie, Louisiane, Pennsylvanie, and Virginie are the feminine American states;
while Maine is masculine. For French régions or départements that begin with Haut(e), the h is
an aspirate h, and therefore, there is no elision with preceding words, i.e. de Haut-Rhin, la
Haute-Normandie, etc.
Elles habitent en Californie. They live in California.
Il est de Haute-Savoie. He is from Haute-Savoie.
Ce fromage vient du Nord. This cheese comes from Nord.
Je veux voyager dans le Texas. I want to travel in Texas.
offrir-to offer
j'offre zhaw-fruh offrons aw-frohn
offres aw-fruh offrez aw-fray
offre aw-fruh offrent aw-fruh
4. Verbs that end in -yer: Change the y to an i in all forms except the nous and vous.
Examples: envoyer-to send (awn-vwah-yay), nettoyer-to clean (nuh-twah-yay), essayer-to try (ess-ah-yay)
envoyer-to send
j'envoie zhawn-vwah envoyons awn-vwah-yohn
envoies awn-vwah envoyez awn-vwah-yay
Envoie awn-vwah envoient awn-vwah
5. Verbs that double the consonant: Some verbs, such as appeler-to call (ahp-lay), and jeter-to
throw (zheh-tay) double the consonant in all forms except the nous and vous.
appeler-to call
j'appelle zhah-pell appelons ah-puh-lohn
appelles ah-pell appelez ah-puh-lay
appelle ah-pell appellent ah-pell
Note: When using pronominal verbs as commands, the pronoun is placed after the verb
connected by a hyphen. Tu te dépêches becomes Dépêche-toi ! And in negative commands,
the pronoun precedes the verb, as in Ne nous reposons pas.
Irregular Command Forms
être (be) avoir (have) savoir (know)
tu sois swah tu aie ay tu sache sahsh
nous soyons swah-yohn nous ayons ay-yohn nous sachons sah-shohn
vous soyez swah-yay vous ayez ay-yay vous sachez sah-shay
Ne sois pas méchant avec ta sœur ! Don't be mean to your
sister!
N'ayez pas peur ! Don't be afraid!
Sachez que j'apprécie votre aide. Know that I appreciate your
help.
poo-
poo- poo- poo- poo-
peux puh pouvons pouvais pouvions vee- pourrai pourrons
vohn veh reh rohn
ohn
poo-
poo- poo- poo- poo-
peux puh pouvez pouvais pouviez vee- pourras pourrez
vay veh rah ray
ay
poo- poo- poo- poo-
peut puh peuvent puhv pouvait pouvaient pourra pourront
veh veh rah rohn
Note: Voulez-vous? can mean Do you want? or Will you? The
past participles are voulu and pu and both are conjugated with
avoir. The conditional forms of vouloir are used in the expression
"would like" i.e. I'd like = je voudrais, you'd like = tu voudrais,
he'd/she'd like = il/elle voudrait, we'd like = nous voudrions,
you'd like = vous voudriez, they'd like = ils/elles voudraient.
You do not need to use pouvoir after verbs that involve the
senses, such as voir (to see) and entendre (to hear). Je ne vois
pas / Je n'entends pas can mean I don't see or I can't see / I
don't hear or I can't hear depending on the context.
Sample Sentences
She is taller than Colette. Elle est plus grande que Colette.
I am smarter than you. Je suis plus intelligente que toi.
Peter runs less quickly than me. Pierre court moins rapidement que moi.
The kitchen is as big as the living room. La cuisine est aussi grande que le salon.
I have more books than she. J'ai plus de livres qu'elle.
We have as many cars as he. Nous avons autant de voitures que lui.
Verbs can also be compared with plus/aussi/moins (+ que):
Il travaille moins qu'elle. He works less than she.
Ils dorment plus. They sleep more.
Superlatives
Simply add le, la or les before the comparative if you are using an
adjective. With adverbs, always use le. After a superlative, de is
used to mean in. If the adjective follows the noun, the superlative
follows the noun also, surrounding the adjective.
Sample Sentences
It's the biggest city in the world. C'est la plus grande ville du monde.
She is the most beautiful woman in this room. Elle est la plus belle femme de cette salle.
This neighborhood is the least expensive in
Ce quartier est le moins cher de Paris.
Paris.
C'est la punition la plus redoutable du
It's the most dreaded punishment in the world.
monde.
Elle travaille le plus courageusement de
She works the most courageously of everyone.
tous.
In French, sometimes you don't use any articles, as compared to
English:
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. The more things
change, the more they stay the same.
48. Irregular Forms [ mp3 - 606 KB ]
Adjective Comparative Superlative
bon good meilleur/e better le/la meilleur/e best
mauvais bad pire worse le/la pire worst
petit small moindre less le/la moindre least
être aller
serai serons j'irai irons
seras serez iras irez
sera seront ira iront
Other exceptions: For appeler and jeter, double the consonant.
For nettoyer and payer, change the y to i. For acheter, add an
accent grave. For préférer, the accents all remain the same.
Almost all adjectives must agree in number and gender with the
noun they modify. Most adjectives are given in the masculine
form, so to change to the feminine forms, follow these rules:
Masculine Feminine Adjective
Add -e brun brahn brune brunn brown
fatigué fah-tee-gay fatiguée fah-tee-gay tired
If it already ends in -e, add
jeune zhun jeune zhun young
nothing
zhay-nay- zhay-nay-
-x changes to -se généreux généreuse generous
ruh ruhz
Exceptions: faux foh fausse fohss false
roux roo rousse rooss red (hair)
doux doo douce dooss sweet, soft
-il, -el, and -eil change to
naturel naht-ur-ell naturelle naht-ur-ell natural
-ille, -elle, and -eille
-et changes to -ète inquiet ahn-kee-ay inquiète ahn-kee-ett worried
Exceptions: muet mew-ay muette mew-ett silent
coquet koh-kay coquette koh-kett stylish
-en and -on change to ee-tahl-ee- ee-tahl-ee-
Italien Italienne Italian
-enne and -onne ahn enn
-er changes to -ère cher share chère share dear, expensive
-f changes to -ve actif ac-teef active ac-teev active
-c changes to -che blanc blawn blanche blawnsh white
Exceptions: public pooh-bleek publique pooh-bleek public
grec grek grecque grek Greek
-g changes to -gue long lawn longue lawng long
-eur changes to -euse if
adjective menteur mawn-tur menteuse mawn-tuhz liar
is derived from verb
-eur changes to -rice if
kray-ah-
adjective créateur kray-ah-tur créatrice creator
treess
is not same as verb
-eur changes to -eure with ahn-fay-ree- ahn-fay-ree-
inférieur inférieure inferior
adjectives of comparison uhr uhr
épais ay-peh épaisse ay-pehz thick
And a few completely
favori fah-voh-ree favorite fah-voh-reet favorite
irregular ones:
frais freh fraîche frehsh fresh, cool
54. Forming Plurals: Adjectives [ mp3 - 411 KB ]
To form the feminine plural, just add an -s, unless it already ends
in an s, then add nothing. To form the masculine plural, just add
an -s, except in these cases: -al becomes -aux (exceptions:
banal - banals; final - finals); ; and if it ends in an x or s already,
add nothing.
Masculine Masculine
Singular Plural
national national nationaux
general général généraux
Feminine
Feminine Plural
Singular
national nationale nationales
general générale générales
And of course there are more exceptions... some adjectives are
invariable and do not have feminine or plural forms. Compound
adjectives, such as bleu clair (light blue) and vert foncé (dark
green), adjectives that are also nouns, such as or (gold), argent
(silver), marron (chestnut), and the words chic (stylish), bon
marché or meilleur marché (inexpensive) never change.
Lequel is a pronoun that replaces the adjective quel and the noun
it modifies. It expresses Which one? as a question, but which in a
statement (usually preceded by a preposition).
Adjective Pronoun
Masculine Quel livre lis-tu? Quels livres lis-tu? Lequel lis-tu? Lesquels lis-tu?
Feminine Quelle page lis-tu? Quelles pages lis-tu? Laquelle lis-tu? Lesquelles lis-tu?
Lequel contracts with à and de in the plural and masculine
singular forms:
Singular Plural
Y and en are both pronouns that go before the verb. Y (ee) means
it or there. En (awn) means some or some (of them), or of it.
They replace prepositional phrases. In French, the phrases will
begin with à (or any contraction of it), en, sur, sous, chez,
devant, derrière, dans, etc. for y; and de (or any contraction of it)
or a number for en. They cannot replace people unless the
person is introduced with an indefinite article, partitive, number or
quantity. Sometimes y and en have no direct translation in
English. Remember that they go before the verb, except in a
command, in which they follow the verb and are connected with a
hyphen. The -er verbs also add the -s they lost when forming the
you (familiar) command.
Sample Sentences
Do you want some apples? Voulez-vous des pommes?
Do you want some? En voulez-vous?
I have three sisters. J'ai trois sœurs.
I have three (of them). J'en ai trois.
It is in the drawer Il est dans le tiroir.
It is there. Il y est.
I am going to Detroit. Je vais à Détroit.
I am going there. J'y vais.
I am going to go to Atlanta. Je vais aller à Atlanta.
I am going to go there. Je vais y aller.
Answer the telephone! Répondez au téléphone !
Answer it! (formal) Répondez-y !
Stay there! (familiar) Restes-y !
Don't stay there! (familiar) N'y reste pas.
Y and en can also replace a phrase or clause, especially with
verbs that require à or de after them:
I think a lot about these Je réfléchis beaucoup à ces
stories. histoires.
I think about them a lot. J'y réfléchis beaucoup.
He obeyed the rules. Il a obéi aux règles.
He obeyed them. Il y a obéi.
On n'a pas besoin de ce
We don't need this book.
livre.
We don't need it. On n'en a pas besoin.
She's using the computer. Elle se sert de l'ordinateur.
She's using it. Elle s'en sert.
Note: Notice y and en don't go after the verb in negative
commands. Treat them like pronouns. Ne or Je plus y or en all
contract to N'y (nee), J'y (zhee), N'en (nawn), and J'en (zhawn).
When you have a conjugated verb plus an infinitive (vais and
aller), the y or en go in between the two verbs.
-e -ions
-es -iez
-e -ent
Conjugations in the Subjunctive
avoir être faire aller
aie (ay) ayons sois (swah) soyons fasse fassions aille (eye) allions
aies ayez sois soyez fasses fassiez ailles alliez
ait aient soit soient fasse fassent aille aillent
Je veux que tu viennes avec moi. I want you to come with me.
Il est content que nous soyons là. He's happy that we are here.
Est-ce que vous pensez qu'elle puisse le faire ? Do you think
that she can do it?
Il faut que je fasse la vaisselle. I have to do the dishes.
Elle sera là jusqu'à ce que vous partiez. She will be there until
you leave.
However, douter, jusqu'à ce que, à moins que, and bien que /
quoique use the subjunctive whether there is a change in subject
or not. And when using avant before an infinitive, the construction
is avant de + infinitive. Note, also, that the subjunctive is not
used with espérer or il est probable, although the subjunctive
may be used with these words in other Romance languages.
The word ne is used after certain conjunctions (most notably
avant que and à moins que) that take the subjunctive, but this
does not make the phrase negative:
Finissez le travail avant que la classe ne se termine. Finish the
work before class ends.
Singular Plural
Masc. Fem. Masc. Fem.
mine le mien la mienne les miens les miennes
yours le tien la tienne les tiens les tiennes
his/hers/its le sien la sienne les siens les siennes
ours le nôtre la nôtre les nôtres les nôtres
yours le vôtre la vôtre les vôtres les vôtres
theirs le leur la leur les leurs les leurs
C'est ma pomme. Voilà la tienne. That's my apple. Here's
yours.
Il a son sac. Elle a le sien. He has his bag. She has hers.
C'est le mien, pas le tien ! That's mine, not yours!
Ils aiment leur voiture. Nous aimons la nôtre. They like their car.
We like ours.
For verbs that involve cooking methods, you add faire before them
when they are transitive verbs (when they take a direct object). So
to cook something is faire cuire, to fry something is faire frire, to
boil something is faire bouillir, etc. If you bake American foods in
France, you will most likely need to look for certain ingredients
that are not used very often in French cooking: condensed milk -
lait concentré sucré; evaporated milk - lait concentré non-
sucré; baking soda - bicarbonate alimentaire; baking powder -
levure chimique and yeast - levure du boulanger. It is also very
common to use le sopalin instead of essui-tout for paper towel.