1

1

Bonjour
(:)
! / !

Bonsoir/ Bonne
nuit
(/
)
! / !
( , )

Au revoir!

S'il vous plat

//
!

Je vous en prie / de rien

( :)

( Bienvenu) (
:/ /
-

Merci beaucoup

Oui / non
(/)
/

Monsieur,
Mademoiselle

Madame,

(,
:)

:,

Comment allez-vous?

a va?

( :)

( :)

? ()

? ()

Je vais bien

a va bien / mal / pas mal

( )
.

( // )

Je suis fatigu(e)

Je suis malade

( )

( )

J'ai faim

J'ai soif

( )

( )

Comment vous appelez-vous?

( :)

/ /

Comment t'appelles-tu?
( )

? ()

()

Je m'appelle...

Mon nom est...

( )

( )

...

...

Vous tes d'o?

( :)
? ()
O habitez-vous?
( :)
? ()

Je suis des Etats-Unis / du Canada.

( :: )
/ .

Tu es d'o?
( )

()

O habites-tu?
( )

()

J'habite aux Etats-Unis /

au Canada.
( :: /
)
/ .

 1
Tu as quel ge?

Vous avez quel ge?

( )

( )

? ()

()

J'ai ____ ans.

(____ )
____ .
Parlez-vous franais?

Parles-tu anglais?

( )

( )

? ()

?
()

Italien, Allemand, Espagnol

Russe, Japonais, Chinois

( : , ,
, ,

(, :, )
, ,

Je parle...

Je ne parle pas...

( )

( )

...

...

Je (ne) comprends (pas)

Je (ne) sais (pas)

( )

( )

() .

() .

Excusez-moi / Pardonnez-moi

Je regrette / Je suis
dsol(e)

( / )
/

(
/
)
.

A tout l'heure / A bientt

Salut

( / :)

()

()!

Je t'aime

Je vous aime

( )

( )

. (..)

a, ,
ah , et, and final er
and ez e, , , ai, ei, ais

i, y

ou

oy, oi

u +

c ( e, i, y)

( a, o, u)

c ( a, o, u)

g ( e, i, y)

ge ( a, o)

g ( a, o, u)

gn

h
j
qu, q
r
s
th
, z

( )

, six, dix soixante

: ,
, ,
, . , C, R, F
L ( , -r)
. , . ,
, ,
h,
, .

1. , , liaison
(). :

( un, des, les, mon, ces, quels)

(vous avez, je les ai)

(bon ami, petits enfants)

(en avion, dans un livre)

(trs, plus, bien)

est
pas, trop fort tre,
et.
2. e ,
.

rapid(e)ment, lent(e)ment, sauv(e)tage ( -, ---)

sous l(e) bureau, chez l(e) docteur ( ,

)

il a d(e) bons copains ( , -)

il y a d(e)... , pas d(e)... , plus d(e)... (, , , ,
)

je n(e), de n(e) (, )

j(e) te, c(e) que (, , -

j)
3. , /

.
4. , ,
u and e.
u ,
- :. u .
,
.
,
.
. .
5. , , ,
. -
.
. ,
,
, , , .

in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein, eim, un, um, en, eng, oin, oing, oint,

ien, yen, en

en, em, an, am, aon,

 1
aen

on, om

in-, ,
. , in-
.

,
. - ,
,
. ,
-age -ment, , ,
. ,
-ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -t -ette
.


, .
,
.

.

le lit

la pomme

l'oiseau

the bed

the apple

the bird

les gants
the gloves

Indefinite Articles (A, An, Some)

Masculine

Feminine

Plural

un lit

une pomme des gants

a bed

an apple

some gloves

Demonstrative Adjectives (This, That, These, Those)

Masc. Masc, Before Vowel
ce lit

cet oiseau

this/that bed this/that bird

Fem.
cette pomme
this/that apple

Plural
ces gants
these/those gloves

If you need to distinguish between this or that and these or those,

you can add -ci to the end of the noun for this and these, and -l to
the end of the noun for that and those. For example, ce lit-ci is
this bed, while ce lit-l is that bed.

Useful Words and General Vocabulary

It's /
That's
There
is/are

say
c'est

il y a

eel-eeyah

There is/are

voil

vwah-lah

Here is/are

voici

vwahsee

and

et

ay

always

toujour
s

toozhoor

but

mais

may

often

souvent

soovawn

now

maintenan
t

mahntnawn

Sometimes

quelque
fois

kellkuhfwah

especia
lly

surtout

sir-too

usually

d'habitu
de

dahbeetewd

except

sauf

sohf

also, too

aussi

oh-see

of
course

bien sr

bee-ahn sir

again

encore

awnkore

so so

comme ci,
comme a

kohm see
kohm sah

late

en
retard

awnruh-tar

not bad

pas mal

pah mal

almost

presque

presk

book

le livre

leevr

friend (fem)

une
amie

ew
nahmee

pencil

le crayon

krah-yohn

friend
(masc)

un ami

ahnahmee

pen

le stylo

stee-loh

woman

une
femme

ewn
fawn

paper

le papier

pah-pyaya

man

un
home

ahnohm

dog

le chien

shee-ahn

girl

une fille

feey

cat

le chat

shah

boy

un

gar-

 1
garon

sohn

: When il y a is followed by a number, it means ago. Il y

a cinq minutes means five minutes ago.

Subject Pronouns
Je

Subject Pronouns
zhuh I
Nous

noo

We

Tu

tew You (informal)

Vous

voo

You (formal
plural)

Il

eel He

Ils

eel

They (masc.)

Elles

They (fem.)

Elle
On

ell
ohn

She

and

One

: Il and elle can also mean it when they replace a noun (il
replaces masculine nouns, and elle replaces feminine nouns)
instead of a person's name. Ils and elles can replace plural nouns
as well in the same way. Notice there are two ways to say you.
Tu is used when speaking to children, animals, or close friends
and relativs. Vous is used when speaking to more than one
person, or to someone you don't know or who is older. On can be
translated into English as one, the people, we, they, or you.

To Be and To Have
Present tense of tre - to be (eh-truh)
I am
You are
He is
She is
One is

Je suis zhuh swee

Tu es tew ay
Il est eel ay
Elle est ell ay
On est ohn ay

We are Nous sommes noo sohm

You are Vous tes
voo zett
They are Ils sont
eel sohn
They are Elles sont
ell sohn

Past tense of tre - to be

I was (being)

j'tais

zhay-the

We were (being)

nous tions

ay-tee-ohn

You were (being)

tu tais

ay-the

You were (being)

vous tiez

ay-tee-ay

He was (being)

il tait

ay-the

One was (being)

on tait

ay-teh

They were (being)

ils taient

ay-the

She was (being)

elle tait

ay-teh

They were (being)

elles taient ay-teh

: Je and any verb form that starts with a vowel (or silent h)
combine together for ease of pronunciation.

Future Tense of tre - to be

I will be
reh

je serai suh-

We will be nous serons suh-rohn

You will be
rah

tu seras suh-

You will be vous seriez suh-reeay

He will be
rah

il sera

She will be
rah

elle sera suh-

suhThey will be ils seront

suh-rohn

They will be elles seront suhrohn

One will be on sera suh-rah

: You must use the subject pronouns; but I will leave

them out of future conjugations.
Present tense of avoir - to have (ah-vwahr)
I have

j'ai zhay

You have as
He/she has a

We have avons ah-vohn

ah
ah

You have avez ah-vay

They have ont ohn

Past tense of avoir - to have

I had j'avais zhah-veh

We had avions ah-vee-ohn

You had avais ah-veh

You had aviez ah-vee-ay

He/she had avait ah-veh

They had avaient ah-veh

Future tense of avoir - to have

I will have j'aurai zhoh-reh
We will have aurons oh-rohn
You will have

auras oh-rah

You will have aurez oh-ray

He/she will have aura

oh-rah

They will have auront oh-rohn

Avoir and tre are used in many common and idiomatic
expressions that should be memorized:
avoir chaud - to be hot
avoir froid - to be cold
avoir peur - to be afraid
avoir raison - to be right
avoir tort - to be wrong
avoir faim - to be hungry
avoir soif - to be thirsty
avoir sommeil - to be sleepy
avoir honte - to be ashamed
avoir besoin de - to need
avoir l'air de - to look like, seem
avoir envie de - to feel like
avoir de la chance - to be lucky
J'ai froid.

I'm cold.

tre de retour - to be back

tre en retard - to be late
tre en avance - to be early
tre d'accord - to be in agreement
tre sur le point de - to be about to
tre en train de - to be in the act of

tre enrhume - to have a cold

nous + tre (un jour) - to be (a day)
Je suis en retard!
I'm late!
Tu avais raison.
You were right.
Tu tais en avance.
You were early.
Il aura sommeil ce soir
He will be tired
Elle sera d'accord.
She will agree.
Nous sommes lundi.
It is Monday.
Elle a de la chance!
She's lucky!
Vous tiez enrhum.
You had a cold.
Nous aurons faim plus tard.
They will be (in the act of) hungry later.
Ils seront en train d'tudier
We will be studying.
Vouz aviez tort.
You were wrong.
Elles taient sur le point de partir.
They were about to leave
Ils ont chaud.
They are hot.
Elles avaient peur hier.
They were afraid
On est de retour.
We/you/they/the people are back.

Question Words
Who

Qui

kee

What

Quoi

kwah

Why

Pourquoi

poor-kwah

When

Quand

kawn

Where

How

Comment

How much / many

Combien

Which / what

Quel(le)

kohn-mawn
kohn-bee-ahn
kehl

Numbers / Les numros

Zero

Zro

zay-roh

One

Un

Two

Deux

duh

Three

Trois

twah

Four

Quatre

kat

Five

Cinq

sahn

Six

Six

seess

Seven

Sept

set

Eight

Huit

weet

Nine

Neuf

nuhf

Ten

Dix

deess

Eleven

Onze

ohnz

Twelve

Douze

dooz

Thirteen

Treize

trehz

Fourteen

Quatorze

kah-tohrz

Fifteen

Quinze

kanz

Sixteen

Seize

sez

Seventeen

Dix-sept

dee-set

Eighteen

Dix-huit

deez-weet

Nineteen

Dix-neuf

deez-nuhf

Twenty

Vingt

vahn

Twenty-one

Vingt et un

vahn tay ahn

Twenty-two

Vingt-deux

vahn duh

Twenty-three

Vingt-trois

vahn twah

Thirty

Trente

trawnt

Thirty-one

Trente et un

trawnt ay uhn

Thirty-two

Trente-deux

trawnt duh

Forty

Quarante

kuh-rawnt

Fifty

Cinquante

sank-awnt

Sixty

Soixante

swah-ssawnt

Seventy

Soixante-diz

swah-ssawnt deez

(Belgium & Switzerland) Septante

seh-tahnt

Seventy-one
onze

Soixante et

swah-ssawnt ay
ohnz

Seventy-two
douze

Soixante-

swah-ssawnt dooz

Eighty

Quatre-vingts

ka-truh vahn

(Belgium & Switzerland) Huitante

weet-ahnt

Eighty-one
un

ka-truh vahn tahn

Quatre-vingt-

Eighty-two
duh

Quatre-vingt-deux

ka-truh vahn

Ninety

Quatre-vingt-dix

ka-truh vahn

deez
(Belgium & Switzerland)
Ninety-one
Ninety-two
One Hundred
One Hundred One
Two Hundred
Two Hundred One
Thousand
Two Thousand
Million

Nonante

Quatre-vingt-onze
Quatre-vingt-douze
Cent
Cent un
Deux cents
Deux cent un
Mille
Deux mille
Un million

noh-nahnt
ka-truh vahn ohnz
ka-truh vahn dooz
sawnt
sawnt ahn
duh sawnt
duh sawnt ahn
meel
duh meel
ahn meel-ee-ohn

: French switches the use of commas and periods. 1,00

would be 1.00 in English. Belgian and Swiss French use septante,
huitante and nonante in place of the standard French words for 70,
80, and 90. Also, when the numbers 5, 6, 8, and 10 are used
before a word beginning with a consonant, their final consonants
are not pronounced.

Ordinal Numbers
first

premier, premire

second

deuxime

third

troisime

fourth

quatrime

fifth

cinquime

sixth

sixime

seventh

septime

eighth

huitime

ninth

neuvime

tenth

dixime

eleventh

onzime

twelfth

douzime

twentieth

vingtime

twenty-first

vingt et unime

thirtieth

trentime

: The majority of numbers become ordinals by adding

-ime. But if a number ends in an e, you must drop it before
adding the -ime. After a q, you must add a u before the -ime.
And an f becomes a v before the -ime.

Days of the Week / Les jours de la semaine

Monday

lundi

lahn-dee

Tuesday

mardi

mahr-dee

Wednesday
mercredi

mare-kruh-dee

Thursday

jeudi

zhuh-dee

Friday

vendredi

vahn-druh-dee

Saturday

samedi

Sunday

dimanche

day

le jour

week

la semaine lah suh-men

today

aujourd'hui oh-zhoor-dwee

yesterday

hier

ee-air

tomorrow

demain

duh-mahn

sahm-dee
dee-mahnsh
luh zhoor

: Articles are not used before days, except to express

something that happens habitually on a certain day, such as "on
Monday." (you would use le before the day, as in "le lundi")

Months of the Year / Les mois de l'anne

January

janvier

zhan-vee-ay

February

fvrier

fay-vree-ay

March

mars

marz

April

avril

ah-vril

May

mai

may-ee

June

juin

zhwahn

July

juillet

zhwee-ay

August

aot

oot

September
septembre
October

sep-tawm-bruh
octobre

ahk-toh-bruh

November novembre

noh-vawm-bruh

December dcembre

day-sawm-bruh

Month

luh mwah

Year

le mois
l'an / l'anne

lawn/law-nay

: 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 days of the weeks and months of the
year are all masculine and not capitalized in French.

Seasons / Les saisons

Summe
r

l't

lay-tay

in the
summer

en t

Fall

l'automn
e

lohtohn

in the fall

en
aw
automne nohtohn

Winter

l'hiver

lee-vair

in

the en hiver

awn
ay-tay

aw

winter
Spring

le
printem
ps

uh
prahntawn

in the
spring

neevair
au
printem
ps

oh
prahn
-tawn

Directions / Les directions

North

le nord

luh nor

South

le sud

luh sewd

East

l'est

lest

West

l'ouest

lwest

Colors and Shapes / Les couleurs et les forms

Red

rouge

roozh

square

le carr

kahray

Orange

orange

oh-rahnzh

circle

le cercle

sairkluh

Yellow

jaune

zhohn

Triangle

le triangle

treeawngluh

Green

vert/e

vehr/t

rectangl
e

le
rectangle

uhktawngluh

Blue

bleu/e

bluh

oval

l'ovale

lohvahl

Pourpre

poo-pruh

le cube

kewb

Purple

violet/te

vee-ohleh/lett

cube

White

blanc/h

blawn/sh

sphere

la sphre

sfair

e
brun/e
Brown

brahn/bre
wn

marron

Cylinde
r

le cylinder

seelahndruh

mah-rohn
Black

noir/e

nwahr

cone

le cne

kohn

Pink

rose

roze

octagon

l'octogon
e

oktohgohn

Gold

dor/e

doh-ray

box

une bote

bwaht

Silver

argent
/e

ahrzhawn-tay

Gray

gris/e

gree/z

: In French, nouns and adjectives have a gender. Ex:

vert/e = vert is the masculine form of green, verte is the feminine
form. Almost all adjectives agree in gender and number with the
noun they modify (except marron and orange, as well as colors
that are modified with the words clair-light and fonc-dark) and
most are placed after the noun. Un carr brun would be a brown
square and une bote noire would be a black box.

Weather / Le temps
What's the weather like?
It's nice.
bad

Quel temps fait-il? kell tawn fay-teel

Il fait bon.
Il fait mauvais

eel fay bohn

moh-vay

cool

Il fait frais

fray

cold

Il fait froid

fwah

warm,
hot

Il fait chaud

shoh

cloudy

Il fait nuageux

noo-ah-zhuh

beautiful

Il fait beau

boh

mild

Il fait doux

dooh

stormy

Il fait orageux

oh-rah-zhuh

sunny

Il fait (du) soleil

windy

Il fait du vent

foggy

Il fait du brouillard

snowing

Il neige

eel nezh

raining

Il pleut

pluh

freezing

Il gle

zhell

eel fay (dew) so-lay

vawn
broo-ee-yar

: The du in "il fait (du) soleil" is optional. In Canada, du

is often not said, but in France it is common.

Time / Le temps
What time is it?
est-il?

Quelle heure

It is...

Il est...

eel ay

one o'clock

une heure

oon urr

two o'clock

deux heures

duh zurr

Noon

midi

mee-dee

midnight

minuit

meen-wee

a quarter after three

quart

trois heures et

twa zurr ay car

one o'clock sharp

prcise

une heure

oon urr pray-sees

four o'clock sharp

prcises

quatre heures

ka-truh urr pray-sees

kell urr ay-teel

twelve thirty
demi

midi (minuit) et

meee-dee (meen-wee)
ay duh-mee

six thirty
demie

six heures et

see zurr ay duh-mee

a quarter to seven sept heures moins le quart set urr mwahn luh car
five twenty

cinq heures vingt

sank urr vahn

in the morning/AM

du matin

doo mah-than

in the afternoon/PM

de l'aprs-midi

duh lah-pray mih-dee

in the evening/PM

du soir

doo swahr

: Official French time is expressed as military time (24

hour clock.)

Family and Animals / La famille et les animaux

Family

la famille

fah-mee

Relatives

des parents

pahr-awn

Grand-parents

les grands-parents

grawn-pahr-awn

Parents

les parents

pahr-awn

Mom

la mre, maman

mehr, ma-ma

Stepmother/Mother-inLaw

la belle-mre

bell-mehr

Dad

le pre, papa

pehr, pa-pa

Stepfather/Father-in-Law

le beau-pre

boh-pehr

Daughter

la fille

fee

Son

le fils

feess

Sister

la sur

sir

Half/Step Sister

la demi-sur

duh-mee-sir

Sister-in-Law

la belle-sur

bell-sir

Stepdaughter/Daughter-in-Law

la belle-fille

bell-fee

Brother

le frre

frehr

Half/Step Brother

le demi-frre

duh-mee-frehr

Brother-in-Law

le beau-frre

boh-frair

Stepson/Son-in-Law

le beau-fils

boh-feess

Twins (m)

les jumeaux

zhoo-moh

Twins (f)

les jumelles

zhoo-mell

Uncle

l'oncle

ohnk-luh

Aunt

la tante

tawnt

Grandmother

la grand-mre

grawn-mehr

Grandfather

le grand-pre

grawn-pehr

Cousin (f)

la cousine

koo-zeen

Cousin (m)

le cousin

koo-zahn

Wife

la femme

fawn

Husband

le mari

mah-ree

Woman

la femme

fawn

Man

l'homme

ohm

Girl

la fille

fee

Boy

le garon

gar-sohn

Niece

la nice

nee-ess

Nephew

le neveu

nuh-vuh

Grandchildren

les petits-enfants

puh-tee-zawn-fawn

Granddaughter

la petite-fille

puh-teet fee

Grandson

le petit-fils

puh-tee feez

Distant Relatives

des parents loigns

yay

Single

clibataire

say-lee-bah-tair

Married

mari(e)

mah-ree-ay

Separated

spar(e)

say-pah-ray

Divorced

divorc(e)

dee-vor-say

Widower / Widow

veuf / veuve

vuhf / vuhv

Dog

le chien / la chienne

shee-ahn / shee-enn

Cat

le chat / la chatte

shah / shaht

Puppy

le chiot

shee-oh

Kitten

le chaton

shah-tohn

Pig

le cochon

koh-shohn

Rooster

le coq

kohk

Rabbit

le lapin

lah-pahn

Cow

la vache

vahsh

Horse

le cheval

chuh-val

Duck

le canard

kah-nahr

Goat

la chvre

shev-ruh

Goose

l'oie

lwah

Sheep

le mouton

moo-tohn

pahr-awn zay-lwawn-

 1
lon-yoh

Lamb

l'agneau

Donkey

l'ne

lon

Mouse

la souris

soo-ree

To Know People and Places

connatre-to know people (koh-net-truh)
connais koh-neh connaissons koh-nezz-ohn
connais koh-neh connaissez koh-nezz-ay
connat koh-neh connaissent koh-nezz
savoir - to know facts (sahv-wahr)
sais say savons sah-vohn
sais say savez sav-ay
sait say savent sahv
: Connatre is used when you know people or places,
savoir is used when you know facts. When savoir is followed by
an infinitive it means to know how.
Je connais ton frre.
I know your brother.
Je sais que ton frre s'appelle Jean.
I know that your brother is named John.
Connaissez-vous Grenoble?
Do you know (Are you familiar with) Grenoble?
Oui, nous connaissons Grenoble.
Yes, we know (are familiar with) Grenoble.
Tu sais o Grenoble se trouve.
You know where Grenoble is located.
Ils savent nager.
They know how to swim.

Formation of Plural Nouns

To make a noun plural, you
usually add an -s.
But there are some exceptions:

Sing.

If a noun already ends in an -s, bus

add nothing.

le bus

Plural
les bus

If a noun ends in -eu or -eau,

boat
add an x.

le bateau les bateaux

If a masculine noun ends in -al hors

or -ail, change it to -aux.
e

le cheval les chevaux

Some nouns ending in -ou add knee

an -x instead of -s.

le genou les genoux

There are, of course, some weird exceptions: un il (eye) - des

yeux (eyes); le ciel (sky) - les cieux (skies); and un jeune
homme (a young man) - des jeunes gens (young men).

Possessive Adjectives
Masc.

Fem.

Plural

My mon (mohn)

ma (mah)

mes (may)

Your ton

ta

tes

His/Her/Its son

sa

ses

Our notre (noh-truh)

notre

nos (noh)

Your votre

votre

vos

Their leur (luhr)

leur

leurs (luhr)

: Possessive pronouns go before the noun. When a

feminine noun begins with a vowel, you must use the masculine
form of the pronoun for ease of pronunciation. Ma amie is
incorrect and must be mon amie, even though amie is feminine.
C'est ma mre et mon pre.

This is my mother and my father.

Ce sont vos petits-enfants?
These are your grandchildren?
Mes parents sont divorcs.
My parents are divorced.
Sa grand-mre est veuve.
His grandmother is a widow.
Notre frre est mari, mais notre sur est
clibataire.
Our brother is married, but our sister is single.
Ton oncle est architecte, n'est-ce pas?
Your uncle is an architect, isn't he?
Leurs cousines sont hollandaises.
Their cousins are Dutch.

To Do or Make
Faire-to do, make (fair)
fais
fais
fait

fay
fay
fay

faisons fezz-ohn
faites fett
font
fohnt

Faire is used in expressions of weather (il fait beau) and many

other idiomatic expressions:
faire de (a sport) - to play (a sport)
faire le sourd / l'innocent - to act deaf / innocent
faire le (subject in school) - to do / study (subject)
faire le mnage - to do the housework
faire la cuisine - to do the cooking
faire la lessive - to do laundry
faire la vaisselle - to do the dishes
faire une promenade - to take a walk
faire une voyage - to take a trip

faire les courses - to run errands

faire des achats - to go shopping
faire de l'exercice - to exercise
faire attention - to pay attention
faire la queue - to stand in line

Work and School

Masculine

Feminine

architect

l'architecte

lar-sheetekt

l'architecte
tekt

accountant

le comptable

kohn-tahbl

la comptable

kohn-tabl

judge

le juge

zhoozh

la juge

zhoozh

business
peron

l'homme
d'affaires

lohn dahfehr

lar-shee-

la femme fahn dahfehr

d'affaires

baker

le boulanger

boo-lawnzhay

la boulangre
zhay

boo-lawn-

hair dresser

le coiffeur

kwah-fur

la coiffeuse

computer
programmer

le
programmeu
r

proh-grahmur

la programmeuse prohgrah-mur

secretary

le secrtaire

suk-ray-tehr

la secrtaire

electrician

l'lectricien

ay-lehktreeseeahn

l'lectricien

ay-lehktreeseeahn

mechanic

le
mcanicien

may-kahneesyahn

la
mcanicienne

may-kahneesyenn

cook

le cuisinier

kwee-zeenyay

la cuisinire

kweezee-nyay

salesperson

le vendeur

vawn-dur

la vendeuse

vawn-dur

fire fighter

le pompier

pohn-pyay

le pompier

pohnpyay

kwah-fur

suk-raytehr

 1
le plombier

plumber

le plombier

plohn-byay

librarian

le
bibliothcair
e

bee-bleeoh-tehkehr

police officer

l'agent de
police

reporter

le journaliste

zhoor-nahleest

la journaliste

zhoornah-leest

factory
worker

l'ouvrier

loov-ree-ay

l'ouvrire

loov-reeay

banker

le banquier

bahn-keeay

la banquire

bahn-keeay

lawyer

l'avocat

lah-voh-kah

l'avocate

lah-vohkah

postal
worker

le facteur

fah-tur

la factrice

fah-tur

carpenter

le
charpentier

shar-pawntyay

le charpentier

sharpawntyay

engineer

l'ingnieur

lahn-zhaynyur

l'ingnieure

lahnzhay-nyur

doctor

le mdecin

mayd-sawn

la mdecine

maydsawn

nurse

l'infirmier

lahn-feermyay

l'infirmire

lahn-feermyay

pharmacist

le
pharmacien

fahr-mahsee-ahn

le
pharmacienn
e

fahr-mahsee-ahn

psychologist

le
psychologue

psee-kohlohg

la
psychologue

psee-kohlohg

dentist

le dentiste

dawn-teest

la dentiste

dawnteest

veterinarian

le vtrinaire

vay-tay-ree-

la vtrinaire

vay-tay-

lah-zhawnd
pohleess

plohnbyay

la
bibliothcaire

bee-bleeohtehkehr

l'agent de
police

lahzhawnd
pohleess

nehr

ree-nehr

taxi driver

le chauffeur
de taxi

shoh-furd
tahksee

le chauffeur
de taxi

shoh-furd
tahksee

writer

l'crivain

lay-kreevahn

l'crivaine

lay-kreevahn

teacher

l'instituteur

lahn-steetew-tur

l'institutrice

lahn-steetew-tur

professor

le professeur

proh-fuhsur

le professeur

proh-fuhsur

student

l'tudiant

lay-tewdee-awn

l'tudiante

lay-tewdee-awnt

: Notice that some professions are always masculine,

even if the person is a woman. There are also words that are
always feminine (such as la victime) even if the person is a man.
Math

les mathmatiques

maht-ee-mah-teek

Algebra

l'algbre

lal-zheb

Calculus

le calcul

kahl-kool

Geometry

la gomtrie

zhay-oh-may-tree

Economics

les sciences conomiques see-awns ay-kon-oh-meek

Foreign Languages les langues trangres

lawn zay-trawn-zhair

Linguistics

la linguistique

lahn-gee-steek

Literature

la littrature

lee-tay-rah-tur

Philosophy

la philosophie

fee-loh-soh-fee

Psychology

la psychologie

p-see-kol-oh-zhee

Political Science

les sciences politiques

see-awns poh-lee-teek

History

l'histoire (f)

ees-twahr

Geography

la gographie

zhay-oh-grahf-ee

Physics

la physique

fees-eek

Biology

la biologie

bee-ol-oh-zhee

Chemistry

la chimie

shee-mee

Zoology

la zoologie

zoh-ol-oh-zhee

Botany

la botanique

boh-tah-neek

Art

les arts

1
zahr

Music

la musique

mew-zeek

Dance

la danse

dahns

Drawing

le dessin

duh-sahn

Painting

la peinture

pahn-tur

Computer Science

l'informatique

ahn-for-mah-teek

Technology

la technologie

teck-no-loh-zhee

Physical Education l'ducation physique (f)

lay-dew-kah-see-ohn fee-zeek

Notice that you do not use an indefinite article before professions,

unless they are preceded by an adjective.
Qu'est-ce que vous faites dans la vie?
What do you do for a living?
Je suis avocate.
I am a lawyer. (fem.)
Je suis professeur.
I am a professor.
Je suis tudiant.
I am a student (masc.)
O est-ce que vous faites les tudes?
Where do you study?
Je vais l'universit de Michigan.
I go to the university of Michigan.
Je fais mes tudes l'universit de Toronto.
I study at the University of Toronto.
Qu'est-ce que vous tudiez?
What do you study?
Quelles matires tudiez-vous?
What subjects do you study?
J'tudie les langues trangres et la linguistique.
I study foreign languages and linguistics.
Je fais des mathmatiques.
I study/do math.
Ma spcialization est la biologie.
My major is biology.

Prepositions and Contractions

among

parmi

par-mee

at / to / in

at the house of

chez

shay

between

entre

on-truh

for

pour

poohr

from / of / about

de

duh

in

dans

dawn

on

sur

sir

with

avec

ah-veck

without

sans

sawn

Prepositional Contractions + le = au

oh at / to / in the +

les = aux oh at / to / in the (pl.) de + le = du dew of / from / about

the de + les = des day of / from / about the (pl.)
In: Dans vs. En
Dans is used to show the time when an action will begin, while en
shows the length of time an action takes.
Je pars dans quinze minutes.
I'm leaving in 15 minutes.
Il peut lire ce livre en une demi-heure.
He can read this book in a half hour.

With: Avec vs. De vs. A vs. Chez

Avec implies doing something or going along with someone; de is
used in phrases of manner and in many idiomatic expressions; is
used when referring to someone's attributes; and chez is used to
mean "as far as (person) is concerned." To describe the way a
person carries him/herself, no extra word is used.
Je vais en France avec ma sur.

I'm going to France with my sister.

Elle me remercie d'un sourire.
She thanks me with a smile.
L'homme aux cheveux roux est trs grand.
The man with the red hair is very tall.
Chez cet enfant, tout est simple.
With this child, everything is simple.
Il marche, les mains dans les poches.
He walks with his hands in his pockets.

Countries and Nationalities / Les pays and les

nationalits
France

la France

frahns

franais/e

frawn-say/sez

Switzerland

la Suisse

sweess

suisse

Italy
awn/enn

l'Italie

lee-tah-lee italien/ne

Germany

l'Allemagne

lahl-mawn-yuh allemand/e ahl-mawn/d

Spain

l'Espagne

leh-spawn-yuh espagnol/e es-pan-yohl

Belgium

la Belgique

bell-zheek belge

belzh

Netherlands
day/dehz

les Pays-Bas

pay-ee-bah hollandais/e

oh-lawn-

China

la Chine

sheen

sheen-wah/wez

sweess
ee-tahl-ee-

chinois/e

Great Britain la Grande-Bretagne grahnd bruh-tawn-yuh britannique breetahn-eek

England

l'Angleterre

lawn-gluh-tair

anglais/e

an-glay/ez

Russia

la Russie

roo-see

russe

rewss

Poland

la Pologne

poh-lohn-yuh

polonais/e

Canada

le Canada

kah-nah-dah

canadien/ne
awn/enn

Mexico

le Mexique

meks-eek

mexicain/e
kahn/enn

Japan

le Japon

zhap-ohn

japonais/e
nay/nez

Portugal

le Portugal

pore-tew-gahl

portugais/e

poh-lon-ay/ez
kah-nah-deemek-seezhah-pohpor-tew-

gay/gez
Brazil
United States
Unis

le Brsil
les tats-

bray-zeel

brsilien/ne bray-zeel-eeawn/enn

ay-tah-zew-nee

amricain/e ah-may-reekahn/kenn

Sweden

la Sude

soo-ed

sudois/e soo-ed-wah/wez

Norway

la Norvge

nor-vehzh

norvgien/ne nor-vehzh-eeawn/enn

Finland

la Finlande

feen-lahnd

finlandais/e feen-landay/dez

Denmark

le Danemark

dahn-mark

danois/e

Greece

la Grce

grehs

grec/grecque grek

Austria

l'Autriche

loh-treesh

autrichien/ne oh-trees-eeawn/enn

Australia

l'Australie

loh-strah-lee

australien/ne oh-strahl-eeawn/enn

Africa

l'Afrique

lah-freek

africain/e ah-freekahn/kenn

India

l'Inde

lahnd

indien/ne
ahn/enn

Ireland

l'Irlande

leer-lawnd

irlandais/e eer-lahnday/dez

dahn-wah/wez

ahn-dee-

: When the nationalities are used as adjectives, they must

agree with the subject of the verb (masculine vs. feminine, and
singular vs. plural.) The extra ending shown above is added to
signify a feminine subject. To make them plural, just add an -s
(unless it already ends in an -s, then add nothing.) The masculine
forms of the nationalities are also used to signify the language.
And the definite article is not used before a language when it
follows the verb parler (to speak.)

Negative Sentences
To make sentences negative, simply put ne and pas around the
verb. In spoken French, however, the ne is frequently omitted,

but it cannot be omitted in written French. And when you are

replying "yes" to a negative question, you use si and not oui.
Je suis du Canada.
I am from Canada.
Je ne suis pas du Mexique.
I am not from Mexico.
Je suis franaise.
I am French (feminine.)
Je ne suis pas suisse.
I am not Swiss. (masculine or feminine)
Il est australien.
He is Australian.
Elle n'est pas danoise.
She is not Danish.
Elles sont des Etats-Unis.
They are from the United States.
Ils ne sont pas du Portugal.
They are not from Portugal.
Je parle chinois et japonais.
I speak Chinese and Japanese.
Je ne parle pas sudois.
I don't speak Swedish.
Vous n'tes pas du Brsil?
You aren't from Brazil?
Si, nous sommes du Brsil.
Yes, we are from Brazil.

To / In and From places, cities, and countries

Places

Cities

Countries

Masc.

au du

de

au du

Fem.

la de

la de

en de

Vowel

l' de

l' d'

en d'

Plural

aux des

aux des

aux des

If the name of a country, continent, island, state or province ends

with an e, the gender is feminine. If it ends in anything else, it is
masculine. The exceptions are le Cambodge, le Maine, le
Mexique, le Zare and le Mozambique. Some cities have an article
as well, such as La Nouvelle-Orlans (New Orleans).

Prepositions with American States

To / In

From

Feminine en

de

Islands

de / d'

Masc. w/ Vowel

en / dans l' d' / de l'

Masc. w/ Consonant

dans le du

Californie, Caroline du Nord / Sud, Floride, Gorgie, Louisiane,

Pennsylvanie, and Virginie are the feminine states. The exception
to the masculine beginning with a consonant rule is Texas: in / to
Texas is au Texas.

To Come and to Go
Venir-to come (vuh-neer)

Aller-to go

(ah-lay)

viens vee-ahn venons vuh-nohn

vais vay allons ah-lohn

viens vee-ahn venez vuh-nay

vas vah allez

vient vee-ahn viennent vee-enn

va vah

ah-lay

vont vohn

Other verbs that are conjugated like venir: tenir - to hold,

devenir - to become, obtenir - to get, revenir - to come back.
Je viens des Etats-Unis.
I come from the United States.
Il tient un crayon.
He's holding a pencil.
Nous allons en Espagne.
We're going to Spain.
Tu ne vas pas au Brsil cet t.
You're not going to Brazil this summer.

Aller + an infinitive means "going to do something."

Ils vont aller en Angleterre.
They are going to go to England.
Elle va parler russe.

She's going to speak Russian.

Je vais devenir professeur.
I'm going to become a professor.

Aller is also used idiomatically when talking about health.

Comment vas-tu?
?
Je vais bien.
I'm fine.

Venir de + an infinitive means "to have just done something."

Il vient d'aller la Finlande.
He just went to Finland.
Vous venez de manger une pomme.
You just ate an apple.

Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Present

Indicative Tense
Verbs in French end in -er, -re, or -ir. The verb before it is
conjugated is called the infinitive. Removing the last two letters
leaves you with the stem (aimer is the infinitive, aim- is the stem.)
The present indicative tense indicates an ongoing action, general
state, or habitual activity. Besides the simple present tense (I
write, I run, I see); there are two other forms of the present tense in
English: the progressive (I am writing, I am running, etc.) and the
emphatic (I do write, I do run, etc.) However, these three English
present tenses are all translated by the present indicative tense in
French.

To conjugate verbs in the present tense, use the stem and add the
following endings.
-er

-re

1st -ir

2nd
-ir*

-e -ons

-s -ons

-is
issons

-s
ons

-es -ez

-s -ez

-is -issez

-s-ez

-e -ent

-ent

-it -issent

-t
ent

Sample Regular Verbs

aimer -to like, love
j'aime zhem

aimons

vendre - to sell
em-ohn

vends vawn
vendons vawn-dohn

aimes em

aimez

em-ay

vends vawn
vendez vawn-day

aime em

aiment

em

vend

vawn

vendent vawn

finir - to finish

partir - to leave

finis

fee-nee finissons fee-nee-sohn

pars pahr partons pahr-tohn

finis

fee-nee finissez

pars pahr partez pahr-tay

finit

fee-nee finissent fee-neess

fee-nee-say

part pahr partent pahrt

Regular verbs
-er
aimer

em-ay

chanter

shahn-tay

chercher

share-shay

-re
to like, love

vendre
sell

vawn-druh

to

to sing

attendre
wait for

ah-tawn-druh

to

to look

entendre

awn-tawn-druh to

for

listen

Commencer koh-mawn-say
begin

to
to give

perdre
lose

pair-druh

donner

dohn-nay

tudier

ay-too-dee-ay
study

fermer

fehr-may

habiter

ah-bee-tay

jouer

zhoo-ay

manger

mawn-zhay

montrer

mohn-tray

parler

par-lay

penser

pawn-say

to think

obir () oh-bay-eer (ah) to

obey

travailler

trah-vy-yay

to work

russir ray-oo-seer to
succeed

trouver

troo-vay

to

rpondre () ray-pohn-druh
(ah) to answer

to

descendre deh-sawn-druh to
go down

to close

1st -ir

to live

btir

bah-teer

to play

finir

fee-neer

to eat
to show
to speak

to find

to build
to finish

choisir shwa-zeer to choose

punir poo-neer

to punish

remplir rawn-pleer to fill

gurir

gay-reer to cure, heal

: If a verb is followed by (like rpondre) you have to use

the and any contractions after the conjugated verb. Ex: Je
rponds au tlphone.
* The 2nd -ir verbs are considered irregular sometimes because
there are only a few verbs which follow that pattern. Other verbs
like partir are sortir (to go out), dormir (to sleep), mentir (to lie),
sentir (to smell, feel) and servir (to serve.)

Pronominal (Reflexive) Verbs

These verbs are conjugated like normal verbs, but they require an
extra pronoun before the verb.
Most indicate a reflexive action but some are idiomatic and can't
be translated literally. The pronouns are:

me nous te vous se se

Some Pronominal Verbs

s'amuser

to have fun

se reposer

to rest

se lever

to get up

se souvenir de

to remember

se laver

to wash (oneself)

s'entendre bien

to get along well

se dpcher

to hurry

se coucher

to go to bed

se peigner

to comb

se brosser

to brush

s'habiller

to get dressed

se maquiller

to put on makeup

se marier

to get married

se casser

to break (arm, leg, etc.)

: When used in the infinitive, such as after another verb,

the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject of the sentence. Je
vais me coucher maintenant. I'm going to go to bed.
Sample Irregular Pronominal Verb
s'asseoir - to sit down
je m'assieds mah-see-ay
nous nous asseyons noo-zah-say-ohn

tu t'assieds tah-see-ay
vous vous asseyez vous-zah-say-yay
il s'assied sah-see-ay
ils s'asseyent sah-say-ee

Irregularities in Regular Verbs

1. Verbs that end in -ger and -cer: The nous form of manger isn't
mangons, but mangeons. The e has to stay so the g can retain the
soft sound. The nous form of commencer isn't commencons, but
commenons. The c must have the accent (called a cedilla) under
it to make the c sound soft.
manger-to eat

commencer-to begin

mange mawnzh

commence

mangeons hohn

commenons

koh-mawnzh koh mawnz sohn

manges mawnzh

commences

commencez

mangez mawn-zhay

koh- mawnz say Koh mawn- zhay

Mange

mawnzh

commence

commencent

mangent mawnzh

koh-mawnz

koh- mawnzh

2. Verbs that add or change to an accent grave: Some verbs add

or change to an accent grave () in all the forms except the nous
and vous.
acheter-to buy
j'achte zhah-shet
achetez ahsh-tay
achtent ah-shet
achtes ah-shet
esprer-to hope
j'espre zhess-pehr
espres ess-pehr

achetons ahsh-tohn
achte ah-shet
achtes ah-shet

esprons ess-pay-rohn
esprez ess-pay-ray

espre ess-pehr
esprent ess-pehr
3. Verbs that are conjugated as -er verbs: Some -ir verbs are
conjugated with -er endings. For example: offrir-to offer, give,
ouvrir-to open, couvrir-to cover, dcouvrir-to discover and souffrirto suffer.
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 ahp-lohn

appelles ah-pell appelez ahp-lay
appelle ah-pell appellent ah-pell

The Past Indefinite Tense or Pass Compos

You have learned the present indicative so far, which expresses
what happens, is happening, or does happen now; but if you want
to say something happened, or has happened, you have to use
the pass compos. The pass compos is used for actions that
happened only once, a specified number of times or during a
specified period of time, and as a result or consequence of another
action. All you need to learn are the past participles of the verbs.
Regular Verbs: Formation of the Past Participle
-er -
-re -u
-ir -i
Then conjugate avoir and add the past participle:
J'ai aim le concert.
I liked the concert.
Tu as habit ici?
You lived here?
Il a rpondu au tlphone.
He answered (or has answered) the telephone.
Nous avons fini le projet.
We finished (or have finished) the project.
Elles ont rempli les tasses.
They filled (or have filled) the cups.

To make it negative, put the ne and pas around the conjugated

form of avoir.
Je n'ai pas aim le concert.

I didn't like the concert.

Il n'a pas rpondu.
He didn't answer (or hasn't answered).
Elles n'ont pas rempli les tasses.
They didn't fill (or haven't filled) the glasses.

Irregular Past Participles

ouvert (oovehr) to open
avoir to have eu (ew) had
ouvrir opened
connatre to know
connu known
offrir to offer
offert offered
croire to believe
cru believed
pouvoir to be able to
pu was able to
devo to
d
had to
ir
have
to
dire

to
tell

crir
e

to
write

tre

to
be

faire

to
do,
mak
e

dit

said

crit

written

been

fait

made

prendre to pris
take
(pree)

taken

apprendre
to learn

appris

learned

compri
s

understo
od

surpris

surprise
d

to
compren
dre
understa
nd
surprendre
to surprise
Recevoir
to receive

reu
(rehse
w)

received

lire

mett
re

to
read
to
put

lu

read

rire

ri

laughed

su

known

vu

seen

voulu
(voole
w)

wanted

to laugh
mis
(me
)

put

Savoir
to know

permettre to per
permit
mis

permitt
ed

Voir

Promettre to
promise
promis

promis
ed

vouloir

to see

to want

Etre Verbs
Sixteen "house" verbs and all pronominal verbs are conjugated
with tre, and they must agree in gender and number with the
subject. The house verbs are:
aller-to go
sortir-to go out
venir-to come
mourir-to die
arriver-to arrive
partir-to leave
devenir-to become
monter-to go up
entrer-to enter
tomber-to fall
revenir-to come back
rester-to stay
rentrer-to return home
natre-to be born
passer-to go by (pass)
descendre-to go down

Most have regular past participles, except venir-venu, devenirdevenu, revenir-revenu, mourirmort, and natre-n. And five of
these verbs, monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and passer can
sometimes be conjugated with avoir if they are used with a direct
object. Elle a rentr le livre la bibliothque. She returned the
book to the library.

Conjugation of an tre verb

Je suis rest(e)

Nous sommes rest(e)s

Tu es rest(e)

Vous tes rest(e)(s)

Il est rest

Ils sont rests

Elle est reste

Elles sont restes

You add the e for feminine and s for plural. Vous can have any of
the endings.
Conjugation of a Pronominal Verb
Je me suis amus(e) Nous nous sommes amus(e)s
Tu t'es amus(e)

Vous vous tes amus(e)(s)

Il s'est amus

Ils se sont amuss

Elle s'est amuse

Elles se sont amuses

There are only two cases with pronominal verbs where the past
participle does not agree:
1. When the pronominal verb is followed by a direct object.
Compare: Elles se sont laves, but elles se sont lav les
mains.
2. With verbs where the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object,
such as se parler, se demander, se dire, s'crire, se
sourire, and se tlphoner. Ils se sont tlphon.

Food and Meals / La Nourriture et Les Repas

Breakfast

le petit djeuner puh-tee day-zhewnay

Lunch

le djeuner

day-zhew-nay

Dinner

le dner

dee-nay

Cup

la tasse

tahss

Slice

la tranche

trawnsh

Bowl

le bol

bohl

Glass

le verre

verr

Fork

la fourchette

foor-shett

Spoon

la cuillre

kwee-yehr

Knife

le couteau

koo-toh

Plate

l'assiette (f)

ah-syett

Napkin

la serviette

ser-vyett

Ice cream

la glace

glahss

Juice

le jus

zhew

Fruit

le fruit

fwee

Cheese

le fromage

froh-mawzh

Chicken

le poulet

poo-lay

Egg

l'uf (m)

luff

Cake

le gteau

gah-toh

Pie

la tarte

tart

Milk

le lait

leh

Coffee

le caf

kah-fay

Butter

le beurre

burr

Water

l'eau

loh

Ham

le jambon

zham-bohn

Fish

le poisson

pwah-sohn

Tea

le th

tay

Salad

la salade

sah-lahd

Jam

la confiture

kon-fee-chur

Meat

la viande

vee-awnd

French fries

les frites (f)

freet

Beer

la bire

bee-ehr

Wine

le vin

vahn

Salt and Pepper

le sel et le poivre

luh sell ay luh pwahv-ruh

Sugar
Soup

le sucre
le potage

soo-kruh
poh-tawzh

35. Fruits, Vegetables and Meat

fruit

un fruit

apple

corn

le mas mah-eez

une pomme pohm

cucumber

un concombre
cohn-cohn-bruh

apricot

un abricot ah-bree-koh

eggplant

une aubergine ohbehr-zheen

banana

une banane bah-nahn

lettuce

la laitue leh-tew

blueberr
y

une myrtille meer-tee

mushroom

cherry

une cerise suh-reez

onion

coconut

date

fwee

une noix
de coco

Beens

nwah duh
koh pwah
une date

potato

une pomme de
terre pohm duh
tehr

grape

un raisin

rehzahn

un citron

pwah

un piment peemawn

feeg

lemon

les pois

pepper

une figue

un
pamplemous
se

un oignon wawnyohn

daht

fig

grapefru
it

un
champignon
shahm-peenyohn

pumpkin

une
citrouille

seetroo-ee

pahmpluhmoo
s

rice

le riz

reez

see-

spinach

des

ay-

trohn

pinards

peenar

lime

un limon

leemohn

squash

une
courge

koorzh

melon

un melon

mel-ohn

tomato

une
tomate

tomaht

olive

une olive

oh-leev

turnip

un navet

nahvay

orange

une orange

ohranzh

zucchini

des
courgett
es

koorzhett

peach

une pche

pesh

meat

une
viande

veeawnd

pear

une poire

pwahr

bacon

du lard,
du
bacon

lar,
bahkohn

pineapp
le

un ananas

ah-nahnah

beef

le bifteck

beefteck

plum

une prune

prewn

chicken

un
poulet

poo-lay

prune

un pruneau

proonoh

duck

un
canard

kahnar

raisin

un raisin
sec

rehzahn
sek

goat

une
chvre

shevruh

raspberr
y

une
framboise

frwahmbwahz

ham

le
jambon

zhahmbohn

Strawberry une fraise

frez

lamb

l'agneau

awnyoh

watermelon une
pastque

pah-stek

liver

le foie

fwah

meatballs

des
boulette
s de
viande

boo-lett
duh
veeaw
nd

vegetable

une lgume

leh-goom

artichoke

un artichaut

asparagus des
asperges

beet

une betterave

ar-tee-sho
chop

pork

ahs-pehrzh

rabbit

bet
tra
hv

steak

1
une
ctelette
de porc

kotelett duh
pork

un lapin

lahpahn

une cte
de buf

kote
duh buf

broccoli

le brocoli

broh-coh-lee sausage

la
saucisse

soseess

cabbage

un chou

shoo

turkey

une
dinde

dahnd

carrot

une carotte

cah-roht

veal

le veau

voh

shoo-flir

venison

un
chevreuil

shuvruh-ee

cauliflower un choufleur

To Take, Eat or Drink

Prendre-to take, eat or drink (prawndruh)

Boire-to drink (bwahr)

prends

prawn prenons pruh-nohn

bois bwah buvons bew-vohn

prends

prawn

bois bwah buvez

prend

prawn prennent

prenez pru-nay
prenn

bew-vay

boit bwah boivent bwahv

Other verbs that are conjugated like prendre: apprendre - to

learn, comprendre - to understand and surprendre - to surprise.
: When you want to say "I am having wine," the French
translation is "Je prends du vin." You must use de and le, la, l', or
les and the proper contractions (called partitives) because in
French you must also express some. So "je prends de la bire"
literally means "I am having some beer" even though in English we
would usually only say I am having beer.

Manger is a regular verb meaning "to eat," but manger is used in a

general sense, such as Je mange le poulet tous les samedis. I
eat chicken every Saturday. Boire is literally the verb to drink and
is also used in a general sense only. Je bois du vin tout le
temps. I drink wine all the time.

Quantities
assez de

enough
(of)

un
morceau
de

a
piece
of

une
douzaine
de

a dozen
of

une
assiette
de

a plate of

un peu de

a
little
(bit)
of

un paquet
de

a packet
of

beaucoup
de

a lot of

une tasse
de

a cup
of

un panier
de

a basket
of

une bote
de

a box of

une
tranche
de

a
slice
of

une
poigne
de

a handful
of

une
bouteille
de

a bottle of

trop de

too
much,
many

plus de

more

un kilo de

a kilo of

un verre
de

a
glass
of

un
bouquet
de

a bunch
of

Je voudrais prendre du fromage, mais pas de fruit.

I would like to have some cheese, but no fruit.
Il prend de la viande.
He is eating some meat.
Nous prenons du riz et du brocoli.
We are having some rice and broccoli.
Il y a trop de lait dans la tasse.
There is too much milk in the cup.
Je voudrais un morceau de tarte.
I would like one piece of pie.
Est-ce que je peux prendre un verre de vin?
May I have a glass of wine?
Je prends du vin.

I'm drinking some wine.

Je ne prends pas de vin.
I am not drinking any wine.

Commands
Use the vous, tu and nous forms for commands.
Vous form Polite and Plural

Same as verb form Restez! Stay!

Same as verb form, but Tu form

drop -s for -er verbs
Nous form Let's...

Familiar

Regarde! Watch!

Same as verb form Allons! Let's go!

: With using pronominal verbs as commands, the

pronoun is placed after the verb connected by a hyphen. Tu te
dpches becomes Dpche-toi! And in negative commands, the
pronoun precedes the verb, as in Ne nous reposons pas.
Irregular Command Forms tre (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 mchant ta sur!
Don't be mean to your sister!
N'ayez pas peur!
Don't be afraid!
Sachez les mots pour l'examen demain!
Know the words for the exam tomorrow!

More Negatives
ne...plus no longer

ne...jamais never

ne...rien nothing

ne...aucun(e) not a single one

ne...que only

ne...personne nobody

ne...ni...ni neither...nor

ne...nulle part nowhere

The negatives are used exactly like ne...pas; but que in ne...que is
placed directly before the noun it limits. Rien and personne may
be used as subjects: Personne n'est ici. Aucun(e) by definition
is singular, so the verb and nouns must also be changed to the
singular. With ni...ni, all articles are dropped except definite
articles. Je n'ai ni camra ni camscope, but Je n'aime ni les
chats ni les chiens.
Il n'aime plus travailler.
He no longer likes to work. (Or: He doesn't like
to work anymore) Nous ne voulons faire des achats
que lundi.
We want to go shopping only on Monday.
Elle ne dteste personne.
She hates no one. (Or: She doesn't hate anyone.)

Negatives with Pass Compos

1. Ne...pas, ne...plus, ne...jamais, and ne...rien
Ne comes before auxiliary verb, and the other part is between
auxiliary and past participle.
Nous n'avons rien fait.
We did nothing.
Vous ne vous tes pas ennuys.
You were not bored.

Ne...personne, ne...aucun, ne...ni...ni, ne...nulle part, and

ne... que
Ne comes before the auxiliary verb, but the other part is after the
past participle.
2.

Il
He
Il
He

n'a cout personne.

listened to no one.
n'a fait aucune faute.
made not a single mistake.

* Use of ne ... pas de: In negative sentences, the partitives and

indefinite articles become de before the noun (unless the verb is
tre, then nothing changes.)
Partitive: Je prends du pain et du beurre.
I'm having some bread and butter.
Negative: Je ne prends pas de pain ou de beurre.
I am not having any bread or butter.
Indefinite: J'ai un chien.
I have a dog.
Negative: Je n'ai pas de chien.
I don't have a dog.
Verb is tre: C'est une chatte brune.
It's a brown cat.
Negative: Ce n'est pas une chatte brune.
It's not a brown cat.

Holiday
Phrases
Merry Christmas

Joyeux Nol

zhoy-uh no-ell

Happy New Year

Bonne Anne

bun ah-nay

Happy Thanksgiving

Bonne Action de
grces

bun ak-see-ohn de
grahss

Happy Easter

Joyeuses Pques

zhoy-uhss pawk

Happy Halloween

Bonne Halloween

bun ah-loh-ween

Happy Valentine's
Day

Bonne SaintValentin

bun sahnt-val-awntahn

Happy Birthday

Bon Anniversaire

bohn ahn-nee-vairsair

The French National Anthem: La Marseillaise

by Claude-Joseph Rouget de L'isle
Allons enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de gloire est arriv.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
L'tendard sanglant est lev, l'tendard sanglant est lev.
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Mugir ces farouches soldats.
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras gorger vos fils, vos
compagnes.
Aux armes citoyens! Formez vos bataillons, Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons.
Amour sacr de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs.

Libert, libert chrie,

Combats avec tes dfenseurs;
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure tes mles accents;
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons.
Ye sons of France, awake to glory, Hark, hark,
what myriads bid you rise: Your children, wives and
grandsires hoary, Behold their tears and hear their
cries, see their tears and hear their cries! Shal
l hateful tyrants mischief
breeding with hireling hosts, a ruffian band
Affright and desolate the land, while peace and liberty lie
bleeding?
To arms, to arms, ye brave! Th'avenging sword unsheathe!
March on! March on! All hearts resolved on victory or death.
O sacred love of france, undying,
Th'avenging arm uphold
and guide Thy defenders,
death defying, Fight with
Freedom on their side.
Soon thy sons shall be

victorious
When the banner high is raised;
And thy dying enemies, amazed,
Shall behold thy triumph, great and glorious.
To arms, to arms, ye brave! Th'avenging sword unsheathe!
March on! March on! All hearts resolved on victory or death.
Translation by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1st verse) and Mary Elizabeth Shaw (2nd verse) (This is
not a literal translation.)

The Canadian National Anthem: O Canada

O Canada, terre de nos aeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'pe,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une pope
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempe,
Protgera nos foyers et nos droits.
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons
command. With glowing hearts we
see thee rise, The True North
strong and free! From far and
wide, O Canada, We stand on
guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Imperfect Tense
This past tense corresponds to "was, were or used to." This tense
is used for repeated, continuous, or ongoing actions; as well as for
verbs that describe background and circumstances, such as

weather, time, and physical, mental, and emotional states. Use

the pass compos for actions that happened once and are done.
However, verbs that express mental and emotional states that are
descriptive in nature are generally used in the imperfect in a past
context. These verbs are: aimer, avoir, croire, dtester, esprer,
tre, penser, and prfrer.
To form the stem, use the nous form of the present tense and drop
the -ons. Then add these endings:
-ais -ions -ais -iez -ait -aient
The only exception is tre in which you must use the stem t-, but
still the same endings. Verb stems that end in -c must use a
cedilla () under the c to make it soft. Verbs stems endings in -g
keep the e before all forms except nous and vous.
tre
tais ay-teh tions ay-tee-ohn
tais ay-teh tiez ay-tee-ay
tait ay-teh taient ay-teh
commencer
commenais

manger
mangeais

mawn-zheh

commencions kohohn-mawn-see-

mangions

mawohn n-zhee-

commenais

kohseh- mawn-

mangeais

mawn-zheh

commenciez

kohay -mawn-see

mangiez

maway n-zhee-

mangeait

mawn-zheh

kohseh- mawn

commenait kohseh- mawn

commenaient koh-mawn-say

mangeaient mawn-zhay

Avoir, Devoir, Pouvoir, Savoir, and Vouloir

These verbs change meanings, according to whether they are

used in the imperfect or the pass compos.
Imperfect
avoir

j'avais

Pass Compos
I had

j'ai
eu

I got, received

devoir je
devais

I was
supposed to

j'ai
d

I must have, I had to

(and did)

pouvoir je
pouvais

I
was j'ai
capable
pu

I was able to (and

did), succeeded

je n'ai pas pu I couldn't, failed

savoir je savais

I knew

j'ai su

vouloir jevoulais

I want

j'ai voulu

I found out, discovered

I wanted to

je n'ai pas voulu I refused

The imperfect tense is also used with these constructions:

tre en train de + infinitive

J'tais en train d'tudier quand vous tes arrivs.

I was (in the process of ) studying when you
arrived

aller + infinitive
J'allais sortir quand le tlphone a sonn.
I was going to leave when the phone rang.
venir de + infinitive
Je venais de manger, alors je n'avais plus faim.
I had just eaten, so I wasn't hungry anymore.

Places / Les Endroits

looneevairseet
ay

school

l'cole

lay-kohl

university l'universit

bathroo
m

la toilette

twahlett

bank

locker

le coffre

kohfruh

train station la gare

gahr

drinking
fountain

la fontaine

airport

airopoor

store

le magasin

la
library

biblio(thque)

fohnten
mahgah-zahn
beebleeoh(teck)

telephone

apartment

la banque

l'aroport
le
tlphone

l'apparteme
nt

bahn
k

taylayfone
ahpartuhmaw
n

office

le bureau

bur-oh

hotel

l'htel

lowtell

stadium

le stade

stahd

village

le village

veelazh

cafe

le caf

kah-fay

factory

l'usine

lewzeen

cafeteria

la caftria

kah-faytayreeah

garden

le jardin

movie
theater

le cinma

castle

le chteau

seenaymah

zhardan
shah
-toe

church

l'glise

layglees

cathedr
al

la
cathdrale

kahtaydrahl

museum

le muse

mewzay

zoo

le zoo

zohoh

pool

la piscine

peeseen

bakery

la
boulangeri
e

boolanz
hree

countrys
ide

la campagne

kawnpawnyuh

monumen
t

le
monument

monumaw
n

beach

la plage

plahzh

pharmacy

la
pharmacie

farmahsee

theater

le thtre

tay-ahtruh

park

le parc

park

restaura
nt

le restaurant

hospital

l'hpital

post
office

la poste

butcher
shop

la
boucherie

candy
store

la
confiserie

confees
s-ree

Police

La
gendarme
rie

zh
andar
mree
sta
tio
n

town hall

la mairie

mairee

square

la place

plah
s

res-tohrawn

lohpeetahl
post

boos
hree

home

la maison

mayzohn

1
Bookstore la librairie

city

la ville

veel

gro
cer
y
sto
re

superma
rket

le
supe
rmar
ch

super
-mar
shay

pastry
shop

la
ptisserie

fish
market

la
poisson
nerie

delicate
ssen

la charcuterie shar-koot
-ree

l'pi
cerie

leebrair
-ee
laypees
s-ree

pahtees
s-ree
pwa
hsonehree

Transportation
by bike
en vlo (m)
awn vay-low
by bus
en bus (m)
awn boos
by moped
en mobylette (f) awn moh-bee-lett
by car
en voiture (f) awn vwah-chur
by motorcycle en moto (f)
awn moh-toh
by subway
en mtro (m) awn may-troh
on foot
pied (m)
ah pee-ay
by plane
en avion (m) awn ah-vee-ohn
by train
en train (m) awn trahn
by boat
en bateau (m) awn bah-toh

To Want and To Be Able To

vouloir-to want (vool-wahr) pouvoir-to be able to, can (poov-wahr)

veux vuh voulons voo-lohn peux puh pouvons poo-vohn

veux vuh voulez voo-lay

peux puh pouvez poo-vay

veut vuh veulent vull

peut puh peuvent puhv

: Voulez-vous? can mean Do you want? or Will you?

The House / La maison

House

la maison

meh-zohn

Appartment

l'appartement (m)

ah-part-mawn

Bedroom

la chambre

shawm-bruh

Hallway

le couloir

kool-wahr

Kitchen

la cuisine

kwee-zeen

Storeroom

le dbarras

day-bar-ah

Stairs

l'escalier (m)

les-cahl-ee-ay

Floor

l'tage (m)

lay-tahzh

Living Room

le living/le salon

lee-veeng/sah-lohn

Closet

la penderie

pawnd-ree

Room

la pice

pee-ehss

Ground Floor

le rez-de-chausse

rayd-show-say

Dining Room

la salle manger

sahl ah
zhay

Bathroom

la salle de bains

sahl duh bahn

Terrace, patio

la terrasse

teh-rahss

Attic

le grenier/la mansarde

grun-eeay/mahnsard

Chimney

la hemine

shu-mee-nay

Roof

le toit

twah

Garage

le garage

gah-rahzh

Driveway

la route

root

Sidewalk

le trottier

troh-teeay

Porch

le porche

porsh

mawn-

 1
soo-sole

Basement

le sous-sol

Cellar

la cave

kahv

Lawn/grass

le gazon

gah-zohn

Bush/shrub

le buisson

bwee-sohn

Tree

l'arbre (m)

lar-bruh

Furniture / Les meubles

Shelf

l'tagre (f)

lay-tah-zhehr

Desk

le bureau

bewr-oh

Chair

la chaise

shehzh

Dresser

la commode

koh-mode

Curtain

le rideau

ree-doh

Window

la fentre

fuh-neh-truh

Bed

le lit

lee

Door

la porte

port

Closet

le placard

plah-car

Rug

le tapis

tah-pee

Lamp

la lampe

lahmp

Nightstand

la table de nuit

tah-bluh duh nwee

Stereo

la chane-stro

shen-stay-ray-oh

Television

la tl(vision)

tay-lay-vee-zee-ohn

VCR

le magntoscope

mahn-yeht-oh-scope

Remote
Control

la tlcommande

tay-lay-koh-mahnd

Computer

l'ordinateur (m)

lor-dee-nah-tur

Radio

la radio

rah-dee-oh

Fridge

le frigo

free-go

Refrigerator

le rfrigrateur

ray-free-zhay-rah-tir

Freezer

le conglateur

kon-zhay-lah-tur

(Coffee) Table

la table (basse)

tah-luh (bahss)

Dishwasher

le lave-vaisselle

lahv-veh-sell

Microwave

le four microondes

foor ah mee-kroh-ohnd

Sink

l'vier(m)

lay-veeay

Bathtub

la baignoire

bahn-wahr

Stove

la cuisinire

kwee-zeen-yehr

Oven

le four

foor

Washing
Machine

la machine laver

mah-sheen ah lah-vay

clothes Dryer

le sche-linge

sesh-lahnzh

Shower

la douche

doosh

Pillow

l'oreiller

loh-ray-ay

Mirror

le miroir

mee-rwahr

Ceiling

le plafond

plah-fohn

Floor

le plancher

plawn-shay

Armchair

le fouteuil

foo-tuhee

Clock

la pendule

pawn-dewl

Bedspread

le couvrelit

koo-vruh-lee

Vase

le vase

vahz

Waste basket

la corbeille/la
poubelle

kor-bayee/poo-bell

Bathroom sink

le lavabo

lah-vah-boh

Hair Dryer

le schoir

seh-shwahr

Couch/Sofa

la canap/le sofa

kah-nah-pay/soh-fah

Iron

le fer repasser

fair ah ruh-pahs-say

Vacuum

l'aspirateur

ah-speer-ah-tur

Comparatives and Superlatives

Comparatives
aussi (adj or adv) que

as (adj or adv) as

moins (adj or adv) que

less (adj or adv) than

plus (adj or adv) que

more (adj or adv) than

plus de (noun) que

more (noun) than

autant de (noun) que

as many (noun) as

moins de (noun) que

less (noun) than

There are some irregularities among bon and bien. Bon is an

adjective meaning good, but plus bon is not used (just as more
good or gooder is not used in English) so meilleur is used to
mean better. Bien is an adverb meaning well, but plus bien is not
used either. Mieux is used instead.
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 rapide 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 Paris.
Ce quartier est le moins cher de Paris.
It's the most dreaded punishment in the world.
C'est la punition la plus redoutable du monde.
She works the most courageously of everyone.
Elle travaille le plus courageusement de tous.

In French, you don't use any articles, as compared to English:

Plus a change, plus c'est la mme chose.
The more things change, the more they stay the
same.

Irregular Forms

Adjective

Comparative

Superlative

Bon

good

meilleur/e better

la/le meilleur/e best

mauvais

bad

pire

worse

la/le
worst

pire

Petit

less

moindre

less

la/le
least

moindre

Adverb
bien

Comparative
well

mieux

better

Superlative
le mieux

best

beaucoup

much

mal

badly

peu

little

plus

more

pis

worse

moins

less

le plus
most
le pis
worst
le moins
least

: Only use the irregular forms of mauvais in the abstract

sense. If the idea is concrete, you may use plus/moins mauvais
and le/la mauvais.

Clothing
pajamas

le pyjama

pee-zhah-mah

jewelry

le bijou

bee-zhoo

necklace

le collier

kohl-eeay

jeans

le jean

zheen

pants

le pantalon

pahn-tah-lohn

pullover

le pull

puhl

turtleneck

le col roul

kol roo-lay

raincoat

l'impermable (m)

lahn-pehr-me-ah-bluh

woman's shirt

le chemisier

shu-meez-eeay

bra

le soutien-gorge

soot-ee-ahn-gorzh

slip

le jupon

zhoo-pohn

coat

le manteau

mawn-toe

tennis shoes

des tennis (m)

tenn-ee

swimsuit

le maillot de bain

may-oh-duh-bahn

shorts

le short

short

bracelet

le bracelet

brahs-lay

charm

le porte-bonheur

port-bohn-ur

t-shirt

le tee-shirt

tee-shirt

hat

le chapeau

shah-poh

ring

la bague

bahg

chain

la chanette

shen-ett

earrings

les boucles d'oreilles (f) book-luh dor-ay

pin

l'pingle (f)

ay-pahn-gluh

sock

la chausette

show-zett

shoe

la chaussure

show-zer

man's shirt

la chemise

shu-meez

skirt

la jupe

zhoop

dress

la robe

robe

sandal

la sandale

sahn-dal

boots

des bottes (f)

bawt

jacket

la veste

vest

scarf

l'charpe (f)

ay-sharp

tie

la cravate

krah-vaht

belt

la ceinture

sahn-tewr

man's suit

le costume

kohs-toom

woman's suit

le tailleur

ty-er slippers

pants

des pantoufles

pahn-toof luh jacket

blouse

le blouson

bloo-sohn

underwear

les sous-vtements

soo-vet-mawn

gloves

des gants

gawn

To Wear
Mettre-to put on, wear (met-truh)
met
s

me
h

metton
s

met-tohn

met
s

me
h

mettez

met-tay

 1
met

me
h

mettent

mett

Other verbs that are conjugated like mettre:

promise and permettre - to permit.

promettre - to

: Porter is actually the verb to wear, but the French use

mettre also. When involving clothing, to say It looks good/nice on
you say "Il/elle te va bien." To say They look good/nice on you
say
"Ils/elles te vont bien."

Future Tenses: Simple and Anterior

The futur simple expresses an action that will take place. The
futur antrieur expresses an action that will have taken place
before another future action. The future tense is used just like it is
in English, however, in French, the future is always used after
quand or lorsque (when), ds que or aussitt que (as soon as)
and tant que (as long as.)
To form the future tense, use the infinitive and add these endings
that resemble those of avoir. However, you drop the -e from -re
verbs.
-ai -ons -as -ez -a -ont
And of course, there has to be exceptions. Here are the irregular
stems for the future tense (these will also be used in the
conditional tense):
Irregular Stems
aller

ir-

pleuvoir pleuvr-

avoir

aur-

pouvoir pourr-

courir

courr-

recevoir recevr-

devoir

devr-

savoir

saur-

envoyer enverr-

tenir

tiendr-

tre

ser-

valoir

vaudr-

faire

fer-

venir

viendr-

falloir

faudr-

voir

verr-

mourir

mourr-

vouloir

voudr-

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 prfrer, the accents all remain the same.
jeter

payer

jetterai jetterons

paierai paierons

jetteras jetterez

paieras paierez

jettera jetteront

paiera paieront

prfrer

acheter

prfrai prfrons

achterai achterons

prfras prfrez

achteras achterez

prfra prfront

achtera achteront

To form the futur antrieur, use the future of either avoir or tre
(whichever the main verb takes) and the past participle of the main
verb.
Quand ils reviendront, ils auront chang.
back, they will have changed.

When they come

Ds qu'ils seront revenus, ils voudront repartir. As soon as

they have returned, they will want to leave again.

Preceding and Plural

Adjectives
Masculi
ne

Feminine

Adjectiv
e

Singula
r

Plural

Singul
ar

Plural

beautiful

beau
(bel)

beaux

boh (bell)

belle

belles

bell

good

bon

bons

bon

bonne

bonnes

bon

dear

cher

chers

share

chre

chres

share

nice

gentil

gentils

zhawn-tee

gentill
e

gentilles zhawntee

big

grand

grands

grawn

grand
e

grandes grawnd

large

gros

gros

groh

gross
e

grosses grohss

young

jeune

jeunes

zhun

jeune

jeunes

pretty

joli

jolis

zho-lee

jolie

jolies

long

long

longs

lohn

longu
e

longues
lohng

bad

mauva
is

mauvai
s

mo-vay

mauvaise mauvaises
mo-vezz

better,
best

meille
ur

meilleu
rs

may-ur

meilleure meilleures
may-ur

new

Pronunciation

zhun
zho-lee

nouveau (nouvel) nouveaux noo-voh (noo-vell) nouvelle

nouvelles noo-vell
little petit petits puh-tee petite petites puh-teet old vieux (vieil) vieux vyuh
(vyay) vieille vieilles vyay

: The masculine singular and plural are pronounced the

same, as are the feminine singular and plural. These are the most
common adjectives that go before the noun. An acronym to

remember which ones go before the noun is BRAGS: Beauty,

Resemblance (mme and autre), Age/Order
(premier and
dernier), Goodness, and Size.
All other adjectives, except
numbers, go after the noun. The three words in parentheses (bel,
nouvel, and vieil) are used before masculine singular words
beginning with a vowel or a silent h.
A few adjectives can be used before or after the noun, and the
meaning changes accordingly. When used before the noun, they
take a figurative meaning; and when used after, they take a literal
meaning.
Remember that des means some, right? Well, there is an
exception to that rule too. Before plural adjectives preceding plural
nouns, you use de instead of des. Ex: Some old monuments. De
vieux monuments.

Adjectives: Formation of Feminine

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:

Add -e

Masculine

Feminine

brun

brune

brahn

fatigue fah-teegay

Adjecti
ve
brunn

brown

fatigue fah-teegay

tired

jeune

young

If it already ends in -e, add

jeune

zhun

zhun
-x changes to -se

gnreu
x
Exceptions:
faux

zhaynayruh

gnreuse

foh

fausse

zhay-nay
ruhs
fohss

genero
us
false

roux

roo

1
rousse rooss

doux

doo

douce

dooss

nahtur-ell

naturel
le

nahtur-ell

ahnkeeay

inquit
e

ahnkeeett

worried

Exceptions:
muet

mooay

muette

mooett

silent

coquet

kohkay

coquet
te

kohkett

stylish

Italien

Italienn
e

-enne and -onne

eetahleeah
n

eetahleeen
n

-er changes to -re cher

share

chre

share

dear,
expens
ive

-f changes to -ve

actif

acteef

active

acteev

active

-c changes to -che

blanc

blaw
n

blanch
e

blawn
sh

white

pooh
bleek

publiq
ue

poohbleek

public

grec

grek

grecqu
e

grek

Greek

long

lawn

longue

lawng

long

menteu
se

mawn
-tuhz

liar

red
(hair)
sweet,
soft

-il, -el, and -eil change to

naturel

natural

-ille, -elle, and -eille

-et changes to -te

inquiet

-en and -on change to

Exceptions: public

-g changes to -gue

Italian

-eur changes to -euse if

adjective menteur mawn-tur is
derived from verb

-eur changes to -rice if adjective

crateur kray-ah-tur is not same as verb

cratri
ce

krayahtre
ess

creator

-eur changes to -eure with

infrieur ahn-fay- ree- adjectives of
comparison uhr

infrieure
inferior ahnfay-ree- uhr

inferior

pais ay-peh

paisse ay-pehz

thick

And a few completely irregular ones:

favorite fah-vohreet

favorite

frache frehsh

fresh,
cool

Favori fah-voh-ree
frais freh

Forming Plurals: Adjectives and Nouns

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, and final - finals); -eau adds an -x; and if it ends in an x
or s already, add nothing. Just remember to change the le, la, or l'
to les.
And of course there are more exceptions... some adjectives are
invariable and do not have femine or plural forms. Compound
adjectives, such as bleu clair (light blue) and vert fonc (dark
green), adjectives that are also nouns, such as or (gold) and
argent (silver), and the words chic (stylish), bon march or
meilleur march (inexpensive) never change.

More Adjectives
short

court/e

Different

diffrent/e

loud

criard/e

situated

situ/e

elegant

lgant/e

big

gros/se

tight, narrow

troit/e

curious

curieux/euse

several

plusieurs

nervous

nerveux/euse

pointed

pointu/e

only

seul/e

bright

vif, vive

amusing

amusant/e

cute

mignon/nne

touching

mouvant/e

perfect

parfait/e

funny

drle

ready

prt/e

heavy

lourd/e

sad

triste

noisy

bruyant/e

clever

malin/gne

dirty

sale

lazy

paresseux/euse

tired

fatigu/e

generous

gnreux/euse

angry

fch/e

famous

clbre

Annoyed irrit/e

decorated

dcor/e

old

g/e

: Remember the first word is the masculine and the

second is the feminine. The addition of an e for the feminine form
allows the last consonant to be voiced. These adjectives go after
the noun.

Rendre + Adjective
Normally, the verb rendre means to give something that you owe
to someone, such as On rend ses devoirs au professeur. It can
also be used in the sense of to represent. But rendre + adjective
means to make someone or something + adjective.
Tu me rends si heureuse!
You make me so happy!
Le fait qu'il ne possde pas de voiture le rend
triste.
The fact that he doesn't have a car makes him sad.

C'est vs. Il est

C'est + adjective + + infinitive is used when the idea has
already been mentioned; while il est + adjective + de + infinitive
is used when the idea has not yet been mentioned.
Est-ce qu'on peut apprendre le chinois en un an?
Non, c'est impossible apprendre le chinois en un
an!
Can you learn Chinese in one year? No, it's
impossible to learn Chinese in one year!
Il est facile d'apprendre l'italien.
It is easy to learn Italian.

Sports and Hobbies

Horse-back riding

l'quitation; du cheval

leh-kee-tah-see-ohn;
dew shuh-vahl

Tennis

le tennis

luh ten-ee

Skiing

le ski

luh skee

Volleyball

le volley

luh voll-ee

Wrestling

la lutte

lah loot

Jogging

le jogging

luh zhog-ing

Ice-skating

le patin glace

luh pah-tahn ah glahs

Swimming

la natation

lah nah-tah-see-ohn

Track and Field

l'athltisme

lat-lay-tees-muh

Bowling

le bowling

luh boh-ling

Softball

le softball

luh soft-bahl

Golf

le golf

luh golf

Bicycling

le vlo

luh vay-low

Surfing

le surf

luh serf

Dirt/Motor biking

le bicross

luh bee-cross

French horn

le cor d'harmonie

kohr dar-moh-nee

violin

le violon

vee-oh-lohn

guitar

la guitare

gee-tahr

drum

le tambour

tawn-boor

tuba

le tuba

tew-bah

flute

la flte

flewt

trombone

le trombone

trohn-bohn

clarinette

la clarinette

klah-ree-nett

cello

le violoncelle

vee-oh-lohn-sell

harp

la harpe

arp

Faire de + a sport means to play. Jouer + a sport also means

to play, as does jouer de + an instrument.

Tu fais du foot.

You play soccer.

J'aime jouer au tennis.

I like to play tennis.

Je peux jouer de la guitare.

I can play the guitar.

Nous jouons de la clarinette. We play the clarinette.

Il veut jouer du tuba.

He wants to play the tuba.

Nature
sea

la mer

mehr

stone

la pierre

pee-ehr

made of stone

en pierre

awn pee-ehr sky

sky

le ciel

see-yel

river

le fleuve

fluhv

cloud

le nuage

noo-awzh

thunderstorm

l'orage

oh-rawzh

highway

a grande route

grahnd root

path

le sentier

sahn-teeay

hurricane

l'ouragan

or-aw-zhawn

umbrella

la parapluie

par-ah-ploo-ee

marina

le port de plaisance

tower

la tour

toor

wood

le bois

bwah

wooden

en bois

awn bwah

space

l'espace

es-spahs

star

l'toile

ay-twahl

barn

la grange

grawnzh

bridge

le pont

pohn

farm

la ferme

fairm

field

le champ

shawn

por duh plez-ahns

 1
flower

la fleur

flur

forest

la fort

for-eh

hill

la colline

koh-leen

lake

le lac

lahk

mountain

la montagne

mohn-tahn-yuh

ocean

l'ocan

oh-say-awn

plant

la plante

plahnt

pond

l'tang

ay-tawn

valley

la valle

vah-lay

waterfall

le cascade

kahs-kahd

countryside

la campagne

kawn-pawn-yuh

country

le pays

pay-ee

road

le chemin

shu-mahn

street

la rue

rew

To Live
vivre-to live, be alive (veevr)
vi
s

ve
e

vivon
s

veevohn

vi
s

ve
e

vivez

veevay

vit

ve
e

vivent

veev

The past participle of vivre is vcu. Habiter is another verb that

means to live, but it means to live in a place. Vivre is used to
mean the state of being alive. A subjunctive form of vivire, vive, is
often used in exclamations. Vive la France! Long live France!

Object Pronouns
Direct
Object

Subject
je

Indirect
Object

me (muh)
me

Disjunctives

me
me

to

moi (mwah)
me

to

toi (twah) you

tu

you

te (tuh)

you

te
you

il

he

le

him

lui (lwee) to
him

lui

him

elle

she

la

her

lui
her

to

elle

her

Nous

we

nous

us

nous

to us

nous

us

vous

you

vous

you

vous
you

to

vous

you

ils

they

les
them

leur
them

to

eux (uh) them

elles

they

les
them

leur
them

to

elles

them

: You have already learned the subject pronouns. They

go before the conjugated verb forms.
The Direct and Indirect Object pronouns go before the verb even
though in English they go after it. They also go after the ne in a
negative sentence and right before the verb. The disjunctive
always go after prepositions, or can be used alone for emphasis.
Sample Sentences:
I buy some pants.
J'achte des pantalons.
I buy them.
Je les achte.
I give the box to you.
Je vous donne la bote.

I give it to you.
Je vous la donne.
After you. (familiar)
Aprs toi.
We go with her.
Nous allons avec elle.
He doesn't leave her.
Il ne la part pas.
He leaves her.
Il la part.
I love you.
Je t'aime. or Je vous aime.
She doesn't love him.
Elle ne l'aime pas.

: When you have more than one pronoun; me, te, nous,
or vous come first, then le, la, or les, then lui or leur. Me, te, le,
and la contract to m', t', and l' when they precede a vowel, the
same way je does. In commands, the pronouns go after the verb,
connected with a hyphen. And the pronoun order changes a little
too: Le, la, or les come first; then moi, toi, (Me and te become
moi and toi in commands) nous, or vous; then lui, or leur.
If you have pronouns, they go before the complete verb in regular
sentences; but after the ne and before the form of avoir in
negative sentences.
Nous lui avons parl.
We spoke to him/her.
Vous en avez cout trois.
You've listened to three of them.
Je t'ai demand du pain.
I asked you for some bread.
Il ne l'a pas aim.
He didn't like it/her/him.
Tu n'y as pas habit.
You didn't live there.
Je ne vous ai pas parl.

I didn't speak (or haven't spoken) to you.

Nous ne l'avons pas fini.
We didn't finish (or haven't finished) it.

In the pass compos with avoir, direct object pronouns only

must agree in gender and number with the past participle.
Je les ai aims.
I liked them.
Il l'a regarde.
He watched her.
Elles nous ont cout(e)s.
They listened to us.

: Add an e if the pronoun is feminine, and an s if it is

plural. The l' could mean him or her, so you might not need to put
the extra e on the past participle. The same for nous and vous.
They must have an s because they are plural, but it is unclear as
to whether they are masculine or feminine.

Parts of the Body

head

la tte

tet

hair

les cheveux

shuh-vuh

face

la figure / le
visage

fee-ger / vee-sawzh

forehead

le front

frohn

cheek

la joue

zhoo

ear

l'oreille

oh-ray

beard

la barbe

barb

eye/s

l'il / les yeux

uhee / yuh

mustache

la moustache

moo-stash

mouth

la bouche

boosh

lip

la lvre

lev-ruh

nose

le nez

nay

tongue

la langue

lawn

 1
tooth

la dent

dawn

neck

le cou

eyebrows

les sourcils

soor-see

eyelashes

les cils

seel

chin

le menton

mawn-tohn

throat

la gorge

gorzh

skin

la peau

poh

blood

le sang

sawn

bone

l'os

lohs

shoulder

l'paule

ay-pohl

chest

la poitrine

pwah-treen

waist

la taille

tahee

belly button

le nombril

nohn-bree

back

le dos

doh

heart

le cur

kir

arm

le bras

brah

elbow

le coude

kood

wrist

le poignet

pwahn-yay

fist

le poing

pwahn

hand

la main

mahn

fingers

les doigts

dwah

stomach
belly

l'estomac
ventre

le

less-to-mah / vawn-truh

body

le corps

kore

hip

la hanche

ahnsh

leg

la jambe

zhamb

knee

le genou

zhu-noo

foot

le pied

pyay

toes

les orteils

or-tie

ankle

la cheville

shu-vee

thigh

la cuisse

kweess

shin

le tibia

tee-bee-ah

thumb

le pouce

pooss

nails

les ongles

ohn-gluh

To say something hurts or that you have an ache, you can use
avoir mal (body part):
J'ai mal la tte.
I have a headache.
J'ai mal l'estomac.
I have a stomach ache.
Elle a mal au bras.
Her arm hurts.
Tu as mal au genou?
Your knee hurts?
Il a mal aux orteils.
His toes hurt.

However, if someone is causing you pain, use faire mal (to hurt)
plus the indirect pronoun.
Tu me fais mal.
You're hurting me.
Ne lui faites pas mal.
Don't hurt him / her.

Asking Questions
1. Invert the subject and verb form and add a hyphen. Instead of
Vous parlez anglais? use Parlez vous anglais? But if you invert il,
elle, or on, you must put a t between the verb form (if it ends in a
vowel) and the subject for ease of pronunciation. Parle-il anglais?
is incorrect and must become Parlet-il anglais? And je is usually
only inverted with pouvoir or devoir. However, if je is inverted with
pouvoir, you don't use peux, but puis. Puis-je? (pweezh) is Can
I?

2. Add n'est-ce pas? (ness pah) to the end of the sentence. It is

equivalent to isn't it, don't you, aren't we, won't you, etc.
3. If the question requires a yes or no answer, put Est-ce que
(ess kuh) at the beginning. It contracts to Est-ce qu' before a
word beginning with a vowel, such as elle, il or on. You can also
use interrogative words (quand, comment, o, etc.) at the
beginning of the sentence and then add est-ce que.
4. With interrogative words, you can also use inversion: Quand
tes parents partent-ils en vacances? Or you can use an
interrogative with est-ce que and normal word order: Pourquoi
est-ce que vous tes ici?
5. Quel (which, what) agrees with the noun it modifies. It
precedes the noun or the verb tre, it may follow a preposition,
and it can be used with inversion or with est-ce que. Quelle est la
date? A quelle heure partez-vous? Quels bagages est-ce que
vous prenez? Notice that the forms of quel can also be used in
exclamatory sentences. Quel beau jour! What a beautiful day!
6. With negative questions, negative expressions remain in their
usual place (i.e. around the verb, or verb and subject if inverted).
Tu ne travailles pas? Est-ce que te ne travailles pas? Ne
travailles-tu pas? Pourquoi n'as-tu pas travaill?

Asking Questions with the Pass Compos

Only the auxiliary verb (avoir or tre) and the subject pronoun are
inverted. The past participle follows. A-t-il t surpris? Was he
surprised? T'es-tu amus? Did you have fun?

Interrogative Pronouns
To ask about people:
Long Form
Subject

Direct Object
Object of
Preposition

Short Form

Qui est-ce qui

Qui

Qui est-ce qui est venu? Qui est venu?

Qui est-ce que

Qui

Translation
Who came?

Qui est-ce que tu as vu? Qui as-tu vu?

Whom
did
you see?

Preposition + qui estce que

Prepositio
n + qui

Whom did
you speak to?

A qui est-ce que tu as

parl?

A qui as-tu
parl?

To ask about things:

Long Form

Short Form

Translation

No short form
qui est arriv?

Qu'est-ce

What
happened?

Qu'est-ce que

Que

Qu'est-ce qui
Subject

Direct Object

Qu'est-ce que tu as fait? Qu'as-tu fait?

Preposition

Object of
Preposition

What did you

do?

quoi
est-ce
Preposition + quoi

De quoi est-ce que tu as parl?

parl?

1. Use of Inversion when Subject is Noun:

a. With qui and quoi, inversion pattern is
regular.
Qui Marie a-t-elle vu?
Whom did Marie see?
De quoi Marc a-t-il besoin?

What did you

talk about?

What does Marc need?

b. With que, the noun subject must be inverted

directly.
Que veut Jean?
What does Jean want?
Que font les autres?
What are the others doing?

c. However, if the sentence contains more than a subject and verb,

or if the verb is in a compound tense (such as the pass
compos), the short form is not used.
Qu'est-ce que Luc veut faire aujourd'hui?
What does Luc want to do today?
Qu'est-ce que les autres ont fait? What did the others do?
2. Verb Agreement:
a. Interrogative pronouns are usually masculine singular. Les
voitures font du bruit. Qu'est-ce qui fait du bruit?
Les enfants sont arrivs. Qui est arriv?
b.Exception: when qui is followed by a conjugated form of tre,
the verbs agrees with the noun that follows. Qui taient Les Trois
Mousquetaires?
3. Qu'est-ce que (or qui) vs. Quel:
a. Qu'est-ce que c'est que is used to ask for a definition, and quel
asks for specific information.
Qu'est-ce que c'est que le camembert?
What is "camembert"?
Quel est le problme?
What is the problem?

b. When followed by a conjugated form of tre, quel is used if tre

is followed by a noun and qu'est-ce qui is used if tre is followed
by anything other than a noun.

Quelle est la date?

What is the date?
Qu'est-ce qui est bon?
What is good?

Forms of Lequel
Lequel is a pronoun that replaces the adjective quel and the noun
it modifies. It expresses Which one?
Adjective
Singular

Plural

Masculine Quel livre lis-tu?

Quels livres lis-tu?

Feminine Quelle page lis-tu?

Quelles pages lis-tu?

Pronoun
Singular

Plural

Lequel lis-tu?

Lesquels lis-tu?

Laquelle lis-tu?

Lesquelles lis-tu?

Lequel contracts with and de in the plural and masculine

singular forms:
Singular
+ lequel = auquel

Plural
+ lesquels = auxquels

Masculine de + lequel = duquel de + lesquels = desquels +

laquelle = laquelle

+ lesquelles = auxquelles

Feminine de + laquelle = de laquelle de + lesquelles =

desquelles

Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns join sentences together. These words signal a
relative clause which explains the noun called the antecedent.
When there is no specific antecedent, ce is added as an artificial
one. But it can refer to only things, not people. If the relative
pronoun is the subject of the clause, use qui. If the relative
pronoun is the direct object of the clause, use que. If the verb of
the dependent clause requires the preposition de, use dont. If the
antecedent is a place or time, use o.
C'est ce que je disais.

That's what I said.

no antecedent

Je mange des choses qui

sont bonnes.

I eat things that are

good.

qui is subject

Je mange des chose que

j'aime.

I eat things that I like.

que is object

Voici ce dont j'ai besoin.

Here is what I need.

avoir besoin is
followed by de

C'est un restaurant o on
sert les poissons.

It's a restaurant where

they serve fish.

restaurant is a
place

Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns translate to the one(s), or that/those
when replacing a noun. There are four forms, but they are not
often used alone. De, qui, que, dont and -ci or -l usually follow
them.

Singular
Plural

Masc.

Fem.

celui

celle

ceux

celles

Donnez-moi mon billet et celui de Guillaume. Give me my ticket

and William's. (or: the one of William) Il porte ses propres livres et

ceux de sa sur. He is carrying his own books and his sister's.

(or: those of his sister)
Quelles fleurs aimes-tu, celles-ci ou celles-l? Which flowers do
you like, these (ones) or those (ones)?
Ceux qui travaillent dur russissent.
Those who work hard succeed. C'est
celui dont je parle. That's the one I'm
talking about.
The indefinite demonstrative pronouns ceci (this), cela (that) and
a (this/that) refer to indefinite things or ideas.
J'aime a.

I like that.

Prenez ceci. Take this.

To Read, To Say / Tell, To Laugh

lire-to read (leer)

dire-to say/tell (deer)

rire-to laugh (reer)

lis (lee) lisons (lee-zohn)

dis (dee) disons (dee-zohn)

ris

(ree)

rions

(ree-

ohn)

lis

lisez (lee-zay)

dis

dites (deet)

ris

riez (ree-ay)

lit

lisent (leez)

dit

disent (deess)

rit

rient (ree)

Disjunctive Pronouns
1.

As mentioned above, disjunctives are mostly used after

prepositions and can only replace people, not things. However,
if the preposition is , there are two possible rules:

+ person = indirect pronoun

+ person + = disjunctive pronoun, in these cases:

se fier

to trust

s'habituer to get used to

s'intresser to be interested in
penser

to think about

rver

to dream about

2.

They can also be used alone, to emphasize a subject, with tre

(to belong to) or in compound subjects.

Moi, j'ai faim. Me, I am hungry.

Ses amis et lui, ils aiment manger. His friends and he,
they like to eat.
Ce livre est moi!
3.

That book is mine!

They can be added to -mme to mean -self.

elle-mme = herself
4. They are also used with ne...que.
C'est n'est que lui. It's only him.

Y et En
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 (or any contraction of it), en, sur, sous, chez, or
dans 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. 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 surs.
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 Dtroit.
I am going there.
J'y vais.
I am going to go to Atlanta.
Je vais aller Atlanta.
I am going to go there.
Je vais y aller.
Answer the telephone!
Rpondez au tlphone!
Answer it! ()
Rpondez-y!
Stay there! (familiar)
Restes-y!
Don't stay there! (familiar)
N'y reste pas.

: 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.

To Write, To See, To Believe

Verbs take a direct object if they do not need a prepostition to
connect it to the noun. Verbs that take indirect objects use
prepositions after the verb. Voir-to see (vwahr) and croire-to
believe (krwahr) take a direct and crire-to write (ay-kreer) takes
an indirect.
voir-to see
vois
(vwah
)

voyons

croire-to believe
crois

(vwahyohn)

vois

cryohony) ons

(krwah(krwah)

voyez (vwah-

crois croyez (krwah-yay)

crire-to
write
cris

crivons (ay-

(aykree
)

kreevohn)

cris

crivez

yay)

voit

(ay-

kree-vay)

voient (vwah)

croit

croient (krwah)

crit

crivent (aykreev)

You can usually tell by using the verbs in English. We say "I see
her" or "She believes him" or "He writes to them." In French, it
would be "Je la vois" (direct), "Elle le croit" (direct) and "Il leur
crit."
(indirect) But don't always count on English to help you out.
Tlphoner () and Obir () both take indirect objects in French
but you can't tell that in English. In this case, you can tell by the
that follows the infinitive.

Animals
penguin

le pingouin

pahn-goo-ahn

whale

la baleine

bah-lehn

bird

l'oiseau

lwah-zoh

turkey

le dindon

dahn-dohn

swan

le cygne

seen-yuh

eagle

l'aigle

lehg-luh

owl

le hibou

ee-boo

hippopotamus l'hippopotame lee-poh-poh-tahm

monkey

le singe

sahnzh

kangaroo

le kangouru

kawn-goo-roo

zebra

le zbre

zeh-bruh

rhinoceros

le rhinocros ree-noh-say-ros

lion

le lion

lee-ohn

elephant

l'lphant

lay-lay-fawn

beaver

le castor

kah-stor

deer

le cerf

serf

fox

le renard

ruh-nar

squirrel

l'cureuil

lay-cur-uhee

raccoon

le raton laveur rah-tohn lah-vur

ant

la fourmi

foor-me

bee

l'abeille

lah-bay

wasp

la gupe

gep

caterpillar

la chenille

shu-nee

butterfly

la papillon

pah-pee-yon

ladybug

la coccinelle

koh-see-nell

mosquito

le
moustique

moo-steek

flea

la puce

pewss

grasshopper

la sauterelle

soht-rell

fly

la mouche

moosh

worm

le ver

vehr

fish

le poisson

pwah-sohn

snake

le serpent

sair-pawn

turtle

la tortue

tor-tew

bear

l'ours

loor

buffalo

le buffle

boof-fluh

 1
camel

le chameau

shahm-oh

giraffe

le girafe

zhee-rahf

rat

le rat

rah

tiger

le tigre

tee-gruh

wolf

le loup

loo

frog

la grenouille

gruh-noo-ee

toad

le crapaud

krah-poh

Plaire and Manquer

plaire-to please, enjoy

manquer-to miss, be lacking

plais pleh plaisons pleh-zohn

manque
kohn

plais pleh plaisez

manques
kay

mawnk manquez mawn-

manque

mawnk manquent mawnk

pleh-zay

plat pleh plaisent plehzz

mawnk manquons mawn-

The past participle of plaire is plu. To say that someone likes

something, you have to switch the subject and object around, so
that literally it translates to "something or someone pleases." As a
reflexive verb, se plaire means to enjoy being somewhere. Faire
plaisir can also be used to mean "to delight or to like."
Cette chienne plat Dominique.
Dominique likes this dog. (Literally:
pleasing to Dominique.)
a t'a plu?
Did you like it?
Ils se plaisent Londres.
They enjoy being in London.
Cela me fait plaisir de vous revoir.
I am happy to see you again.

This dog is

Manquer has several meanings: to miss, to lack, or to regret the

absence (miss). The last meaning uses inverted word order just
like plaire. Manquer means "to fail to do."

Elle a manqu le train.

She missed the train.
Vous manquez de courage.
You lack courage.
Tu me manques.
I miss you. (Literally: You are missing to me)
Ils ont mangu les devoirs.
They failed to do the homework.

Pluperfect
This compound tense is used for flashbacks or anything that had
happened before the time of the narration. It's formed with the
imperfect tense of avoir or tre and the past participle of the main
verb. This tense is comparable to the pass compos.
Imperfect of avoir or tre avais avions tais tions avais aviez
tais tiez + past participle avait avaient tait taient
Je n'avais pas fini mon travail quand il est
arriv.
I had not finished my work when he arrived.
Vous aviez faim parce que vouz n'aviez pas du tout
mang.
You were hungry because you hadn't eaten at all.

Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to no one or nothing in particular, such as
someone or something.
someone/body quelqu'un

somewhere quelque part

something

quelque chose (de +

adjective)

not one, none aucun...ne

some (masc)

quelques-uns

some (fem)
unes

another

un(e) autre

anything

quelquesn'importe quoi

several

plusieurs

1
anyone
n'importe qui

some...other
s

certains...d'autres

anywhere

each

chacun

nowhere

n'importe o
ne...nulle part

Do not confuse chacun with chaque (each, every). Chacun is a

pronoun and replaces a noun, while chaque is an adjective that
describes a noun.

Djeuner du
matin

Breakfast

Jacques Prvert

He put the coffee

Il a mis le caf
Dans la tasse
Il a mis le lait
Dans la tasse de caf
Il a mis le sucre
Dans le caf au lait
Avec la petite cuiller
Il a tourn
Il a bu le caf au lait

Jacques Prvert

In the cup
He put the milk
In the cup of coffee
He put the sugar
In the caf au lait
With the coffee spoon
He stirred
He drank the caf au
lait

Et il a repos la tasse

And he set down the

cup

Sans me parler

Without a word to me

Il a allum

He lit

Une cigarette

A cigarette

Il a fait des ronds

He made smoke-rings

Avec la fume

With the smoke

Il a mis les cendres

He put the ashes

Dans le cendrier

In the ashtray

Sans me parler

Without a word to me

Sans me regarder

Without a look at me

Il s'est lev

He got up

Il a mis

He put

Son chapeau sur sa tte

His hat upon his head

Il a mis

He put

Son manteau de pluie

his raincoat on

Parce qu'il pleuvait

1
Because it was raining

Et il est parti

And he left

Sous la pluie

In the rain

Sans une parole

Without a word

Et moi j'ai pris

And I, I took

Ma tte dans ma main

My head in my hand
And I cried.

Et j'ai pleur.

Translated by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from Paroles by Prvert

Le Corbeau et le Renard
Jean de la Fontaine
Matre corbeau, sur un arbre perch,
Tenait en son bec un fromage,
Matre renard, par l'odeur allch, Lui tint peu prs ce
langage:
<<Eh bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau. Que vous tes joli! que
vous me semblez beau! Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte votre plumage,
Vous tes le phnix des htes de ces bois.>>
A ces mots, le corbeau ne 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 dpens de celui qui l'coute. Cette leon vaut bien un
fromage sans doute.>> Le corbeau, honteux et confus, Jura, mais
un peu tard, qu'on ne l'y prendrait plus.

The Crow and the Fox

Jean de la Fontaine
Master crow, on a tree perched,
Held in his beak a cheese, Master fox, by the odor attracted, Held
him with almost this language:
"Well hello, Mister Crow.
You are so pretty! You seem to me beautiful!
Without lying, if your song
Is comparable to your feathers,
You are the Phoenix of these woods."
At these words, the crow was overcome with joy;
And to show his beautiful voice,
He opened his mouth wide, and dropped his prey.
The fox seized it, and said: "My good mister,
Learn that every flatterer
Lives at the expense of those who listen to him.
This lesson is well worth a cheese without doubt."
The crow, ashamed and embarrassed,
Swore, but a little late, that he would never be taken again.

Colloquial Expressions
Il faut + infinitive (it is necessary, one must)
Il faut tourner gauche.
It is necessary to turn left.
Il faut faire les devoirs.
One must do homework.
Il lui faut aller l'cole.
He must go to school.

Il reste (there remains)

Il reste une chambre.
There is one room left.
Il n'en reste plus.
There are no more left.
Il me reste trois jours.
I have three days left.

Notice that il faut and il reste can both take an object pronoun to
indicate a person.
Il vaut mieux + infinitive (it is better)
Il vaut mieux prendre le bus.
It is better to take the bus.
Il vaut mieux apprendre les langues que la
politique.
It's better to learn languages than politics.

Il s'agit de (it's a question of, it's a matter of, it's about)

De quoi s'agit-il?
What's is about?
Il ne s'agit pas de a!
That's not the point!
Il s'agit de ton avenir.
It's a matter of your future.

Avoir beau (although, despite the fact, however much)

J'ai beau tudier cette langue, je ne la parle pas.

Although I study this language, I don't speak it.
Il a beau faire froid, nous sortirons.
Although is it cold, we will go out.

False Cognates
Les faux-amis or false cognates are a common pitfall among
language students. The following are some common words that
you may be deceived by:
Abus is used to mean excess or overindulgence, and usually not
abuse.
Disposer means to arrange or to have available, not to dispose of.
Une injure is an insult, not an injury.
Actuel and actuellement mean current and currently.
Avertissement is a warning, not an advertisement.
Une recette is a recipe, not a receipt.
Fournitures refers to supplies, not furniture.
Original means new or innovative, while originel refers to origins.
Humeur means mood, not humor.
Formel is used to mean strict, not formal.

More Useful Words

after

aprs

ah-preh

before

avant

ah-vawn

really

vraiment

vray-mawn

then

puis

pwee

a lot of

un tas de

1
ahn tah duh

too much

trop

troh

same

mme

mem

rather

assez

ah-say

at most

au plus

oh plew

at least

au moins

oh mwahn

later

plus tard

plew tar

although

quoique/bien que

kwah-kuh/bee-ahn
kuh

as

comme

kohm

as soon as

ds que/aussitt que day kuh/oh-see-toh

kuh

even though

mme si

mem see

however

pourtant

pour-tawn

therefore

donc

dohnk

since

depuis

duh-pwee

unless

moins que

ah mwahn kuh

until

jusqu'

zhews-kuh

while, whereas

tandis que

tawn-dee kuh

in order that, so
that

afin que/pour que

ah-fahn kuh/pewr kuh

Adverbs
bie

well

Quelquefois

sometimes

mieux

better

toujours

always

mal

badly

vite

quickly

peu

little

donc

therefore

dj

already

encore

yet

bientt

soon

quelque part

somewhere

ici

here

maintenant

now

there

tt

early

dedans

inside

tard

late

dehors

outside

peut-tre

maybe

souvent

often

jamais

never

d'habitude

usually

nulle part

nowhere

To form an adverb, simply take the feminine form of an adjective

and add -ment to the end. If the masculine form ends in -e, you
just add the -ment to that. Adjectives ending in -ent or -ant take
the endings -emment and -amment.
Masculine

Feminine

Adverb

naturel

naturelle

naturellement

heureux

heureuse

heureusement

lent

lente

lentement

facile

facile

facilement

probable

probable

probablement

intelligent

inelligente intelligemment

brillant

brillante

brillamment

recent

rcente

rcemment

: Some adverbs such as actuellement (currently, now)

and
ventuellement (possibly, perhaps) can be deceiving.
A Few Irregular Adverbs
vrai vraiment gentil gentiment profond profondment bref
brivement prcis prcisment

: Adverbs are placed right after the verb in a simple

tense. Adverbs of opinion and time usually go at the beginning or
end of the sentence. When peut-tre and sans doute begin a
sentence or clause, they are usually followed by que. With the
pass compos, most adverbs are placed between the auxiliary
verb and past participle. In negative sentences, pas precedes the
adverb, except with peut-tre, sans doute, srement, and
probablement. Adverbs of time and place generally follow the
past participle.

Forms of Tout
As an adjective, tout precedes and agrees with the noun.
masc. sing. tout le train

the whole train

fem. sing. toute la journe the whole day

masc. pl.

tous les enfants all the kids

fem. pl.

toutes les meres all the moms

As a pronoun, tout can be used alone; it then means everything

and is invariable.
Tout va bien.
Everything's fine.
Je ne peux pas tout faire.
I can't do everything.

It can also reinforce the subject as in:

Ils sont tous l.
They are all here.

Tout can also be used with direct object pronouns. The forms of
tout follow the verb in a simple tense and go between the auxiliary
and past participle in a compound tense.

Je les ai toutes.
I have them all.
Je ne les ai pas tous eu.
I didn't have them all.

: The s of tous is pronounced when tous is a pronoun.

Idiomatic Expressions with Tout

en tout cas

in any case

tout le monde

everyone

tout de suite

right away

de toute faon

anyway

tout fait

completely

toutes sortes
de

all kinds of

pas du tout

not at all

malgr tout

in spite of it
all

tout l'heure

in a
while

little

Passive Voice
As in English, the passive voice in French is composed of a tense
of the verb to be and a past participle. Any transitive verb with a
direct object can be made passive. The active form, le chat
mange la souris is made passive thus: La souris est mange
par le chat.
The subject in the active sentence (le chat) becomes the object of
the passive. The object of the active (la souris) becomes the
subject of the passive sentence preceded by "par." The verb of
the active sentence is changed into a past participle (mange
becomes mange, notice the agreement!) preceded by a form of
tre.
Elle est porte par Jean.
She is carried by John.
Elles ont t inspires par Van Gogh.
They were inspired by Van Gogh.

Il avait t tu par les soldats franais.

He had been killed by French soldiers.

If a verb takes an indirect object, it cannot be transformed into the

passive voice. In this case, on is used in the active construction.
On a donn un cadeau ma mre.
My mother was given a present.
On lui a dit de retrouver le collectioneur au
muse.
He was told to meet the collector at the museum.

Notice how pronominal verbs change from active to passive:

Active: Je me suis rveille. I woke up.
Passive: J'ai t rveille par quelque chose. I was awakened by
something.

Depuis, il y a, and pendant in past contexts

1.

To express an action that has been going on, depuis (or il y a ...
que) is used with the present tense.

Je l'ai depuis deux ans.

Depuis quand avez-vous votre ordinateur?
a fait deux ans que je l'ai.
Depuis combien de temps avez-vous votre ordinateur?
Il y a deux ans que je l'ai.
How long have you had your computer?
I've had it for two years.
Je conduis depuis longtemps.
I have been driving for a long time.
2.

But to express an action that had been going on for some time
when something else happened, depuis is used with the
imperfect.

Nous conduisions depuis deux heures, quand j'ai

propos de prendre le volant.
We had been driving for two hours when I
volunteered to drive.
3.

To express an action that you have not done for some time, use
depuis with the pass compos.
Je n'ai pas conduit depuis mon mariage.
I haven't driven since I've been married.

4.

To express an action that was done for a period of time,

pendant is used, usually with the pass compos. But for an
action that was completed some time ago, use il y a, also with
the pass compos.
J'ai lou une voiture pendant une semaine.
I rented a car for two weeks.
J'ai appris conduire il y a deux ans.
I learned to drive two years ago.

Shopping
box

la bote

bwaht

VCR

le magntoscope

mah-nyet-oh-scope

camera

l'appareil-photo (m)

lah-pah-ry foh-toh

camcorder

le camscope

kawm-ay-scope

film

la pellicule

pell-ee-kool

watch

la montre

mohn-truh

handkerchief

le mouchoir

moosh-wahr

perfume

le parfum

par-foom

wallet

le portefeuille

port-fuhee

radio

la radio

rahd-ee-oh

electric razor

le rasoir lectrique

raz-wahr ay-lek-treek

size (shoes)

la pointure

pwan-toor

size

la taille

tah-ee

inch

le pouce

poos

search

la recherch

cart duh vuh

greeting card

la carte de vux

cart duh vuh

department (in
store)

le rayon

ray-ohn

Post Office and Bank

letter

la lettre

teller

postcard

la carte postale

bill

le billet

stamp

le timbre

check

le chque

checkbook

le chquier

phone booth

la cabine
tlphonique

le caissier / la caissire

mailbox

la bote lettres

ATM

mail slot

la fente

key

la cl

address

l'adresse

lock

la serrure

return address l'expditeur

filing cabinet

le classeur

label

l'tiquette

safety deposit box le coffre

packing tape

le ruban adhsif

notepad

le bloc-notes

package

le paquet

credit card

la carte de crdit

postmark

le cachet de la poste

le guichet automatique

security camera
surveillance

la camra de

rubber band

l'lastique

security guard

le gardien

ink pad

le tampon encre

drive-thru window le drive-in

string

la ficelle

safe

le coffre-fort

To Receive
Recevoir-to receive (ruh-suh-vwahr)
reois ruh-swah

recevons ruh-suh-vohn reois ruh-swah

recevez ruh-suh-vay reoit ruh-swah

reoivent ruh-swahv

The past participle of recevoir is reu.

Infinitives followed by Prepositions

Some infinitives take or de before another infinitive.
Verb +

Verb + de

aider accepter finir s'amuser arrter interdire apprendre

avoir

envie menacer arriver avoir honte oublier chercher avoir peur

permettre commencer
tort

refuser continuer

remercier encourager

avoir raison promettre consister

choisir regretter donner
dfendre rver enseigner

avoir
dcider

demander

risquer s'exercer se dpcher venir (to have just) s'habituer

dire hsiter

empcher insister

heureux renoncer

tre oblig

essayer inviter

russir

viter

tre
songer

s'excuser
Note, however, that when you mean "to tell someone to do
something," French uses the verb + the indirect object + de + the
infinitive.

To Follow
Suivre-to follow (sweev-ruh)
suis

swee

suivons swee-vohn suis swee

suivez

swee-vay

suivent sweev

suit swee

The past participle of suivre is suivi. Suivre can also be used

with school subjects to mean "to take a course."
Suivez le guide!
Follow the guide!
Suivez les instructions.
Follow the instructions.
Je suis un cours de maths.
I'm taking a math class.

Faire Causative
Faire + an infinitive is called the faire causative. It translates to
"have something done by someone or cause something to be
done by someone," or "to cause someone to do something."
Je rpare la voiture.
I'm fixing the car.
Je fais rparer la voiture.
I'm having the car fixed.
Il peint son appartement.
He's painting his apartment.
Il fait peindre son appartement.
He's having his apartment painted.
Le bb mange.
The baby is eating.
Elle fait manger le bb.
She's feeding the baby.

When replacing the object with a pronoun, the pronoun precedes

faire. And in past tenses, the past participle remains invariable.
Je la fais rparer.
I'm having it fixed.
Il leur a fait apprendre les verbes.
He had them learn the verbs.
Il les leur a fait apprendre.
He had them learn them.

Direct and Indirect Discourse

Direct discourse relates exactly what someone has said or written,
using quotation marks and the original wording. Indirect discourse
relates indirectly, without quotation marks, what someone has said
or written. It works the same way in French as it does in English.
Direct Discourse

Indirect Discourse

Il me dit: <<Je pars en vacances Il me dit qu'il part en vacances

et
Main verb is present:
et ma famille a lou une villa.>> que sa famille a lou
une villa.
Il m'a dit: <<Je pars en vacances
vacances et

Il m'a dit qu'il partait en

Main verb in past:

et ma famille a lou une villa.>> que sa famille avait lou
une villa.
Note that if the main verb is in the present tense, no tense
changes occur when using indirect discourse. However, if the
main verb is in a past tense, the following tense changes occur:
Present ---> Imperfect
Pass Compos --> Pluperfect
(The Imperfect and Pluperfect do not change.)
Remember to use que to introduce each dependent clause, and
adjust personal pronouns and possessive adjectives.

In questions, the following (rather uncomplicated) changes occur:

1. Yes/no questions = si + declarative
sentence Je t'ai demand si tu avais faim.
2. O, quand, comment, etc. = interrogative word + declarative
sentence Il m'a demand quelle heure j'allais revenir.
3. Interrogative pronouns are a little trickier:
qui est-ce qui Il m'a demand qui tait rest. qui qui est-ce que
Elle m'a demand qui j'avais vu. qu'est-ce qui ce qui Ils m'ont
demand ce qui s'tait pass. qu'est-ce que ce que Elles m'ont
demand ce que j'avais dit.

Office / School Supplies

CDRom

le CDRom

say-dayrohm

calculato
r

La
calculatrice

kal-kewlahtrees

disk

le
disquette

deeskett

eraser

la gomme

gohm

docume
nt

le
document

doh-koomawn

noteboo
k

le cahier

ky-yay

comput
er

l'ordinate
ur

lor-deenah-tewr

folder

le plieur

plee-ur

monitor

l'cran

laykrawn

pencil
case

la trousse

troos

keyboar
d

le clavier

klahvyay

ruler

la rgle

rehg-luh

la souris

soo-ree

pencil
sharpen
er

le taille-

mouse
printer

l'imprima
nte

lahnpreemahnt

pencil

le crayon

crayon

tie-krahyohn
krahyohn

 1
la note de
service

note duh
sehr
veess

pen

le stylo

stee-loh

le
tlcopieu
r

tay-laykoh-peeur

scissors

les ciseaux

see-zoh

photoco
pier

la
photocopi
euse

foh-tohcoh-peeuz

glue

la colle

kohl

Typewri
ter

la
machine
crire

mahsheen
ah ay

binder

le classeur

klah-sur

memo
fax
machin
e

kreer
Softwar
e

le logiciel

lohzheesee-al

chalk

la craie

kreh

file

le dossier

dohssyay

chalkboa
rd

le tableau

tahb-loh

cabinet

le placard

plah-kar

backpac
k

le sac dos

sahk ah
doh

briefcas
e

la
serviette

sehrvee-ett

school
bag

le cartable

kar-tahbluh

Conditional Tenses: Present and Past

The present conditional tense corresponds to "would." It is used
after the imperfect in a conditional sentence. Most conditionals
sentences begin with si (if). Si j'tais (imperfect) dans une autre
famille, est-ce que je serais (conditional) plus heureuse? If I were
in another family, would I be happier?
However, do not confuse the conditional would with the would that
expresses a repeated action in the past. If would means used to,
then the imperfect tense is used. Quand nous tions (imperfect)

en vacances, nous dormions (imperfect) jusqu' midi. When we

were on vacation, we would (used to) sleep until noon.
To form, use the infinitive and add the imperfect endings.
remember to drop the -e on -re verbs.

But

-ais -ions -ais -iez -ait -aient

Also, you use the same irregular stems and exceptions for the
conditional that are used for the future tense. You may have
noticed that the future and conditional forms for je seem to be
pronounced the same. Actually, the future ending is pronounced
ay and the conditional like eh. However, it is difficult to understand
the differences in spoken French and most people pronounce
them the same anyway.
The past conditional is formed by using the conditional of avoir or
tre and a past participle. It corresponds to "would have" and is
used in hypothetical sentences.
Il n'aurait jamais dit a! He would have never said that!

If... sentences
When si (if) is used in sentences of condition, the verb tenses
change. These pretty much correspond to English usage.
1. Si + present tense + present, imperative,
or future Si je suis fatigue, je me repose. If
I'm tired, I rest.
Repose-toi si tu es fatigu. Rest if you're tired.
Si je suis fatigu demain, je me reposerai. If I am tired tomorrow, I
will rest.
2. Si + imperfect + present conditional

Si j'tais riche, je pourrais acheter un chteau. If I were rich, I

would buy a castle.
Il deviendrait roi s'il avait plus de courage. He would become king
if he had more courage.
3. Si + pluperfect + past conditional
Si j'avais su, j'aurais compris.
understood.

If I had known, I would have

It is possible to have past conditional with the imperfect, and it is

also possible to have present conditional with pluperfect.
However, you can never have the future or conditional tenses
directly following si. They must be in the other clause. (This is a
rule in English too... you can't say "If I will go (tomorrow")

Parts of a Car / At the Gas Station

horn

le klaxon

directional
signal

le clignotant

hood

le capot

license
plate

la plaque
d'immatriculation

brake

le frein

brakelight

le stop

steering wheel

le volant

car

la voiture

windshield wipers

les essuieglaces

window

la vitre

dashboard

le tableau de
bord

door

la portire

accelerator

l'acclrateu
r

gas tank

le rservoir

headlights

les phares

wheel

la roue

windshield

le pare-brise

tire

le pneu

motor

le moteur

bumper

le pare-chocs

trunk

le coffre

fender

l'aile

body (of car)

la
carrosserie

oil

l'huile

driver's license

le permis de
conduire

air
conditionin
g

la climatisation

gasoline

l'essence

heater

le chauffage

traffic lights

les feux

battery

la batterie

oil

l'huile

gas cap

le
bouchon
de
rservoir d'essence

hubcap

l'enjoliveur

gas pump

la pompe essence

air hose

la pompe
air

door
handle

la poigne de
portire

To Drive
Conduire-to drive (kohn-dweer)
conduis kohn-dwee
conduisons kohn-dwee-zohn
conduis kohn-dwee
conduisez kohn-dwee-zay
conduit kohn-dwee
conduisent kohn-dweez
The past participle of conduire is conduit. Other verbs conjugated
like conduire are: traduire - to translate, produire - to produce, and
construire - to construct.

Travelling / At the Airport

suitcase

la valise

vah-leez

clothes

les vtements

vet-mawn

passport

le passe-port

1
pahss-por

diary

le journal

zhoor-nal

traveler's check

le chque de voyage

zheck duh voy-ahzh

dictionary

le dictionnaire

deek-see-ohn-nair

flight

le vol

vohl

baggages

les bagages

bah-gazh

Franc

le franc

frahnk

bill

le billet

bee-yay

coin

le pices

pee-ess

change

la monnaie

moh-nay

cent

le centime

sawn-teem

arrival

l'arrive

lah-ree-vay

Where is/are...?

O est/sont...

oo ay/sohnt

currency
exchange

le bureau de change

bur-oh duh shahnzh

passport check

le contrle des
passeports

con-trol duh pahss-por

customs

la douane

doo-awn

entrance

l'entre

lawn-tray

lost and found

les objets trouvs

lay zob-zhay troo-vay

information

les renseignements

rawn-sain-yuh-mawn

exit

la sortie

sore-tee

taxi stand

les taxis

tahks-ee

restroom

les toilettes

twah-lett

: When asking Where is/are..., O est is the singular form

and O sont is the plural form, even if it's singular in English.
Where is the entrance? would be O est l'entre? and Where is
the lost and found? would be O sont les objets trouvs?
Directional Words

right there

juste l

zhoost
lah

across
from

en
face
de

awn
fawz duh

Here

ici

ee-see

between

entre

awn-truh

over

l-bas

there lah
bah

next to

ct
de

ah kohtay duh

to the right

of droite
de

ah
dwaht
duh

near

prs
de

preh duh

to the left of

gauche
de

ah
gohsh
duh

far (from)

loin de

lwahn
duh

straight ahead

tout droit

too
dwah

at the
end of

au
fond
de

oh fohn
duh

in front of

devant

duhvawn

at the top
of

en
haut
de

awn oh
duh

behind

derrire

dare-eeair

Special Uses of Devoir

Devoir is one of the trickiest verbs to translate and use in French.
The following is a list of the different meanings of devoir used in
various tenses.
must, have
to
Present Tense

probably

Je dois tudier.
Il doit tre
malade.

I must (have to)

study. He's
probably sick.

had to (and
did),

Il a d partir.

He had to leave.

Elle devait
chanter ce soir.

She was supposed

to sing tonight.

Pass Compos must have

was supposed
Imperfect

to, used to have

 1
to

Future

will have to

Conditional should
Past
have

should

Conditional

Tu devras
payer l'argent.

You will have to pay

money.

Vous devriez
manger les
fruits.

You should eat fruits.

Ils auraient d
jouer.

They should have

played.

Cosmetics / Toiletries
toothbrush

la brosse dents

hair spray la laque

toothpaste

le dentifrice

hair dryer le sche-cheveux

dental floss

le fil dentaire

nail polish le vernis ongles

hair brush

la brosse

mascara

le mascara

comb

le peigne

lipstick

le rouge lvres

shampoo

le shampooing

powder

la poudre

curling iron

le fer friser

soap

le savon

shaving cream la crme

raser

makeup

la maquillage

razor

le rasoir

perfume

le parfum

mousse

la mousse

cologne

l'eau de cologne

Present Participle
Present participles can be used as adjectives, as verbs, or like a
qui clause. When an adjective, it agrees with the noun it modifies.
When a verb, it is invariable. Preceded by en, (equivalent to while,
by, upon or in), it corresponds to the English -ing verb form. Used
without en, the present participle can act like a qui clause and can

also replace a causative cause. To form this participle, drops the

ons ending of the nous form in the present tense and add -ant.
Three exceptions:
avoir

ayant

tre

tant

savoir

sachant

Est-ce que tu rves en dormant?

Do you dream while sleeping?

En ouvrant le frigo, j'ai trouv

quelque chose manger.

By opening the fridge, I found

something to eat.

N'ayant pas assez d'argent, il a

vol le livre.

Not having enough money, he stole

the book.

Elle a vu un corbeau tenant

dans son bec un poisson.

She saw a crow holding a fish in his

beak.

Abbreviations / Slang
owner
drink before
dictionary
car
laboratory
cinema
photography
microphone
college
slide
advertising
demonstration
soccer
television
friendly
terrific

la propritaire
dinner l'apritif
le dictionnaire
l'automobile
le laboratoire
le cinma
la photographie
le microphone
la facult
la diapositive
la publicit
la manifestation
le football
la tlvision
sympathique
sensationnel

proprio
apro
dico
auto
labo
cin
photo
micro
fac
diapo
pub
manif
foot
tl
sympa
sensas

Past Infinitive
The past infinitive is used to express something that has already
happened. Verbs such as s'excuser, regretter, and remercier are

often used in this tense. It is formed with the infinitive of the

auxiliary verb (avoir or tre) and the past participle of the main
verb. And the past participle can have agreement as well, with
either the subject or the object, depending on the sentence.
Whenever aprs is followed by a verb, it is always a past infinitive.
And note that negative expressions precede an infinitive.
Je vous remercie d'tre venus.

I thank you for coming (or having

come.)

Excusez-moi d'tre arriv(e) en

retard.

Excuse me for arriving (or having

arrived) late.

Aprs avoir fini mes tudes, je

veux devenir professeur.

After finishing (or having finished)

my studies, I want to become a
teacher.

Elle regrette de ne pas avoir pos

la question.

She regrets not asking (or having

asked) the question.

In the Ocean
scuba diver
wet suit
flipper
oxygen tank
shipwreck
helm
anchor
snorkel
mask
starfish
jellyfish
sea urchin
sea horse
seaweed
fishing line
treasure chest
fish hook
barnacle
coral

le plongeur sous-marin
la combinaison de plonge
la palme
la ballon d'oxygne
l'pave
la barre
l'ancre
le tube pour masque sous-marin
le masque
l'toile de mer
la mduse
l'oursin
l'hippocampe
les algues
la ligne de pche
le trsor
le hameon
la bernacle
le corail

seashell
wave
sand
bubble
clam
crab

Le coquillage
la vague
le sable
la bulle
la palourde
le crabe

To Die
Mourir-to die (moo-reer)
meurs muhr mourons moo-rohn meurs muhr
mourez moo-ray meurt muhr meurent muhr

In Space
astronaut

l'astronaute

solar system

space shuttle

la navette
spatiale
le tableau de
bord
le satellite
la soucoupe
volante
l'extra-terrestre
l'astrode
le scaphandre de
cosmonaute
la jeep lunaire
la capsule
d'atterrissage
le laboratoire
la station
spatiale
la panneau
solaire
la pluie de
mtores
la constellation

beaker

le systme
solaire
le vase bec

test tube

l'prouvette

galaxy
Earth

la galaxie
la terre

moon
sun
planet

la lune
le soleil
la plante

rings
crater

les anneaux
la cratre

stars
comet

les toiles
la comte

rocket

la fuse

robot

Interplantaire
l'automate
la nbuleuse

control panel
satellite
spaceship
alien
asteroid
space suit
lunar rover
Landing capsule
laboratory
space station
solar pannel
Meteor shower
constellation

nebula

Subjunctive Mood
If a sentence expresses a subjective statement of opinion, the
subjunctive mood is used. The subjunctive is used in dependent
clauses introduced by the word que. The main clause must
express personal opinions or feelings and have a different subject
from the dependent clause. If the two subjects are the same, the
infinitive is used.
Je doute que la situation soit juste. I doubt that the situation is
just. (shows judgment and opinion) Tout le monde veut que
venir. NOT: Tout le monde veut que tout le monde vienne. (use infinitive, same
subject)
To form the subjunctive, use the ils/elles form of the present
indicative tense. This is also the form for the ils/elles form of the
subjunctive. For je, tu, il/elle, drop the -ent and add -e, -es, and -e.
Nous and vous use the imperfect forms.
Drop the -ent of present form, and add:
-e -ions -es

-iez -e

-ent

Irregular Forms
avoir
aie

tre

faire

aller

ayons

sois (swaw) soyons fasse

fassions

aille
allions

(eye)

aie
s

ayez

sois
soyez
fassiez

fasses

ailles

alliez

ait

aient

soit
soient
fassent

fasse

aille

aillent

vouloir

pouvoir

savoir

pleuvoir

veuille (vuhee)
voulions

puisse (pweess)
puissions

sache
sachions

veuilles vouliez

puisses puissiez

saches
sachiez

(ay)

veuille veuillent

puisse puissent

sache
sachent

pleuve

Here is a list of common expressions that are followed by the

subjunctive:
Verbal Expressions

Conjunctions

douter

avant que suggrer

pour / afin que vouloir

jusqu' ce que proposer

moins que

avoir peur

bien que / quoique regretter craindre tre content /triste/ dsol(e)/

surpris(e), etc.
penser/croire/trouver
(negative and interrogative forms only)

il faut que

il vaut mieux que

il est important que

il se peut que

il est possible que

il est temps que

c'est dommage que

However, douter, jusqu' ce que, 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 esprer or il est probable, although the subjunctive
may be used with these words in other Romance languages. For
some reason, this is not the case in French.

Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns replace nouns used with possessive
adjectives.

They agree in gender and number with the noun.

Singular

Plural
Masc.

Fem.

Mine

le mien

la mienne

les miens les miennes

yours

le tien

la tienne

les tiens

la sienne

les siens les siennes

his/hers/its le sien

Masc. Fem.

les tiennes

ours

le ntre la ntre

les ntres les ntres

yours

le vtre la vtre

les vtres les vtres

theirs

le leur

les leurs

la leur

les leurs

C'est ma pomme. Voil 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 ntre.
They like their car. We like ours.

Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense is used in works of literature in place of the
pass compos and is never spoken. You most likely will never
need to form this tense, but you should be able to recognize it for
reading purposes.

The

-er (1st) -ir / -re (2nd)

3rd conj.

4th
conj.

-ai -mes -is

-mes

-us -mes

-ins
-nmes

-as -tes -is

-tes

-us -tes

-ins
-ntes

-a -rent

-irent

-ut -urent

-int
-inrent

-it

first two

conjugations are the endings for all regular verbs, and some
irregular verbs. The following are the stems for irregular verbs
sorted according to which conjugation they use:
1st
aller all- craindre craign-

2nd

3rd

avoir

e-

dire d-

connatre conn-

venir v-

croire

prendre pr-

cr-

dormir dorm-

devoir d-

crire criv-

Recevoir re-

faire f-

Savoir s-

mettre m-

Vouloir voul-

voir v-

tre f-

lire l-

Make-Believe Stuf
dragon
fairy
elf
giant
tower
knight
squire

le dragon
la fe
le lutin
le gant
la tour
le chevalier
l'cuyer

4th
tenir t-

 1
court
jester
minstre
dungeo
moat
castle
unicorn
shield
sword
lance
ax
drawbridge
crown
king
queen
princess
prince
throne

le fou
le troubadour
l'armure
le donjon
les douves
le chteau
la licorne
l'cu
l'pe
la lance
la hache
le pont-levis
la couronne
le roi
la reine
la princesse
le prince
le trne

Quebec French
Differences in vocabulary:
En France, on dit....
l'arrt
le stop
une broue une bire
des bbelles des jouets
un bcyque une bicyclette
des bidoux / du foin de l'argent
un bluet une myrtille

une calotte une casquette

une caisse une banque
populaire
une automobile
un char
une airelle
une canneberge
le petit djeuner
le djeuner
un petit magasin
un dpanneur
le djeuner le dner
le week-end
la fin de semaine
un rfrigrateur un frigidaire
une lampe-torche
une lampe de poche un chat
un minou
une chose
une patente
un dollar
une piastre
un chien

un pitou
le dner
le souper
un film
Au Qubec, on dit....

asteure bienvenu
c'est pas varjeux il mouille
pantoute prsentement tiguidou
tu es fin
achaler / gosser
avoir les yeux dans la graisse de binnes
brailler chauffer dbarquer (d'un char)
embarquer (dans un char)
faire dur faire ses commissions ou son picerie
magasiner minoucher
En France, on dit...

cette heure de
rien c'est pas terrible

il pleut pas du tout

maintenant c'est d'accord
tu es gentil
dranger quelqu'un
avoir l'air fatigu pleurer
conduire un vhicule
descendre (d'une voiture)
monter (dans une voiture)
avoir mauvaise mine
faire ses emplettes
se promener dans les magasins
caresser une vue

Differences in pronunciation:
1.

An affrication of the consonants "t" and "d" before the vowels "u"
and "i." For example, "tu es parti" is pronounced "tsu es partsi."

2.

There is a reduction of the pronoun "il" to"y": Y'est malade, Y'a

pas le temps; as well as a reduction of "elle" to "a" ("elle a"
becomes "aa"): Aa pas le temps, aa mal au dos.

3.

"Chu" is a contraction for"je suis": Chu fatigu, chu en retard.

4.

A "t" sound still exists in the expressions: "il fait frette" (froid),
"mon litte" (lit), "viens icitte" (ici). And the old pronunciation for
the "oi" sound is still used: "moi" and "Qubcois" are
pronounced "mo" and "Qubcos."

5.

"Tu" is often added after questions: Il en veut-tu? Tu m'coutestu? Je l'ai-tu?

6.

Many people end their statements with: T'sais? (a reduction of:

tu sais)

Franglais used in Quebec:

Bummer, spinner, slaquer, puncher, backer, rusher, spotter, tripper,
checker, avoir un good time, tre cheap, tre opne, faire son
show.

Words and expressions

The basics of spoken French
When I first arrived in France while in high school, I was surprised
to learn that ne is often omitted in spoken French:
Written French

Spoken French

English

Il n'est pas trs cher

Il est pas trs cher

It's not very

expensive.

Je ne sais pas

Je sais pas

I don't know.

Je ne
Corinne

vois

plus Je vois plus Corinne

I
don't
Corinne
anymore.

see

Cela ne sert rien

Ca sert rien

It's of no use.

Ne bouge pas!

Bouge pas!

Freeze!

ne is never deleted in written French.

In French before a vowel, le and la become l', que becomes qu',
and so on. In spoken French there are even more contractions:
Je ne sais pas

J'sais pas

I don't know.

Tu es fou

T'es fou

You're crazy.

Il ne faut pas le dire.

pas le dire

You shouldn't say it.

tout ce qu'ils

tout ce

everything they do

peut-

p't't'

maybe

J'sais pas is pronounced jsaispas. It is often contracted further to

ch pas and in the extreme becomes simply chpas. To sound

authentic, you must pronounce the ch sound twice, and say chch
pas. Je suis is also shortened to chchuis.
Questions are formed without the inversion or est-ce que
usually taught in French class:
Written French

Spoken French

English

Qui est-ce?

C'est qui? or Qui c'est?

Who is it?

O vas-tu?

O tu vas?

Where are you going?

or Tu vas o?

Comment
t'appelles-tu?

Tu t'appelles comment?

What's your name? or

Comment
tu
t'appelles?

Quel ge as-tu?

T'as quel ge?

How old are you? or

Quel ge t'as?

A rising voice pitch or intonation is used in yes/no

questions such as the following, to distinguish them from
declarative sentences:
Ne
pas?

trouves-tu Tu trouves pas?

Est-elle sortie?

Elle est sortie?

Don't you think?

Did she leave?

Extra pronouns at the beginning or end of the sentence

are very often used for emphasis:
Ch pas, moi

I dunno.

Moi, ch pas

I dunno.

Moi, j'pense que...

I think...

C'est important, a

That's important.

Ca, c'est important

That's important.

Conversational tics
There are some very common reflex-like phrases. To
express agreement:
C'est a

That's right.

Effectivement.

Indeed.

En effet.

Right.

Justement.

Exactly./As a matter of fact, yes./That's the

thing.

Tout fait.

Absolutely.

Absolument.

Absolutely.

Exactement.

Exactly.

Exact./C'est
exact.

That's right./That's correct.

Voil.

Right./There you are.

Bien sr.

Of course.

Eh oui.

I'm afraid so./You got it.

Bon.

Fine. (can also mean "fine!" as in not fine)

D'accord.

OK.

Oui is pronounced a variety of ways. Listening to my coworkers

talking on the phone, I noticed they would say oui (yes) at first and
then ouais (yeah). The first oui was more of a "Yes, how may I
help you?" or "Yes, got it" and the later ouais more of a "Yes,
right."
The ee sound in oui-for that matter all final ee and oo (as in tout)
sounds in French-are often pronounced with an extra air
hissing/blowing sound or constricted flow of air.

Oui is often pronounced with what sounds to me like a "smiling"

sound.
When interjecting ouais while the other person is speaking, to
indicate you are following, it is often pronounced by inhaling air
into the mouth instead of exhaling from the lungs as is normally the
case.
Ways of saying what:
Comment?

What?

Quoi? (less formal)

What?

Hein? (even less formal)

Huh?

Pardon? (more formal)

Pardon?

Oui?

What?

Comment a?

What do you mean?

C'est dire?

What do you mean?

C'est quoi, a?

What's that?

Some other very frequent short phrases:

Ah bon?

Really?

Bien sr

Yeah, right. (said ironically to express

disbelief)

Ca y est?

So, are you ready?/Are you all

set?/Got it?

Ca y est

There we
set./Got it!

Ca va

I'm OK.

Ca se voit

It shows./You can tell.

Ca va de soi

That goes without saying.

Ca n'a rien voir

That has nothing to do with it./No

are./That's

it./I'm

all

comparison./ It's like night and day.

C'est a?

Is that it?

C'est pas grave

That's all right./It doesn't matter.

C'est evident

It's obvious.

C'est pas evident

It's not so easy. (to do, to figure out)

C'est pas vrai!

I can't believe it!/You've got to be

kidding!

Je n'en sais rien

I have no idea.

Je ne sais plus

I don't know anymore.

Je m'en fous

I couldn't care less.

Mme pas

Not even.

On y va?

Shall we go?

O a?

Where?

Qu'est-ce que tu
racontes?

What are you talking about?

Vas-y !

Go ahead!

Synonyms for good

In English, every few years the word for good changes: Before I
was born, things were jimdandy, hunky-dory, peachy-keen,
nifty, the cat's pajamas. In the 60's, they were groovy, heavy,
in, and neat. In the 70's, cool, hip, the most, and out of this
world. In the 80's, awesome, killer, happening, hot, and totally
rad. In the 90's, rockin, slammin, huge, fat, strong, and to die
for (with cool making a comeback). There are many such words
and they vary regionally and from crowd to crowd. Life is (was?)
wicked pisser in Boston, bitchen and tubular in California, brill,
grand, smashing, and glitter in England.
The same is true in French. Besides bien and bon, the most
frequent adjectives meaning good nowadays are gnial, sympa,
sublime, super, and cool. C'est gnial ! C'est sympa ! Ta robe,
elle est sublime ! Young kids say extra and gant. (There's a
cereal called Extra and the slogan for La Gode, a planetarium
dome in Paris, is C'est gant ! Gant does also mean giant.)
The word extrme (extreme, total) is currently very popular in the
mass media. There is a television series called Extrme Limite
(Extreme Limit) and an ice cream called Extrme. Even
insurance is advertised as being extrme.
Slightly older expressions still used are: chouette, patant,
fabuleux, formidable, formide, fumant, impeccable, impec.
Using the prefixes hyper-, super-, mga-, archi-, and ultra-, more
words can be formed: super-bon, super-bien, hyper-chouette,
super-sympa, mga-gnial.
terrible can mean good or bad depending on the context.
Originally the word meant inspiring terror and it is still used with
this meaning. Then around 1587 it acquired the meanings of
dreadful and awful. And since 1664, the word also means
tremendous, so that more recently one might hear c'est un type

terrible (he's a fantastic guy) or c'est pas terrible (it's not so

great). terrible is not so different from the English mean and bad,
which can also mean either good or bad.
C'est le pied ! means It's a blast! or It's the most!
C'est le top ! or C'est top ! means It's the best!
C'est classe ! means That's classy!
More lasting and neutral words-similar to English fabulous,
fantastic, great, incredible, marvelous, sensational, superb,
wonderful,
and
so
on-are:
excellent,
exceptionnel,
extraordinaire, fabuleux, fantastique, incroyable, louable,
magnifique, merveilleux, sensationnel, and superbe.
On a cereal box with a bear on it, it says C'est oursement bon !
inventing the new adverb oursement by analogy to vachement
(slang for very)-vache means cow and ours means bear.
There are also many ways of saying bad. Ca craint is That's no
good or That's worrying and craignos means scary/worrying.
C'est chiant is That sucks, and Ca me fait chier means That
pisses me off. C'est con is That's stupid. (The French
expressions in this paragraph are stronger than the English
translations I have given. Use with discretion.)

Hedges
English speakers punctuate their sentences with like, well, um,
and you know. Words such as these might seem meaningless but
there is a certain utility to them. French has similar words.
You very often hear quoi at the end of a sentence. It's an
exclamation and hedge word which doesn't have a single
equivalent in English:
Elle est jolie, quoi.
She's sort of pretty.
La vie, quoi!
Life, you know what I mean!
Voil quoi./Et puis voil quoi.
And that's about it. (= no more to say)
C'est une espce de lgume quoi.
It's kind of a vegetable thingy.

You often hear quoi at the end of a summarizing sentence after a

long explanation-similar to in short and in other words in English.
Espce de, which means kind of or type of, is also very
frequently used for insults:
Espce de con!
You stupid idiot! (stronger in French)
Espce d'imbcile!
You fool!

Another very frequent expression is quand mme, which

translates differently to English in different situations:
Je crois que les choses sont claires quand mme.

I think that things are clear, aren't they?

Le pain c'tait quand mme dlicieux.
The bread was actually quite delicious.
C'est quand mme trs trs gnant.
This is still very very annoying.
C'est quand mme extraordinaire!
That's really fantastic!
Oui, mais quand mme!
Yes, but still!
Quand mme!
Really!

A frequent expression is en fait, with the t pronounced:

Ce n'est pas mal, en fait.
It's actually not so bad.
En fait, elle est assez sympa.
Actually she's quite nice.

Another frequent word is enfin:

Yves-et-Simone rpondent une interview en
anglais-enfin c'est
Simone qui rpond...
Yves and Simone answer an interviewer's questions
in English-well
actually it's Simone who answers...
Avec la Marquise, enfin la veuve du Duc, ...
With the marchioness-that is, the Duke's widow- ...
Elle est blonde, enfin plutt rousse.

She's a blond-mmm, more of a redhead.

Mais enfin, arrtez!
Come on already! Stop it!
Enfin, je crois.
At least I think so.
Mais enfin.
But really now.
Mais enfin bon.
But anyway.

The exact meaning of quand mme and enfin depends a lot on

what tone of voice is used.
There is no exact equivalent to English like which can be
inserted almost anywhere in a sentence, although
comme is sometimes used in a similar way:
Il y a comme une similitude de situation ...

which means:
There's like a similarity in the situation ...
There is sort of a similarity in the situation ...
There's a certain similarity in the situation ...

In French you might also say:

Il
Il
Il
On

y a une sorte de similitude de situation ...

y a une espce de similitude de situation ...
y aurait comme une similitude de situation ...
dirait qu'il y a une similitude de situation ...

Truc (thing,
meanings:

thingy)

Ce n'est pas son truc.

and

machin

have

That's not his thing.

various

Elle a le truc.

She's got a knack for it.

J'ai trouv ce machin par I found this thingy on the

terre.
ground.
J'ai un truc te dire.

I have something to tell you.

Il y a un truc.

There's a trick to it.

Les prix sont-ils truqus?

Are prices rigged?

Machin/Machin-truc

what's-his-face/what's-hisname

Machine

what's-her-face/what's-hername

trucage

special effects (in a film)

Disons (shall we say) is another hedge word:

Disons deux fois par semaine
About twice a week.

Interjections
If you say oh l l in an annoyed tone, it means come on or give
me a break. If you say it in a consoling tone, it means there there.
If you say it in a positive tone, it means oh boy!
bof is an interjection expressing indifference or slight
negativeness. This is similar to an interjection used by some
English speakers on occasion and difficult to reproduce in printsomething like eh or ieh. La bof gnration is the Whatever
generation.
You hear hop, et hop, and allez hop more often in French than
you hear alley-oop in English (which comes from the French). The
h is sometimes pronounced as in English.
Other common French interjections:
ae

ouch

ae ae ae

uy uy uy/oh dear/oy

chiche !

I dare you!

coucou

peek-a-boo

et tac !

so there!

eh ben tac !

so there!

hlas

alas

miaou

meow

ooo ooo !

yoo-hoo!

oups !

oops!/whoops!

youpi !

yippie!/yay!

Inventing new words

Just as you can make up new words in English, you can do this in
French.
One common way is to lop off the end of word. The words
below are all commonly heard:
Clipped
form

Complete form

English

appart

appartement

apartment

bac

baccalaurat

baccalaureate
age 17-18)

bnef

bnfice

profit, advantage

cata

catastrophe

disaster

certif

certificat

certificate
diplomas)

chrono

chronomtre

stopwatch

compil

compilation

compilation (CD)

conf

confrence

conference, lecture

d'ac

d'accord

OK

dmago

dmagogue

popularity
demagogue

dispo

disponible

available, in stock

fac

facult

university

frigo

frigidaire

(old
trademark
refrigerator

gaucho

gauchiste

leftist

impec

impeccable

perfect, great

imper

impermable

raincoat

(diploma,

(various

seeker,

for)

intello

intellectuel

intellectuel

labo

laboratoire

lab/laboratory

manif

manifestation

protest

manip

manipulation

manipulation

mcano

mcanicien

mechanic

mlo

mlodrame

melodrama

mob

mobylette

(trademark for) moped

para

parachutiste

parachutist

parano

paranoa

paranoia

prif

priphrique

beltway (around Paris)

petit-dj'

petit-djeuner

breakfast

philo

philosophie

philosophy

proc

procureur

prosecutor

pub

publicit

ad/advertisement

rcr

rcration

recess

rpte

rptition

rehearsal

resto

restaurant

restaurant

sadomaso

sadomasochiste

sadomasochist

scnar

scnario

script

sympa

sympatique

great, nice

synth

synthtiseur

synth/synthesizer

toxico

toxicomane

drug addict

vrif

verification

verification, check

Fisc is commonly used as an abbreviation for administration

fiscale (the French equivalent of the IRS). It sounds (even to
native French speakers) as if it is a clipped form of fiscale, but it
has a separate existence, having come directly from the Latin
fiscus.

Distinguo (fine distinction) is directly from Latin.

The linguist Henriette Walter points out that clipped words are not
a 20th Century phenomenon-words such as rep (reputation) and
incog (incognito) were very popular in 18th Century English.
In a restaurant, the waiter asks the cook for un jour (= plat du
jour/today's special).
Another way of creating new words is by adding suffixes. age is a
very commonly used to form new masculine nouns out of nouns or
verbs:
Original word

Derived word

bruit (noise)

bruitage (sound effects)

draper (to skid)

drapage (skidding, loss of control)

essorer (spin-dry)

essorage (spin-dry cycle)

redmarrer (restart)

redmarrage
economy)

(recovery,

said

of

The installation instructions for a curtain rod said:

Pour scier la tringle, retirer le pouliage.

I couldn't find pouliage in the dictionary, but I did find poulie which
means pulley. So pouliage means something like pulley
mechanism. This is a rare word-a search of the web using the
French search engine clia turned up only once use: pouliage
Harken de contrle de la trinquette.
Collage, a word already very familiar to English speakers, comes
from coller (to glue, stick).
There was a movie on TV having lots of fun with the word cocu
(cuckold in English, a man whose wife has cheated on him). They

used a number of derived words which are in the dictionarycocuage, cocufier-but also one which wasn't-cocuficateur.

Everyday diferences
At the same time I was learning French, I was also learning
various little differences between the way things are done in
France versus the U.S. They seem trivial in retrospect, but they
were definitely noticeable at first. For example, when dining in
France, you put the napkin in your lap right before the waiter sets
down the dish or right before taking the first bite of food, while in
the U.S., you put the napkin in your lap immediately after sitting
down.
There is a kind of Melba toast I like which is available in any
grocery store in France. The only problem is that the toasts are
always breaking on me. I always wondered why such good toasts
weren't available in the U.S. and then one day I noticed on the
package:
Le Truc
Pour beurrer vos biscottes sans les briser, empilez
en trois et tartinez
celle du dessus avec un
beurre pas trop ferme.
The Trick
To butter your Melba toasts without breaking them,
stack them three-high and butter the top one with
butter which is not too firm.

That's when I understood that this product is just too userunfriendly to survive in the American market.
At many places which sell food and have tables, with the exception
of Quick and McDonalds (nicknamed MacDo, pronounced
MagDo, analogous to the English Mickey D's), you are expected
to sit down and be waited upon. You only buy at the counter if you
are taking out. No tip is generally expected at the counter.

In restaurants in France, a service charge is either added to the

price of each dish (service compris), or added to the total bill
(service non compris). So either way, a service charge is already
included in the total. In addition to the service charge, you leave an
additional 5-10% tip on the table for the waiter/waitress
(serveur/serveuse). You are not supposed to tip the patron
(owner).
You tip taxi drivers and hairdressers about the same way you
would in the U.S.
In many shops and department stores in France, you don't pay the
salesperson, obtain the desired items, and leave. First the
salesperson gives you a ticket for the items and you then go to a
cashier (caisse) to pay. Then you bring the payment receipt back
to the salesperson who gives you the purchased items. In a
smaller shop the salesperson may bring the items to the cashier
for you. (Since returning to the U.S. I have noticed that this model
exists here as well: In Sam Ash music stores in Manhattan, you
pay at the cashier and the salesperson brings you your
merchandise. Or when ordering takeout at the Carnegie Deli, you
order your sandwich at the counter, pay at the cashier, and bring
back a ticket to get the sandwich.)
The cover story often appears at the beginning of a French
magazine. In the U.S., the cover story is never at the front-the
advertisers get to try to sell you a few products first. In French
magazines the beginning of an article is often reused verbatim as
the squib which appears in the table of contents. In the U.S. if it is
reused it is more heavily edited.
Even in one of the more respected newspapers such as Le
Monde, headlines are designed more to grab your attention than
to give the key point of the article. Instead of a lead which
elaborates on the headline, you may have to read all the way to
the end of the article to find what the headline was referring to.
Headlines in French are ordinary noun phrases or sentences,

unlike headlines in English which are in an abbreviated,

telegraphic style (obtained by removing articles and be).
In French newspapers, the journalist is permitted-perhaps even
expected-to editorialize in every article, whereas in the U.S.
articles are supposed to at least convey an impression of
objectivity. In January 1995, Le Monde began a separate Op-Ed
page patterned after those of Anglo-American newspapers, in a
halfhearted attempt to separate editorial from informational
articles.
There seem to be topics which come in waves in all the electronic
and print media. One week incest was everywhere. The next week
it was the origin of the human species in evolution. And the next it
seemed everyone was debating the origin of the number zero. If
you flip between two television news shows, you will often find they
are on the same story at the same time. I'm not exaggerating-in
fact Jean-Franois Kahn recently came out with a whole book on
this copycat phenomenon called La Pense Unique.
In France typewriter and computer keyboards have the A and Q
keys reversed, Z and W reversed, and M moved to the right of L. I
find it's not that difficult to learn the new key locations. Even after
years of typing on a qwerty keyboard, in a few days my fingers
adapt to azerty. If I switch back to qwerty, I make mistakes but
then re-adapt.
When I moved back to the United States, I noticed the various
differences in reverse. One thing I had to unlearn was giving my
last name first, instead of my first name first. (The last name is
given first in French when filling out a form. Otherwise, the normal
order in French is the same as English-first name followed by last
name.) I also found myself starting to say What are we?
analogous to On est le combien aujourd'hui ? instead of What's
today's date?. (In English we also say What is it today? or even
just What is it?.)

Television
French TV show hosts say voici les publicits (here are the
commercials) or we'll be back aprs les pubs (after the
commercials)-an American host would never even think the word
commercial. Only rarely is a euphemism such as pause (break)
used.
Technical things are referred to more often than in American
broadcasting:
Les Nationaux de Tennis continuent aprs le
gnrique.
The French Open will continue after the titles.
Ce journal est termin.
This news show is over.

On France 2 and France 3 commercials don't usually interrupt a

show-they are instead shown in several-minute blocks between
shows. On TF1, commercials are shown within a show and
between shows as in the U.S.
According to French government regulations, commercials must
be clearly separated from programming. Before and after
commercials a title saying Publicit (commercials) is always
shown. Regulations specify how many commercials may be
shown, when, and on what channel. The CSA (French FCC
equivalent) pursues violations. When one channel crosses the
line, another files a complaint, reminiscent of the way the phone
companies are always battling it out in the U.S.
Prime time for sitcoms (sitcoms) on French TV is around 5 to 7
p.m. Some popular French sitcoms produced in video such as Le
miracle d'amour (The Miracle of Love) and Premiers baisers
(First Kisses) are in a serial format and shown every weekday,
like soap operas in the States. Others such as Classe mannequin
(Model class) are shown weekly. Quite a few French-made TV
movies (tlfilms) and mini-series are shown, but very few

French series are produced in film. The quality of French series is

lower on average than American ones-to be expected since there
is a smaller market over which to collect advertising revenue and
amortize production costs.
Many American series such as Beverly Hills and Madame est
servi (Who's the Boss) are shown, dubbed in French (version
franaise). Some series such as Seinfeld are shown in version
originale (in the original language with French subtitles), but only
on cable. Series from other countries such as Germany are also
shown.
The equivalents of the American late-night talk show are on in
France each evening from about 6:30 to 8 p.m. Coucou ! (Peek-aboo!) and Nulle part ailleurs (Nowhere else) are the most
popular ones. The talk shows shown later at night, such as
Bouillon de culture (Culture Hotbed/Broth) or Le Cercle de
minuit (The Midnight Club), are more serious discussions about
books or theater, similar to Charlie Rose on PBS in the States.
It's funny to see American stars appear on French talk shows.
Usually they wear a tiny earphone giving a simultaneous English
translation and the audience hears a simultaneous French
translation of what they say (as in the case of Woody Allen). Other
times the host asks questions in English and briefly summarizes
their response in French (as in the case of Suzanne Vega, who
disappeared during a commercial break, apparently upset about
being ignored among the guests or being forced to sing her hit
song Luca). Some American stars such as Jodie Foster speak
fluent, flawless French, others such as Lauren Bacall speak
passable French, while a few brave souls decide to struggle
through with whatever little French they may know.
Local news (journal rgional) is shown on France 3 at around 7
p.m. and national news (nicknamed le vingt heures) is shown at 8
p.m on TF1 and France 2.

Here are some expressions commonly used on TV or in

advertising:
Audimat

French Nielsen ratings

banc d'essai

product evaluation (actually test

bed)

bon de commande

order blank

coffret

jewel box (for CD or book)

dans la limite
disponibles

des

stocks

while supplies last

dans un instant

next

en direct, direct

live

en duplex de Milan

(satellite interview from/to Milan)

envoi en nombre

mass mailing

feuilleton

serial, soap opera

fracheur

freshness
products)

grand public

mass market

grille

(programming
station)

le deuxime quivalent moiti

prix

buy one, get one for half price

onctueux

creamy (for desserts)

srie, srie tlvise

series, TV series

tout en douceur

with softness (for personal care

products)

Merci de votre confiance.

Thank you for your trust.

Merci de votre fidlit.

Thank you for your loyalty.

une page de publicit

a commercial break

(for

personal

schedule

care

of

TV

K7 is short for cassette: if you pronounce the letter k and number

7, it sounds like cassette-like EZ (easy) in American English.
Some product names are altered:
United States

France

Calgonite

Calgonit

Dannon

Danone

Oil of Olay

Oil of Olaz

Ovaltine

Ovomaltine

In the U.S., Calgonite is a dishwasher powder, while in France,

Calgonit gets rid of the calcaire (calcium deposits) in your sink
caused by Parisian water.

Common knowledge
Though a French person might know what SNL (Saturday Night
Live) is, because old reruns are shown on French cable, few in the
U.S. have heard of Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, the news anchor on
TF1, much less his popular nickname PPDA. A parody of him
named PPD is shown on the nightly Guignols de l'info (or
Guignols for short) comedy puppet show on Canal +.
There is a satirical/investigative newspaper called Le Canard
Enchan, literally The Chained Duck, though canard is also a
slang word for newspaper and enchaner la presse means to
shackle the press, so actually The Shackled Rag. When
Balladur was prime minister, this paper would refer to him as
Ballamou (balle mou or ball of slack; also, mou means wimp).
President Chirac is sometimes referred to as Chichi (fuss).
Some other common knowledge words and phrases in
France:
2CV

popular tinny car, pronounced deux chevaux

(two horsepower)

DST

French FBI equivalent (Direction de la

surveillance du
territoire); also the
DPSD, SGDN, DGSE, DRM, and COS

CM2

cours moyen deuxime anne (fifth year of

primary school)

Formule 1

Grand Prix racing

Mr. Allgood

nickname of Jacques Toubon (tout bon all good),

the minister who authored a law banning the
use of
foreign-language expressions in bills,
contracts, user's manuals, etc. when a French
expression exists with the same meaning

La Une

the front page of a newspaper

La Une

a double-page spread in a magazine

La Une

Channel 1 (TF1)

La Deux

Channel 2 (France 2)

narque

student of the cole nationale de administration

(very prestigious French graduate school which
most high government officials have attended)

Normale sup (prestigious university-level school where Sartre

cole normale studied)
suprieure
normalien

student of the cole normale suprieure

polytechnicien,
X

student of the cole polytechnique (very

prestigious university-level French school)

L'X

the cole Polytechnique

Tu versus vous
When a native French speaker says you in English, mentally it is
either a translation of tu (the familiar and singular form) or vous
(the formal and plural form). Some expressiveness is lost, but
there is no major problem. For the native English speaker learning
French, deciding whether to use tu or vous is a bit of a problem.
You might start by using vous, until the person you are speaking
to lets you know you can use tu with (or tutoyer) them (though
using vous with someone you should use tu with can be just as
embarrassing). They will say on se tutoie? Adults always use tu
with small children. In many younger circles (less than 25 years
old) and when participating in certain sports (other than golf,
squash, and tennis) it is natural to use tu right from the start. On
Fun Radio, a station on which teenagers call in to discuss their
problems, people of all ages tutoyer each other. On the other
hand, using tu inappropriately can seem presumptuous-too
intimate too soon.
One strategy is to wait until the other person uses tu or vous with
you, and follow suit. The trouble is that native French speakers
sometimes also do this and they are far more skilled at it.
One time someone who normally uses tu with me used vous and I
wondered what was going on. Then I realized she was talking to
me and the person next to me-it was the plural vous.
The tu-vous thing isn't just an issue for English speakers. One of
my French friends was complaining that when calling perfect
strangers within her company they would use tu. She didn't want
"to have to use tu." Recently there has been call for a law requiring
policemen to use vous when apprehending someone.
Although tu-vous is sometimes a hassle, it can sometimes add an
extra dimension of interest to a dramatic work: In the movie

L'Effronte, the 13-year old heroine visits with a virtuoso concert

pianist the same age who uses vous with her, underscoring the
difference in their worlds. A few seconds later, she uses tu which
then seems close in a false way. In the play Le visiteur in which
God visits Freud, the God character transitions between tu and
vous resulting in a powerful schizophrenic effect: Is it an imposter?
Is it really God (who uses tu with humans, as in tu ne tueras
point/thou shalt not kill)?

Meeting and parting

There was more to meeting and parting than I had thought.
For hello you say bonjour during the day and bonsoir after
sunset. bon matin (good morning) is not used. With close
friends you use tu with, you say salut.
When greeting friends or friends of friends, men and women or
women and women exchange bises-usually two but sometimes
one, three, or four kisses on alternate cheeks. Men and men
usually shake hands; good friends might also exchange bises. In
business settings, men and women generally shake hands. If you
are meeting someone for the first time, you say your name.
To say How are you? it's Comment allez-vous? or for people you
use tu with, Comment a va? or Ca va? The response is Bien, et
vous/toi? or sometimes even just Et toi?
The basic goodbye is au revoir or salut with someone you use tu
with.
Various phrases depending on the time of day are also
very commonly used:
Bon aprs-midi

Have a nice afternoon.

Bonne journe

Have a nice day. (not made

fun of in French)
Bonne soire

Have a good night. (used

after sundown)

Bonne nuit

Good night. (used late at

night)

At the end of the week, you would say bon week-end (have a
nice weekend).
It is very frequent in French to say goodbye indicating when you
are likely to see the person next:
tout de suite

See you in a few minutes.

tout l'heure

See you shortly./See you in a bit.

t' l'heure

See you shortly./See you in a bit.

tout'

See you shortly./See you in a bit.

bientt

See you soon.

plus tard

See you later.

onze heures

See you at 11.

cet aprs-midi

See you this afternoon.

ce soir

See you tonight.

demain matin

See you tomorrow morning.

demain

See you tomorrow.

la semaine prochaine

See you next week.

cette semaine

See you in the week.

lundi, mardi, ...

See you Monday, Tuesday, ...

la prochaine.

See you next time.

Adieu

Farewell./Have a nice life.

(In a more formal English, until is substituted for see

you.) The above may be combined with au revoir:
Au revoir et bientt!
Bye. See you soon!

Au revoir can be translated as goodbye in most cases,

except:
... et au revoir peut-tre.
... and perhaps we'll meet again.

A conversation with a friend might be closed this way:

Bon ben coute, bon week-end et lundi.
OK, have a good weekend and I'll see you Monday.

ben is pronounced as if it were written bin. It was originally a

variation of bien and is now a kind of interjection used in certain
canned expressions such as bon ben (OK well), ben oui (well
yes), ben non (well no), and eh ben (well).
Another common closing phrase is je te laisse or je vous laisse
(similar to I have to go or I'll let you go).
Also:
Allez, au revoir
All right, goodbye.
Allez, salut
OK, see you.

Note that allez is used here even with people you use tu with. It is
more of an interjection than a command. Allez ! means Come on!
As part of saying goodbye, you again exchange bises (see above)
or handshakes.

Before leaving a store, as a rule you say Merci, au revoir. The

shopkeeper will either say that or au revoir, merci for (slight)
variety.

Politeness
There are a number of very frequent formules de politesse (polite
phrases) in French.
Ways of saying thank you:
Merci.

Thanks./Thank you.

Merci bien.

Thank you very much.

Merci beaucoup.

Thank you very much.

Merci les garons.

Thanks, guys.

Je
vous
beaucoup.

remercie Thank you very much.

Je te remercie beaucoup.

Thank you very much.

Merci infiniment.

Thank you very much.

Mille mercis.

Thanks a million. (not ironic)

Merci mille fois.

Thanks a million. (not ironic)

Merci quand mme.

Thanks anyway.

Non, merci./Merci.

No thanks.

Oui, merci.

Yes, thank you.

In the polite style, you must specify who you are addressing, as in
Merci, monsieur and Merci, madame.
Ways of saying you're welcome:
Je vous en prie.

Don't mention it.

Je t'en prie.

Don't mention it.

De rien.

Not at all.

Il n'y a pas de quoi.

C'est
moi
remercie.

qui

Not at all.
vous Thank you.

C'est moi.

Thank you. (A shopkeeper might say

this.)

Tout le plaisir est pour moi.

The pleasure is mine.

The verb in je vous en prie is prier, literally to pray or to beg. I

beg of you may seem excessively polite, but you have to realize
the phrase is not perceived (sentie/felt) this way by a French
speaker. Similarly in English you sometimes say I beg your
pardon? without thinking about begging or pardons at all.
At first when I would say something like:
Je vous propose d'aller voir un film.

It would seem too formal. The word propose in English is used

mostly in business meetings or to refer to marriage proposals, but
in French it is very common and simply means suggest.
Je vous en prie and je t'en prie are used in other situations: In
response to a request for permission to do something it means
please go ahead or please do. When asking someone to stop
doing something it means please. It can also mean after you.
When making your way through a crowd or after bumping into
someone, you say pardon, excusez-moi, or je m'excuse.
When asking for something it is standard to include s'il vous plat
or s'il te plat (please). In written French there are a number of
phrases for saying please:
Prire de ...

Please ... (used on signs)

Veuillez ...

Please ... (used on signs)

Je vous prie de ...

Kindly ...

Je vous serais reconnaissant(e) de bien

vouloir .../ Je vous prie de bien vouloir ...

I would be grateful if you would ...

Nous vous saurions gr de .../ Nous vous

prions de bien vouloir ...

We would be grateful if you would ...

Vous tes pri(e)(s) de ...

You are cordially invited to ...

These phrases do tend to be longer in French-a simple please can

become nous vous saurions gr de bien vouloir.
On signs the infinitive is generally used instead of the
imperative:
Ne pas fumer.
Do not smoke.
Bien fermer la porte.
Close door carefully.

Sometimes the third person singular is used:

Se boit trs frais.
Serve chilled.
Peut tre ouvert par le service postal.
May be opened by the postal service.

At the end of a letter, where in English you use Sincerely or

Sincerely yours, there are a number of longer phrases in French.
A man writing to a man uses:
Recevez, Monsieur, l'assurance de mes sentiments
les meilleurs.

Recevez, Monsieur, l'assurance de mes sentiments

distingus.
Recevez, Monsieur, l'assurance de mes sentiments
cordiaux.

More formally:
Veuillez agrer, Monsieur, l'assurance de mes
sentiments les meilleurs.
Je vous prie d'agrer, Monsieur, l'assurance de
mes sentiments les meilleurs.
Je vous prie de croire, Monsieur, en l'assurance de
mes sentiments respectueux.

The classic formal version is:

Je vous prie d'agrer,Monsieur, l'expression de mes
sentiments distingus.

A literal translation of these expressions would run something like

please accept the assurance of my best feelings but really they
are just a way of saying yours faithfully. They remind me of
obsolete English phrases such as your obedient servant.
A woman writing to a woman uses formulas similar to the above,
with Monsieur replaced with Madame of course.
Formal letters between men and women are not supposed
to use the word sentiments. Instead you write:
Veuillez agrer, Madame, mes plus respectueux
hommages.
Veuillez agrer, Monsieur, l'expression de ma
considration distingue.

There are many slight variations of the above and vague

rules about what to use in different situations. Only rarely
will you see a more creative version:
Nous vous prions de croire notre envie de danser
avec vous.
Please accept our wish to dance with you.

This was the closing of an invitation to the Bal Moderne (Modern

Ball)-a yearly event in Paris where established choreographers
teach new dances to any interested amateur.
When writing to close friends, it's je t'embrasse (literally I kiss
you).

Yuppies
The largest elevators in France would be considered small in the
States. Once I collided a woman as she was coming out of one
and I said excusez-moi to which she responded dcidment !
(decidedly!). This is yuppiespeak in French.
Some yuppie or related words:
arriviste

carreerist

bon chic bon genre,

BCBG

preppie

carririste

carreerist

fou de boulot

workaholic

jeune cadre dynamique

yuppie

NAP

preppie from Neuilly, Auteuil, or

Passy

nouveau riche

nouveau riche

parvenu

nouveau riche

requin

shark

yuppie

yuppie

yuppiste

yuppie (adjective)

Cyberspeak
The information superhighway is l'autoroute de l'information
or l'autoroute numrique or l'autoroute lectronique or
l'infoduc.
The Internet in French is Internet, usually without the definite
article but sometimes with, depending on the speaker. It is also
known as le Net (the net) or le Rseau (the net). Internet is not
to be confused with internat, which can mean boarding school
and internship.
The word for email in French is email, not to be confused with
mail (enamel), though the more officially recognized term is
courrier lectronique (electronic mail).
Usenet news is les news de Usenet . A newsgroup is un
forum, un groupe Usenet, un groupe, or un niouzegroupe. A
rsospectateur is a passive reader of net news or lurker in
English, by analogy to tlspectateur (television viewer). rso is
short for rseau (network). A FAQ (frequently asked questions)
is a FAQ or foire aux questions.
A fax is un fax or une tlcopie.
pas assez de garde-fous contre les fausses manoeuvres
means insufficient idiot-proofing. Otherwise, garde-fous means
railing.

Some other cyberterms:

bouch

hosed (as in the system is

hosed or wedged)

enfilade

thread (sequence of messages

on same topic)

envoi multiple

crosspost

multipostage

crossposting

Professeur Nimbus

mad scientist

plantage

a crash

se planter

to crash

visiophone

videophone, picturephone

When discussing technology, native French speakers don't always

know the French term. A coworker said she would check ma
mailbox instead of ma bote lettres. (I asked her, Why ma
mailbox and not mon mailbox? By analogy to la poste.) Another
coworker knew the word bug in French, but not the officially
recommended term bogue. Chine Lanzman writes in Univers
>interactif (one French equivalent to Wired magazine):
Pour bug, il faut dire bug, et non bogue, parce que
ce n'est au fond pas la mme chose...
Qui a jamais march sur un bogue? tandis que les
bugs, les cafards, c'est vraiment commun et
emmerdant.
Il faut garder les mots anglais, cela ajoute
quelque chose au franais...
For bug, you should say "bug" and not "bogue" which
really isn't the same thing. Who has ever worked
on a "bogue"? Whereas "bugs", cockroaches, are
really common and annoying. We should keep English

words-they add something to French.

A zero-coupon bond known as a strip in English is often called un

strip in French, instead of the more cumbersome, official
obligation dmembre.
A VCR is called a magntoscope in French, and magntophone
means tape deck.
Some objects referred to by abbreviations found in French are:
TGV (high-speed train) which is short for train grande vitesse,
and VMC (ventilation system in apartment) which is short for
ventilation mcanique controle.

The newness of language

Many words which seem new and unique have in fact been around
for quite a while. to veg out in front of the TV seemed like an
ultramodern expression to me, so I was surprised to read in Les
liaisons dangereuses, published in 1782:
au moins, je parle quelqu'un qui m'entend, et non
aux automates prs de qui je vgte depuis ce
matin.
at least that way I'm talking to someone who hears
me-not those automatons I have been vegetating
alongside since this morning.
Je vgte depuis si longtemps !
I have been vegetating so long!

The Oxford English Dictionary shows this meaning of vegetate

to have existed in English since 1740. OK, the form veg out is
probably more recent.
To say that something is just a little too precious is something said
either by Chrissie Hynde or a yuppie, right? No, this use of the
word was popularized by Molire's Prcieuses ridicules in 1659.
pour sr (for sure) is not Valley Talk, but literary French.

The French version of Mr. Clean is Mr. Propre. A recent English

borrowing? Though the purists would prefer otherwise, Mr. has
been used as in addition to M. as an abbreviation for Monsieur at
least since the 1731 edition of Manon Lescaut.
Sometimes I would think a word corresponded to a more modern
English word than it actually did: arrire-pense is not hidden
agenda (programme secret) but ulterior motive. clochard is not
homeless person (sans-abri) but bum. patins roulettes is not
rollerblades (des roller blades), but roller skates.

Language change
grammar

and "bad"

English grammarians such as Fowler consider It's me (rather than

It is I) to be technically wrong. But C'est moi has been considered
correct in French since the 16th century, before which Ce sui je
(sui = suis) was used.
Another case where "bad" English grammar is correct in French is
this here watch, those there watches: cette montre-i, ces
montres-l.
There is no progressive tense in French corresponding to the
English I am running. Depending on the situation, you would say
either Je cours or Je suis en train de courir (I am in the
process of running). Until the 17th century, however, a
progressive did exist in French and you could in fact say
something like Je suis courant.

In English the verb do is heavily used and in French class

one learns various do-less equivalents:
?

Parlez-vous franais ?

You speak French, don't you?

Vous parlez franais, n'estce pas ?

You don't speak French, do

you?

Vous ne parlez pas franais,

n'est-ce pas ?

Yes, I do.

Si, je parle franais.

However when do is used to avoid repeating a previously

mentioned verb in English, it is sometimes possible to use faire in
French:
dormir, comme ils font ...
sleeping, the way they do ...
Il court moins bien que je ne le faisais son ge.
He doesn't run as well as I did when I was his age.

In informal English, words which are normally adjectives are

employed as adverbs (good instead of well, slow instead of
slowly, and so on). This also occurs in French: il faut parler clair
aux franais is literally it is necessary to speak clear to the
French. travailler dur is to work hard and boursicoter srieux is
to trade stocks seriously.

Learning new words

Generally the first time I hear a new French word I don't notice it.
It's only after hearing a new word several times that I start to take
notice and finally decide to look it up in the dictionary. Then I
usually forget it. But then I hear it or read it or need to use it again,
go back to the dictionary, and at this point I start to retain it. I can
sometimes figure out what words mean from context, but not
always very precisely.
After force feeding lots of words and phrases into the brain, I find
they start to come back out spontaneously.
At first I can't keep straight similar sounding words such
as
agrment/amnagement
chance/chec/chouer
prudent/prude/pudeur/pudique
tendu/tenu/tenue/tordu

When I saw the phrase le brevet du fil couper le beurre I

skipped it at first because it seemed like some idiom I wouldn't
know. But it literally does mean the patent for the wire butter
knife. Though the phrase Il n'a pas invent le fil couper le
beurre means he's no genius.
As in your native language, after you've learned a new
word you notice it everywhere and wonder how you ever
did without it. This happened to me for:
plusieurs reprises

several times

atout

asset, feature, strong point

susciter

give rise to, provoke, create

Occasionally when seeing a word such as or or but, I will first

interpret it in the wrong language. So if I am reading a French text
and I see or, I might think I am seeing English or instead of French
or which means and yet or now. Or if I am reading an English text
and I see but, I might think I am reading the French word for goal.
This generally happens only in a text with frequent quotes in the
other language, or if I start reading something without first thinking
about what language it is in.

Cute words and expressions

An amuse-gueule (amuse the mouth) or amuse-bouche is a
little sandwich or cracker served before dinner. The order of
courses in a complete French meal (repas) is:
French

English

apritif + amuse-gueule

before-dinner
d'oeuvre

hors d'oeuvre

starter/appetizer

entre

starter/appetizer (also, entre in

British English)

plat principal

main course (also, entre in

American English)

entremets

dessert

fromage

cheese

dessert(s)

dessert(s)

digestif

after-dinner liqueur

drink

hors

The entremets (which usually involves creme) may also come

after the cheeses.

Note the different distributions of entre and hors d'oeuvre in

French and English.
The expression entre la poire et le fromage refers to the time of
the meal when the discussion becomes less serious. Yes, it's true!
How would you like a tartine de pain complet? This is just (whole
wheat) bread and butter. Actually, it is good.
And how about a hot dog nature? Wow, I didn't know they came
out with a new health-food hot dog. Sure, I'll try it! Actually this just
means a plain hot dog (without mustard or ketchup). And a
caf nature is a coffee black, without sugar.
Imagine my pleasure when I found out that my stove had a
minuterie! Oh, it's just the word for timer.
Other fun words and phrases:
Elle se sent bien dans sa peau (she feels good in her skin)
translates roughly as she is at peace with herself or she is
comfortable with herself. This is very common expression in
French and it sometimes also occurs in English:
I've been learning about being happy in my skin,
you know?
-rock musician Flea in an interview.
...comfortable in his own skin...
-Oliver Stone in an interview
They move as if they were comfortable inside their
skin.
-self-help book

Mtro, boulot, dodo (subway, job, sleep) was a slogan

popularized in 1968 summarizing the situation of a routine
uncreative life in Paris. Recently the Paris metro began an ad
campaign using the slogan mtro, boulot, expo, resto, disco,

dodo, meaning if you buy the monthly Carte Orange pass, you
will have convenient access to many museums, restaurants, and
clubs.
Recoller les morceaux is pick up the pieces (literally, stick the
pieces back together).
Pianoter means to tap at a computer keyboard as if playing the
piano, or to drum on the table. You can also say tapoter.
Nuancer means to express a thought taking into account the
slightest nuances or to moderate one's stance.
There's no word which corresponds exactly to the English cute.
Some approximations: mignon (cute-looking), craquant
(irresistable), and chouette (wonderful ).
The adjective petit (little) is often used as a softener
when making suggestions:
une petite signature
a signature
un petit caf
a coffee

Some other random words and expressions which struck

me as fun at the time:
flch

arrowed, signposted (road)

coup de coeur

special favorite, choice pick

coup de foudre

love at first sight (literally, stroke

of lightning)

doudou

security blanket

micmac

scheming, mess

sans tamboures ni trompettes

with neither tambourines nor

trumpets, without fanfare

tonton

uncle

Vivement vendredi!

I can't wait till Friday!

Fine points
Tense agreement
One time I said je pensais que tu l'as vu (I thought you saw it).
I was told this sounds wrong in French-since the seeing is prior in
time to the thinking, the pluperfect must be used: je pensais que
tu l'avais vu (I thought you had seen it).
French has rules about what tenses go together (called
concordance des temps or tense agreement) which can be
found in grammar books. The basic idea is, if the time is the same,
the verbs are in the same basic tense-past, present, or future. So
unlike in English where you say when they arrive, we will start,
in French you say quand ils arriveront, nous commencerons
(when they will arrive ...). And if you want to say when they
arrive, we start, you can: quand ils arrivent, nous
commenons. However the tense agreement rules are not always
maintained in informal spoken French.
Particularly difficult is the choice between the pass compos and
the imperfect, since these tenses do not correspond to the simple
past and past progressive respectively in English. Here are some
rules of thumb:
To describe a stable state of affairs, use the imperfect:

En 1965, la maison appartenait ma grand-mre.

In 1965, the house belonged to my grandmother.
Il y a une semaine, j'tais content.
A week ago, I was happy.

To describe a change of state, use the pass compos:

Tout coup, j'ai t content.

All of a sudden, I was happy. (= I became happy)

To describe a process or action which was in progress or

unfolding at the time being focused upon, use the
imperfect:

Hier soir, Jean crivait un roman.

Last night, Jean was writing a novel.
8 heures prcises, je jetais un coup d'oeil
ma montre.
At exactly 8 a.m., I was glancing at my watch.

To describe a completed process or action, use the pass

compos:

Jean a crit un roman, et puis...

Jean wrote a novel, and then...

If you would use the present perfect in English, it is

probably correct to use the pass compos in French:

Viens voir! J'ai repeint le mur.

Come take a look! I've repainted the wall.

The future tense is sometimes used in past narratives

where English would use the simple past or would +
infinitive:
Pendant quatorze ans ... il dirigera les oprations
secrtes ... il ne sera libr qu'en 1968.
For forty years ... he directed the secret
operations ... he was not released until 1968.
Jacques Cartier dcouvrit le Canada.
retournera plusieurs fois.

Il y

Jacques Cartier discovered Canada. He would return

there several times.(or He was to return...)

It may seem strange for the future tense to be used to refer to a

past event, but tenses don't correspond to time in English either.
One example is at the laundromat, you will often find
detergent. This isn't really in the future-it's a generalization about
past events. (Linguists study something they call verb aspectmuch more complicated than simply past, present, and future.)

Antecedents
In English the word it is often used without any clearly
expressed antecedent:
OK, so we're getting together for lunch on Tuesday?
I'll make a note
of it. (it = appointment)

In French you would say Je note le rendez-vous (I'll make a

note of the appointment). You would not say Je le note unless le
rendez-vous has been explicitly mentioned.
Where English uses it, French often uses a:
It isn't worth it.
Ca vaut pas la peine.

Instead of using a vague it as in English, in French one sometimes

omits the direct object of a verb-provided it is clear what is being
referred to. So one may say Je note in the above example, and
one may say j'aime pas (I don't like) instead of j'aime pas a (I
don't like that).
French though does not always require the antecedent to
come before the pronoun which refers to it:
redonne leur beaut naturelle aux cheveux
(literally, restores its natural beauty to hair)
restores hair's natural beauty

Negatives
Words such as jamais and personne to me meant never and
nobody. I soon learned they can mean ever and anyone as well:
le plus beau texte jamais crit par Cocteau
the most beautiful passage ever written by Cocteau
Je la connais mieux que personne au monde.
I know her better than anyone in the world.
C'est plus vrai que jamais aujourd'hui.
This is now truer than ever.

I was originally taught to use ne ... ni ... ni for the English

neither ... nor but there are at least three possibilities, with slightly
different meanings:
Je n'aime ni le tennis ni le football.
I like neither tennis nor football.
Je n'aime pas le tennis ni le football.
I don't like tennis nor do I like football.
Je n'aime pas le tennis et le football.
I don't like tennis or football.

In an infinitive construction:
Ne pas utiliser de lessive la main, ni en
paillettes.
Do not use hand detergent or soap flakes.

For either ... or you can use ou bien ... ou bien ... as well as soit
... soit ... or even soit ... ou bien.

Numbers and letters

In English, a phone number such as 555-3401 is typically
pronounced five-five-five (slight pause) three-four-oh-one. In

France, phone numbers are broken up into a series of two-digit

numbers such as 01 36 65 27 66. (France switched from 8 to 10
digits on October 18, 1996.) Each two-digit number is pronounced
as if it were a regular number-you don't say trois-six (pause) sixcinq and so on, but rather trente-six soixante-cinq and so on.
However, if one of the two-digit numbers is a zero, then the English
method of pronouncing the individual digits is used: 01 36 00 02 47
is pronounced zero-un trente-six zero-zero zero-deux quarantesept. Especially in an advertisement, you might hear trente-six
deux fois (thirty six twice) for 36 36.
For long bank or customer numbers, if printed in groups of
numbers, you pronounce each group as a number. If a long string
of digits is shown without grouping, you revert to the English
method of pronouncing each digit separately.
"Quatre vingt" in French is ambiguous-it could mean 80 or 4 20,
though 80 is much more likely. Same in English-"twenty one" could
mean 21 or 20 1. Still, soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, and quatrevingt dix are sufficiently error prone that Parisian financial traders
use the regional terms septante (seventy), octante (eighty) and
nonante (ninety) when quoting prices.
When spelling my name, Mueller, I learned to say deux els-el el
and double el do not seem to be common.

Pronouncing vowels
To pronounce the word tu properly, round your lips as if you were
saying the English word who and without changing your lips from
this position, say the English letter T.
Once you have the front u sound down, to pronounce the even
more difficult glide sound of huit, start to pronounce ut (do, as in
do re mi) but think huit at the same time. Some other practice
words: suis, bruit, bruyant (as distinguished from brillant).

English vowel sounds are generally diphthongized-the tongue

and jaw glide from one position to another as you are pronouncing
the vowel. For example, in time the i is pronounced gliding from
the ah sound to the ee sound, and tee is pronounced gliding from
something like an ih sound to an ee sound. In contrast, French
vowel sounds are generally pure-you keep your mouth in one and
only one position for the duration of the vowel.
The vowel sound in vous is similar to the oo sound in English,
except that it is not diphthongized and your lips are more rounded.
Remember to use the same very rounded lips for the w sound in
words such as moi and toi.
The a sound in words such as d'accord and Madame is
pronounced not with a back ah sound as in father, but closer to
the front vowel sound in hat-actually a good approximation is
the vowel sound in the Boston pronunciation of car.
The final sound of Brassens (the name of a popular French
singer/songwriter) and other similar names such as Thorens is the
nasal vowel sound of fin followed by an s sound.
In Paris, the vowel in enfant and francs
rounded than I had imagined (or is implied
Phonetic Alphabet transcription provided in
nasalized, rounded, back aw sound, not the
front sound used in Canadian French.

and is much more

by the International
dictionaries). It's a
less rounded, more

Because the vowel in enfant is very rounded in Parisian French,

you need to round the vowel in bon even more to distinguish it. A
good practice phrase is son temps: start very very rounded for
son and then let up a bit for temps.
We may be witnessing the beginning of the disappearance of the
distinction between these two vowels. In the history of languages,
vowel distinctions are continually created and destroyed over time.

Nobody knows exactly why-laziness or a kind of "mumbling

tendency" is usually cited as an explanation of the destruction of
vowel distinctions, while the need to be different is cited as a
reason for their creation. The distinction between brun and brin is
almost gone in French. The distinction between cot and caught is
gone in many American English dialects.
Nasal vowels in French (as in the words amant, bien, and
bon) arose historically via the following sequence of
events:
In general pronunciation of bon
Step 1: vowel + nasal: b + o + n
Step 2: nasalized vowel + nasal b + nasalized o + n
Step 3: nasalized vowel: b + nasalized o

That is, the m's and n's in such words were once pronounced,
then the vowel started taking on the nasal quality (lowering the soft
palate so that air passes through the nasal passages) of the m or
n, and finally the m and n disappeared altogether. English is at
Step 2 for some words-compare the pronunciation of pat and pan.
Some African-American dialects of English take it to Step 3 and
drop the final consonant, just like French.
Vowels in Canadian French and Parisian French seem to be
moving in opposite directions: In Paris the vowel of bien is
becoming lower so that it sounds more like byah, while in Canada
the vowel is becoming higher and the nasalization reduced so it
sounds more like byih.
e's which are present in the spelling of a word and pronounced in
the South of France but not normally pronounced in Parisian
French are called mute e's (e muet in French). They are revived
when reading traditional poetry or singing songs. The classical rule
is to pronounce a mute e if it is before a consonant inside a line or
if it is at the end of a line. Though I've noticed in some rock songs
mute e is not pronounced when followed by an s or z sound.

In Parisian French, a mute e is retained when dropping it would

create a series of three consonants (where the third is not an r or
l). Thus the mute e is pronounced in n'importe quoi (anything,
nonsense).
English is said to have difficult spelling, but French is difficult toofor example there are 30 ways of spelling the sound: e, , , ai,
ais, ait, ay, ei, ey, ... Some-such as this French engineer of
speech understanding systems quoted in Actuel magazine-believe
it to be more complicated than English:
Une des grandes difficults du franais, c'est la
non-homognit entre la phontique et
l'alphabtique ... Ce qui est loin d'tre le
cas de l'anglais ou de l'amricain.
A big problem in French is the inconsistency
between sounds and spelling ... Which is far from
the case in British or American English.

The reason spelling doesn't always correspond to pronunciation is

that pronunciation changes more quickly than spelling. For good
reason-you wouldn't want to have to reprint all books every time
there is a sound change, and you wouldn't want to have to
produce different books for every dialect! (Perhaps computer
technology will someday make customized spelling feasible?) Here
is the evolution of roi and loi according to the linguist Ferdinand
de Saussure:
century

spelling

pronunciatio
n

11th

rei, lei

rei, lei

13th

roi, loi

roi, loi

14th

roi, loi

ro, lo

now

roi, roi

rwa, lwa

Pronouncing consonants
I had always concentrated on getting the French r , l, and vowel
sounds right since they seemed the most different from English.
But I soon learned there are a number of differences in the
articulation of other consonants.
The consonants t, d, and n are normally articulated in English by
placing the tongue against the ridge in back of your teeth. In
French they are articulated where the ridge meets the teeth, or
even slightly on the teeth. To learn the French articulation,
compare how you pronounce the English tree with the way you
pronounce at three. The dental articulation of the t in at three is
similar to the way t's d's and n's are always articulated in French.
It almost sounds like a slight lisp to the English ear. Some practice
words: th, toit, doit.
Voicing is the technical term for vibrating your vocal cords. When
you whisper, you aren't voicing. b is the voiced version of p, d is
the voiced version of t, and so on. The consonants b, d, and g are
voiced for their entire duration in French, whereas in English they
start out unvoiced for an instant and then become voiced. To
pronounce the French b, d, or g , make sure you start your vocal
cords vibrating the instant you start to pronounce the sound. I think
of it as pronouncing the sound "more strongly." Some practice
words: bois, doit.
The consonants p, t, and k at the beginning of a word are
pronounced in English with an extra burst of air from the mouth,
called aspiration. To see what is meant by aspiration, try
pronouncing pin and spin. pin is aspirated and spin isn't. There is
no aspiration in the French pronunciation. Thus-as the linguist
Sapir put it-the French p, t, and k have a "precise, metallic quality."
I think of it as pronouncing the sound "more lightly" and "more
crisply." The French t sound is just a quick tongue tap. When
pronounced properly, the French p actually sounds closer to an

English b than an English p, and the t closer to d. Some practice

words: paix, pois, th, toit.
The r in words such as trois and droit must be pronounced
strongly to distinguish them from toit and doit.
Many of the French articulations are actually simpler. It's just a
question of unlearning your more complicated English articulations
(only when speaking French of course!). Here is a practice
sentence incorporating some of the sounds discussed above:
Et qu'ils doivent vivre dsormais dans une socit
de proies et de prdateurs.
And that they have to live from now on in a society
of predator and prey.

The consonants that should be pronounced "more strongly" are

shown in boldface and those that should be pronounced "more
lightly" are in italics.
The French l is articulated nearer to the English n: balle de set
(set point) sounds slightly like banne de sette.
In the history of the French language, many consonants at the end
of a word have disappeared from pronunciation. Some surprises:
You do pronounce the final consonants of amer (bitter), Boulez
(the French composer), fier (proud), and net (clear). But you do
not pronounce the final c in tabac (tobacconist's shop)-though
you do use a k sound at the end of sac and tic. You can
pronounce but (goal) with or without the t-it hasn't disappeared for
everyone yet.
Whether to pronounce or not pronounce the final consonant of
numbers is a bit tricky. The t is pronounced in vingt (twenty) in the
numbers 21 through 29, and when there is liaison with the
following word: vingt ans (twenty years). In other cases such as

vingt personnes (twenty people) and il y en a vingt (there are

twenty of them), the t isn't pronounced.
The t in huit is pronounced if there is liaison with the following
word, if it is being used as an ordinal adjective as in le 8 janvier
(January 8th), if it is begin used as a noun as in multiplier par
huit (multiply by 8), or if it is part of a compound number as in
dix-huit (eighteen) and vingt-huit (twenty eight). The t is not
pronounced if it is used as a cardinal adjective as in huit jours.
When plus is used to mean more or most the s is not sounded,
except before a vowel, at the end of a sentence, and in plus que.
When plus is used to mean not anymore, the s is never sounded.
The s is sounded when plus is used to mean plus (as in deux
plus quatre font six or two plus four is six).
Some French words begin with two consonants in a row that would
not both be pronounced in English. In French they are both
pronounced:
Fnac

Fnac record store

pneu

tire

pseudo

pseudo

psychologue

psychologist

psy

shrink

Some more observations: observateur is pronounced with an ops

sound, not an obz sound as in English. version is pronounced
with an s, not a z sound. The w in interviewer (to interview) is
pronounced with a v sound. The p is pronounced in beaucoup
faire (a lot to do). There is never liason between et (and) and the
following word.

Intonation
In French, the accent of a word is usually on the last syllable. A
declarative sentence in French is generally spoken with a rising
intonation for each phrase, except the last phrase of the sentence
which is spoken with a descending intonation.
For short standard phrases such as au revoir, bonjour, bonsoir,
and merci it is very common to use a rising intonation on the last
syllable even when a question is not being asked.
When saying tous les or toutes les, a high tone is often used on
the word tous or toutes for extra emphasis. This does sound
good.
In English it is common to use intonation for emphasis,
where French instead uses additional words:
Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette
histoire?!

What are
about?!

you

C'est ma chatte moi./C'est ma

chatte.

It's my cat.

C'est moi qui vous remercie.

Thank you.

Ca, c'est sr.

That's for sure.

talking

Intonation can also be used for emphasis in French, but

the rules are different:
Il n'existait pas. Maintenant il existe.
It didn't exist. Now it exists.
C'est son devoir.
It's his duty.

(And of course words can be used for emphasis in English as well,

as in this does sound good.)

Looking Back
Now I can answer the questions I asked at the beginning.
Q: Is there a single moment when the language finally clicks and
you understand it?
A: No. It's a gradual and continuing process. When I first started
learning French, I could immediately understand oui and non to
mean yes and no. At that point I understood less than, say, 1
percent of the French language. Since then, a greater and greater
percentage of French is understandable to me directly, without
having to think about it or translate it into English.
It takes a while to tune in to all the exact sounds required to
distinguish different words: the u sound in jus and vous is
different, but when someone said jus d'orange (orange juice) I
thought they were saying je vous drange? (is this a good
time?/did I catch you at a bad time?). This distinction is often
critical, as in the case of ci-dessous (below) and ci-dessus
(above). Or when they said pour aller o? (where are you
going?) I thought they said pour l'avion? (for the plane?).
I'm still not sure I understand the difference between un nouveau
film and un film nouveau, but for other adjectives I started to feel
the difference: une certaine violence is a certain type of
violence while une violence certaine is a violence that is
certain.
I would guess my percentage of comprehension is now around 7599 percent, depending on the situation. There were moments
when I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm actually understanding and
speaking French and not really aware of it," but no single moment
for me where it all clicks.

Q: When can you speak it?

A: Learning to speak in a foreign language is also a gradual and
continuing process. In the beginning the problem is that you are
always hitting up against concepts you don't know how to express.
In that case you have two choices: You can pause to think, in
which case the person you are talking to may try to help you out
with the missing word or expression. But listeners are impatient
with silence and if they can't guess what you mean they will just go
onto something else. Or you can try to express the idea in a very
awkward manner using words that you do know. This is the best
strategy. The person you are talking to may or may not correct
you.
One time I wanted to buy a fan (ventilateur) but I didn't know the
word, so I asked for an ventail lectrique (electric handheld
fan). OK, they may have looked at me a little askance, but they
had no trouble understanding. Unfortunately, fans were sold out in
France that summer. Eh oui. (I'm afraid so.)
Another time, I could not remember the word for straw (paille), so
I asked for a petit tuyau (little pipe). Strange looks, but I got the
straw.
As you learn more French words and expressions by reading and
listening, you find that they start to come to you naturally in
speaking. And through speaking you reinforce words and
expressions so that they come to you more quickly in the future.
The speed improves with time. I can speak quickly only if
everything I want to say is already on the tip of my tongue. I'm still
not able to talk about a broad range of topics competently in
French, but at a party with a lot of noise I can fool a French person
into thinking I'm French for about 15 seconds! Not bad!

Certain words which seem not to have an exact equivalent in

English, such as the conjunction or (and yet, now), took me quite
a while to get used to.
Q: How long does it take?
A: After about a month of immersion in a foreign language, you
can start to communicate in it. But there is a lot to learn after that.
Q: Once you can understand and speak it, does it feel as natural
as English?
A: The portion I understand feels no different than if it were
expressed in English. It's the portion I don't understand which
makes French still seem fuzzier to me than English, as if there
were a slight fog. Understanding feels more natural than speaking,
where I am always aware of my accent.
When I read a book in French and suddenly there is a quotation in
English, the contrast is striking. It's hard to describe what it seems
like for that instant-the English seems quaint, silly, over-simplified,
vulnerable, or as if too much weight is being given to some
mundane English text. I can almost hear the English words being
pronounced with a French accent.
Q: Can you distinguish different dialects-both accents and
vocabulary? In the same way as English dialects?
A: So far I can detect foreign and Canadian accents, but I'm not
usually aware that a person is from Toulouse or Lille-I'm busy just
understanding. I sometimes notice differences in pronunciation of
words, such as au revoir pronounced as three syllables instead of
two, but have no idea where they are from.
Q: How much are differences between English and French
cultural?
A: The relationship between language and culture is a classic
debate among linguists. I will just offer some observations:

The greatest majority of words and expressions are directly

translatable between French and English, which I attribute to the
commonalities and cross-pollination between the two 20th century
Western cultures. Even Murphy's Law has an equivalent: la loi de
l'emmerdement maximum (the law of maximum shit).
There are some difficult-to-translate words and expressions-you
can come up with a translation for any given situation, but there is
nothing which works in all situations. When there is only one word
in your language, you get the impression there is only one
concept. Upon further reflection, you may acknowledge the
different meanings or nuances of meaning, but the boundaries are
often hard to draw. If you are used to using a certain blanket word
in your native language, it can be frustrating to learn that the word
doesn't exist in the foreign language. You're forced to think harder
about what you actually mean!
Sometimes there isn't a word for something-as noted above there's
no word for dgustation in English and no word for serendipity in
French. Different cultures do concentrate more than others on
refining certain areas of meaning.

Additional commonlyused words and

phrases
Adjectives
coinc

inhibited, boring

crev, puis, nase

beat, burned out,

exhausted

dcontract

relaxed

efficace

efficient

fou, cingl, dingue, zinzin

crazy

insupportable

unbearable

marginal

fringe

mignon croquer

cute as a button

New Yorkais

of New York

pnible

annoying (person), painful,

unpleasant

rpandu

widespread, commonly
found

semblable

similar

singulier

unique

vraisemblable

likely, probable

Adverbs
apparemment

apparently

auparavant

before, beforehand

bien

very

bien

indeed

carrment

completely, downright

forcment

necessarily

fort

very

plein de

lots of

quasiment

nearly, practically

quelque peu

rather, somewhat

toujours

still, always

Nouns
agence

branch

balivernes, btises, conneries

garbage, nonsense,
stupidity

balle

franc

la banlieue

the suburbs

bote

company

bouffe

food

casse-pieds

a pain in the neck

centre commercial

mall, shopping center

chiottes

toilets

commrages

gossip

copain/copine

friend, boyfriend/girlfriend

courants d'air

breeze

enfant gt

spoiled brat

foutaise totale

total crap

frimeur

showoff

gchis

mess, waste (as in gchis

politique)

jouissance

pleasure

le strict ncessaire

the bare essentials

les sans domicile fixe

the homeless

les S.D.F.

the homeless

les sans-abri

the homeless

merde, caca, crotte

shit

nounou

food (used with children),

nanny

nounourse

teddy bear

nuite

night (spent in a hotel)

ours en peluche

teddy bear

petit ami, petit copain

boyfriend

petite amie, petite copine

girlfriend

pice de thtre

play

point de repre

point of reference

pote

friend

sige social

main office, national

headquarters

une boum

a party

vernissage

opening (at an art gallery)

Verbs
annuler un rendez-vous

cancel an appointment

avoir (un) rendez-vous

have an appointment

bachoter

cram (for a test)

bouquiner

read

briser

break

dcaler un rendez-vous

reschedule an
appointment

dchirer

tear up

dposer

to deposit (a check)

tre de retour

come back

faire a

do it

faire la fte

party, celebrate

faire la grasse matine

sleep in

faire la tte

sulk

filer

give

filer

leave

fixer (un) rendez-vous

set an appointment

jouir

enjoy, savor, climax

larguer

dump (a
boyfriend/girlfriend)

prendre la parole

take the floor, speak

prendre son pied

get a kick out of something

prendre (un) rendez-vous

make an appointment

prendre un pot

go for a drink

prendre un verre

go for a drink

rater

miss (a plane, a TV show)

s'clater

have a ball

s'occuper de

take care of, worry about

se rgaler

feast, regale

se remmorer

recollect

supporter

stand, bear

tricher

cheat

tromper

deceive, cheat on

zoner

hang around

Expressions
3 heures pile

at 3 o'clock sharp

3 heures tapant

at 3 o'clock on the dot

merveille

wonderfully

peu prs

almost

une exception prs

except for one thing

un franc prs

give or take a franc

l'issue de

at the end of

d'emble

immediately

d'ici un an

within a year, a year from

now

d'occasion

used

dans les mois qui viennent

in the upcoming months

de quoi

means, reason

en effet

that's right

en particulier

in private

en passe de

about to

en permanence

permanently

en voie de disparition

endangered (species)

faire gaffe

watch out

faire une gaffe

blunder

hutres volont

oysters-all you can eat

jusqu' prsent

so far

jusqu'au bout

all the way, to the very end

laissez tomber

forget it, never mind, let it

go

le Franais moyen

the average Frenchperson

mercredi 12

Wednesday the 12th

ne ft-ce que pour

even if only to

oublie, oubliez

forget I even said it

ouverture exceptionnelle

holiday hours (department

store)

patatras !

crash!

petit petit

little by little

pas pas

step by step

que sais je

what have you

quitte

even if it means

rupture de stock

out of stock

sauf erreur

unless I am mistaken

si je comprends bien

if I understand correctly

si je ne m'abuse

unless I am mistaken

si je ne me trompe

unless I am mistaken

soit (t pronounced)

so be it

soit (t not pronounced)

which brings/makes a total

of

tandis que

whereas, while

tant mieux

good for him/her/them

tant pis

too bad, never mind

taratata!

bullshit! I don't believe

you!

tout coup

suddenly, all of a sudden

tout l'heure

in a second, a second ago

tout de suite

immediately, right away

Allez les enfants.

Come on, kids.

Avec ceci?/Avec a?

Will that be all? (at grocery

counter)

Ca me fait chier.

That really pisses me off.

Ca vous drange si je ... ?

Do you mind if I ... ?

Ca vous va?

Is it OK with you?

Ca va s'arranger.

Things will work

themselves out.

C'est faux.

That's wrong. (a word, a

dance step, ...)

C'est impossible louper.

You can't miss it. (when

giving directions)

C'est juste?

Is that correct? (said of

change)

C'est la raison pour laquelle ...

That's why ...

C'est pas trop tt !

Never too soon!

C'est pour a que je ...

That's why I ...

C'est un petit peu dommage.

That's a bit of a shame.

C'est un petit peu compliqu.

It's sort of complicated.

C'tait bien vous.

It was you all right.

Comme a.

Just because.

Elle est en ligne.

She's on another line.

Est-ce que a te branche?

Sound good to you?

Est-ce que a te dit?

Sound good to you?

Faut pas rver!

Get real!/In your dreams!

Il n'y a pas de quoi rire.

There's no reason to

laugh.
J'ai beau essayer, je peux pas.

Try as I might, I can't do it.

J'ai du mal ...

I have trouble ...

J'ai toujours su que...

I've always known...

Je suis plus accommodant que

vous ne le pensez.

I'm more easygoing than

you think.

Je ne sais que faire.

I don't know what to do.

Je ne sais pas quoi faire.

I don't know what to do.

Je n'arrive pas ...

I am having trouble ..., I

can't seem to ...

L, vous allez fort!

You're really going off on a

limb there!

Moi je dconne.

I'm talking nonsense.

On est bien comme a.

I'm happy.

On est en dmocratie!

It's a free country!

On est en rpublique!

It's a free country!

On se retrouve au caf.

We'll meet at the caf.

Parce que parce que.

Just because.

Parisien de souche

Parisian born and bred

Pas question!

Out of the question!/No

way!

Pourquoi tu dis a?

Why do you say that?

Qu'est-ce que vous faites dans

la vie?

What do you do for a

living?

Qu'est-ce que tu me racontes?

So what's up?

Soit.

So be it.

Surtout pas.

Certainly not.

T'as bien dormi?

Did you sleep well?

T'as qu' suivre.

All you have to do is

follow.

T'as qu' venir.

Just come along, silly.

Tu fais bel avoir...

It would be good for you to

have...

Tu l'as fait exprs?

Did you do that on

purpose?

Veuillez patienter.

Please hold. (on

telephone)