FOREIGN LANGGUAGE 2 (FRENCH)

Basic words in French:

Je- I
Je m’appelle – My name
Je suis un – I am a
J’ habite a – I live in
Enchante- nice to meet you
Bonjour – Hi
Merci- Thank you
Excusez –moi –Excuse me
Au Revoir-Good Bye
S’il Vous Plait- Please

Pronouncing Vowels
French has six vowels: a,e,i,o,u and y. French vowels often taken a accents:

• The acute accent:

• The grave accent
• The circumflex
a The vowel a (a) and its variants sound similar to a in father. Practice saying these
examples:
la – the facile –easy pate –paste e is pronounced uh like a in alone or u in
burn. Practice saying these examples:
je - I
le –The ce –
this, that
Note: except in short words like those above, an unaccented e at the end of a word is
Usually not pronounced. Practice saying these examples:
Carotte –carrot
Argile –clay Verre – glass i the vowel I sounds like ee in beet.
Practice saying thse examples:
Mari – husband
Vie –life
Pari –bet
O The vowel o has an open and closed sound. The open o sounds a little bit like au in
caught. Practice saying these examples:
Bonne- good
Sotte- silly
Vote –vote
O The closed o sounds like o in roll. Practice saying these examples:
Abricot –apricot
sot- silly
pot-pot, jar
U The vowel u has no equivalent in English, but you can make it by pronouncing the sound
ee and then rounding your lips. Practice saying these examples:
Tu- you
Vu- seen
Lu –read
U After the letters q and g, the u is silent in French. Practice saying these examples:
Quatre- four
Guerir – to heal

Basic FRENCH GREETINGS:

Bonsoir- Good Evening
Salut- Hello
Ca va- How are you?
Bienvenue- Welcome
Bonjour monsieur/Madame- Good Morning sir/ Mam
Bonjour Madmoizelle- Hello Miss

Oral Practice:
Practice saying the words in the list.
French English

1. Avis - opinion
2. Metro –subway
3. Paris – Paris
4. Rose- pink rose
5. Image – picture
6. Cidre- cider
7. Modele –model
8. Serieux- serious
9. Parole- word

Diphthongs
Diphthongs are a combination of two vowels or of a vowel and a constant and are treated as
one syllable. ai is pronounced like e in met. Practice saying these examples:

lait - milk chaise - Chair chaine -

chain au or eau is pronounced like o

in roll .

seau -bucket veau -veal chateau –castle eu has two sounds.

The closed sound is pronounced like u in put.

Peu – few
Jeu –game Deux – two eu the open sound is

pronounced like u in fun.

Boeuf – beef
Seul- alone
Er and ez at the end of a word are pronounced like ay in lay .
Assez – enough
Marcher – to walk
Garer – to park
Oi is pronounced like wa in watch.
Moi- me
Toit – roof
Loi- law
Oy is pronounced like wa in watch + ee.
Voyage – travel
Noyau – pit, fruit stone
Loyal –loyal
Ou is pronounced like oo in zoo.
Jour – day
Sous – under
Vous – you
Ui is pronounced like wee.
Bruit- noise
Nuit – night
Pluie - rain
Oui is pronounced like oo + wee.
Oui – yes
Louis – louis