Introduction

to French
Your complete guide to a
BASIC understanding of the
French language before
moving on to the essentials of
Beginning French

Part 1 of the French Essentials Series

 How to Use this Guide
How This
Guide Works
As the introduction, this guide gives you
10 very basic and general lessons touch-
ing upon important key concepts that
you need to master before moving on to
a higher level. It is important that you
spend a considerable amount of time on
the lessons. You can’t conquer French in
a day, so take a few days per lesson!
There are two quizzes - one after the
first five lessons, and one after the last
five lessons. There are also two tests: one
covering vocabulary and verbs, and the
other focusing on translation, an often
sticky grammar point for many students
but one that is very valuable.
Each lesson gives an overview of the
major elements, gives examples, and lots
of room for you to practice. In order to
learn a language, you must not only read
and speak the language, you must write
it. So please don’t ignore the exercises
as they will only enhance your learning
experience.
We expose you to lots and lots of vocab-
ulary but certainly dont’t expect you to
remember it all. The quizzes/tests only
cover words that are pointed out in bold
(minus the pronunciation page). Any
extra vocabulary given in the exercises
are repeated to help you learn, but are
not necessarily to be tested on.
Don’t stress over this. French is supposed
to be fun! Its a flirtatious and roman-
tic language that might at times seem
superfluous or unnecessary, but can be
very impressive at cocktail parties.
So have fun, don’t stress and bonne chance!
Bonjour!
Learning French can be daunting and often terrifying to many people.
But just like with learning any new subject or skill, it takes a little bit
of time, a little bit of patience and a whole helluva lot of attitude.
You have to have a can-do, realistic and positive attitude to take on a
language, and people, like the French.
After this guide you will be no means a master, but it should give you
a basic understanding of the principles of the language so that you
may continue your learning of the “language of love”, or at least figure
out when a cab driver is ripping you off.
Getting the Basics
French is not easy, but its certainly not as hard as Greek or Latin -
those people practically conjugated nouns. Here are a few things to
remember and think about when trying to speak and learn French:
- Though many things do translate literally, do not try translating
directly from English to French or vice versa. Words and phrases do
not always translate literally, only concepts. When we have you do
translation exercises, you cannot expect to complete them word for
word, but idea for idea. You must learn to think in French instead of
English.
- Though memorizing will take you far, it is not enough to win the
race; you have to actually understand when and why to use certain
words, verbs, expressions. In this intro guide, we do not get into as
much detail about the whys as we would in our beginner’s guide to
French. But we do try to explain a little.
- Conjugating is extremely important! You might not think so because
in English our verb conjugations go by unnoticed, but in other
languages they are pertinent to communicating ideas. Alors, faites
attention!
- When learning vocabulary, remember to learn the article with the
noun; it identifies the noun’s gender. Many nouns sound the same in
pronunciation, but have completely different meanings based on their
gender.
- When it comes to pronouncing French, don’t be worried about how
you sound. Just speak from the back of your throat and nose (as crazy
as that seems) and gargle when you say “r”. Don’t worry if your accent
isn’t perfect; they speak English with a French accent all the time.
 Pronunciation
Stressing The Alphabet
One of the greatest difficulties in learning the French language is the A ah
new and often difficult pronunciation. Once one learns how to properly B bay
pronounce words, reading and understanding the language becomes much
easier. One thing that American speakers need to be careful of is stressing. C say
English words normally have one syllable within a word stressed more
strongly than the others.
D day
E euh
Paris adult continue
F eff
Stressing French words in this way is a dead-give away that you are an G zhay
English speaker. Try to give all syllables equal stress in French words, with
a slight emphasis on the last syllable. H osh
Paris adulte je continue
I ee
J zhee
K keuh
Vowels L elle
For the most part, vowels are short sounds. A (ah), E (euh), I (ee), O (oh), M emme
U (oo). But sometimes, the vowels have accents, and you must know the N enne
difference in accent pronunciation as there can be a big difference in what
you say. Here are a few of the most commonly seen accented vowels. O oh
The accents make a distinct difference to the way you pronounce ‘-e’.
P pay
Q kue
e is usually a very ‘slight’ sound, like the vowel in the English word ‘the’:
le de ce geste R air
S ess
é is closest to the English vowel in ‘day’, but shortened slightly:
T tay
téléphoner répéter épicerie café U oo
è on the other hand is more like the vowel in the English word ‘bed’: V vay
crème problème près très
W doobluh - vay
X eex
The two vowel sounds in tu and vous need to be carefully distinguished in
French. Y ee-grek
ou is a bit like the English vowel in ‘you’ but said in the back of your
Z zed
mouth.

u is a tighter more ‘closed’ sound and is pronounced at the front of the Don’t Forget!
mouth.
“h” is never pronounced and “r”
la rue la roue le pull la poule
la vue vous tu tout
is pronounced in your throat!
 Saying Hi
Stumbling Along
Common Phrases/Words
The best way to learn to speak French is to
SPEAK French! You must practice saying the Bonjour! Good day!/Hello!
words and familiarizing yourself with the seem- Bohn-zhoor!
ingly strange letter combinations. That way
French conversation will start to make more Salut, ça va? Hi, how are you?
sense. sah-loo, sa-va?

You probably won’t be able to understand con- Comment t’appelles-tu? What is your name?
versational French for a while, so to help you Cohmohn ta-pell-too?
here are some good phrases (with pronuncia-
tion guides) to throw in: Je m’appelle... My name is...
Zhuh ma-pell...
Vous parlez anglais?/Tu parles anglais?
Do you speak English? Enchanté/e. Nice to meet you.
Voo parlay ahnglay?/Too parl ahnglay?
ohn-shon-tay
Comment? What?
Cohmohn. Je suis américain/ne. I am American.
Pardon? Pardon? Zhuh sweez amerikenh/amerikenn
Par-dohn
Tu parles français? Do you speak french?
Merci. Thank you.
Too parl frahnsay?
Mair-see

Pas de chose. It was nothing/ you’re welcome. Quoi de neuf? What’s up?
Pah-deuh-shoze
Kwah deuh neuf?
Je parle (un peu de) français.
I speak (a little) French. Pas grande chose. Nothing’s new.
Zhuh parl (uhn puh deuh) frahnsay. Pah grohnd shoze.
Que veut-dire ________? Responding to...
What does _____ mean? À bientôt See you soon
Ah bee-en-toe “Ça va?”
Kuh veuh-deer ____?

Comment dit-on ______ en français? Ça va. Fine.

Bonsoir Good evening
How do you say ______ in French?
Cohmon dee-tohn ______ ohn frahnsay? Bohn-swahr Ça va bien. I’m doing
well.
Répétez, s’il vous plaît. Repeat, please. Bonne nuit Good night.
Reypeytay, see voo play. Ça va mal. Not well.
Bun noo-wee
Plus lentement. More slowly.
Ploo lohn-tuh-mohn Pas mal. Not bad.
Monsieur Sir
Encore fois. One more time. Muh-syur Comme ci, comme ça.
Ohn-kore fwa Okay, so-so.
Madame Ma’am
Je ne comprends pas. I don’t understand. Mah-dahm
Zhuh nuh cohnm-prohn pah.

Je ne sais pas. I don’t know. Mademoiselle Miss

Zhuh nuh say pah. Mad-mwa-zell
J’ai une question. I have a question.
Zhay uhn kes-tee-ohn. We will give you phoenetic spelling to help with the sounds but only on this
page! Make sure you understand the pronunciation guide before moving on.
Familiar vs. Formal French The French “Politesse”
French is a very polite language. They never want to offend anyone, The French have a bad reputation for being rude
which is why there are six different registers (or levels of formality) but their concept of rudeness is different from
the American concept. In France, you do not
within the French language. A casual learner should familiarize him/
have to tip your waiter, but if you enter a store
herself with certain aspects of what is called Normal French, which or a restaurant without saying “Bonjour”, you
is a sort of mélange of Formal and Familiar French. It’s less rigorous can be they might spit in your drink!
than Formal French and more formal than familiar French.
So, to have a pleasant stay in Paris, it is
Tu vs. Vous recommended that you practice “politesse”, or
In French, there are two different ways to address a person, or to politeness:
say “you”. Tu, which is informal, and Vous, which is formal. Vous
is used to refer to people you do not know well, whom you’ve just When entering a grocery store, bar
met, or who are in superior a to yourself. Tu can be used amongst or café, say “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir”
friends and colleagues. Vous implies a sort of respect and should (depending on the time of day).
be used when traveling, especially in Paris. Vous can also refer to a
group of people as in “you all”. When leaving a store or bar or any
establishment where you might pass

Practice by a person, say “Bonne Journée”.

This means “have a nice day” and is
a considered a normal and nice thing
Fill in the blanks in the following conversation. Its ok if yuu don’t undersand to do in almost any situation. (Bonne
it all .Just try to figure it out by context. And don’t forget to read it outloud! Soirée means “have a nice evening”).

Bonjour Marc! Thank everyone. The French think

Salut Michel, (1)________________? Americans are ungrateful so surprise
Ça va bien. (2)______ de neuf? them by being very thankful!
Mon amie est ici.
Enchanté. (3)________ t’appelles-tu? When you bump into someone or
Je (4) ____________ Sophie. Je (5)_____ américaine. need to ask someone a question, say
Oui? Tu (6)_______ français? “Excusez-moi” or “Pardon”.
Oui, je parle (7)_____________.
Bon. Alors, Marc, j’ai un rendez-vous avec Sylvie. Au revoir. Adding “please” to any request will
À (8)_______, Michel. Bonne (9)______. make your personal interactions go
much smoother.
Answer the following questions:
Bonjour Good day
1. Comment t’appelles-tu? _____________________________________ Bonsoir Good evening

2. Es-tu américain/e ou français/e? ______________________________ Bonne Journée Have a nice day!

Bonne Soirée Have a nice evening!
3. Comment ça va? _______________________________________
Merci Thanks
4. Quoi de neuf? ________________________________________ Merci Bien Thank you very much.

Would you use tu or vous in the following situations: Excusez-moi Excuse me

Pardon Pardon
Your mother ________ Your boss ________ Your son ________
S’il te plait Please
The grocer ________ The maître d’ ________ Your wife ________ S’il vous plait Please
 Nouns
Useful Vocabulary
If you really want to be able to speak
French, you have to learn lots and lots of
new words! Here are a handful of useful
words (and oui, these will be on the test!)
l’avion airplane
le billet ticket
le clé key
la chambre room
la cuisine kitchen
la douche shower
l’eau water
la fille girl
le garçon boy
l’histoire story/history
la salle de bains bathroom
le lait milk
le livre book
la maison house
le métro subway
la montre watch
l’ordinateur computer
le portable cell phone
la rue street
la sortie exit
la télé TV
la ville city
le vin wine
la voiture car
la vue view
Just a Reminder...
A double “L” makes a “y” sound.
“Billet” is pronounced “bee-yay”
Un, une, des (indefinite articles)
The singular indefinite articles in French correspond to a, an or one
in English. The plural corresponds to some. There are three forms of
the French indefinite article: un (masculine), une (feminine), and des
(plural).
un homme une maison des voitures
Some nouns, generally those describing people, can be multiple
genders, depending on the person you are speaking about.
un adulte une adulte des adultes (adult)
un ami une amie des amis (friend/s)
Most plural nouns end in -s, just like in English.
(Note that the pural indefinite article is the same for masculine and
feminine nouns.)
Le, la, les, l’ (definite articles)
The French definite artciles corresponds to the. There are four forms:
le (masculine), la (feminine), l’ (before vowel or h), les (plural). Which
definite article to use depends on three things: the noun’s gender,
number and first letter. The definite articles indicates a specific noun.
le garçon la fille l’histoire les filles
le métro la chambre l’hôtel les clés
le livre la rue l’animal les toilets
When do you use “le” and when do you use “un”? The use of
indefinite and definite articles is practically the same in English:
J’adore les chiens. I love dogs.
J’ai un chien. I have a dog.
C’est le dix septembre Its the 10th of September.
La France est belle. France is beautiful.
Il préfère le bleu. He prefers blue.
Je voudrais un chat. I would like a cat.
Il achète une voiture. He’s buying a car.
 Cognates
C’est = It is
There are many words that are the same -
C’est is a very versatile and useful expression. It can be it is (it’s), or sound very similar - in French and in
it can sometimes mean this is, and it can be used to ask the English. Here are some useful ones:
question is it . . . ?
le bar bar
C’est quoi, ça? What is that, there? la bière beer
C’est un cadeau. It’s a present. le café café or coffee
le cinéma movies/cinema
Le croissant, c’est bon? Is the croissant good? l’hôtel hotel
C’est délicieux! It’s delicious! la famille family
la musique music
C’est combien le CD? This CD costs how much? la radio radio
C’est 10 euros. It is 10 euros.
le restaurant restaurant
la table table
Practice le taxi
le thé
taxi
tea
la toilette toilet
Without looking, try giving the correct definite article for the
le train train
following words:

1. ____ famille 5. ____ chambre 9. ____ cuisine

2. ____ radio 6. ____ animals 10. ___ douche
3. ____ vin 7. ____ eau 11. ___ voitures
4. ____ garçon 8. ____ musique 12. ___ ordinateur
Without looking, try translating these words into French using the
correct articles:
1. house ____________ 7. family _____________
2. water _____________ 8. table ______________
3. cell phone _________ 9. girls _______________
4. room _____________ 10. street _____________
5. boys ______________ 11. animal ____________
6. milk ______________ 12. keys ______________
Rearrange the words to form sentences/questions:
Les Faux Amis
Many words look like English words but
do NOT mean the same thing:
l’avertissement warning
la publicité advertisement
la chair flesh
une chaise chair
la chance luck
une possibilité chance
le coin corner
une pièce de monnaie coin
la monnaie coins
l’argent money

1. livre un c’est bon la librarie bookstore

_________________________________________________. la bibliothèque library
2. combien le c’est cadeau
__________________________________________________? Just a Reminder...
3. euros dix c’est livre le Do not pronounce the “E” at the end of
__________________________________________________. words that don’t have accents .
This isn’t Spanish!
 Common -er Verbs
-er Verbs
Here is a list of commonly used -er verbs
that you should learn. Once you’ve got
these down, learning new ones will be a
breeze since all regular -er verbs conju-
gate the same way:
arriver to arrive
chercher to search
danser to dance
demander to ask (for)
détester to hate
donner to give
écouter to listen to
étudier to study
oublier to forget
payer to pay for
penser to think
préparer to prepare
quitter to leave/to quit
regarder to watch
rêver to dream
trouver to find
visiter to visit
voyager to travel
Examples
aimer (to like, to love)
J’aime mon père.
I love my father.
Nous aimons le prof.
We love the professor.
chanter (to sing)
Il chante bien.
He sings well.
Elles ne chantent pas bien. Tu aimes préparer le diner. You like to prepare dinner.
They do not sing well.
jouer (to play)
Est-ce que tu joue le foot?
Do you play soccer?
Nous jouons les jeux vidéos.
We play video games.
Conjugating
80% of French verbs are regular -er verbs, meaning that in their
infinitive form they all end in -er, (the -er is pronounced like ‘ay’)
and when conjugated all follow the same pattern. (Note that the “er”
indicates “to”, for example “parler” is the same as “to speak”.)
Verbs have six conjugations: I, you, he/she/one, we, you all, and
they. Below are the present tense conjugations. The present tense in
French is similar to that in English. For example, saying “Je parle...”
in French can mean “I speak...” or “I am speaking...”, both being in
the present tense. All regular -er verbs conjugate in the following way
(learn this well!): drop the -er and add the appropriate ending to the stem.
parler (to speak) travailler (to work)
je parle nous parlons je travaille nous travaillons
tu parles vous parlez tu travailles vous travaillez
il/elle parle ils/elles parlent il/elle travaille ils/elles travaillent
All regular -er verbs are
Learning the endings of the verbs
conjugated according to this
pattern, except for one small
is very important. Though all of
irregularity in verbs that end the conjugations (excluding the
in -ger and -cer: nous and vous forms) sound the
same in pronunciation, in writing
the spelling matters. Take a look at
Manger (to eat)
the examples on the left side of the
je mange page.
tu manges
il/elle manges
nous mangeons Sub + verb + infinitive
vous mangez If you want to say that you like
ils mangent to do something, or you want to
do something, then you must use
A g (or a c) followed by an o two verbs: the first verb must be
would make a hard g so an e has conjugated while the second verb
to be added to keep the g and remains in in its infinitive form.
c soft.
J’aime danser. I like to dance.
Il aime regarder la télé. He likes to watch TV.
Nous aimons travailler beaucoup. We like to work a lot.
Vous détestez cuisiner. You (all) hate to cook.
Ils détestent payer les factures. They hate to pay the bills
Practice Present Tense Uses
Just like in English, the present tense can
Conjugate the following verbs: be used in many different ways.

1. I am searching _____________________________ It can express an event happening in the

2. She dances _____________________________ near future.
3. We are preparing _____________________________
4. They listen _____________________________
5. I’m watching _____________________________
I am working tomorrow.
6. You’re speaking _____________________________ Je travaille demain..
7. I love to ski. _____________________________
8. He loves to travel. _____________________________ He’s arriving this morning.
9. They love to sing. _____________________________ Il arrive ce matin.
10. I like to work. _____________________________
We’re watching Survivor tonight.
Nous regardons Survivor ce soir.
Fill in the blanks of the following sentences using the correct form of the
needed verb. Refer to the English translations for help. The film starts in five minutes.
Le film commence dans cinq minutes.
1. J’ ____________ mon ordinateur. (I love my computer.)
2. Ma soeur ___________ bien. (My sister sings well.) It can be used to show that an action
3. Je ne ____________ pas bien. (I don’t sing well.) began in the past and is continuing in the
4. Nous ____________ nôtre prof. (We hate our teacher.) present:
5. Elle ____________ ce garçon-la. (She likes that boy.)
6. Ma famille et moi, nous ______________Paris. (My family and I are
visiting Paris.)
We’ve been living here for two years.
7. Nous ____________ le foot ce soir. (We are playing soccer tonight.) Nous habitons ici depuis deux ans.
8. Est-ce que vous _____________ le télé ce soir? (Are you all watching
TV tonight?) I’ve been studying French for 12 years.
9. Je ____________ mon frère de l’eau. (I’m giving my brother some J’étudie le français depuis douze ans.
water.)
10. Est-ce que tu _____________ que je suis jolie? (Do you think that I He’s been looking for his keys for an hour.
am pretty?) Il cherche ses clés depuis une heure.

Translate the following sentences into French using your new We’ve been in Paris for a week.
vocabulary (and correct verb forms!) On est à Paris depuis une semaine.

1. I am leaving tonight.
_________________________________________________________
2. My family hates computers. Just a Reminder...
_________________________________________________________
3. She is paying for the book. In English, we often say “I am
_________________________________________________________ speaking” or “I am studying”
4. You all are listening to the radio.
____________________________________________________ or “I am watching TV”. In
5. I like to play video games. French, the “am” is implied in
____________________________________________________
the present tense !
 Common Verbs
Idiomatic Expressions
Idioms are everyday phrases that cannot be
translated literally into another language.
Here are some French idioms that you will
need to know (remember to conjugate the
infinitve verb!):
avoir ___ ans to be ___ years old
avoir besoin de... to need...
avoir chaud to be hot
avoir faim to be hungry
avoir froid to be cold
avoir l’air + adj to look _______
avoir peur de to be afraid of
avoir soif to be thirsty
faire attention to pay attention
faire des projets to make plans
faire la cuisine to cook
faire la queue to stand in line
faire une promenade to take a walk
faire un voyage to take a trip
Just a Reminder...
When you see an “s” or a “t” at the end
of a word, don’t pronounce it unless
you need to make a lliason!
Je fais la cuisine. (NO liaison!)
Je fais une sandwich. (Liaison!)
Etre, Avoir, Aller and Faire
These are all irregular in conjugation and must be memorized.
Below are the present tense conjugations. You can translate them
yourself - “je suis” means “I am”, so “vous êtes” means “you all are”.
“Il fait” means “he makes” so “nous faisons” means we make . . .
être to be Remember: to really learn
je suis nous sommes these verbs, try making flash
tu es vous êtes cards or practice conjugating
il/elle est ils/elles sont
them in the shower, in the car,
washing dishes, etc...
aller to go
je vais nous allons
tu vas vous allez
il/elle va ils/elles vont
Puis-je avoir . . . ?
avoir to have When you want to ask for
something politely, you can
j’ai nous avons say “May I have . . . ?“ with
tu as vous avez “puis-je avoir . . . ?”
il/elle a ils/elles ont
Puis-je avoir un plan de la
ville? (May I have a city map?)
faire to do/make
je fais nous faisons Puis-je avoir deux billets pour
tu fais vous faites l’opèra? (May I have two tickets
il/elle fait ils/elles font for the opera?)
Useful CoversationalPhrases
Je m’appelle . . . My name is . . .
Comment vous vous appellez? What is your name?
Vous venez d’où? Where are you from?
Je viens de . . . I come from . . .
Tourner to turn
Continuer to continue
à gauche / à droit to the left / to the right
tout droit straight
Pour mon travail, je fais . . . For work, I do . . .
Pour le plaisir, je fais . . . For fun, I do . . .
Practice aller + infinitive
to express the near future
Fill in the blanks with the proper conjugated verb, referring to the chart
above or the list on the left if needed. Be careful, a few of them are
tricky!
Je vais chanter pour toi.
I’m going to sing for you.
1. Ils _______ au cinèma ce soir. (They are going to the movies tonight)
2. Je ______ une sandwich pour ma mère. (I’m making a sandwhich for Tu vas payer le billet.
my mom) You are going to pay for the ticket.
3. Est-ce que tu ______ un stylo? (Do you have a pen?)
4. C’est Marc, il ______ mon petit-ami. (That’s Marc, he is my
boyfriend.)
Elle va faire une promenade.
5. Nous _________ inquiets parce que nous _______ des examens She’s going to go for a walk.
demain. (We are worried because we have exams tomorrow.)
6. Ils _______ une belle voiture. (They have a nice car.) Nous allons manger avec nos amis.
7. Est-ce que vous _________ prêts pour l’examen? (Are you all ready for We are going to eat with our friends.
the test)?)
8. Elle veut _________ au cinèma ce soir. (She wants to go to the movies
tonight.) Vous allez faire attention!
9. J’____ chaud. (I’m hot). Est-ce que vous _____ chaud, aussi? (Are you You are going to pay attention!
all hot too?)
10. Elle _______ une promenade avec lui! (She is walking with him!) Ils vont arriver en retard.
11. Je _____ un voyage avec ma famille. (I’m taking (making) a trip with They are going to arrive late.
my family!)
12. Est-ce que tu _______ la cuisine ce soir? (Are you cooking tonight?)

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Ils vont manger au restaurant ce soir.
________________________________________________________
2. Mon mari a un stylo.
________________________________________________________
3. Je suis inquiet parce que j’ai un examen demain.
________________________________________________________
nous vs. on
Both ‘nous’ and ‘on’ can be used to mean
‘we’. For beginners, sometimes it’s easier to
use ‘on’ since the conjugation of the verb
is a little more obvious. Using ‘on’ for ‘we’
is never incorrect but merely a more casual
way of speaking/writing. Feel free to use
either, but remember that once you’ve used
‘on’ or ‘nous’ in a sentence, to continue
using it as they are not interchangeable.

Translate the following sentences into French: On va au ciné ce soir.

Nous allons au ciné ce soir.
1. My husband is thirsty and hungry. We are going to the movies tonight.
________________________________________________________
On a très faim!
2. I am 30 years old and my name is Alice. Nous avon très faim!
________________________________________________________ We are very hungry.
3. I’m from Tennessee and I like to cook.
On va faire la queue pour la musée.
_________________________________________________________
Nous allons faire la queue pour la musée.
We’re going to stand in line for the museum.
Don’t forget to the take the 1-5 quiz!
 Time and Numbers
Numbers
0 zéro (zehro)
1 un (unh)
2 deux (deuh)
3 trois (twah)
4 quartre (katr)
5 cinq (sank)
6 six (seess)
7 sept (set)
8 huit (weet)
9 neuf (neuff)
10 dix (deess)
11 onze (ohnz)
12 douze (dooz)
13 treize (trehz)
14 quatorze (kah-torz)
15 quinze (kahnz)
16 seize (sez)
17 dix-sept (dees-set)
18 dix-huit (deesweet)
19 dix-neuf (dees-neuf )
20 vingt (venh)
For numbers in the 20s, just add to
the vingt. For example:
21 vingt-et-un
25 vingt-cinq
29 vingt-neuf
Did You Know...?
In France they frequently use
the 24-hour clock? Airline
schedules, train times, store
closings, movie times, etc are
usually listed in this format:
12h30 17h45
9h25 23h30
Expressing Time
Time is indicated by a number follwed by heure(s) and the number of
minutes.
1:10 une heure dix 3:05
trois heures cinq
(Note: do not pronounce the “s” at the end of “heures”)
For time past the half-hour, the number of minutes is subtracted from
the next hour. So instead of saying “It’s 5:35” you would say “It’s 6
minus 25”.
5:45 six heures moins vingt-cinq 10:40 onze heures moins vingt
The quarter and half-hours have special forms:
4:15 quartre heures et quart 2:30 deux heures et demi
9:45 diz heures moins le quart 12:00 midi (noon)
12:00 minuit (midnight) (Note: “quart” is pronounced like “cahr”)
AM and PM are expressed as du matin (in the morning), de l’après-
midi (in the afternoon) and du soir (in the evening).
To ask the time: Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?
To respond: Il est....heure(s) It is...o’clock
Example
Quelle heure est-il?
Il est trois heures. What time is it?
Trois heures? It’s three o’clock.
Oui, trois heures. Three o’clock?!
Oh là là! J’ai un rendez-vous avec Yes, three o’clock.
David dans vingt minutes! Au Oh my! I have a date with David in
revoir, Jean-Paul. 20 minutes! Bye Jean-Paul!
Au-revoir Stephanie. A bientôt. Bye Stephanie! See ya later!
Practice
Write out the times below in French.
2:30 _________________________________________________
12:10 (pm) ____________________________________________
8:45 _________________________________________________
9:50 _________________________________________________
17h30 _______________________________________________
20h45________________________________________________
Useful Words and Phrases Days of the Week
le jour day lundi Monday
la journée day (duration)*
le soir night
mardi Tuesday
la soirée night (duration)* mercredi Wednesday
le matin morning jeudi Thursday
la matinée morning (duration)* vendredi Friday
l’après-midi afternoon
l’an (m) year samedi Saturday
l’année (f ) year (duration)* dimanche Sunday
le mois month
la semaine week
la date date Months
l’heure (f ) hour/time
le printemps spring
l’été (m) summer
janvier January
l’automne (f ) fall fevrier February
l’hiver (m) winter mars March
aujourd’hui today avril April
demain tomorrow
hier yesterday maï May
tous les jours every day juin June
dérnier(e) last (last month, last week, etc) juillet July
* An, jour, matin, and soir indicate a simple division of time whereas année, août August
journée, matinée and soirée indicate an emphasis on the actual length of septembre September
time. For example: octobre Octobre
Je suis en France depuis deux jours. I’ve been in France for two days. novembre November
Je vais étudier toute la journée. I will study all day long. décembre December
C’était un bon an. It was a good year.
Bonne année! Happy New Year!
Note: In French, days of the week and months
are not capatalized unless beginning the sentence.
Practice
Translate into English.
Did You Know...?
Je vais faire une promenade demain matin.
______________________________________________________.
When referring to periods of a week
Le film commence à huit heures et demi. or two weeks in French, the ex-
______________________________________________________.
pressions most often used are huit
Mon anniverssaire est dans le printemps. jours and quinze jours.
______________________________________________________.

Quelle est la date audjourd’hui? Il va partir dans huit jours.

______________________________________________________. He’s going to leave in a week.
J’aime regarder Friends tous les jours à 22h45
______________________________________________________. Je suis ici depuis quinze jours.
I’ve been here two weeks.
 Adjectives
Complicated
Many adjective change forms completely
while some just add a letter or two for the
feminine. These are necessary to memo-
rize once you find the pattern. Listed
below are several adjectives in both their
masculine and femine forms. You need to
understand how and when an adjective
will change. Learn these well!
Irregular Adjectives:
Masculine Feminine English
actif active sporty
beau/bel belle beautiful
bon bonne good
cher chère expensive
complet complète complete
dernier dernière last
ennuyeux ennuyeuse annoying
fou/fol folle crazy
gentil gentille nice/gentil
gros grosse fat
heureux heureuse happy
neuf neuve brand new
nouveau nouvelle new
secret secrète secret
trompeur trompeuse wrong
vieux/vieil vieille old
Regular Adjectives (only an “e” or no
change”):
amusant amusante funny
difficile difficile hard
facile facile easy
intelligent intelligente smart
jeune jeune young
mauvais mauvaise bad
intéressant intéressante interesting
propre propre clean
sale sale dirty
triste triste sad
Remember...
Feminine adjectives have an “e” at the
end; this means you have to pronounce
the consonant that precedes the “e”
whereas in the masculine adjectives,
these consonants are silent.
Rules
Adjectives, or words that modify nouns, can describe a multitude of
traits including shape, color, size, quality, etc. French adjectives are very
different from the English adjectives. They must agree in gender and
number with the noun that they modify. For example:
le joli chat la jolie maison les quatre gros chiens
the pretty cat the pretty house the four fat dogs
The majority of adjectives come after Note: If an adjective
the noun they modify. ends in an “e”, there is
no difference between
masculine and feminine
le stylo vert la voiture verte
the green pen the green car forms. If the adjective
ends in an “s”, there is
no difference between
l’homme intelligent la soeur amusante
the masculine and plural
the smart man the funny sister
masculine forms.
How do you know which come before the noun and which come after
the noun? BANGS: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size. If the adjective
falls into one of the BAGS categories, it comes before the noun.
le bel homme the handsome man (Beauty)
la jeune fille the young girl (Age)
les trois bananes the three bananas (Number)
les gentils gens the nice people (Goodness)
les petites pommes the little apples (Size)
About You!
Now that you’ve learned so many adjectives and verbs, you are able to talk
about yourself! Just remember that adjectives must agree - if you are male,
then your adjectives must be masculine and if you are female, your adjec-
tives must be feminine. Try out some of these phrases!
J’habite à... I live in J’habite à New York.
Je viens de... I’m from Je viens de Nashville.
Je veux... I want Je veux un chat
Je préfère... I prefer Je préfère le lait.
J’aime... I love J’aime le vin!
Want to say you like or want to do something? Add the infinitive of what
you like or want to do after “J’aime...” or “Je veux”, respectively.
J’aime voyager. J’aime manger le pizza. J’aime regarder la télé.
I like to travel. I like to eat pizza. I like to watch TV.
Je veux être mince. Je veux aller au cinéma. Je veux visiter la France.
I want to be thin. I want to go to the movies. I want to visit France.
 Les couleurs
Practice
Translate the following into French. Remember placement and agreement! rouge red
orange orange
1. the big room ________________________________________ jaune yellow
2. the dirty girl ________________________________________ vert(e) green
bleu(e) blue
3. the nice family ______________________________________
violet(te) purple
4. the funny man ______________________________________ rose pink
5. the new computer ___________________________________ marron(e) brown
6. the happy boys ______________________________________ noir(e) black
blanc(he) white
7. the difficult test _____________________________________
gris(e) grey
8. the interesting story __________________________________
9. the crazy toilet ______________________________________ Adjective Enhancers
10. the brand new car ___________________________________
11. the easy tests _______________________________________ plus more
moins less
12. the bad apple ______________________________________
très very
13. the sporty, pretty woman _____________________________ tout(e) totally, completely, all
14. the six little bananas _________________________________ complètement completely
15. the three last computers ______________________________ bien rather, quite
pas not
tellement so
Translate the following into English. exactement exactly
1. Il est un garçon intelligent. ____________________________
____________________________________________________ Bon vs. Bien
2. J’ai deux nouvelles radios. ______________________________
Both bon and bien can be adjectives, ad-
____________________________________________________ verbs or nouns. Bon can mean “good” or
3. Elle est belle. _______________________________________ “nice”. Bien can mean “well” or “good”.
4. Les nouvelles voitures sont chères. _______________________
Il a bon coeur. He has a good heart.
____________________________________________________ Très bien! Very good!
5. Ma soeur est heureuse. ________________________________ J’ai une bonne soirée. I’m having a good night.
____________________________________________________ Ça sent bon! That smells good!
Je vais bien, merci. I’m well, thanks.
6. J’ai besoin d’un nouveau livre. __________________________
La radio marche bien. The radio is working well.
____________________________________________________ Il est bon étudiant. He’s a good student.
7. Mon mari est très gentil, actif et beau. ____________________ Ça serait bien! That would be great!
____________________________________________________
Mauvais and Mal work the same way as
8. J’ai un gros chat orange. _______________________________
Bon and Bien. Mauvais means “bad” and
____________________________________________________ Mal means “wrong” or “badly”!