French Phrases

French Phrases: Basic Greetings
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Even if you do not really speak French, it is worth knowing at least the following simple words and phrases. Although many French speakers will know the English equivalents, they will still appreciate the effort if you take the trouble to learn these basic French greetings. New: Learn French vocab on your iPhone/iPad
Very basic greetings

Firstly, even if you "don't speak French", you may well have heard some of the following already. bonjour! bonsoir! s'il vous plat s'il te plat pardon! b u bswa si(l)vuple si(l)t pl pa d hello!, good morning! hello!, good evening! please (formal version)* please (informal version)* excuse me!, sorry!
Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification * The formal versions are used roughly to where you're not on first name terms with a person, whereas the informal versions would be used in cases where you are on first name terms (e.g. friends and family, colleagues of a similar rank). The situation is a little more complex than this: for more information, see the section on when to use tu and vous.
Introducing yourself in French

The following are also useful for introducing yourself in French: je m'appelle... comment vous appelez-vous? comment tu t'appelles? (comment) a va? map l k m vuzaplevu k m tytap l (k m ) sa va I'm called..., my name is... what are you called? (formal) what's your name? (informal) how's it going?
Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification
A question that sometimes arises among learners is "how do you say 'Pleased to meet you' in French?" Well, the possibly surprising answer is that often, French people meeting for the first time will simply say Bonjour!. The following are also possible: je suis trs heureux de faire votre connaissance trs heureux! - (I'm) pleased to meet you! - pleasure!
Note that female speakers would say heureuse: je suis trs heureuse de faire votre connaissance trs heureuse!
- (I'm) pleased to meet you! - pleasure!
An interesting point raised by Natalie Schorr (2004), Tune Up Your French is that some speakers may find the simple "heureux"/"heureuse" a little abrupt, and that in practice, you may be better off simply saying Bonjour...!
Being polite in French

Here are some basic expressions of courtesy: merci! de rien je vous en prie excusez-moi! je suis dsol pardon? aprs vous! m si d j p i vuz thank you! not at all!, no problem!, you're welcome!, sure! (US) you're welcome (formal) (I'm) sorry excuse me?, sorry? m te may I?, do you mind? after you!
kskyze mwa excuse me, can I get past j s i dezole pa d ap e vu
vous permettez? vu p
Saying goodbye in French

As in English, there are various ways to say goodbye in French. The following are commonly used: au revoir! plus tard! tout l'heure bientt! tout de suite! demain! plus! (Informal) vwa a ply ta a tu ta l a bjto a tut s it a d m a plys bye! see you later! see you soon!, see you in a while! see you soon! see you in a second!, see you in a little while! see you tomorrow! TTFN!, laters!
In informal e-mails and SMS messages, it's common to write A+ instead of plus.
The following are used to 'wish somebody well'. Note that it's quite a common formula in French to use the adjective bon(ne) plus a noun to mean enjoy your ..., good luck with the .... Here are some common examples, but you may come across others: bonne journe! bonne soire! bon courage! bonne chance! bonne route! bonnes vacances bon voyage bon apptit! sant! b n u ne have a good day! b n swa e have a good evening! b ku a b n s b n ut good luck! (="keep at it!", "be persistent!") good luck! (used when there is actual luck involved) have a good journey!, safe journey!
b n vak s enjoy your holiday! b vwaja have a good trip! b n apeti enjoy your meal! enjoy your meal! cheers! s te
bon ap! (Informal) b nap
Seasonal greetings
As well as he phrases and greetings are above, the following are useful at specific times of the year: joyeux nol! bonne anne! "joyeuses ftes!" bonnes Pques! bon anniversaire! joyeux anniversaire!
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Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! "Season's Greetings!"1 Happy Easter! Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!
This is the cover-all expression that implies Happy Christmas and Happy New Year.
If you're learning Spanish, you may also be interested in our sister site's page of Spanish greetings (with audio recordings).
French Phrases: Basic French words

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Function words
The following are some basic 'function' words in French. They provide some of the 'glue' that allow other words (nouns, adjectives etc) to be put together to form sentences. The words below are therefore useful for forming a sentence in French. For the French for simple salutations such as hello, goodbye etc, see the section on greetings in French. If you have an iPhone or iPad, then you may wish to check out the site's French Vocab Games app. See also: French subject pronouns, French greetings.
Very basic articles and prepositions

The following little words crop up extremely frequently. They are slightly tricky to begin with because they are words whose form changes depending on the following word. de du des au aux le la les d , d, t dy de a o o l , l la le of, from of/from the (masculine1 singular); some of/from the (plural); some to; at; in2 to/at/in2 the (masculine1 singular) to/at/in2 the (plural) the (with masculine1 word) the (with feminine1 word) the (with plural)
See also: When to use le and la.
Question words
quoi? quand? pourquoi? quel? combien de... comment? kwa k pu kwa k l kbjd k m what? when? why? which? how much...?, how many...? how?; pardon?, what did you say?
Other basic words

The following lists contain a number of basic 'function' words that will crop up in a range of French sentences. Firstly, some basic French prepositions and words to do with space and location: pour par sur dans en avec dehors l ici l-bas prs de... prs d'ici loin av k d la isi laba p ed ,p d p disi lw pu pa sy d for by; via on in2 in2 with outside, out here, there; now here there, over there near to... nearby, near here far
Now some words to do with 'ownership'. Note that the labels masculine and feminine refer to the "gender" of the possession rather than the owner (remember that, unlike English, all nouns in French including words for 'table', 'newspaper' etc as well as words referring to people, are arbitrarily assigned a "gender"). mon ma mes ton ta tes votre m ma me t ta te v t my (masculine) my (feminine) my (plural) your (masculine) your (feminine) your (plural) your (referring to a stranger/multiple people)
And here are a few other common French words, some to do with expressing degree and quantity:
parce que trs peu bien assez trop trop de... pas jamais toujours encore plus moins que
pa sk( ) t e p bj ase t o t od pa ame tu u k ply, plys mw k
because very little, hardly well; rather quite; enough, sufficiently too; too much too much...; too many... not never always; still still, yet more less, fewer that; what
Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification Notes: 1. As in many languages, French nouns are arbitrarily divided into groups called genders. In French, there are two genders, usually called 'masculine' and 'feminine'. Which gender a noun belongs to depends on various criteria such as the gender of the person/animal they represent (if any), or the ending of the noun (for example, nouns ending in -ation are feminine). The gender of the noun determines which form of determiners (words meaning 'the', 'a', 'some', 'any', 'my' etc) and adjectives are used. 2. As a very general rule, dans is used in cases where there is a determiner (a word like le/la (the), un/une (a); and en is used in other cases, such as before names of countries and regions and in figurative expressions. In some cases, au, la and aux are used with a similar meaning to dans le/dans la/dans les.
The following phrases are worth knowing: il y a... y a... (Informal) c'est... ce n'est pas... ceci est... ce n'est pas... voil voici est-ce que... il i ja, ilja ja... se sne pa ssi e s( )ne pa vwala vwasi sk( ) there is...; there are... there is...; there are... it's... it isn't... this is... it isn't... here's..., there's... here is... is it true that... (formula used to ask a question in French) is there...? I have... do you have...? I am... are you...?
est-ce qu'il y a...? skilja j'ai... e avez-vous...? ave vu je suis... s i je ne suis pas... tes vous...? t vu
n s i pas I'm not...
(en) anglais (en) franais
( n) gle ( ) f se
(in) English (in) French
French Phrases: Basic French adjectives

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Basic French adjectives

The following adjectives are useful for describing physical qualities of people in French, plus some other basic qualities: petit grand jeune vieux vieille g beau belle fort faible p ti g j n vj vj j a e bo b l f f bl small, short large, tall young old (masculine) old (feminine) elderly handsome; beautiful (with masculine noun) beautiful (with feminine person or noun) strong weak (person, object)
The following also relate to physical qualities, but relating more to physical qualities of objects. Adjectives to do with temperature are generally used to describe weather too: froid chaud bien chaud long court clair bas haut lger lourd propre sale plein vide sec humide f wa o bj o l ku kl ba o le e lu p p sal pl vid s k ymid cold hot warm long short clear, bright (light); thin (soup etc) low high, tall light (as in 'not heavy') heavy clean dirty full empty dry damp, wet
frais
fresh; chilly; wet (paint)
The following are less physical qualities: bon mauvais nouveau proche facile difficile dur pauvre riche b move nuvo p fasil difisil dy pov i good; right bad; wrong new near easy difficult hard (as in 'difficult' or 'not soft') poor rich
Basic adjectives to do with feelings, health, emotions

heureux content fatigu triste sain malade gentil sympathique h , h happy happy, satisfied tired sad, unhappy healthy ill kind, nice nice, friendly
kt fatige t ist s malad ti spatik
As a general rule, add an -e (and pronounce the final consonant) when an adjective refers to a feminine noun.
Words that can be used with adjectives

The following words can be used to 'enhance' adjectives. Unless indicated, they can be used with either a masculine or feminine adjective: il est... elle est... c'est... il fait... s il f il l he's..., it's... she's..., it's... it's... it's... (talking about weather)
plus... moins... trs... tout... toute... compltement... bien... assez... peu... pas... si... tellement... nettement... gravement...
ply mw t e, t tu tut cpl tm bj ase p pa si t lm n tm g avm
more..., ...er less... very... all..., completely... (masculine) all..., completely... (feminine) completely... quite..., rather..., pretty... quite..., rather...; sufficiently... hardly..., not... not... so... so... noticeably... seriously...
French Phrases: Basic French nouns referring to people

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Basic nouns referring to people

The following are very generic words for people: homme femme garon fille adulte enfant bb tout petit adolescent personne1 personne ge
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m fam ga s fij adylt f bebe tupti adol s p s n p s na e
man woman boy, lad girl adult child baby small child, toddler teenager person elderly person
Notes: 1. The word personne is always gramatically feminine even when it refers to a male: une personne ge.
Family members and relationships

The following refer to different family members or people with a particular relationship to you in French: ami amie pre1 mre1 fils fille frre soeur mari femme ami ami p m fis fij f s ma i f m friend (male) friend (female) father, dad mother, mum son daughter brother sister husband wife
partenaire parent parents oncle tante grand-pre grand-papa grand-mre grand-maman grands-parents copain copine copine normale (Informal) cop (Informal) petit ami petite amie fianc fiance collgue
pa t n pa pa kl t t g g g g p papa m mam
partner relative parents uncle aunt, auntie grandfather grandpa, grandad grandmother grandma grandparents friend, mate (male); boyfriend friend, mate (female); girlfriend mal female friend (to distinguish from 'girlfriend') boyfriend boyfriend girlfriend fianc fiance colleague
g pa kop kopin kopin n k p p titami p titami fj se fj se k l g
Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification Notes: 1. The words pre and mre are a little less formal-sounding in French than father and mother in English, so that they can also be the equivalent of 'dad' and 'mum' in English.
Saying my... in French

To say my... in French, you use the word mon before the word for a male person, or ma before the word for a female person. In the plural, the word is mes. However, if a singular French word begins with a vowel, then mon is always used, and the final -n is pronounced. Here are some examples: mon frre ma soeur mon pre ma mre
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m f ma s m p ma m me pa m kuz ma kuzin nami m nami
my brother my sister my father, my dad my mother, my mum my parents my (male) cousin my (female) cousin a (male) friend my (male) friend
mes parents mon cousin ma cousine un ami mon ami
une amie mon amie mes amis
yn ami m nami me zami
a (female) friend my (female) friend my friends
French Phrases: Colours in French

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On this page, we look at some common French colour adjectives. On the following page, we look at some common colour modifiers (light, dark etc) and how to combine colours or form complex colour terms ("blue-green", "navy blue" etc).
Common colour adjectives in French

The folllowing are common French colour adjectives. Where there is a pronunciation difference between masculine and feminine forms, both are shown in that order. In the written form, these adjectives generally behave like other French adjectives: an -e is added in the feminine (where not already there) and/or an -s in the plural. Exceptions are flagged and discussed in the corresponding notes below. beige blanc, blanche bleu brun, brune chtain, chtaine gris, grise jaune marron1 mauve noir orange2 rose rouge vert, verte violet, violette b bl , bl bl b , b yn at, at n g i, g iz jon ma mov nwa o oz u v ,v t vj le, vj l t beige white blue brown brown, chestnut-brown (hair) grey yellow brown mauve, light purple black orange> pink red green violet, purple
Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification Notes: 1. marron is identical in the feminine. 2. Prescriptively, orange is usually considered invariable. Since it already ends in -e, this just affects whether or not to add an -s in the plural, and prescriptive usage would thus dictate des robes orange. Actual usage is tending to write oranges (and to pluralise other "invariable" adjectives) in the plural. Note that this is purely a spelling issue: in pronunciation, this and most colours are invariable.
In French, colour adjectives almost always follow the noun that they describe. Thus: une robe bleue - a blue dress
une chemise marron deux voitures vertes

- a brown shirt - two green cars
Less common colours

The following words are also used to denote colour. In the majority of cases, they behave more like nouns than adjectives: they don't change in the feminine or plural1. abricot argent bronze caf chamois champagne chtaigne crme carlate indigo jade lilas noisette olive or paille pourpre safran saumon spia turquoise k ab iko a b z kafe amwa panj at ng m eka lat digo ad lila nwaz t oliv paj pu p saf som sepja ty kwaz apricot silver bronze coffee-coloured buff champagne chestnut cream scarlet indigo (blue) jade lilac hazel olive gold straw-coloured crimson saffron salmon-pink sepia turquoise
Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification Notes: 1. In prescriptive usage at least, it appears to be accepted (cf Thomas 1971:105; Price 2003:105) that specifically carlate and pourpre are not invariable and so take -s in the plural. The reasoning behind this distinction is not entirely clear, since there is no possible pronunciation difference, and in writing there appears to be a general tendency towards pluralising "invariable" adjectives/nouns.
French Phrases: Colour modifiers in French

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On the previous page, we saw the names of basic colours in French. On this page we look at how more intricate colour names are formed in French. A number of devices similar to English are used:
y y y
A modifier, equivalent to dark, light etc in English, may be used; Two basic colour names (cf blue-green, or a basic colour name plus a noun (cf cherry red), may be combined; In a similar way to the English word coloured, the French word couleur can be used with a noun to denote 'the colour of the object denoted by that noun' (cf English coffee-coloured etc).
Colour modifiers (dark, light) in French

The following are commonly used to modify colour adjectives in French: clair fonc ple uni kl fse pal yni light dark pale plain (UK), solid (US)
Suggest a change / proposez une modification
For example: il a les yeux bleu clair une robe vert fonc une chemise jaune uni
- he has light blue eyes - a dark green dress - a plain yellow shirt
Why is it not yeux bleus clairs etc?

Note that when the colour adjective is modified, the convention is for the colour adjective (and modifier) to appear in its 'bare' form1.
Compound colour names

In general, complex colour names can be formed in a similar way to English, by combining two colour adjectives (bleu vert) or by combining an adjective plus noun (in that order: gris ardoise = slate grey). Many colour names thus translate literally. Here are some common combinations: bleu ciel blsj l sky blue
bleu marine bleu roi bleu turquoise bleu vert gris ardoise gris perle rouge cerise rouge sang
blma in bl wa blty kwaz blv g ia dwaz g ip l u s iz u s
navy blue royal blue turquoise blue blue-green slate grey pearl grey cherry-red blood-red
Saying ...-colour(ed) in French

In English, many nouns can be suffixed with the word colour or coloured as in fleshcoloured. The French equivalent is to use the expression couleur (de) ..., as in: une jupe couleur rose une robe (de) couleur chair une chemise couleur caf
- a rose-coloured skirt - a flesh-coloured dress - a coffee-coloured shirt
Note: 1. I have not found a grammar that disagrees with this convention or indeed a descriptive grammar denying that it occurs in practice. However, judging by the number of instances on the Internet of expressions such as feuilles vertes fonces, it is possible that this situation is changing at least in informal use.
French Phrases: French pronouns

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Subject Pronouns and common verb forms

Subject pronouns are the words like I, he in English that generally represent the 'person doing the action' in a sentence. See below for other types of pronoun. je tu il elle on nous vous ils elles a , , ty il l nu vu il l sa I you (singular, familiar) he she we we you (plural or polite) they (masculine) they (feminine) it, that
Here are some common verb forms using these subject pronouns: je suis tu es t'es (Informal) il est elle est c'est nous sommes vous tes ils sont elles sont s i, tye te ile le se nu s m vu z t i(l)s ls i I am, I'm you are, you're you're he is, he's she is, she's it is, it's we are you are they are, they're (masculine) they are, they're (feminine)
Other types of pronoun

There are other pronouns that 'stand in for' a person or noun with functions other than the subject of the sentence. For example, in English, words like he, I can't be used in cases such as: with he, he saw I. Instead, we use the pronouns him and me. Similarly, French has object pronouns used in similar circumstances.
Common French verb forms

The table below gives the most common French verb forms occurring in a sample of 19th century French literature1. Alongside each verb form is the infinitive from which it is derived, which French verb tense or form it represents, and the current common meaning (or some common meanings) of this verb form in English. The forms are listed in order of their frequency, with the most common verb forms at the top of the table. Click on a verb in the Infinitive column to see a complete conjugation table, showing the forms of the given verb in all the common simple and compound tenses.
Form est fait avait fut tait tre dit faire j'ai fit avoir t pouvait faut taient devait Base infinitive Tense(s) / Form(s) tre faire avoir tre tre tre dire faire avoir faire avoir tre pouvoir falloir tre devoir present present imperfect past historic imperfect infinitive Common meaning is does; makes had, used to have was was, used to be (to) be
present; past historic says; said infinitive present past historic infinitive past participle imperfect present imperfect imperfect (to) do; (to) make I have did; made (to) have been could, was able to (it) is necessary to..., ...is needed (they) were, used to be was (bound/due) to...
fallait voir dire rpondit prendre faisait entendre serait allait aller reste eu avaient venait venait de aurait ont donner croire semblait vint trouver mettre
falloir voir dire rpondre prendre faire entendre tre aller aller rester avoir avoir venir venir avoir avoir donner croire sembler venir trouver mettre
imperfect infinitive infinitive past historic infinitive imperfect infinitive conditional imperfect infinitive present past participle imperfect imperfect imperfect conditional present infinitive infinitive imperfect past participle infinitive infinitive
(it) was necessary to..., ...was needed (to) see (to) say replied (to) take was doing, did, used to do; was making etc.. (to) hear would be was going; was going to... to go; to be going to... remains had (they) had, used to have was coming, used to come had just... would have (they) have (to) give (to) believe seemed, appeared came (to) find (to) put
passer soit rendre perdu j'avais savoir peut eut tenir doit trouvait prit furent suivre sera arriver je sais voulu vu revenir mit voulait parler
passer tre rendre perdre avoir savoir pouvoir avoir tenir devoir trouver prendre tre suivre tre arriver savoir vouloir voir revenir mettre vouloir parler
infinitive
(to) pass, pass by, go by
present subjunctive for...to be..., that...it might/should be... infinitive past participle imperfect infinitive present past historic infinitive present imperfect past historic past historic infinitive future infinitive present past participle past participle infinitive past historic imperfect infinitive (to) make, render; to return, yield lost I had, I used to have to know can, is able to... had to hold must, has to found took were (to) follow will be (to) come, arrive; (to) happen I know wanted seen to come back put wanted, wanted to... to speak, talk
cru venaient
croire venir
past participle imperfect imperfect imperfect present past historic infinitive imperfect present imperfect infinitive present infinitive present infinitive imperfect past historic past historic infinitive infinitive past historic past historic past participle
believed, thought came, was coming (they) had just... missed; was absent/lacking goes; is going to... I put to leave held, was holding asks, is asking gave, was giving to reply we have (to) put back finds (to) go out; (to) bring out remained exclaimed, cried begain (to) seek, look for (to) wait, await became asked come back, returned
venaient de venir manquait va je mis partir tenait demande donnait rpondre manquer aller mettre partir tenir demander donner rpondre
nous avons avoir remettre trouve sortir restait s'cria commena chercher attendre devint demanda revenu remettre trouver sortir rester s'crier commencer chercher attendre devenir demander revenir
prend paraissait regardait arriva put faisant perdre
prendre paratre regarder arriver pouvoir faire perdre
present imperfect imperfect past historic past historic present participle infinitive infinitive infinitive past participle imperfect
takes, is taking appeared concerned, involved; was watching, looking at arrived; happened could, was able to doing, making to lose to abandon to live come left, used to leave; let, used to let
abandonner abandonner vivre venu laissait crit connatre devaient arrive parle but semblaient quitter importe vivre venir laisser crire connatre devoir arriver parler boire sembler quitter importer
present; past historic writes; wrote infinitive imperfect present present past historic imperfect infinitive present past participle imperfect imperfect (to) know, be acquainted with (they) were due/bound to... comes/arrives, is coming/arriving; happens speaks, is speaking drank (they) seemed, appeared to leave matters abandonned was waiting (for) was expecting
abandonn abandonner attendait attendre
s'attendait s'attendre
voulut portait laisser donn font conduire demander je crois
vouloir porter laisser donner faire conduire demander croire
past historic imperfect infinitive past participle present infinitive infinitive present imperfect past participle imperfect infinitive infinitive past historic present present present present infinitive infinitive infinitive infinitive infinitive
wished, wanted was wearing; was carrying (to) let; (to) leave given (they) do, make (to) lead; (to) drive (to) ask, ask for I believe, think was starting understood (they) were doing/making; used to do/make (to) stop (to) count left; let comes has just... I am coming I've just... (to) be able to (to) become (to) die (to) resume (to) fall
commenait commencer entendu faisaient arrter compter laissa vient vient de je viens je viens de pouvoir devenir mourir reprendre tomber entendre faire arrter compter laisser venir venir venir venir pouvoir devenir mourir reprendre tomber
aura sait sentir devenu voyant d tant allaient
avoir savoir sentir devenir voir devoir tre aller
future present infinitive past participle present participle past participle present participle imperfect
will have knows (to) feel; (to) smell become seeing due, bound; had to... being (they) were going to...; (they) used to go
Notes: 1. At present, three texts are surveyed: Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857), Jules Verne's Voyage au Centre de la Terre (1864) and Adolphe Thiers' Histoire de la rvolution franaise (1823). Only verb forms that appear in all three are included. The frequency of each verb form is taken as the minimum number of occurrences of that form in any of the three works. Instances of the imperfect subjunctive have been discounted. These texts were chosen simply because they were freely available in a convenient electronic format. The author's intention is to compile a similar frequency list in the near future with other, more modern texts, such as contemporary newspaper articles.
French Phrases: French pronouns

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Object Pronouns
The following are used after a preposition and are sometimes called disjunctive pronouns: moi toi lui elle nous vous eux elles mwa twa l i l nu vu l me you (singular, familiar) him her us you (plural or polite) them (masculine) them (feminine)
The following are used as the object of a verb: me te le la les lui leur nous vous m t l la le l i l nu vu me; to me you (familiar); to you him; it (masculine) her; it (feminine) them to him, to her, to it to them us; to us you (plural, polite); to you
Note that these words go before the verb in French. For example, il parle means 'he is speaking', and il nous parle means 'he is speaking to us'.
French Phrases: Clothing terms in French

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Basic clothing terms in French

These are rather generic names of clothes in French. des vtements un pantalon un jean un short une chemise un haut un pull un sweat un tee-shirt1 une jupe une robe un survtement un manteau une veste un costume des chaussettes des chaussures un collant un chapeau de v tm p tal d in o t yn miz o pyl swit ti t yn yp yn b sy v tm m to yn v st k stym de os t de osy k l apo clothes a pair of trousers a pair of jeans a pair of shorts a shirt a top a jumper, pullover a sweater a T-shirt a skirt a dress a tracksuit a coat a jacket a suit socks shoes a pair of tights, pantyhose (US) a hat
Suggest a change / proposez une modification 1. Is also written T-shirt in French.
Describing materials, style of clothes

Here are the French words for some common clothing materials. In general, either de or en can be used before the name of the material. (The choice here reflects the most common usage found on Google.) acrylique de coton en cuir ak ilik d k t k i acrylic cotton leather
de daim de feutre en jean en laine de nylon en polyester en soie de tissu synthtique

d d d~ f t d in l n d nil p li st swa d tisy stetik
suede felt denim woollen nylon polyester silk synthetic
French Phrases: US states and place names in French

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The follow list shows how to say which US state you come from, or how to say that a particular city is in a given state. A few major US cities are included in rare cases where they have a special French name or pronunciation, or to contrast the use of the article with state names with the absence of article in the city name. j'habite... la ville de X se trouve... dans l'Alaska dans l'Arizona Boston en Californie en Caroline du Nord en Caroline du Sud au Colorado au Connecticut au Dakota du nord au Dakota du sud au Delaware en Floride en Gorgie en Hawa dans l'Illinois dans l'Indiana dans l'Iowa en Louisiane dans le Maryland au Massachussets au Michigan au Minnesota au Mississippi au Missouri au Nevada dans le New Jersey New York abit la vild iks s t uv d lalaska d la izona a b st kalif ka ka ni lindyn lindysyd I live... the city of X is... in Alaska in Arizona in Boston in California in North Carolina in South Carolina in Colorado in Connecticut in North Dakota in South Dakota in Delaware in Florida i in Georgia in Hawaii in Illinois in Indiana in Iowa in Louisiana in Maryland in Massachussets in Michigan in Minnesota in Mississippi in Missouri in Nevada in New Jersey in (the city of) New York
o kolo ado o k n ktik t o dakotadyno o dakotadysyd o d law fl id e nawaj d lilinwa d ldjana d lajowa lwizjan d l ma il d o masa ys ts o mi ig o minesota o misisipi o misu i o nevada d l njud a njuj k
ze
dans l'tat de New York au Nouveau-Mexique dans l'Ohio en Pennsylvanie Philadelphie dans le Rhode Island au Texas dans l'Utah en Virginie en Virginie de l'ouest au Washington Washington au Wisconsin
d letad njuj o nuvom ksik d lojo p nsilvani a filad lfi d l dajl d o t ksas d lyta vi ini
in (the state of) New York in New Mexico in Ohio in Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in Rhode Island in Texas in Utah in Virginia in West Virginia in Washington (state) in Washington (DC) in Wisconsin
vi inid lw st ow i t n aw i t n o wisk nsin
As a rule of thumb, state names ending in -ia have French names ending in -ie and are feminine; other states generally do not have a special French name and are masculine. Note the use of articles, which is largely similar to the use with country names: en is used with feminine state names, au with masculine state names, and dans l' with masculine state names beginning with a vowel.
French Phrases: Games and hobbies French

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General pastimes and leisure activities

The following can be used to describe some common leisure activites: je regarde la tl je regarde des DVD je lis des romans je lis des magazines j'coute de la musique j'coute des CD je vais au cinma je vais au thtre je sors avec mes amis je joue au foot je pratique beaucoup de sport je joue l'ordinateur je joue la PlayStation je fais du shopping pour me dtendre ga d la tele ga d de devede li de om li de magazin ekut d la myzik ekut d sede ve o sinema ve o teat s av k me zami ju o fut p atik boku t sp u a l dinat u a la pleste fe dy opi pu m det d n I watch TV I watch DVDs I read novels I read magazines I listen to music I listen to CDs I go to the cinema I go to the theatre I go out with my friends I play football I play a lot of sport I play on the computer I play on my PlayStation I go shopping (in order) to relax in my spare time
pendant mes moments de loisir p d me mom d lwazi

French Phrases: parts of the body

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This page gives French words for the main parts of the body. Note that parts of the body in French are usually used with the definite article (le, la or les), even though in English, you'd often use a possessive (my, his etc).
Face and neck

la tte le visage les cheveux le front les yeux un oeil le nez les joues (f) les oreilles les lvres (f) la bouche les dents (f) la langue le menton le cou la nuque la gorge the head the face the hair the forehead the eyes the eye the nose the cheeks the ears the lips the mouth the teeth the tongue the chin the neck the nape, back of the neck the throat
The upper body

le dos les paules (f) la poitrine les seins (m) les bras les coudes (m) le ventre les mains (f) les doigts (m) les ongles (m) the back the shoulders the chest the breasts the arms the elbows the belly the hands the fingers the fingernails
le pouce le poignet la hanche l'abdomen

the thumb the wrist the hip the abdomen
The legs and lower body

les fesses (f) les jambes (f) les cuisses (f) les genoux (m) les chevilles (f) les talons (m) les pieds (m) les orteils (m) the backside, buttocks the legs the thighs the knees the ankles the heels the feet the toes
French Phrases: Music and musical instruments in French

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This page gives the French name for various common instruments, arranged according to their orchestral family. At the bottom of the page, we also consider how to use the verb jouer with these instruments.
French names of musical instruments

Keyboard instruments
In French, these are instruments clavier: l'orgue le piano le piano lectrique le synth l'accordon l g l pjano l pjano l kt ik l ste lak de the organ (usually masculine) the piano the electric piano the synth the accordeon
Stringed instruments
The French for stringed instruments is usually instruments cordes. In an orchestra, you may also refer to the famille des cordes or famille du violon (string family): le violon l'alto le violoncelle la contrebasse la harpe la guitare (acoustique) la guitare lectrique la guitare basse l vj l lalto l vj ls l la kt bas la a p la gita la gita l kt ik la gita bas the violin the viola the cello the double bass the harp the (acoustic) guitar the electric guitar the bass guitar
Note that speakers generally say la harpe (not l'harpe), and, for example, je joue de la harpe.
Wind instruments
Wind instruments (les instruments vent) are sometimes split into woodwind (les instruments de bois, la famille des bois) and brass (les cuivres, la famille des cuivres). Here are the French names of common woodwind and brass instruments: la clarinette la clarinette basse la flte le piccolo le hautbois le basson le cors anglais le trombone la trompette le tuba le cors (d'harmonie) la kla in t la kla in t bas la flyt l pikolo l obwa l bas l c gle l t b n la t p t l tyba l k da moni the clarinette the bass clarinette the flute the piccolo the oboe the bassoon the cors anglais, "English horn" the trombone the trumpet the tuba the (French) horn
Note that speakers generally say le hautbois, and thus (jouer) du hautbois (not: (de) l'hautbois).
Percussion instruments
In French, these are instruments de percussion: la batterie la caisse claire les toms les tam-tams le tom alto/basse la caisse (de batterie) la grosse caisse la caisse claire les cymbales la cymable suspendue la cymable ride le charleston la cymable suprieure/infrieure la pdale les baguettes le bali le gong la bat i la k s kl le t m le tamtam la k s (d bat i) la g os k s la k s kl le sbal la sbal sysp dy la sbal ajd l a l st n la pedal le bag t l bale l gg the drums, the drumkit the snare drum the tom-toms the tom-toms the high/low tom-tom the drum the bass drum the snare drum the cymabls the ride cymbal the ride cymabl the hi-hat the upper/lower hi-hat the pedal the drumsticks the brush the gong
les castagnettes les grelots le triangle le carillon le xylophone le glockenspiel le marimba
le kastanj t le g lo l t i gl l ka ij l gzil f n l gl k n pil l ma imba
the castanets the sleighbells the triangle the tubular bells the xylophone the glock, glockenspiel the marimba
Grammar: jouer sur, jouer or jouer de?

In French, the verb jouer is used to mean to play when referring to instruments1. However, the preposition to use depends on the circumstance:
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if you're talking about the general activity of playing an instrument, particularly when it would sound odd in English to say play on, then use de: je joue du violon I play the violin il joue souvent de la trompette he often plays the trumpet tu sais jouer du hautbois? do you know how to play the oboe?
if you're talking about a specific instrument that you played on a particular occasion, French speakers tend to use sur: these are the cases where it's often possibly to say play on in English; if used with the definite article or a possessive determiner (son, ma, mon etc), it's often possible to use jouer : j'ai jou sur la trompette de David I played (on) David's trumpet je ne peux pas jouer sur un piano dsacord I can't play (on) a piano that's out of tune sur or must also be used (and most often, appears to be used) if there's a direct object: i.e. you're referring to playing a particular piece, part etc (note that in these cases on is also necessary in English): il l'a jou au piano he played it on the piano un air jou au violon a tune played on the violin
if the verb jouer isn't actually mentioned, then the preposition is usually used note that in English, it's possible to omit the article in many such cases:
"Au piano, David Kretz; la trompette, George Steele" "On (the) piano, David Kretz; on (the) trumpet, George Steele"
1. In historical texts, you will sometimes see the verb toucher used, e.g. toucher le piano (cf Spanish tocar). However, this usage is now obsolete.
French Phrases: Common jobs and professions in French

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General types of worker

The following don't describe specific jobs, but more the type of job carried out by a person: un agent un agent publique un cadre un chercheur un "col blanc" un "col bleu" un(e) employ(e) un(e) employ(e) de bureau un(e) fonctionnaire un officier un ouvrier un ouvrier d'usine une ouvrire une ouvrire d'usine un travailleur - an official, officer, agent - a public sector worker - an executive - a researcher, research worker - a "white collar" worker - a "blue collar" worker - a worker, employee - an office worker, "white collar" worker - a state employee, civial servant - a officer a manual worker, workman, "blue collar" worker, labo(u)rer - a factory worker - a female manual worker - a female factory worker, "factory girl" - a worker1
1. The word travailleur doesn't tend to refer to individual workers, but is used in plural phrases such as les travailleurs trangers = foreign/immigrant workers. (However, it can refer to the quality of an individual worker: c'est un bon travailleur = he's a good worker.
Specific job titles

The following pages list specific French job titles belonging to particular fields of work: Artists' job titles in French Office job titles in French Officials' job titles in French Language-related job titles Scientists' job titles in French
French Phrases: French professions: creative, technical and performing arts

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French jobs index un acteur une actrice un acteur enfant un(e) architecte un(e) artiste un chanteur une chanteuse un(e) cinaste un compositeur une compositrice un(e) dessinateur (-trice) un dessinateur de mode un dessinateur humoristique un crivain un modle un(e) musicien(ne) un(e) photographe un sculpteur1 - an actor - an actress - a child actor - an architect - an artist - a male singer - a female singer - a filmmaker - a male composer - a female composer - a (drawing) artist; a draughtsman, technical drawer - a fashion designer - a cartoonist - a writer - a model - a musician - a photographer - a sculptor
Suggest a change / proposez une modification 1. Be careful of the pronunciation of sculpteur: the p isn't pronounced!
Names of musicians in French

In a similar way to English, it is common in French to use the suffix -iste to refer to a musician playing a particular instrument. Here are some common terms: un(e) batteur (-euse) un(e) clarinettiste un(e) fltiste un(e) guitariste un(e) organiste un(e) pianiste un(e) tromboniste a drummer, percussionist a clarinettist a flautist, flutist; a recorder player a guitarist an organist a pianist a trombonist
French Phrases: Job titles of office workers in French

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French jobs index un avocat un(e) employ(e) de banque un(e) employ(e) de bureau un(e) analyste un cadre un(e) comptable un(e) dessinateur (-trice) un gratte-papier (Informal) un homme d'affaires une femme d'affaires un(e) informaticien(ne) un ingnieur un(e) pigiste un(e) programmeur (-euse) un(e) publicitaire un(e) rdacteur (-trice) un(e) secrtaire un agent d'assurances un agent commercial un agent immobilier un agent de publicit a lawyer a bank clerk an office worker an analyst an executive accountant a draughtsman, technical drawer a penpusher a businessman a businesswoman an IT worker, IT specialist an engineer a freelance copywriter/artist programmer an advertising agent, advertising executive a copywriter, editor a secretary an insurance broker a sales representative an estate agent an advertising agent
French Phrases: French titles of Officials and law enforcement workers

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The French job titles on this page deal with the police, law enforcement and "official" duties. French jobs index un gendarme un agent de police - a police officer (with the Gendarmerie1 ) - a police officer (with the police nationalie1)
un(e) douanier (-ire) un officier de gendarmerie un policier une policire un(e) contractuel(le) une pervenche (Informal) un agent de la circulation un gendarme adjoint volontaire (GAV)
- a customs official - a police officer with the Gendarmerie - a (male) police officer, policeman - a (female) police officer, policewoman - a traffic warden - a female traffic warden, "meter maid" - a traffic policeman - a volunteer police officer
1. The Gendarmerie is the military branch of the French police. It tends to deal with the dayto-day law enforcement in towns. The French police nationale is closer to what Scotland Yard is in the UK: it tends to deal with the "bigger picture" of serious organised crime, drug crime, immigration and terrorism.
More advanced vocabulary

un agent administratif un agent du fisc un agent de la force publique un agent du gouvernement un(e) dput(e) un(e) diplomate un membre... ...de la police ...des services secrets an administrative officer a tax officer a law inforcement officer a government official a member of government/parliament a diplomat a member... ...of the police ...of the secret services
French Phrases: Language-related job titles in French

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The following are titles of jobs in French that use or are related to languages: French jobs index un crivain un(e) guide touristique un(e) guide de voyage un(e) interprte un(e) journaliste un(e) lecteur (-trice) un(e) linguiste a writer a tour guide, tourist guide a travel guide, tour guide an interpreter a journalist a university language assistant a linguist
un(e) linguiste lgiste un pote un(e) rceptionniste un(e) rdacteur (-trice) un(e) secrtaire bilingue un(e) secrtaire trilingue un(e) sous-titreur (-euse) un(e) traducteur (-trice) un professeur d'anglais un professeur de franais un(e) prof d'anglais (Informal)
a forensic linguist poet a receptionist a copywriter, editor a bilingual secretary a trilingual secretary a subtitler a translator an English teacher a French teacher an English teacher
French Phrases: French titles of scientists and researchers

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The French job titles on this page refer to researchers and scientists in various fields. As you'll see, the good news is that most of these words are very similar to their English counterparts. The main thing to watch for is that some words have the ending -ogue rather than -ogiste (and in a few cases, both forms are possible). French jobs index un chercheur un(e) anthropologue un(e) anthropologiste un(e) biochimiste un(e) biologiste un(e) chimiste un(e) gyptologue un(e) lectronicien(ne) un(e) ethnologue un(e) linguiste1 un(e) mtallurgiste un(e) palontologiste un(e) palontologue un(e) physicien(ne) un(e) psychologue un(e) zoologiste un(e) zoologue
a researcher an anthropologist an anthropologist a biochemist a biologist a chemist an egyptologist an electronic engineer an ethnologist a linguist a metallurgist a paleontologist a paleontologist a physicist a psychologist a zoologist a zoologist
1. In older texts, sometimes written linguste.
French Phrases: Getting around town in French

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This page lists the French names of common shops and buildings, with useful French phrases for asking directions (and understanding them).
Places and buildings

Monuments and culture
la cathdrale une glise un jardin public la mairie un muse un muse d'art le palais un parc la statue de ... la kated al yn egliz a d pyblik la me i myze myze da l pale pa k la staty d the cathedral a church a park the town hall, city hall a museum an art gallery the palace a park the statue of ...
Eating and drinking

un bar un caf une brasserie un restaurant un bistro(t) ba kafe yn b as i sto bist o a bar a bar =a pub,bar serving cheap food a restaurant a bistro, restaurant
Shops/stores
une librairie la zone commerciale un centre commercial un grand magasin le centre-ville les magasins un magasin de... la zon k m sjal s t g k m sjal magaz a bookshop, bookstore the shopping precinct a shopping centre, shopping mall a large store, a department store the town centre, the city centre the shops a shop/store that sells...
l s t vil le magaz magaz d
un magasin-photo un supermarch
magaz foto sype ma e
a camera shop a supermarket
Entertainment
un bowling le cinma la patinoire la piscine le thtre buli l sinema la patinwa la pisin l teat a bowling alley the cinema the ice rink the swimming baths the theatre
Utility buildings
l'auberge de jeunesse une banque l'office de tourisme un bureau de change la gare la gare d'autobus la gare routire un htel lob yn b k lofiz d tu ism by o t la ga la ga dotobys la ga not l utj d jn s the youth hostel a bank the tourist information office a bureau de change the train station the bus station the coach station a hotel
Directions
o est...? o se trouve...? o puis-je trouver...? comment est-ce que je fais pour aller ...? c'est loin? (vous) tournez... ... gauche ... droite ...au (prochain) feu rouge ...au rond-point montez jusqu'... descendez jusqu'... ue u st uv u p i t uve k m sk fe pu ale a se lw (vu) tu ne a go a d wat o (p ) f u where is...? whereabouts is...? where can I find...? how do I get to...? is it far? (you) turn... ...left ...right ...at the (next) traffic lights ...at the roundabout (UK)/traffic circle (US) go up as far as... go down as far as...
o pw mte yska des de yska
la rue principale le coin de la rue
la y p sipal le kw dla y
the main street the street corner
French Phrases: Taking transport in French

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The vocabulary below covers French words for various modes of transport plus some general travel-related phrases. See the following sections for vocabulary relating to specific modes of transport. un taxi une station de taxis un autobus un autocar l'Eurostar la gare la gare SNCF la gare d'autobus la gare routire je veux y aller... je veux aller Lille... ...en train ...en taxi ...en autobus ...en autocar ...en avion ...en voiture ...en mtro quel autobus va ... est-ce qu'il y a un service d'autocar pour aller ...? c'est bien le bus pour Versailles? c'est bien le train pour Lille? on est bien en direction de...? vous voulez une facture? vous pouvez me donner une facture, SVP? taksi yn stasj d taksi notobys notoka l osta la ga la ga s nse f a taxi a taxi rank, taxi stand a bus a coach Eurostar the train station the railway station (more formal) the bus station the coach station I want to go there... I want to go to Lille... ...by train ...by taxi ...by bus ...by coach ...by plane ...by car ...by metro which bus goes to...? is there a coach service to...? this is the bus for Versailles isn't it? this is the train for Lille isn't it? we are going to ... aren't we? do you want a receipt (for claiming expenses)? can you give me a receipt? viz dotoka
la ga dotobys la ga utj v jale v ale a lil t taksi notobys notoka navj vwaty met o k l otobys va a skilja s pu ale a
se bj l bys pu v saj se bj l t pu lil ne bj di ksj d
vu vule yn fakty vu puve m d ne yn fakty si(l)vuple
Other French travel and transport vocabulary

Train and railway vocabulary Plane and airport vocabulary
French Phrases: Taking the train in French

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The following French vocabulary is useful for buying train tickets, taking the train and using railway stations in France. billet billet de train ticket de mtro voie quai voiture voiture-restaurant voiture-bar mes bagages ma valise chariot porte-bagages SNCF RER y a-t-il un point d'argent dans la gare? les guichets "dparts dans l'heure" "dparts banlieue" bije bije t t tike d met o vwa ke vwaty vwaty vwaty ba me baga ma valiz a ijo p tbaga s nse f jatil pw da la ga le gi e depa d l depa b lj d sto ticket train ticket metro ticket track (=platform) platform carriage, car, coach restaurant car, dining car buffet car my luggage my suitcase trolley luggage rack =the French national railway company RER, suburban train system in Paris are there any cash machines in the station? the ticket counters "departures within the hour" "mainline departures"
"dparts grandes lignes" depa g d linj
"local departures" a return ticket (UK), round trip un aller-retour nale tu ticket (US) un aller-retour pour nale tu pu pa i, a return (round trip ticket) to Paris, Paris, SVP please si(l)vuple un aller-retour Paris-Lille nale tu pa i lil a Paris-Lille return/round trip un aller pour Paris heure de dpart nale pu pa i d depa a single to Paris departure time
heure d'arrive "nous entrerons bientt en gare de ..." "deux minutes d'arrt"
da ive nu z t ga d bjto
arrival time "we will shortly be arriving at ..." "two minute stop", ="this will be our next station stop"
d minyt da e
Travel tips
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Ticket machines in many stations in France now offer an English language option. A minor triumph for 21st century entente cordiale is that the new British chip-and-PIN cards can now generally be used in these machines (and you will need to enter your PIN!). I have seen travellers of other nationalities struggle to use their cards. Before boarding the train, you must stamp your ticket at one of the machines at the end of the platform. The French call this composter son billet. If the ticket inspector (le contrleur) is presented with an unstamped ticket, the holder is liable to a fine. Be careful in the large stations in Paris: they have a section for mainline national trains (grandes lignes) and a section for local trains (marked "banlieue" or RER). Give yourself plenty of time to get to the platform and ensure you're in the right section. There's less of an advantage to buying a return ticket in France compared to England: generally speaking, the return portion costs the same as the outward journey. However, if you buy your outward ticket at a time when you can get a reduction, the reduction may apply to the return portion too. As a general rule, there are slightly fewer trains on a given route in France than on a comparable route in England. Don't take it for granted that there'll be a train every hour even between main cities. French trains are generally punctual; if you're used to the couple of minutes' leeway afforded by the unpunctuality of British trains, then be careful not to miss your train!
Other French travel and transport vocabulary

General transport vocabulary Plane and airport vocabulary
French Phrases: Taking transport in French

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The following covers common airport and plane-related vocabulary in French: l'enregistrement quelle heure dois-je me prsenter l'enregistrement? arogare l ist m check-in what is my check-in time?, when do I need to check in? terminal
ak l dwa m p ez te a l ist m ae oga
vol vols intrieurs vols internationaux votre passeport un visa bagages main bagages mettre en soute embarquement carte d'embarquement " l'embarquement" l'agent de bord le steward l'htesse de l'air dcoller (le) dcollage atterrir (l')atterrisage gilet de sauvetage
v l v l zte j v l zte nasj no v t pasp viza baga a m baga a m t ba k m ka t d ba k m a l ba k m la d b sut
flight domestic/internal flights international flights your passport a visa hand luggage, carry-on luggage checked luggage, luggage to go in the hold boarding boarding card "boarding" the flight attendant the flight steward, (male) flight attendant the stewardess to take off takeoff to land landing life jacket
l stjuwa t lot z d l dek le dek la ate i ate isa il t sovta
Other travel and transport vocabulary

General transport vocabulary Train and railway vocabulary
French Phrases: Around the house

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This page gives the French names of rooms in the house, name of furniture, plus French expressions to describe the daily household chores...
Rooms and parts of the house in French

le bureau de travail la chambre ( coucher) la cuisine l'entre l'escalier le grenier le jardin une pice la salle de bains la salle manger le salon les toilettes l by ot t avaj la b (aku e) la k izin l t e l scalje l g nje l a d yn pj s la sald b la salam e l sal le twal t the office, study the bedroom the kitchen the hall the stairs the attic the garden a room the bathroom/washroom the dining room the living room the toilet, bathroom
Furniture in French
une armoire un buffet le canap une chaise une commode la douche un fauteuil une horloge une lampe le lavabo mon lit le piano un placard le sofa une table yn a mwa byfe l kanap yn z yn c m d la du fot j yn l yn l p l lavabo m li l pjano plaka l sofa yn tabl a cupboard, closet a sideboard the sofa, settee a chair a chest of drawers the shower an armchair a clock a lamp the sink my bed the piano a cupboard, closet the sofa a table
une table basse une table de chevet des tables gigognes la table de la salle manger la tl
yn tabl bas yn tab d ve de tab ig nj la tab d la salam e la tele
a coffee table a bedside table nested tables the dining room table the television, TV
Daily chores in French

balayer charger le lave-vaisselle baleye a e l lavv s l to sweep up to load the dishwasher to have a quick dust-round, give things the once-over to wipe, mop to wipe down the tiles; to mop the (tiled) floor to do the gardening to do the housework to have a spring-clean to have a spring-clean to do the ironing to do the washing up to clean to do the hoovering, vac up d to hoover one's room g
donner un coup de torchon d ne kut t essuyer essuyer les carreaux faire le jardin faire le mnage faire le mnage fond faire le mnage en grand faire le repassage faire la vaisselle nettoyer passer l'aspirateur f f f f f f s ije s ije le ka o l a d
l mena l mena af l mena l pasa la v s l
n twaye pase laspi at
passer l'aspirateur dans sa pase laspi at chambre sa b

French Phrases: Using computers in French

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As in many countries, Internet access is generally easy to find in France. If you don't see one just by wandering round, the tourist information office should be able to locate an Internet caf (cybercaf in French). But many hotels offer Internet access, including wireless access. If access will be crucial during your stay, this is undoubtedly the easiest option and it is of course advisable to check with the hotel before booking.
Internet and computer access

The following French phrases will be useful when enquiring about Internet access or about specific computing facilities offered by a hotel or French Internet caf. y a-t-il... avez vous... ...des chambres avec accs Internet ...un cybercaf ...un point d'accs Internet ...dans le coin? ...dans l'htel? j'ai besoin... ...de consulter mon courier lectronique ...d'envoyer un e-mail jatil ave vu de b av k aks t is there... do you have... rooms with Internet n t access an Internet caf a wireless hotspot ...round here? ...in the hotel? I need... ...to check my e-mail ...to send an e-mail ...to print a Word d document ...print a file from my memory stick ...to use the Internet is Internet access free? how much does it cost (per hour)? can I/we use the machines at any time?
sib kafe pw daks t d lkw d lot l e b zw d ksylte m ku je el kt nik d vwaye nim l n t
...d'imprimer un document Word dp ime d kum w ...d'imprimer un fichier enregistr sur ma cl USB ...d'utiliser Internet c'est gratuit, l'accs? combien a cote (par heure)? on peut utiliser les machines n'importe quelle heure? dp ime fi je su ma kle y zbe dytilize t n t se g at i laks kbj sa kut (pa ) ist e
p ytilize le ma in a np t k l
Using the Internet

sur Internet sy t n t on the Internet
aller un site une page web faire une recherche Google si on utilisait un moteur de recherche? quelle est l'adresse Internet? tlcharger... ...un document ...un fichier un formulaire cliquer sur... cocher... remplir... slectionner... une case (de slection) un champ un bouton un lien
ale a sit yn pa w b f yn gug l d si nytilize mot k l e lad tele a fi je f k e pli sel ksj ne yn kaz but lj myl klike sy e dokym s t n t
to go to a site a web page to search on Google how about using a search engine? the web address? to download... a document a file a form to click on... to tick, check... to fill in... to select... a box, tickbox, checkbox a field a button a link
Asking for help

comment est-ce qu'on fait pour... ...se connecter? ...aller sur Internet? ...tlcharger un fichier? ...envoyer un e-mail? ...joindre un fichier son message? ...imprimer quelque chose? ...changer la police? ...accder ma mmoire USB je n'arrive pas ... ...me connecter ...accder Internet ...imprimer ce document ...accdr ma mmoire USB k m sk fe pu how do you... ...connect? n t ...get on to the Internet? ...download a file?
sk n kte ale sy t tele a e fi je
...send an e-mail? ...attach a file to your wd fi je a s mesa message? print something? p ime k lk oz vwaje nim l e la p lis aksede a ma memwa y zbe na iv pa a m k n kte aksede a t n t p ime s d kym aksede a ma memwa ...change the font? ...access my memory stick I'm having trouble... ...connecting ...accessing the Internet ...printing this document ...accessing my penstick
y sbe
Parts of a computer
la souris le bouton gauche le bouton droit la roulette de dfilement le clavier l'cran l'imprimante le scanner une cl USB (ma) mmoire USB une disquette un cble la su i l but go l but d wa la uled d defilm l klavje lek lp im t l skan yn cle y zbe (ma) memwa y zbe yn disk t kabl the mouse the left button the right button the mousewheel the keyboard the screen the printer the scanner a USB penstick, a memory stick (my) penstick, memory stick a floppy disk a cable, a wire
French Phrases: Shopping in French

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Names of shops in French

un magasin un supermarch un hypermarch une picerie une boulangerie une pharmacie une laverie automatique un tabac un discaire un magasin de... un magasin de disques un magasin de chaussures un magasin de vtements un magasin-photo une boutique une librairie un bureau de poste une Maison de la Presse une Fnac2 un Virgin un centre commercial magaz syp ma ip yn bul ma i e yn epis i yn fa masi a shop, store a supermarket a superstore, hypermarket1 a grocery store a baker's a chemist's, pharmacy
yn lav i otomatik a launderette taba disk magaz d magaz d disk =a bar with newsagent's a music shop, CD shop a ... shop a music shop, CD shop
magaz t osy a shoe shop magaz d v tm magazfoto yn butik yn lib e i by ot p st a clothes shop a camera shop a small shop, privately-run shop a bookshop
a post office =a newsagent's (chain of newsagents' in yn mez dla p s France) a Fnac (large chain selling books, music and yn fnak electronics) a Virgin Megastore vi in s t k m sjal g magaz a shopping centre, mall
une zone commerciale yn zon k m sjal a shopping precinct un grand magasin a large store, department store
Notes: 1. An hypermarch or 'hypermarket' consists of a large supermarket with a series of other small shops attached. They are generally designed for access by road and found on the edges of towns and cities.
2. The chain is called la Fnac. However, speakers do sometimes say un Fnac with the masculine article to mean 'a branch of Fnac'.
Inside the shop

la caisse "payez la caisse" celle-ci est ferme? le caissier la caissire un vendeur une vendeuse un ticket (de caisse) la k s peye a la k s s lsi e f l kesje la k sj v d yn v dz tike (tk s) me the till, counter, checkout "please pay at the counter" is this one (i.e. counter) closed? the (male) till operator, checkout assistant the (female) till operator, checkout girl a (male) sales assistant a (female) sales assistant a (till) receipt a plastic bag (larger) bag "do you want a bag?" the ... department; the ... counter the fresh food department the perfume department; the perfume counter a trolley, shopping cart a trolley, shopping cart a shopping basket an item a purchase your goods, your purchases price; prices low prices reduced low-priced exhorbitant around what price?, in what price range? expensive cheap, inexpensive cheaper cheap, reasonable top of the range
un sachet sa e un sac sak "vous voulez un sachet?" vu vule sa e le rayon... le rayon frais le rayon parfumerie un caddie un chariot un panier un article un achat vos achats prix prix bas prix rduit prix bas hors de prix dans quel prix? cher pas cher moins cher bon march haut de gamme pa mw b ma e od gam l l l ey ey f e ey pa fym i
kadi a ijo panje na tikl na a vo za a p i p i ba a p i ed i a p i ba d p i d k lp i
"soldes" en solde "offre spciale" "promotion" combien a cote? combien a cote, le... a fait combien? vous avez...? je cherche... ...un CD de... ...un cadeau ...quelque chose de moins cher ...quelque chose de plus grand
s ld s ld f spesjal p mosj kbj sa kut kbj sa kut l sa fe kbj vu zave sede d kado k lk oz d mw k lk oz d ply g
"sale" in the sale "special offer" "promotion", "special offer" how much is it?, how much does it cost? how much does the ... cost? how much is it? do you have...? I'm looking for... ...a CD by... ...a present ...something cheaper ...something bigger I'm just browsing for now do you have it in stock?
ga d pu lst je regarde pour l'instant, merci m si vous l'avez en magasin? quel est votre dernier prix? vous me faites un prix d'ami? vu lave k lev t magaz
d nje p i what's the lowest you'll go?
vu m f t p i dami can you give me a little discount?
French Phrases: Using money in French

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These words and phrases are useful when dealing with practicalities of dealing with money in French: withdrawing cash, paying by credit card etc. For more general phrases to do with shopping, click here.
Money and forms of payment:

de l'argent du pognon (Informal) prix la monnaie une pice une pice de dix Euros un billet un billet de cinquante Euros un billet de cent Euros un billet de deux cents Euros je vais payer... ...en espces ...avec ma carte d la dy p nj p i la m n yn pj s yn pj z d di z o bije bije t sk t o bije ts t o bijed d s z o ve peje n sp s av k ma ka t (some) money (some) dosh, readies price the change a coin a ten Euro piece a note (UK), bill (US) a 50 Euro note a 100 Euro note a 200 Euro note I'll pay... ...in cash ...with my card
Using credit and debit cards:

les cartes de crdit les cartes bancaires la Carte Bleue le ka d d k edi le ka t b k la ka t bl credit cards credit and debit cards French Visa card do you take credit cards? can I pay by credit card? it's a British card it's an American card it's a foreign card it's a swipecard you need to swipe it there's no PIN to it
est-ce que vous acceptez les cartes sk vu zaks pte le ka d de crdit? d k edi est-ce que je peux payer avec ma carte de crdit? c'est une carte anglaise c'est une carte amricaine c'est une carte trangre c'est une carte bande il faut glisser a n'a pas de code sk p peje av k ma ka d d k edi se tyn ka t gl z se tyn ka t ame ik n se tyn ka t et g se tyn ka t a b d i fo glise sa na pat k d
vous pouvez partager a sur les deux cartes?
vu puve pa ta e sa sy le d ka t
can you put half on each card?
Money-related phrases that you may see on signs or that the retailer may say to you: tapez votre code, s'il vous plat on n'accepte pas les cartes trangres on n'accepte pas les cartes bancaires on n'a pas la carte (Informal) tous les prix sont affichs... ... en euros ... en dollars prix HT (hors taxe) prix TTC (toutes taxes comprises) tape v t( ) k d si(l)vupl naks pt pa le ka t et naks pt pa le ka t b k na pa la ka t tu le p i s tafi e n o d la p i taks enter your PIN number, please we don't take foreign cards we don't take credit or debit cards we don't take cards all prices are displayed... ... in Euros ... in dollars price ex tax/VAT price inc tax/VAT
p i tetese
Obtaining money:
une banque un distributeur un point d'argent un crache-pognon (Informal) yn b k dist ibyt pw da k a p nj a bank a cash machine a cash machine, cash machines (in station etc) a cash machine, "hole in the wall" is there a cash machine near here? I want to draw some money out
est-ce qu'il y a un distributeur skilja dist ibut prs d'ici? p disi je veux retirer de l'argent v ti e d la
Changing money:
"change" un bureau de change je veux changer de l'argent le taux de change je veux changer... by o t v l to d v e e d la "currency exchange", "foreign exchange" a bureau de change I want to change some money the exchange rate I want to change...
...cet argent en Euros ...cent livres sterling en Euros
s ta
n o
...this money into Euros ...100 pounds into Euros
s liv st li n o
French Phrases: Vacations/holidays

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Places you go on holiday

OK, this is a personal matter, but here are some places you might go on holiday: en vacances je suis all... on est all... je vais aller... j'ai pass mes vacances... la plage au bord de la mer en France en Espagne au Canada Paris dans les Alpes au Mexique Cancun j'ai fait du camping on a fait du caravaning je suis all faire du ski on holiday, on vacation I went... we went... I'm going to be going... I spent my vacation/holidays... to the beach to/at the seaside to/in France to/in Spain to/in Canada to/in Paris to/in the Alps to/in Mexico to/in Cancun I went camping we went caravanning I went skiing
Getting there...
Here are some expressions for mentioning the mode of transport: j'ai pris... on a pris... ...l'autocar ...l'avion ...le bteau ...l'Eurostar ...le train ...la voiture j'y suis all... je suis all Paris... ...en autocar - I took... - we took... - ...the coach - ...the plane - ...the ferry - ...the Eurostar - ...the train - ...the car - I went (there)... - I went to Paris... - ...by coach
...en avion ...en Eurostar ...en train ...en voiture on a fait 10 heures de route on a pris l'autoroute (on s'est retrouv) bloqus sur l'autoroute
- ...by plane - ...by Eurostar - ...by train - ...by car - we drove for 10 hours - we went on the motorway/freeway - (we ended up) stuck on the motorway
Note that you generally never use aller "on its own": you must always either mention a place, or else insert the word y. So to say "we went by car", you would say on y est all en voiture, because you're not mentioning the specific place (or you can say on a pris la voiture).
Things to do on holiday
Here are how to say some common holiday activities in French: se baigner se bronzer nager lire des romans sur la plage se dtendre faire du ski faire du surf faire le tour de... faire une excursion visiter les muses
to go bathing to sunbathe to swim to read on the beach to relax to ski, go skiing to go surfing have a look round... to go on an excursion to see the museums
Things that go wrong

Here's how to explain some of the things that tend to go wrong with my holidays. Surely these have never happened to you: on est tombs en panne on est arrivs en retard le train/l'avion est arriv en retard on a perdu le train/l'avion l'avion est parti en retard l'avion tait surbook j'ai oubli mon passeport on a oubli les billets d'avion on a d faire la queue pendant trois heures - we broke down - we got there late - the train/plane arrived late - we missed the train/plane - the plane was late leaving - the plane was overbooked - I forgot my passport - we forgot the plane tickets - we had to queue for three hours
le muse tait ferm on s'est perdus en route on n'a pas pu trouver... on a perdu nos valises la nourriture tait dgueulasse2 la chambre donnait sur un chantier il y avait trop de monde je me suis fait piquer/bouffer3 par des moustiques je me suis fait piquer4 mon portefeuille
- the museum was shut - we got lost on the way - we couldn't find... our luggage got lost, our luggage went missing1 - the food was digusting - we had a view of a building site it was too crowded, there were too many people - I got bitten/eaten alive by mosquitoes - I had my wallet nicked
1. Depending on context, this could also mean "we lost our luggage". 2. dgueulasse is a slang, but very common, word meaning "gross", disgusting; it's sometimes shortened to dgue or dgueu (e.g. "trop dgue" = "totally gross"). 3. bouffer is a slang word meaning "to eat", but it's quite common. 4. The word piquer with this meaning is informal, but again quite common.
Other holiday essentials

Here are some other phrases and vocab that are useful for talking about holidays: bonnes vacances! bon voyage! bonne route! les grandes vacances partir en vacances de la crme solaire de la crme aprs-soleil j'ai fait ma valise/mes valises un bikini un maillot de bain on a pass la nuit... on a log... ...dans un htel ...dans une auberge de jeunesse ...dans une tente ...dans la caravane ...chez des amis on a bien mang have a good holiday! have a good trip! have a safe journey! the (school) summer holidays to go on holiday/vacation some suncream some after-sun I packed, I did my packing a bikini a swimsuit, swimming costume, bathing shorts we stayed/spent the night... we stayed... ...in a hotel ...in a youth hostel ...in a tent ...in the caravan ...with friends the food was good, we ate well
on s'est bien amuss des vacanciers des aotiens l'ajisme un(e) ajiste
de zausj -
we had a good time holidaymakers, vacationers August holidaymakers/vacationers, summer vacationers youth-hostelling a youth-hosteller
French Phrases: Time expressions

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General time expressions

The following are useful for talking about particular times (days, months etc) in the past or future. In the section below, we'll look at the names of the days of the week in French, then on the following page, we'll also look at months and seasons in French. aujourd'hui demain hier matin ce matin demain matin midi midi aprs-midi aprm (Informal) cet aprs-midi soir ce soir hier soir demain soir la semaine prochaine la semaine dernire le mois prochain le mois dernier l'anne prochaine l'anne dernire tt tard en retard l'heure o u d i d m j mat s mat d m mat midi a midi ap emidi ap swa s swa j swa n n nj d m swa la sm n p la sm n d nj l mwa p lane p lane d to ta ta al0 l mwa d nje m s t ap emidi today tomorrow yesterday morning this morning tomorrow morning midday, lunchtime at midday, at lunchtime afternoon afternoon this afternoon evening, night this evening, tonight yesterday evening, last night tomorrow evening, tomorrow night next week last week next month last month next year last year early (on) late (on) late, delayed on time
Days of the week
Here are the names of the days of the week in French, plus some phrases for using them: lundi mardi mercredi jeudi vendredi samedi dimanche ce lundi lundi prochain lundi dernier le lundi lundi soir pas ce lundi mais celui d'aprs lundi en huit lundi 15 ldi ma di m c di di v d di samdi dim s ldi ldi p ldi d nje l ldi ldi swa pa s ldi me s l i dap ldi it Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday this Monday next Monday last Monday on Mondays on Monday evening the Monday after next "Monday week" (oldfashioned) (on) Monday the 15th
ldi kz
Of course, any of the days of the week can be substituted for lundi in the above expressions.
Next: months and seasons

Once you've learnt the names of the days of the week, you may also want to look at French months and seasons.
French Phrases: Time expressions (months, seasons)

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On the previous page of time expressions, we looked at days of the week in French plus some related expressions. On this page, we turn our attention to months and seasons of the year.
Months of the year

Many of the French months of the year are similar to English, but the devil is in the detail. The months of the year are listed below. Note that French speakers tend not to use capitals for names of months, unlike English, where it's usual to capitalise them. en janvier in January
en fvrier en mars en avril en mai en juin en juillet en aot en septembre en octobre en novembre en dcembre
in February in March in April in May in June in July in August in September in October in November in December
We've shown the months with the word for in before them, because that's probably the most usual way to use them. However, months are masculine, and there are a few other expressions where you can use them with. For example: ce janvier ce fvrier cet avril en janvier dernier en juin prochain ce mois le mois prochain au mois de mars de janvier avril le 5 janvier le mardi 5 janvier du vendredi 10 avril this January this February this April last January next June this month next month in (the month of) March from January to April (on) the 5th of January, on January 5th (on) Tuesday the 5th of January from Friday the 10th of April
In English, it sounds a little literary to say in the month of March, but the corresponding expression au mois de... is a bit more common in French. Note that if you ever say the day and month in full ("Tuesday the 5th of January"), then in French, you put the day of the week after le; French speakers wouldn't usually say mardi, le 5 janvier. Some pronunciation difficulties to be aware of:
y
remember that the -s is pronounced on mars, and the -t is pronounced on aot (some dictionaries state that the pronunciation of the -t is optional, but nobody actually seems to know a French speaker who doesn't pronounce it...); in juin and juillet, try and make the first vowel a glide between the French u sound and the French sound: essentially you keep your tongue high in the mouth,
throughout this glide, moving the tongue from back to front and unrounding your lips as you bring the tongue forward.
Seasons
The seasons of the year in French are as follows: au printemps en t en automne en hiver in spring in summer in autumn, in (the) fall* in winter

*
Note that you don't pronounce the m in automne!
There are variations of these exrepssions in English. For example, you could say in wintertime, in the winter, in the wintertime etc. In French, life's a bit easier: it's usually just en plus the name of the season. Here are some other season-related expressions in French. Note that if the name of the season isn't used with en or with ce, cet, then you must use an article le, l' (though as in the last example, you could use un where appropriate): ce printemps cet t l't dernier, en t dernier l't prochain, en t prochain pendant l't pendant l't de 2005 pendant les mois d't un t pluvieux
this spring this summer last summer next summer during the summer in the summer of 2005 during the summer months a rainy summer
French Phrases: French menu terms

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The terms below are often used to 'spice up' a French menu. ailloli blanquette de... bouilli citronn civet de... compote de... confit de... cte cru cuisse cuissot cuit dans son jus dor entrecte farci avec... frit fum gratin mdaillons de... parsem de... pav de... ... la pole rti de... suprme de... "(servi) volont" ajoli bl k d d buji sit ne sive d cp d d cfi d kot k u k is k iso k i d s y d e t kot fa si av k f i fyme g atine medaj d pa s me d pave d a la pwal oti d syp (s md vi) a v lte garlic-flavoured; with garlic sauce ... in white wine sauce boiled with lemon juice jugged ..., ... stew stewed... confit of... chop, rib cured, raw leg haunch cooked cooked in its juice browned rib stuffed with... fried smoked au gratin medallions of... sprinkled with... thick cut of... fried ... roast joint of... ... supreme "drink/eat as much as you want"
Herbs and 'finer' ingredients...

ail aux fines herbes ciboulette(s) aj o fin z sibul t garlic with herbes chives
civette coriandre persil romarin thym
siv t k j d pe si oma t
chives coriander parsley rosemary thyme
French Phrases: Basic Health and Hygiene

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The following items concern basic everyday health and hygiene products. You should easily find them at any French supermarket: de l'eau du savon du shampooing du dmlant du gel-douche du do (Informal) du dodorant du dodorant en stick des Kleenex une brosse dents du dentifrice de l'eau dentifrice du papier toilette du coton hydrophile du sparadrap des prservatifs des couches-culottes d lo dy sav dy pw dy dem l dy ldu dy deo dy deodo dy deodo de klin ks yn b sad dy d tif is d lo d tif is dy papje twal t dy kot id ofil dy spa ad a de p ez vatif de ku kyl t water soap some shampoo some conditioner some shower gel some deodorant some deodorant stik a stick deodorant tissues, paper hankies a toothbrush toothpaste mouthwash toilet paper cotton wool some plasters, some Band-Aid condoms some (disposable) nappies some tampons
du dentifrice blanchissant dy d tif iz bl is whitening toothpaste
des tampons (hyginiques) de t p des serviettes hyginiques de s

vj t i jenik some sanitary towels, sanitary napkins
French Phrases: Basic Medication

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Over-the-counter medicines
Here are some common basic medicines in French. They are readily available from supermarkets or pharmacies. du paractamol de l'aspirine de l'Ibuprofne un analgsique des pastilles des pastilles pour la toux du sirop pour la toux des Rennies du SMECTA du Labello des patchs de nicotine des timbres la nicotine un laxatif un antiseptique un somnifre quelque chose contre... ...les rhumes ...les maux de tte ...l'indigestion ...la toux ...les piqres d'insectes ...le mal des transports dy pa asetam l d laspi in d libyp of n nanal ezik de pastij de pastij pu la tu dy si o pou la tu de enis dy sm kta dy labelo de pad d nikotin de tb a la nikotin laksatif n tis ptik s mnif k lk~ oz kt le ym le mod t t ldi(g) stj la tu le piky ds kt l mal de t sp some paracetamol some aspirine some ibuprofen a painkiller some lozenges some cough sweets some cough mixture some Rennies tablets some SMECTA (common medicine for diarrhoea and indigestion) some lip protector some nicotine patches some nicotine patches a laxative an antiseptic sleeping tablets, something to help one sleep something for... ...colds ...headaches ...indigestion ...coughs ...insect bites ...travel sickness
Forms of medicine
cachets glules gouttes patchs timbres suppositoires pommade sirop un cachet d'aspirine ka e elyl gut pat tb supozitwa p mad si o ka e daspi in tablets capsules drops patches patches suppositories ointment mixture an aspirin tablet
Useful phrases when obtaining medicines:

vous avez... vu zave ...quelque chose contre les maux de k lk oz ct tte t t ...quelque chose de moins fort ...quelque chose de plus fort y a-t-il... ...des contre-indications? ...des effets secondaires? have you got... les mod ...something for headaches ...something less strong ...something stronger are there any... ...contraindications? ...side effects?
k lk oz d mw f k lk oz d ply f jatil de kt dikasj de z f z gd
French Phrases: Names of school subjects in French

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Here are the names of the most common subjects studied in French schools. Names of languages are masculine and names of sciences are generally feminine. Note: as in England, various weird and whacky initials have appeared in French education system over the years for names of various school subjects. At GCSE or SAT level, you generally don't have to learn all these various initials. The most useful and widely used in ordinary secondary schools are probably EPS and SVT. Also available: School crossword School vocabulary flash cards tronc commun allemand anglais art biologie chimie enseignement scientifique EPS
1
t k m alm gle a bjolo i imi pe s spanj l f g se eog afi k eo istwa istwa i ese l g viv t lat matematik fizik li j s s stei ste l
core subjects German English art biology chemistry PE, sport and physical education Spanish French geography greek history humanities, history and geography =ICT modern language latin mathematics physics religion, religious studies economic and social sciences industrial sciences laboratory sciences =PSE, civil education
s njm sj tifik general science, =dual-award science
espagnol franais go(graphie) grec histoire histoire-go(graphie) IGC langue vivante latin mathmatiques physique religion SES STI
3 4 5 6 2
STL
ECJS
se i s
SVT7
zvete
biology, earth sciences
Notes: 1. ducation physique et sportive 2. informatique, gestion et communication 3. sciences conomiques et sociales 4. sciences et technologies industrielles 5. sciences et technologies de laboratoire 6. ducation civique, juridique et sociale 7. sciences de la vie et de la terre
Grammar: talking about school subjects

In general, when talking about an individual school subject, French speakers always use the article le, la or l' with the name of the subject. So for example: j'tudie le franais I'm studying French l'histoire est trs difficile history is very difficult However, the article is not generally used:
y y y
with the preposition en; in compounds with de (prof de..., cours de...), or with "quantitive" expressions (peu de..., beaucoup de...); un cours de mathmatiques; in lists of subjects.
For example: il est fort en histoire he's good at history c'est mon prof de chimie he's my chemistry teacher il a tudi beaucoup de franais he's studied a lot of French je fais franais, histoire et anglais I'm doing French, history and English
French Phrases: Types of educational establishment in French

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The main types of school in France are the cole lmentaire (children age 6-11), collge (11-15 years) and lyce (15-18 years). tablissement (scolaire) etablism sk l une cole cole de dessin cole lmentaire (cole) maternelle cole primaire un collge un internat un lyce une facult la fac (Informal) cole religieuse yn ek l ek l d des ek l elem t ek l mat ek l p im k l n t na lise yn fakylte la fak ek l li jz n l school, educational establishment school art school primary school nursery school, kindergarten =nursery and primary school =middle school boarding school, boarding section =upper secondary school, sixth form college faculty, school (of a university) at university =faith school
French Phrases: Talking about school and education in French

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On this page, we'll look at some phrases for talking about school and education in French. This page assumes that you're also familiar with vocabulary for school subjects in French. j'tudie... ... le franais ... cinq matires je prpare... ... mes examens ... mes examens 'GCSE' ... mon brevet ... mon bac je fais... j'ai cours l j'ai cours de go quinze heures j'ai deux cours de ... par jour/semaine je suis en... ... sixime ... cinquime ... premire ... terminale j'ai un devoir de franais faire j'ai trop de devoirs les (tudiants de) cinquime au programme - I'm studying... - ... French - ... five subjects - I'm studying for... - ... my exams - ... my GCSEs ... my secondary school diploma (French exam roughly equivalent to GCSEs) ... my baccalaureate (roughly equivalent to American SAT or British A-Levels) - I'm doing... - I've got a lesson now - I've got geography at 3 - I have two lessons of ... a day/week - I'm in... - ... first year of secondary/high school - ... second year of high school - ... sixth year of high school (=UK "lower sixth") - ... seventh year of high school (=UK "upper sixth") - I've got some French homework to do - I've got too much homework - =Year 8s, seventh-graders - on the curriculum
Names of school years

In the French educational system, names of school years "count down", whereas in the British and US systems, they generally "count up". This gives the following rough equivalents. Note that formally, the full name of French school years is classe de sixime (anne) etc, but class de and anne is usually omitted in everyday speech.
French year sixime cinquime quatrime troisime seconde premire terminale
UK equivalent Year 7 ("first form") Year 9 ("third form") Year 11 ("fifth form")
US equivalent sixth grade eighth grade tenth grade, sophomore
Year 8 ("second form") seventh grade Year 10 ("fourth form") ninth grade Year 12 ("lower sixth") eleventh grade Year 13 ("upper sixth") twelfth grade
Classroom activities and instructions

lever la main poser une question crivez ... coutez ... regardez ... regardez attentivement ... lisez ... lisez attentivement ... ...le texte ...l'enregistrement ...la conversation ...la vido ...l'cran ouvrez ... ...votre cahier ...votre livre ...le manuel cochez la bonne rponse je vais vous donner un devoir c'est pour... il faut le rendre... ...demain ...la semaine prochaine ...aprs les vacances allez, c'est parti! faites moins de bruit, s'il vous plat! taisez-vous!
to put one's hand up to ask a question write down ... listen to ... look at ..., watch ... look at ... closely read ... read ... carefully the text the recording the conversation the video the screen open ... ... your workbooks ... your text)books ... the textbook tick the right answer I'm going to give you some homework it's for... you've to hand it in... ...tomorrow ...next week ...after the holidays come on, let's start! quieten down, please! quiet!
French Phrases: Sports vocabulary

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This section looks at general sports vocabulary and names of sports in French. You may also be interested in the separate page on the Olympic Games in French for the names of Olympic sports. le base-ball le basketball le cricket le foot(ball) le football amricain le golf le hockey le rugby le rugby treize le rugby quinze le tennis le volley(-ball)
baseball basketball cricket football, soccer American football golf hockey rugby Rugby League Rugby Union tennis volleyball
Spelling note: in the recent proposed reform to French spelling, it is recommended that the hyphen be removed from baseball and volleyball.
Sportspeople
Here is how to refer to various sportsmen and sportswomen in French: un joueur une joueuse un basketteur une basketteuse un footballeur une footballeuse un golfeur une golfeuse un hockeyeur une hockeyeuse un joueur de tennis une joueuse de tennis a (male) player a (female) player a (male) basketball player a (female) basketball player a (male) football player, soccer player a (female) football player, soccer player a (male) golfer a (female) golfer a (male) hockey player a (female) hockey player a (male) tennis player a (female) tennis player
un(e) rugbyman un tennisman un volleyeur une volleyeuse
a rugby player a tennis player volleyball player a female volleyball player
Here are some general French words for people involved in a game of sport: l'arbitre le coach un coquipier une coquipire le public les spectateurs un sponsor un supporte(u)r une supportrice the referee the coach a (male) teammate a (female) teammate the spectators, the crowd the spectators a sponsor a (male) supporter, fan a (female) supporter, fan
French Phrases: Talking about the Olympic Games in French

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On this page, we look at some vocabulary and phrases that will be useful for talking about the Olympic games in French. Naturally, some of this vocabulary relates to sport in general, whilst some is fairly specific to the Olympics. les Jeux Olympiques de Pkin1 "les Jeux" en Chine le stade olympique un(e) athlte une mdaille ... ... d'or ... d'argent ... de bronze un(e) mdaill(e) olympique le mdaill d'or/d'argent les (jeux) paralympiques (le relais de) la flamme olympique la crmonie d'ouverture la crmonie de clture une course une preuve l'preuve de...
Suggest a change / proposez une modification 1. In French, the name Pkin still appears more common than Beijing (which is also possible in French).
the Beijing Olympics "the Games" in China the Olympic stadium an athlete, runner, Olympian a ... medal gold silver bronze an Olympic medalist the gold/silver medalist the Paralympics the Olympic torch (relay) the opening ceremony the closing ceremony a race an event the ... event (See event names below)
Events (les preuves)

Of course, many of these event names apply as names of sports generally. Note that in many ordinary sentences, you would tend to use the article in French (except when preceded by en or de see below), whereas in English the article wouldn't be used. le programme olympique l'athltisme les sports questres les sports aquatiques l'aviron the Olympuic programme athletics equestrian sports watersports, aquatic sports rowing
le badminton le basket(-ball) le beach-volley la boxe le cyclisme l'escrime le footbal la gymnastique l'haltrophilie le hockey sur gazon le judo le kayak la lutte (libre) la lutte grco-romaine la natation la natation synchronise le pentathlon le plongeon le taekwando le tennis le tennis de table le tir le tir l'arc le triathlon la voile le volley-ball en salle le water-polo
t nis t niz d tabl ti a la k -
badminton basketball beach volleyball boxing cycling fencing football gymnastics weightlifting field hockey judo canoeing free wrestling Greek wrestling swimming synchronised swimming the pentathlon diving taekwondo tennis table tennis shooting archery the triathlon sailing indoor volleyball water polo
How to say at boxing, at swimming etc

Generally speaking, the French word en is used: en natation = at swimming, en cyclisme = at cycling etc. When the French word is masculine, then the French word au can also be used: au cyclisme, au judo. Current usage appears split pretty much 50-50 between en and au in many of these cases. In the plural, aux is more common than en, and appears to be preferred by conservative spakers: aux sports questres. But en is still used by some. Note that the article (le, la or l') is dropped with en. It is also dropped with de, as in l'preuve de natation = the swimming event.
Phrases
sur les pistes - on the tracks
tre sur les podiums emporter la mdaille d'or/d'argent/de bronze l'emporter (sur...) arriver premier/premire arriver deuxime se placer en ...ime position
to be a medal-winner to win gold/silver/bronze to win (against...) to come first to come second to place ...th
French Phrases: How to write a letter or e-mail in French

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The following phrases and vocabulary are useful when writing a letter or e-mail in French. In this first page, we look at how to begin a letter. Then on the next pages we'll look at standard closing formulae and useful phrases for writing a French business letter.
Letter openings
In informal letters, the word cher (feminine chre) is used in a similar way to English Dear. In more formal letters, the word Monsieur etc tends to stand on its own (though Cher Monsieur etc is possible). Cher Michel Chre Michelle Chers Michel et Danielle Salut Daniel! Bonjour ( tous)! Coucou! Recoucou! Chers Collgues Monsieur Madame Messieurs Monsieur le Directeur Monsieur le Maire/Proviseur - Dear Michel (male form) - Dear Michelle (female form) - Dear Michel and Danielle - Hi Daniel! - Hello (all)! (Used in e-mails) Hi there! (Very informal; suitable for an informal e-mail between friends) Hi again! (Very informal; suitable for an informal e-mail between friends) - Dear Colleagues - Dear Sir - Dear Madame - Dear Sirs - Dear Sir (writing to a director, CEO etc) - Dear Mayor/Headmaster
French Phrases: How to write a letter or e-mail in French: closing formulae

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Continuing our section on writing a letter in French, we look at some common forumlae for closing a letter in French.
Closures: informal
Closures to informal letters are less formulaic than formal or business letters, so there are a variety of possibilities. Here are some common ones: Je t'embrasse Amicalement Affectueusement... (Grosses) bises Gros bisous Bisouxx - Big hugs - Best wishes (used between friends) - Love from... - =(big) hugs - Love (and kisses) - Kisses (humorous variant used in e-mail and text messages)
Closures: formal
Traditionally, French business correspondence ends with one of various silly long-winded formulae, although particularly in the case of e-mail correspondence, these are starting to go out the window. A common favourite for closing a semi-formal business e-mail is cordialement. Veuillez recevoir, Monsieur/Madame, nos salutations distingues. Je vous prie d'agrer, Monsieur/Madame, l'expression de mes sentiments respectueux. Veuillez agrer, Monsieur/Madame, l'assurance de notre parfaite considration. Je vous prie de croire, Monsieur/Madame, l'assurance de mes salutations distingues Cordialement
- =Yours sincerely =Yours sincerely, when writing to a superior =Yours sincerely, when writing to somebody of a lower grade
=Yours faithfully/sincerely, used - especially when writing to a person in an important position - Regards
See also the general section on writing a business letter in French. Notes:
y y
As you would expect, je vous prie would be replaced by nous vous prions by somebody writing on behalf of a company. When addressing a person with a title such as Madame le Proviseur, it's usually to repeat the whole expression in the closing formula instead of simply Monsieur/Madame. It's common to tack the closing formula on to an expression such as Dans l'attente de vous lire (Dans l'attente de vous lire, je vous prie....).
By the way, there's no shame in not remembering these formulae: many French speakers end up looking them up in a book and/or using numerous variants (and arguing about which is "correct"). One convention is that agrer is used when you have a "filler" word like expression, assurance; recevoir or accepter is used when salutations directly follows.
Next: phrases for business letters/e-mails

On the next page, we look at useful phrases and vocabulary for writing a business letter in French.
French Phrases: How to write a letter or e-mail in French: closing formulae

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Following on in our look at how to write a letter in French, here is some vocabulary useful in writing a business letter or e-mail. French finance terms Business letters in French French translation service Objet... Pices jointes / P.J. Nous vous remercions de... ...votre commande ...votre lettre du 10 janvier Veuillez... ...trouver ci-joint ...nous faire parvenir ...nous excuser de Suite notre conversation Suite votre annonce dans... Nous vous serions reconnaissants de nous faire parvenir... N'hsitez pas me/nous contacter... ...le cas chant ...si vous avez besoin de... ...plus amples renseignements Dans l'attente de votre rponse "Dans l'attente"
- Re... - Enclosed / Encl - Thank you for... - ...your order - ...your letter of 10 January - Please... - ...find enclosed/attached - ...send us - ...accept our apologies for - Following our conversation - Following your advertisement in... - We would be grateful if you could send us... - Do not hesitate to contact me/us... - ...if need be - ...if you need... - ...further information - I/we look forward to hearing from you "look forward to hearing" (shortened form sometimes used in semi-informal correspondence)
French Phrases: Types of business and talking about businesses

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See also: French translation service The following is a list of what are probably the most common types of business in France and French-speaking countries. It is important to note that:
y y
the precise legal details of these different business types depend on the Frenchspeaking country in question; the English equivalents are only approximate as in French-speaking counties, the legal details of particular business types varies among English-speaking countries. Abbreviation Explanation Nearest English/US equivalents
French business type
Socit Anonyme Responsabilit SARL Limite
The typical model of a small to medium sized company in France. Limited-liability company with 2-100 associates (1- Limited Liability 100 in Switzerland) and a Company/Corporation (US), Limited Company (UK) minimum capital of around 7,500 Euro. Shares, strictly referred to as parts sociales, are not freely transferrable. Limited liability company of 7+ shareholders, which must have a Board of Corporation (US), Public Directors, and a minimum Limited Company (UK) capital of just under 40,000 Euro. Shares transferrable. Partnership of at least 2 associates, who are personally liable for the company's debts, and who Partnership are taxed on income. Typical only of small, family businesses that don't have the capital to form a SARL. Single trader whose personal assets are not Sole partnership/Proprietorship,
Socit Anonyme
SA
Socit en Nom Collectif
SNC
Entreprise Individuelle
legally separated from those of the business.
Sole Trader (UK)
autoentrepreneur
Simplified model of business introduced in 2009 aimed at individuals running business activities (e.g. translators, web site owners, students doing Sole trader extra freelance work plus other freelancers) who do not want the overhead of setting up a fully-fledged "business". Single trader whose personal and business assets are legally separated. Limited Liability Partnership
Entreprise Unipersonnelle Responsabilit Limite
EURL
Translating names of business types

As in English, French business names are usually followed by the initials specifying the type of business (and in some circumstances, this is a legal requirement). In general, when quoting the name of a French business in an English text, it us usual to quote the name verbatim with its French company-type abbreviations. Nowadays, the legal acts defining different company types are reasonably accessible via the Internet. So when referring to a business type by its full name within a text (i.e. not just the initials that are part of a company name), it is recommendable to simply quote the French name, possibly giving an English equivalent but with a phrase ("roughly equivalent to...", "similar to...") indicating that this is just an approximate equivalent. For example: "Bonnaffaire, Socit Anonyme fonde en 2001, ..." could be translated as: "Bonnaffaire, a Socit Anonyme (a type of French company similar to a PLC) founded in 2001, ..." To avoid interrupting the flow of the text, you could simply write: The Socit Anonyme Bonnaffaire, founded in 2001, ... and include an appropriate footnote if you deem it necessary.
French-English Business Glossary

The following is a list of various French business terms and phrases taken from the main French dictionary. The terms cover fields such as commerce, finance, administration, marketing etc. See also: Translation services
ABCDEFGHIJ KLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
AA nf (Finance) (notation) ~ AA (rating), double-A (rating) AAA nf (Finance) (notation) ~ AAA (rating), triple-A (rating) abandon nm (Finance, Jur etc) relinquishment, yielding (of rights); (Finance) ~ d'actif yielding of assets; (Finance) ~ d'actions renunciation of shares; (Finance) ~ de l'option relinquishment of the option
abandonner vt (Business, Politics) to shelve, axe a project abandonner vt (Finance) ~ l'option to relinquish the option; (Finance) ~ des actions to renounce shares abattement nm (Finance) reduction, abatement abondement nm (Finance) employer's contribution (to company saving scheme) abonn nm (Internet) subscriber abonnement nm (Internet) account, subscription (auprs de, with) abonner vr (Internet) to subscribe, sign up (, to, auprs de, with) abri nm (Finance) ~ fiscal tax shelter absorber vt (Commerce, Finance) to take over a company absorption nf (Commerce, Finance) takeover absorption-fusion nf (Commerce, Finance) merger accaparer vt (Commerce) to corner, capture a market accs nm (Internet) access accident nm (Business) ~ du travail industrial accident, industrial injury accident nm (Administration) industrial injury victim accommodement nm (Finance) adjustment, reimbursement accord nm (Business, Politics) agreement accord nm (Finance) settlement, arrangement accrdit a (Business etc) accredited accrditer vt (Business) to accredit someone (auprs de, to) accrditif a (Business) accreditive accumulation nf (Commerce) stockpiling accus nm (Commerce) acknowledgement; ~ de rception (delivery) acknowledgement, delivery confirmation (also Internet) accuser vt (Commerce) ~ la rception de qch to confirm receipt of sth, acknowledge receipt of sth achat nm (gen, Commerce) purchase acheminement nm (Commerce) forwarding, dispatching acheminer vt (Commerce) to forward, dispatch goods, a parcel
acheter vt (Commerce) to buy, purchase acheteur nm (Commerce) buyer, purchaser acompte nm (Commerce) initial, one-off deposit acqurir vt (Commerce, Finance) to acquire, purchase, buy acquisition nf (Finance, Commerce) acquisition acquit nm (Finance) receipt acquittement nm (Finance) payment, settlement acte nm (Administration) formal acknowledgement, printed, official deed, certificate acte nm (Commerce) deed, certificate acteur nm (fig, Commerce) player actif nm (Finance) assets, credits actif nm (Administration) person in work action nf (Marketing, Commerce) campaign, drive action nf (Finance) share actionnaire nmf (Finance) shareholder actionnariat nm (Finance) shareholders actualiser vt
(Finance) cash-flow actualis discounted cash flow
administrateur nm (Business) director, administrator administration nf (Business) management, administration adopter vt (Administration) to carry, adopt adresse nf (Business) address adresse nf (Internet) ~ IP/URL IP/URL address ADSL n (Internet, Telecomms) l'~ ADSL aronef nm (Administration) aircraft affacturage nm (Jur, Finance) factoring affaire nf (Business) business, concern, venture affaire nf (Commerce) deal affaires nfp (Business) business affranchir vt (Administration) to stamp, put a stamp on affranchissement nm (Administration) stamping, franking (of mail) AGA nf (Finance, Business) registered management and accounting association agence nf (Commerce) agency, office agent nm (Commerce, Business, Politics) agent agglomr a (Administration) dense population agr a (Commerce) authorised dealer, agent aide nf
(Business) ~ la dcision decision support
ajournement nm (Business) adjournement ajourner vt (Business) to adjourn a meeting Alna nm (Business, Politics) North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA allocation nf (Administration, Jur) allowance allouer vt (Administration) to allocate funds, time (, to) amnagement nm (Business, Politics) development
amendement nm (Business, Politics) amendment amont nm (Commerce, Comput etc) upstream, above stream analyse nf
(Business) ~ des besoins needs analysis; (Finance) ~ conjointe conjoint analysis, trade-off analysis; (Finance) ~ des cots cost analysis; (Finance) ~ cot-profit, ~ des cots et rendements cost-benefit analysis; (Finance) ~ conomique economic analysis; (Business) ~ des forces et faiblesses strengths and weaknesses analysis; (Business) ~ des forces, faiblesses, opportunits et menaces SWOT analysis; (Business, Marketing) ~ de march market analysis, market survey; (Commerce, Marketing) ~ des marchs market research; (Commerce) ~ des mdias media analysis; (Commerce) ~ des opportunits et des menaces opportunity and threat analysis; (Finance) ~ du prix de revient cost analysis; (Business) ~ par segment cluster analysis; (Business) ~ sectorielle cross-section analysis; (Comput, Business) ~ de systme system analysis; (Business, Finance) ~ des tendances trend analysis; (Business) ~ du travail job analysis; (Marketing) ~ des ventes sales analysis
analyste nmf (Comput, Business) ~ de systmes systems analyst; (Marketing) ~ du march market analyst; (Marketing) ~ des mdias media analyst animation nf (Commerce) product promotion ~ commerciale marketing campaign, marketing promotion anne nf
(Finance, Business) ~ budgtaire, ~ comptable financial year; (Business) ~ civile calendar year; (Finance) ~ d'exercice financial year; (Finance) ~ d'imposition tax year; (Finance) ~ de rfrence base year
annonce nf (Commerce) ~ (publicitaire) advert, advertisement annoncer vt (Finance) to announce, report results annonceur nm (Commerce) advertiser annuler vt (Administration, Business) to cancel, call off a meeting anticip a (Administration) advance, early payment antihausse a (Finance) anti-inflation measures appel nm
(Marketing) ~ froid cold call
approcher vt (Commerce) to approach a job candidate appui nm (Finance) backing arbitrage nm (Finance) arbitration arrt nm (Business) leave arrt nm
(Commerce) ~ de livraisons suspension of deliveries; (Finance) ~ de paiements suspension of payments
arrt nm
(Finance) ~ de compte statement of account
arrir nm (Business) backlog (of work) arrir nm (Finance) arrears, amount overdue arrir nm (Finance) back payment arrirer vt (Finance) to defer payment arrivage nm (Commerce) consignment, delivery article nm (Commerce) item, article (frm) ASCII n
(Internet etc) art ~ ASCII art
assemble nf (Business) meeting association nf

(Commerce) ~ de consommateurs consumer council
association nf (Business) partnership associ a (Business) associate member associ nmf (Business) partner, associate associer vt (Business) ~ qn une entreprise to make sb a partner of a business associer vr (Business) to join together, form a partnership assujetti a (Business, Finance) ~ subject to regulations assurable a (Finance) insurable assurance nf (Finance) insurance assurance-chmage nf (gen, Finance) unemployment insurance assurance-crdit nf (Finance) credit insurance assurance-incendie nf (Finance) fire insurance assurance-maladie nf (gen, Finance) health insurance assurance-vieillesse nf (gen, Finance) pension scheme assurer vt (Finance) to insure goods (contre, against) assureur nm (Finance) insurance broker, insurance company assureur-conseil nm (Finance) insurance consultant audit nm (Finance, Business) audit auditeur nm (Finance, Business) auditor augmentation nf (Business, Finance) ~ de salaire pay rise, pay increase, salary increase autofinanc a (Commerce) self-financed, funded from cashflow autofinancement nm (Commerce) self-financing, financing from cashflow avance nf (Finance) advance, advance payment, up-front payment avantage nm (Finance) benefit avertissement nm (Administration) notice, warning avis nm (also Internet) mon humble ~ in my humble opinion avis nm (Finance) advice;
(Finance) ~ d'appel (de fonds) call letter; (Finance) ~ de crdit credit advice; (Finance) ~ de dbit debit advice; (Stock Exchange) ~ d'excution contract note; (Finance) ~ d'imposition tax assessment; (Finance) ~ de mise en recouvrement notice of assessment; (Stock Exchange) ~ d'opration sur titres contract note; (Finance) ~ de paiement payment advice; (Finance) ~ de prlvement direct debit advice; (Finance) ~ de rejet notice of insufficient funds (on a rejected cheque); (Finance) ~ de remise remittance advice; (Finance) ~ de retrait notice of withdrawal; (Finance, Stock Exchange) ~ de virement transfer advice
avoir nm (Finance) assets, resources
All dictionary and editorial content written by Neil Coffey. Copyright (c) Javamex UK 2007. All rights reserved.
French Phrases: Christmas in French

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Here is some vocabulary and phrases for talking about Christmas in French. Nol Nol cadeau de Nol carte de Nol bche de Nol arbre de Nol pudding de Nol repas de Nol dcorations de Nol offrir le jour de Nol la veille de Nol no l a no l kado d no l ka t( ) d no l by d no l a b d no l pudi d no l pan no l deko asjn no l f i l ju d no l la v j d no l Christmas at Christmas Christmas present Christmas card Yule Log Christmas tree Christmas pudding Christmas lunch, Christmas dinner Christmas decorations to give (as a present) (on) Christmas Day (on) Christmas Eve
Phrases for talking about Christmas

The following phrases are useful when talking about Christmas and Christmas presents in French: joyeux Nol! joyeux Nono! (Slang) qu'est-ce que tu veux pour Nol? qu'est-ce que tu as reu comme cadeaux de Nol? qu'est-ce que tu vas offrir tes parents? j'ai reu... mes parents m'ont offert... croire au pre Nol passer la Nol1 en famille mettre des cadeaux sous l'arbre organiser une fte de Nol chanter des nols
- merry Christmas! - merry Chrimbles! (Slang) - what do you want for Christmas? - what did you get for Christmas? what are you going to get your parents? - I got... - my parents got me... - to believe in Father Christmas - to spend Christmas with one's family - to put presents under the tree - to have a Christmas party - to sing Christmas carols -
1. The word Nol is generally masculine, but can be feminine in the sense of 'Christmas period'.
French Phrases: Basic food terms in French

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Below are the names of categories of food in French, along with the French names of the main types of meat, fish and seafood. The French names of fruit and vegetables are listed on the next page. For other terms used on French menus, click here.
Types of food in French

These are very generic food terms. For names of specific meats, vegetables etc in French, see below. de la viande du poisson des lgumes un fruit des fruits de mer du pain des pommes de terre de la soupe du potage du fromage dla vj d dy pwas de legym f i de f id m dy p de p m d t yn sup dy pota dy f ma meat fish vegetables some fruit, a piece of fruit seafood bread potatoes soup (thin) soup cheese
Names of specific meats and fish in French

These names of specific foods in French are all prefixed by du, de la or des, the appropriate word for 'some' in French1.
Types of meat in French

de l'agneau du bifteck du boeuf du canard du chevreuil des cuisses de grenouille de la dinde d lanjo dy bift k dy b f dy kana dy v j de k iz d g nuj d la dd lamb steak beef duck venison frogs' legs turkey
des escargots du jambon du lapin du porc de la poule du poulet des saucisses du veau de la volaille
de z ska go dy b dy lap dy p d la pul dy pule de sosis dy vo d la volaj
snails ham rabbit pork hen (served in soups) chicken sausages veal poultry
Types of fish in French

du cabillaud du haddock du hareng du maquereau de la morue des sardines du saumon du thon de la truite dy kabijo dy ad k dy a dy mak o d la m y de sa din dy som dy t d la t it (fresh) cod smoked haddock herring mackerel cod sardines salmon tuna trout
Other seafood
araigne de mer du calmar des coquilles SaintJacques du crabe des crevettes des crevettes grises des crevisses du homard des hutres des langoustines des moules a enjed m dy kalma de k kijs ak dy k ab de c v t de c v t g iz dez ek vis dy oma de z it de l gustin de mul spider crab squid scallops crab prawns shrimps crayfish lobster oysters scampi mussels
...marinire des moules-frites du poulpe
ma inj de mulf it dy pulp
...in white wine sauce mussels and chips (common especially in Belgium) octopus
Notes: 1. To say 'the' instead of 'some', replace du, de la and des with le, la and les respectively.

French Phrases

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French Phrases: Basic Greetings

Very basic greetings

Introducing yourself in French

Pronounce these words Suggest a change / proposez une modification

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- (I'm) pleased to meet you! - pleasure!

Being polite in French

kskyze mwa excuse me, can I get past j s i dezole pa d ap e vu

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Saying goodbye in French

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bon ap! (Informal) b nap

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French Phrases: Basic French words

Very basic articles and prepositions

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See also: When to use le and la.

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Other basic words

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pa sk( ) t e p bj ase t o t od pa ame tu u k ply, plys mw k

n s i pas I'm not...

(en) anglais (en) franais

(in) English (in) French

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French Phrases: Basic French adjectives

Basic French adjectives

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fresh; chilly; wet (paint)

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Basic adjectives to do with feelings, health, emotions

kt fatige t ist s malad ti spatik

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Words that can be used with adjectives

ply mw t e, t tu tut cpl tm bj ase p pa si t lm n tm g avm

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French Phrases: Basic French nouns referring to people

Basic nouns referring to people

m fam ga s fij adylt f bebe tupti adol s p s n p s na e

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Family members and relationships

g pa kop kopin kopin n k p p titami p titami fj se fj se k l g

Saying my... in French

m f ma s m p ma m me pa m kuz ma kuzin nami m nami

mes parents mon cousin ma cousine un ami mon ami

une amie mon amie mes amis

yn ami m nami me zami

a (female) friend my (female) friend my friends

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French Phrases: Colours in French

Common colour adjectives in French

une chemise marron deux voitures vertes

- a brown shirt - two green cars

Less common colours

French Phrases: Colour modifiers in French

Colour modifiers (dark, light) in French

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Why is it not yeux bleus clairs etc?

Compound colour names

blma in bl wa blty kwaz blv g ia dwaz g ip l u s iz u s

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