Les principes fondamentaux de français - The Basics Of French

[Uwe]

bonjour - Hello
Salut - Hi
au revior - good bye
bonsior - Good evening
bonne nuit - Good night
bienvenue - Welcome
bon anniversaire - Happy Birthday
bon voyage - Have a good journey
s'il vous plait - Please
merci - Thank you
Je suis désolé(é) - I am sorry
excusez-moi - Excuse me
comment ca va? - How are you?
ca va? - are you ok?
bof - so so
Ca va - I'm ok
Ca va bien - I am well
Ca va tres bien merci - I am very well, thank you
Ca ne va pas (du tout) - I'm not ok (at all)

:)

Basics of French :D

[emo...]

thats a really useful guide. we dont learn some of those things. ty or shoudl it be merci...

[Pwnr]

un - 1
duex - 2
trois - 3
quatre - 4
cinq - 5
six - 6
sept - 7
huit - 8
neuf - 9
dix - 10
onze - 11
douze - 12
trieze - 13
quatorze - 14
quinze - 15
seize - 16
dix-sept - 17
dix-huit - 18
dix-neuf - 19
vingt - 20

[stratosphere]

bonjour - Hello
Salut - Hi
au revior - good bye
bonsior - Good evening
bonne nuit - Good night
bienvenue - Welcome
bon anniversaire - Happy Birthday
bon voyage - Have a good journey
s'il vous plait - Please
merci - Thank you
Je suis désolé(é) - I am sorry
excusez-moi - Excuse me
comment ca va? - How are you?
ca va? - are you ok?
bof - so so
Ca va - I'm ok
Ca va bien - I am well
Ca va tres bien merci - I am very well, thank you
Ca ne va pas (du tout) - I'm not ok (at all)

:)

Basics of French :D

I thought so so was com ce com sa (Sp?)

[:alexxTURNER]

Ca va means how are you
Comme Ci Comme Ca means i'm okay.

[GommeInc]

Je m'appelle - My name is/I am called
Je suis un - I am a
Frere - Brother
Soeur - Sister
Mere - Mother
Pere - Father
J'ai 17 ans - I am 17.
J' habite dans - I live in...

I did French at GCSE :)

[Bomb-Head]

Je m'appelle - My name is/I am called
Je suis un - I am a
Frere - Brother
Soeur - Sister
Mere - Mother
Pere - Father
J'ai 17 ans - I am 17.
J' habite dans - I live in...

I did French at GCSE :)


No, my name is:

Mon nom est

I am called:

J'mappelle

[:Clo:]

You forgot the most basic's of basic's :P

Oui = Yes

Non = No

Also if any one needs animals here are some basic animals -
Lapin = Rabbit
Chien = Dog
Chat = Cat
Cheval = Horse
Poisson = Fish
Araignée = Spider
:)

[Russia]

Comment ca va is the old one they changed it a few years ago.

[LLLgonza]

Post a pronounciation guide as well, or you'll have people walking around saying "Sille Vou Play-t"

xD

[Janeisntpleased]

No, my name is:

Mon nom est

I am called:

J'mappelle

nope.

je m'appelle was right.

it would be

je me appelle

but you can't put the two vowels together, so you use the apostophe

je m'appelle.

:]

[Skiller]

How about using this? :D

http://mypage.bluewin.ch/a-z/cusipage/basicfrench.html (http://mypage.bluewin.ch/a-z/cusipage/basicfrench.html)

<3

[AndyDude312]

If you're in France and someone says to you: Je suis en R3T/-\RD

They're not saying: I am a *Removed*

They're saying: I am late!

Seriously, don't wanna make that mistake!


Also, je m'appelle means I call myself [je [i] me [myself] appelle [call]. My name is mon [my] nom [name] est [is]. They're both right, it's just two ways of saying the same thing.

Edited by Nick- (Forum Super Moderator): Please do not avoid the filter.

[Smiddy]

Don't forget getting the gender right..

Petit = Small/masculine
Petité = Small/feminine

Pourquoi? = Why?
Comment? = How?
Combien? = What?
Que? = Who?
Oú? = Where?
Basic questions

[lew!]

Parce Que - because.
C'est - Its
Qui sappelle - their name is..
tu sappelle - what is your name
quel age - my age is.. (that may be wrong)

[Smiddy]

That last 1 in the post above I believe is just..
J'ai "Number" ans.

Par examplé:
J'ai dix-sept ans.

[lew!]

Ah thats it, I Think what is your age is quel age tu?

[timROGERS]

Parce Que - because.
C'est - Its
Qui sappelle - their name is..
tu sappelle - what is your name
quel age - my age is.. (that may be wrong)

Most of that is wrong :( "C'est" is correct, but the rest isn't :P

His/her name is... = Il/Elle s'appelle...
What is your name? = Comment tu t'appelles?
I am 14 years old = J'ai quatorze ans.

[Janeisntpleased]

Don't forget getting the gender right..

Petit = Small/masculine
Petité = Small/feminine

Pourquoi? = Why?
Comment? = How?
Combien? = What?
Que? = Who?
Oú? = Where?
Basic questions

no accent on the e on petite.
combien = how many

[edible]

sorry to bump (:

Je ne comprends pas - I dont understand.

lundi - monday
mardi - tuesday
mercedi - wednesday
juedi - thursday
vendredi - friday
samedi - saturday
dimanche - sunday

rose - pink
orange - orange
noir - black
marron - brown
vert - green
gris - grey
bleu - blue
rouge - red
blanc - white
jaune - yellow
violet - purple

[Liam!]

January - Janvier
February - Fevrier
March - Mars
April - Avril
May - Mai
June - Juin
July - Julliet
August - Aout
September - Septembre
October - Octobre
November - Novembre
Decemer - Decembre

[&]

erm

avou - you

like ca va bien merci, avou?

[:Liam]

Format : line 1 french, line 2 pronounce line 3 define.

Je vais.
pronounced je vay.
I go/Im going.

Je vais aller.
Je vay alay.
I am going to go.

Je suis fatigué(e) / malade.
zhuh swee fah-tee-gay / mah-lahd
I'm tired / sick.

J'ai faim / J'ai soif.
zhay fawn / zhay swahf
I'm hungry / I'm thirsty.

J'ai chaud / J'ai froid.
zhay show / zhay fwah
I'm hot / I'm cold.

Je m'ennuie.
zhuh mawn-nwee
I'm bored.

Ça m'est égal. / Je m'en fiche.
sah meh-teh-gahl / zhuh mawn feesh
I don't care.

Ne vous en faites pas. / Ne t'en fais pas.
nuh voo zawn fett pah / nuh tawn feh pah
Don't worry (formal / informal)

Ce n'est pas grave.
suh neh pah grahv
It's no problem. / It's alright.

Je dois y aller.
zhuh dwah ee ah-lay
I must go.

A vos souhaits ! / A tes souhaits !
ah voh soo-eh / a teh soo-eh
Bless you! (formal / informal)

Félicitations !
fay-lee-see-tah-see-ohn
Congratulations!

Bonne chance !
bun shahns
Good luck!

C'est à vous ! / C'est à toi !
set ah voo / set a twah
It's your turn!

(formal / informal) Taisez-vous ! / Tais-toi !
teh-zay voo / teh twah
Shut up! / Be quiet! (formal / informal)

Je vous aime / Je t'aime
zhuh voo zem / zhuh tem
I love you (formal & plural / informal)

Tenez / Tiens
tuh-nay / tee-ahn
Hey / Here (formal / informal)

Quoi de neuf ? / Ça boume ?
kwah duh nuhf / sah boom
What's new? / What's up?

Pas grand chose.
pah grahn shohz
Not a whole lot.

[Flyth]

french is easy to me :D

[MrGazet]

guys wat a great help lol :P i study french at school and i sux in it lol xP

[:Act]

Lol i speak French basically fluently. Ive done it since i was 3, and i took it all the way to A level.
There are some tricks that you only learn in A level, and rarely in GCSE
like the phrase "Je vais aller" - I'm going to go
It's not pronounced "Zhe Vay Allay" its pronounced "Zhe Vez Allay" because the french stress the previous letter if a vowel follows. In GCSE it could get u more marks ;)

[Procyon]

vous me fait shier, il ne faut pas essayez d'ecrire et aussi dire a des d'autres personnes comme parle le francais si vous ne savez pas!

[Kardan]

It's Bon Soir for good evening ;)

French is easy once you get your head around it. For example this paragraph, or two, that I'm going to write out is the sort of thing you'll get in a GCSE reading exam, you'll just be asked certain things in the passage so the best things to do is just pick out key words. But, if you write something like this in a GCSE writing (As long as it's relevant to the subject) this type of material should get you an A*/A easily.

Au mois de dans dernier j'ai fait mon travail en entreprise. Tous les jours pendant trois semaines je travaillais à Autotop, une entreprise de location de voitures. Non, ce n'était pas ennuyeux du tout! Au contraire, j'ai trouvé l'expérience très intéressante et birn variée. Par exemple, le matin je travaillais dans l'atelier. Il y avait une trentaine de véhicules à louer, donc il fallait tout nettoyer. Je ne savais pas conduire mais les mécaniciens me permettaient de laver les voitures - au lavage automatique bien sûr. C'était super!

Puis, dans l'aprés-midi, j'aidais les employés de bureau. J'accueillais les clients au bureau et je répondais au téléphone, ça me faisait plaisir, parce que j'aime bien communiquer avec les gens. Ce qui m'a étonné c'était le nombre de clients de toutes gens qui n'avaient pas de voiture temporairement à cause d'accidents de route. Un jour j'ai même loué une voiture à deux soeurs religieuses!

J'amais moins organiser les fichiers, parce que ça m'énerve. Mais je ne devais pas templir trop de formulaires, alors ce n'était pas si mal que ça, en fin de compte.

En plus, de patron m'a même offert 50 euros à la fin de mon travail d'entreprise, à lentreprise - et moi aussi!

[Procyon]

Some of the parts of it really don't make sense, like your last part with moi aussi, work on it.

[Kardan]

Some of the parts of it really don't make sense, like your last part with moi aussi, work on it.

And me also?

The french doesn't always translate correctly into English, most things are the other way around if you get what I mean.

[Faiza]

Haha, french is pretty cool, I've just started AS French and I really like it :D
I thought perhaps a list of country may come in handy
Royaume-Uni = United Kingdom
Angleterre = England
l'Écosse (f) = Scotland (note most countries are masculine, this and a few others being the expection!)
Les Pays de Galles = Wales
Les États-Unis = America
Canada = Canada
Japon = Japan
Afrique = Africa (continent)
Marroc = Morocco
L'Union Européenne = European Union
La Belgique = Belgium
L'Allemande (f) = Germany
L'Australie (f) = Australia
l'Espagne (f) = Spain

anyone else whose done French GCSE recently - found you can still recall your french oral presentation accurately? Or is that just me? xD

[Andeeh]

This is some helpful phrases if your ever need help in france
English French
Yes Oui
No Non
Please S'il vous plaît
Thank you Merci
Excuse me Excusez-moi
Sorry (apology AND request to repeat previous phrase) Pardon
Hello Bonjour
Goodbye Au revoir
How are you? Comment allez-vous?
I'm very well, thankyou. Ça va bien, merci.
Do you speak English? Parlez-vous anglais?
I don't understand. Je ne comprends pas.
Could you speak slowly and clearly, please. Pourriez-vous parler lentement et clairement, S'il vous plaît.
Could you repeat that please? Pouvez-vous répéter cela, s'il vous plait?
Good evening (arriving or leaving) Bonsoir
See you later. A plus ****.
See you soon. A bientôt.
Goodnight Bonne nuit

Introductions

English French
Delighted to meet you. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance.
As a shorter alternative you can simply say: Enchanté.
What is your name? Comment vous appellez-vous?
My name is... Je m'appelle...
There follows a series of nationalities given in the masculine form. For the female form an 'e' is added to the end of the word, which affects the pronunciation.
Are you French? Etes-vous français(e)?
I am ... Je suis ...
... English. ... anglais(e).
... American. ... americain(e).
... Irish. ... irlandais(e).
... Scottish. ... écossais(e).
... Welsh. ... gallois(e).
... Canadian ... canadien(ne).
... Australian. ... australien(ne).
... a New Zealander ... néo-zélandais(e).
... South African ... sud-africain(ne).
...German. ... allemand(e).

Mealtimes

English French
A meal Un repas
Breakfast Le petit déjeuner
Lunch Le déjeuner
Dinner Le diner
To order Commander
To eat Manger
To drink Boire
The menu La carte
A set menu Un menu
Today's special Plat du jour
Toasted cheese and ham sandwich Croque-monsieur
The bill (US; the check) L'addition
Is the tip included? Est-ce que le service est compris?1
Wine Le vin
A glass/A bottle of red/white wine Un verre/Une bouteille de vin rouge/blanc
A jug of wine Un pichet de vin
A beer (usu 25cl draught lager) Une bière (or 'un demi')
A large beer (50cl) Un sérieux2
A (small) coffee (usu an espresso) Un (petit) café
A large white coffee (as compared to espresso) Un grand café au lait
A cup of tea (tea comes black as standard, you'll need to specify if you want milk) Un thé (au lait)
Bread Du pain
An orange juice Un jus d'orange
A jug of water Une carafe d'eau
A bottle of (flat/fizzy) water Une bouteille d'eau (plate/gazeuse)

Questions

English French
I'm sorry to bother you, but... Je suis désolé de vous déranger, mais...
Who Qui
What Quoi (or 'que' in many questions)
What is it? Qu'est-ce que c'est?
When Quand
What time is it? Quelle heure est-il?
Where Où
Where is the railway station? Où est la gare?
Where is the tourist information office? Où est l'office de tourisme?
Where are the toilets? Où sont les toilettes?
Where can I find a city plan? Où est-ce qu'on peut trouver un plan de la ville?
Where can I change some money? Où est-ce que je peux changer de l'argent?
Where are the nearest public toilets? Où se trouvent les toilettes publiques les plus près d'ici?
Which way is the town centre from here? Il faut prendre quelle direction, pour aller vers le centre ville?
Why? Pourquoi?
How much? Combien?
How many? Combien?
What are you doing? Que faîtes-vous?
Is it allowed? Est-ce permis?
Is it forbidden? Est-ce interdit?

Emergency

English French
Excuse me! Excusez-moi!
Help! Au secours!
Help me, please! Aidez-moi, je vous prie!
I'm lost. Je suis perdu.
Stop! Arretez!
Police La police
Ambulance Le Samu
Fire-service Les pompiers
Forbidden Interdit

Numbers

English French
one un
two deux
three trois
four quatre
five cinq
six six
seven sept
eight huit
nine neuf
ten dix
eleven onze
twelve douze
thirteen treize
fourteen quatorze
fifteen quinze
sixteen seize
seventeen dix-sept
eighteen dix-huit
nineteen dix-neuf
20 vingt
42 Quarante-deux
50 Cinquante
100 cent
1000 mille
10000 dix mille
74,357 Soixante-quatorze mille, trois cent cinquante-sept

Very long but helpful (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2465435)

[VPSwow]

Bonjour, je m'appelle Karl.
Je suis cool ;)

LOL i was bored :P

[666101]

Pff, je deteste les anglais, carr il me fait chier!

[H]

I thought so so was com ce com sa (Sp?)

Yes that's what I thought as well..

[Alexicles.]

Thats a really useful guide. :)

At school I've volunteered to help organise this day and teach some kids some German lolol. ;D

[Kowther]

Nice Guide.
I only knew Comment Ca Va, Bonjour, Merci, Au reviour, and Comme ci comme ca, ca va bien, je suis de bonemuer, je suis triste and je suis on colere. :P

[OMGitsJordan]

You should put the prouncation in there to!

[Smarteh.]

Yea, were learning French at school and its compulsory. Its kinda boring though.

[Jord]

I found a good translator


http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt

[Bren]

Translators dont work right :( They always seems to be wrong but I cant remember why

[Jord]

I used this for my french homework teehee :)

[Shadowz]

That's a nice guide!

Merci!

[October]

Quand? - When
Où - Where
Qu'est-ce - What

Actually, you can use Qu' with a lot of stuff.

[Conservative,]

Format : line 1 french, line 2 pronounce line 3 define.

Je vais.
pronounced je vay.
I go/Im going.

Je vais aller.
Je vay alay.
I am going to go.

Je suis fatigué(e) / malade.
zhuh swee fah-tee-gay / mah-lahd
I'm tired / sick.

J'ai faim / J'ai soif.
zhay fawn / zhay swahf
I'm hungry / I'm thirsty.

J'ai chaud / J'ai froid.
zhay show / zhay fwah
I'm hot / I'm cold.

Je m'ennuie.
zhuh mawn-nwee
I'm bored.

Ça m'est égal. / Je m'en fiche.
sah meh-teh-gahl / zhuh mawn feesh
I don't care.

Ne vous en faites pas. / Ne t'en fais pas.
nuh voo zawn fett pah / nuh tawn feh pah
Don't worry (formal / informal)

Ce n'est pas grave.
suh neh pah grahv
It's no problem. / It's alright.

Je dois y aller.
zhuh dwah ee ah-lay
I must go.

A vos souhaits ! / A tes souhaits !
ah voh soo-eh / a teh soo-eh
Bless you! (formal / informal)

Félicitations !
fay-lee-see-tah-see-ohn
Congratulations!

Bonne chance !
bun shahns
Good luck!

C'est à vous ! / C'est à toi !
set ah voo / set a twah
It's your turn!

(formal / informal) Taisez-vous ! / Tais-toi !
teh-zay voo / teh twah
Shut up! / Be quiet! (formal / informal)

Je vous aime / Je t'aime
zhuh voo zem / zhuh tem
I love you (formal & plural / informal)

Tenez / Tiens
tuh-nay / tee-ahn
Hey / Here (formal / informal)

Quoi de neuf ? / Ça boume ?
kwah duh nuhf / sah boom
What's new? / What's up?

Pas grand chose.
pah grahn shohz
Not a whole lot.

The bolded bits are the ones I want to correct...

Je suis ennuyeux.

C'est pas de probleme.

Silence!


Kk.

Uhm also...here's some past tense, future tense & perfect tense structure stuff:


Past tense:

ER verbs - take the infinitive (eg; jouer - to play) and knock off the "r" and add an accent to the "e". It becomes joué. To say I have played: J'ai joué (au foot - I have played football).

IR verbs - take the infinitive (eg; finir - to finish) and knock off the "r". You get fini. J'ai fini - I have finished/I finished.

RE verbs - take the infinitive (eg; vendre - to sell) and knock off the "re" and add "u". You get vendu. J'ai vendu - I have sold.

IRREGULAR: The following are irregular and use Je suis followed by the infinitive to make the past tense.

A good way to remember this is DR MRS VANDERTRAMP: Devenir, Revenir, Monter, Rester, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Rentrer, Tomber, Retourner, Arriver, Mourir, Partir

They look like this: Je suis tomber - I have fallen.


Present tense:

ER verbs: Take the infinitive and knock off the "r" - Jouer = Je suis joue (I am playing).

IR Verbs: Take the infinitive and knock off the "r" and replace with an "s" - finis = Je suis finis (I am finished).

RE verbs: Take the infinitive and knock off the "re" and replace with an "s" - perdre - Je suis perds (I lose).

Future tense:

Same for all regular verbs:

Je vais + infinitive.


French GCSE A* here I come ;]

[hiyahon]

above poster will never get an a* in french if they think "JE SUIS ENNUYEUX" means "i am bored"

je suis ennuyeux = i am boring
je m'ennuie = i am bored

DON'T LISTEN TO THE VICIOUS AND DECEITFUL LIES OF THE ABOVE POSTER

[jasey]

I know I shouldn't be posting on a thread that is so old but since someone just recently bumped it I thought I'd get a word in before it gets locked. This thread can be helpful for those doing French in school but most of these tips are not very in-tune with actual French as it is spoken in France. That is important to remember and the only way you can ever really get a hang of what an actual French person speaks like is to make a real French friend and start Skyping them or something in French. No, though, please don't take me wrong - there is plenty of wonderful advice in here for those taking French in school (minus the errors made by some so do be careful) but it would be better at the very least to consult some place like WordReference when in doubt where you can get real-time input from native French speakers. I was born just west of Paris and WordReference and other forms of online immersion were what really let me learn English.

Best of luck with your studies and I hope you all come to love French if you don't already! Cheers!

[JACKTARD]

Translators dont work right :( They always seems to be wrong but I cant remember why

It's because they don't take the differences in languages into context as in the orders of words and stuff.

For example in English we would say "My dad's dog" but in French they say "the dog of my dad". Plus most adjectives are after a noun in French. Basically in French they say different things which are more natural to them and wouldn't sound natural in English and vice versa. Another example is saying you like something "I like watching a film" = "Ce qui j'aime est regarder du film" and the direct translation of that would be "what I like is to watch a film" which doesn't sound natural in English but it what the French are more likely to say.

If anyone has and questions feel free to pm me because I'm doing A2 Level French literature at the moment :)

[LiquidLuck.]

bonjour - Hello
Salut - Hi
au revior - good bye
bonsior - Good evening
bonne nuit - Good night
bienvenue - Welcome
bon anniversaire - Happy Birthday
bon voyage - Have a good journey
s'il vous plait - Please
merci - Thank you
Je suis désolé(é) - I am sorry
excusez-moi - Excuse me
comment ca va? - How are you?
ca va? - are you ok?
bof - so so
Ca va - I'm ok
Ca va bien - I am well
Ca va tres bien merci - I am very well, thank you
Ca ne va pas (du tout) - I'm not ok (at all)

:)

Basics of French :D

This has serious mistakes! Goodbye is ''au revoir'', good evening is ''bonsoir'' and you don't say good night. Welcome is ''bienvenu'', the ''e'' is used if it's for a woman. Happy birthday can also be ''joyeux anniversaire'', which is more used than ''bon anniversaire''. Please is ''s'il te plaît'' if you know the person, ''s'il vous plaît'' if you don't. And every ''ca'' is written ''ça''..

[Fifty-Six]

Welcome is ''bienvenu'', the ''e'' is used if it's for a woman.

The feminine version, Bienvenue, is most commonly used. You only distinguish the gender if it is used in a complete sentence (so there's a verb it must agree with).

Ex 1. Bienvenue au Canada.
Ex 2. Soyez le bienvenu au comité.

[LiquidLuck.]

The feminine version, Bienvenue, is most commonly used. You only distinguish the gender if it is used in a complete sentence (so there's a verb it must agree with).

Ex 1. Bienvenue au Canada.
Ex 2. Soyez le bienvenu au comité.

Actually I just searched about that, and you are correct. My mistake.

[-Moniquee.]

Thanks so much! I will learn these now and use them when I go over to France :).

[Rachel]

Il fait beau aujourd'ui. ~ It is nice out today.
J'ai 2 chiens et 3 chats. ~ I have 2 dogs & 2 cats.
Je vien de pars chez vous. ~ I came from near you.
Vous restiez loin. ~ You live far.

If anyone wants to speak french with me, just give me a pm and I can help you out a bit :)