Learn French, the easy way.
French is a widely spoken language throughout the world, and a surprisingly popular holiday destination! But you, of course, don't have a clue what any French is except for 'Hello' - Which is why, this guide is going to teach you the very basics of French, and its strangeness.
French has been altered throughout the years, with new words appearing, some words that still don't exist and with 3 ways to say 'The' - you'll find it hard to grasp, but you will get there.
Just before I start, if you think 3 is a lot of 'The' 's - Don't ever, ever, ever learn German! 16 ways to say the, what morons "/ :
So, as the guide starts get a groove in your chair, get some StarBucks coffee and put your status as 'away' on every possible messanger :
When you're meeting someone in France, the first thing they normally say is :
Salut/Bonjour! Ca va?
Which Translates to: Hi/Hello! How are you?
Tip 1: The 'c' on ca va is a soft 'c', therefore you need a littke upside down 5, or cedilla at the bottom the c.
If you're well, you would reply:
Ca va bien merci!
Which translates to: I am fine
or, if you're not feeling well :
Non (It may seem impolite, but it's what they do!)
That's pretty much the basic opening sentences of French, if you remember these, continue, if not, read over them again! :
We have the word 'the' which goes for Masculine things (male), Feminine things (female) and plural things (more than 1) - This goes for all of the English world, however in French they have a different word for each category :
Le is the Masculine 'The'
La is the Feminine 'The'
Les is the Plural 'The'
But how do I know which noun goes with which the? You don't! It is very hard to see which 'the' it goes with, obviously if it is perfume it is female, which would be 'La'.
Whilst working with that, you now can say 'Hello, how are you? I am fine and the'. And that is a good bit learnt in what, 10 minutes maximum?
Now, this is where it may get a little too confusing, but if you think you're a big smartie pants, I wreckon you will grasp it
Take the word in English to 'watch' - We have I, You (singular), He/she/it, We, you (plural) and they. In French, it is a bit like Latin, you also need to change the ending of the word.
In french ;
I = Je
You (S) = Tu (This is also very formal)
He/She/It = Just, well someone's name etc
We = Nous
You (P) = Vous (This is not very formal)
They = Just, well more than one name.
But you've got to learn the endings as well, but they are quite easy to learn! :
I = E
You (S) = ES
He/She/It = E
We = ONS
You (P) = EZ
They = ENT
All verbs in French come with the infinitive first, which is 'To do' or 'To have' or 'To play' - whatever your verb is, and the ones that follow the rule are called 'ER' verbs..
So if you take off the 'ER' you are left with 'Regard' and then you place your ending on, such as :
Je Regarder = NO!
Je Regarde (you've taken off the ER and added 'Je' which is E' = YES!
That's it for now, more will be posted later, until then, keep revising.
