Politeness: what you say and what you hear back
In France you greet before anything else: walking into a shop or asking a question without Bonjour first sounds abrupt. Each line below pairs what you say with the usual reply. For general methods that work in any language, see our guide to building vocabulary.
People: je, tu, vous and the family
A pronoun stands in for a noun: I, you, she. French has two words for “you”: tu for one friend, relative or child, and vous for anyone you would not call by their first name, and for any group. Every French noun also has a gender, a grammar class shown by its article: le (masculine) or la (feminine), l’ before a vowel. See le, la, les.
| Family and people | Meaning |
|---|---|
| luh PAIR | father |
| la MAIR | mother |
| lay pa-RAH(N) | parents; relatives |
| luh FRAIR | brother |
| la SUR | sister |
| luh FEESS | son |
| la FEE-yuh | daughter; girl |
| lah(n)-FAH(N) | child (le or la) |
| la-MEE | friend (m / f) |
| LUM | man |
| la FAM | woman; wife |
Four verbs that build half of French
A verb is an action or state word. Être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go) and faire (to do, make) are irregular and appear in almost every sentence, partly because they also build other tenses: je vais partir (I’m going to leave), j’ai mangé (I ate). Learn these four in full; most other verbs follow the regular -er pattern in the present tense.
Question words
In everyday speech the question word often goes at the end and the voice rises: Tu vas où ? “You’re going where?”. Putting it first, with est-ce que, is neutral; both are correct. The three patterns are in how to ask a question.
| Word | Meaning | Example, word by word |
|---|---|---|
| quiKEE | who | C’estit-isqui ?who say KEE · “Who is it?” |
| quoiKWA | what | Tuyoufaisdoquoi ?what tü feh KWA · “What are you doing?” |
| oùOO | where | Oùwheresontarelesthetoilettes ?toilets oo soh(n) lay twa-LET · “Where are the toilets?” |
| quandKAH(N) | when | Tuyouarrivesarrivequand ?when tü a-REEV KAH(N) · “When do you arrive?” |
| commentko-MAH(N) | how | Tuyout’appellescall-yourselfcomment ?how tü ta-PEL ko-MAH(N) · “What’s your name?” |
| pourquoipoor-KWA | why | Pourquoiwhytuyouris ?laugh poor-KWA tü REE · “Why are you laughing?” |
| combienkoh(m)-BYAN | how much / many | C’estit-iscombien ?how-much say koh(m)-BYAN · “How much is it?” |
| quel / quelleKEL | which, what | Quellewhatheurehourest-il ?is-it kel UR eh-TEEL · “What time is it?” |
Time: from le matin to la nuit
French divides the day into four parts, and each has its greeting. Bonjour covers the whole day; bonsoir takes over from about 6 pm. Clock times are in French numbers.
The little words that join and negate
A connector joins two ideas: and, but, because. French negation wraps the verb in two words, ne … pas; in relaxed speech the ne often disappears, but you write it. See negation and connectors.