Guillemets and dialogue
« Bonjour », dit-il.
Inverted reporting verbzhuh VYAN, ray-PON POL · ““I’m coming,” Paul replies.”Why: Verb before subject after a quote.
««JeIvienscome»,»répondanswersPaul.Paul
Dialogue dashtü VYAN · “Are you coming?”Why: In novels each new speaker starts a line with a dash; the whole exchange may sit inside one pair of guillemets.
—dashTuyouviens ?come
Quote inside a quoteeel a DEE NON · ““He said ‘no’.””Why: Use English-style “ ” inside « ».
««Ilhea dithas said“non”“no”»»
Capital letters
lundi, le français, un Français
| Type | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Days | lundi | Monday |
| Months | janvier | January |
| Languages | le français | French (the language) |
| Nationality adjectives | une ville française | a French town |
| People (nationality nouns) | un Français, une Française | a Frenchman, a Frenchwoman |
| Titles of address | madame Dupont (in a sentence) | Mrs Dupont |
Numbers, money and time
3,5 · 1 000 · 14 h 30
Punctuation in emails and letters
Madame, Monsieur,
Where French puts commas
Mais, donc, or
Before maissay SHAIR, may BON · “It’s expensive, but good.”Why: A comma before mais, as in English.
C’estit-ischer,expensivemaisbutbon.good
After an openeryair SWAR, on ay sor-TEE · “Last night we went out.”Why: A comma after a time phrase at the start.
Hier soir,yesterday eveningonweest sortis.went-out
No comma before etdü PAN ay dü VAN · “bread and wine”Why: No comma before et in a list.
du painbreadetanddu vinwine
Around donceel PLUH, donk on REST · “It’s raining, so we’re staying in.”Why: A comma before donc when it links two clauses.
Il pleut,it rainsdoncsoon reste.we stay
Keep going