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100 Useful Beginner French Sentences and Expressions

100 French Useful Sentences

I have been always wondering what is a good way of starting to learn a language.  The answer is: many. Or even better: whatever the method, the result is all that counts.

Can you say you have learned a language knowing 100 sentences in it ? Certainly not, but it gives you a good pictures of what the language looks likes, you can express the most basic demands and understand them, introduce and speak about yourself, buy things, express what you need, understand some of the swear words, and above all, use the vocabulary and structure from these 100 sentences to create hundreds of new sentences, or even an infinite number of them, if we refer to Chomsky : ).

Some statistics to show how much of French you will learn

  • Sentences: 100
  • Words: 490
  • Unique French Words: 241
  • CEFR level: A1

 

I have created 100 useful French sentences and expressions to provide something for beginners to start with, to help you grasp the language and get some practice before travelling to France for example. You can also use it to check whether you have the CEFR A1 level in French.

The sentences are divided into 17 categories to make it easier for the learner to find a particular expression. It makes learning the expressions easier too.

Categories 

  1. Speaking About Yourself
  2. Travel
  3. A the hotel
  4. At the train station
  5. Occupation / Work
  6. Family
  7. Greetings and Polite Words
  8. At the café (ordering drinks)
  9. At the restaurant
  10. At the airport
  11. At the shop
  12. Survival Expressions
  13. Taking a Taxi
  14. Being Lost
  15. Small Talk
  16. Gap fillers / Keeping the Conversation
  17. Swear Words / Impolite Words

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10 Most Important French Verbs For Tourists (With Examples)

French Verbs for Tourists

10 Essential French Verbs For Tourists (With Examples)

 

The summer vacation is approaching, and you might be thinking: “I’m going to France and the only words I know are Bonjour and Merci”. The good news is these are two most important words in any language of any country you are visiting. It’s the strictest minimum that you should know if you don’t want to be considered as a complete philistine and ignoramus.

 

The bad news is that it’s too late to jump on a complete French language course as you certainly won’t have time to finish it and you remember much when faced with a real life French speaking situation. (However, you never know, people can sometimes do amazing things, and the motivation and the drive to achieve something are the most incredible things, especially in learning).

 

If you want learn fast, you must start small and be able to see the “frame” of what you are trying to accomplish. The material must be concrete, understandable and easy to acquire by the means of some stimulating exercises.

 

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Names of Countries in French: Masculine Feminine Articles

Masculine Feminine Definite Articles with the Names of Countries in French

When evoking the names of countries in French, you will usually use a definite French masculine, feminine or plural article (le / la / les) to go with it.

It means that when speaking about a specific country, let's take France and Germany for example, you will need to say " l'Allemagne" but not "Allemagne" and "la France" and not just "France". Example: 

  • A: Quel est le nom du pays à l'est de la France ? What's the name of the country east of France ? 
  • B: C'est l'Allemagne. It's Germany. 

However if you are interested in expressing in French the idea of going to a country, city or continent (Eg. Je suis à Paris, Je vais en Russie, Je vis aux Etats-Unis), you should check the "à", "en" and "aux" lesson. 

When Use the Definite Article ? 

In general, you must use a definite article in front of the names of countries, continents, mountains, seas, lakes and rivers. Some of the frequent usage examples:  

 

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Lesson 11: Asking For Information

In this lesson you will learn how to approach people in the street and ask politely for information. You will learn the vocabulary related to travel and you will also be introduced to the French conditional. The content of this lesson corresponds to A2 CEFR level of French. Enjoy !   Asking for information = demander des renseignements

Dialogue

Excusez-moi, je suis perdu. Pourriez-vous m’aider, s’il-vous-plaît ?  
Bien sûr ! Comment je peux vous aider ?
Pourriez-vous me montrer sur la carte où je suis?
Nous sommes ici, à cet endroit.
D'accord. Merci beaucoup.

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French Grammar: Different Tenses Present, Past, Future Tenses

How well do you know the French Present, Past, Future Tenses ?

One of the efficient ways to assimilate grammar is to use it in a meaningful context.

Read the story of a person who lives in France. Choose the appropriate form of the verb. The present, past and the future tenses are used. This exercise is useful not only to check your knowledge of the different forms of different important French verbs, it is also an example of how to speak about you: where you are from, what your nationality is, what your work is, what you did in the past and what you would like to do in the future. 

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