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Lesson 3: Nice to Meet You !

Learn what to say in French when you meet people for the first time and how to introduce other people. Look up the words and do the interactive exercise at the end check your knowledge of the vocabulary from the dialogue.

1. Dialogue

Nice to Meet You !

Alberto, un garçon italien, va à l’Université où il a cours de français. Sur son chemin il rencontre Marc, un ami français.

Marc: Salut Alberto !
Alberto: Salut Marc ! Comment ça va ?
Marc: Ça va bien. Et toi ?
Alberto: Moi aussi, merci.
Marc: Où est-ce que tu vas ?
Alberto: Je vais à la fac. J’ai un cours de français dans une demi heure.
Marc: Alberto, je te présente Marie. C’est une amie.
Alberto: Enchanté Marie !
Marie: Salut Alberto !

2. Notes

Vocabulary

French English
aller to go.

Eg. Il va à l’Université. He goes / is on his way to the University.
où where*

*(see the questions words in French below)
(un) cours course / classes / lessons.

Eg. des cours de français. French lessons.

(un) chemin way / path / track.

Eg. J’ai perdu mon chemin. I’ve lost my way.
rencontrer to meet
(un/une) ami a friend.
salut Hello / Hi.
bien well.

Eg. Tu parles bien français. You speak French well.
la fac the uni. (informal way of saying “the University” in French. It is the short for “la faculté”)
présenter quelqu’un (à quelqu’un) to introduce somebody to somebody.

Eg. Je te présente Anne. Let me introduce you to Anne.

C’est This is / It is.

Ce (it) + est (to be).
Enchanté(e) The word literally means “enchanted” but is used as the English Nice to meet you.

  • Enchanté (boy)
  • Enchantée (girl)

The pronunciation stays the same.

 

A. Asking how somebody is:

 

Informal (Friendly) Formal (Polite)
  • Comment ça va ?
  • Ca va ?
  • Comment vas-tu ?
  • Tu vas bien ?
  • Quoi de neuf (Used when you haven’t seen someone for some time)
  • Vous allez bien ?
  • Comment allez-vous (Madame, Monsieur) ?
  • Comment ça va Monsieur / Madame ?
Grammar

Le présent ( Present Tense )
aller = to go. Conjugaison du verb (Verb conjugation)

Personal pronoun verb example
je vais à la plage.
tu vas à la maison.
il / elle / on va faire des courses.
nous allons en cours.
vous allez bien ?
ils / elles vont bien ensemble.

 

The basic Question Words in French:

French English
Qui ? Who ?
Quoi ? / Que ? What ?
Où ? Where ?
Quand ? When ?
Pourquoi ? Why ?
Comment ? How ?

Phonetics

/ɛ̃/ italien bien, chien
/y/ salut, une, du
/œ/ heure, beurre, sœur

Don’t forget about the liaison in French ! Almost always you need to make a liaison when a consonant (d, t, s, z, x, f, n) is followed by a vowel (e, i, o, u)

Je vais_à la fac

 

Je vais_à la fac

3. Exercises

Explanation of the exercise

Type in the French translation of the sentence in English. If you are stuck or need a suggestion, look closely into the dialogue above. Some detail might have escaped your attention.

  The punctuation marks have already been added there for you. Don't add the punctuation mark ( " . ", " ? ", " ! ") at the end of the sentence as it won't validate your answer ! Sometimes you may be asked to add a comma ( " , ") inside a sentence.
  For the French characters, if you don't know how to type them on your keyboard, please use the virtual keyboard provided below the exercise. The French characters are necessary for the sentences to be correctly completed. Otherwise, your sentence won't be validated.
  Please, remember: this kind of exercise, that is reading the lesson first and then trying to retrieve it from your memory and / or helping yourself by looking back into the lesson is EXTRAORDINARILY efficient. You will be surprised how fast you will learn and how quickly you will actually build your own sentences.

Translate the following sentences

1. How is it going ?
?
2. How are you ?
?
3. Fine, and you ?
a) It goes well, ...
?
b) I'm (going/doing) well, ...
?
4. I’m going to the uni.
Je .
5. (Let me) introduce you to Marie.
Marie.
6. Nice to meet you !
!
7. He has got his French lesson at the University.
Il à l’Université.
8. Where are you going ?
?

 

 

4. Homework

  1. Read the dialogue out loud several times (3-5 times). The same goes for the pronunciation exercise.
  2. Using what you have learnt in lessons 1 and 2, write a short dialogue between Marie and Alberto. Write the possible questions that Marie could ask Alberto and make up the answers for Marie too (her age, nationality, where she is going).

 

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Lesson 5: What do you do for a living ?

Learn how to ask somebody for his / her profession. Learn different profession names in French, how to ask polite questions and what the possessive adjectives are. You will also see the difference between “tu” and “vous“, or how to politely address to other people.

1. Dialogue: What do you do for a living ?

Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie ?

Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie Monsieur ?
- Je suis professeur d’histoire.
Et vous Madame, que faites-vous dans la vie ?
- Je suis médecin. Je travaille dans un hôpital.
Qu’est-ce que votre voisin fait dans la vie, Monsieur ?
- Mon voisin ? Je crois qu’il est pompier.
Que fait votre fille dans la vie ?
- Ma fille est vétérinaire.
Et toi, qu’est-ce que tu fais dans la vie?
- Je travaille dans un salon de coiffure. Je suis coiffeur.

2. Notes

Grammar

Asking questions: Est-ce que / Qu’est-ce que / Que …

Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie ? = What do you do for a living ? / What is your occupation ? / What do you do ? (Formal and polite expression)
que = what (very common word in French). It can have several meanings.
tutoiement:
using tu: informal, used only between young people or friends.

Examples:

Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? What are you doing ?

Comment vas tu ? How are you doing ?
vouvoiement:
using vous: formal and polite. Used with people you don’t know or to whom you need / want to refer with respect.

Examples

- Que faites-vous dans la vie ?

- Où habitez-vous ? Where do you live ?

est-ce que : a very common way of asking questions in French.

Qu’est-ce que …. = What do you …. (Que + est = Qu’est (e != e))

no inversion of the subject and verb in questions with est-ce que.

Examples:
Qu’est que tu fais ? Whare are you doing (right now)
Qu’est ce que tu fais dans la vie ? What do you do for a living ?
Où est-ce que tu travailles ? Where do you work ?
Où est-ce que tu habites ? Where do you live ?

Inversion:

Que faites-vous dans la vie ? = Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie ?

It is a very formal way of asking questions in French.

Conjugation: faire | travailler

Faire ( to do ) Travailler ( to work )
je fais
tu fais
il fait / elle fait / on fait
nous faisons
vous faites
ils / elles font		 je travaille
tu travailles
il /elle / on travaille
nous travaillons
vous travaillez
ils / elles travaillent

Additional Grammar

Possessive adjectives (adjectifs possessifs): my, your (polite and friendly forms)

I’m speaking about my neighbour(s):

  • mon voisin: my neighbour
  • ma voisine: my (female) neighbour
  • mes voisins: my neighbours (the “s” in voisins is not pronounced !)

I’m speaking about your neighbour(s):

  • ton voisin: your neighbour
  • ta voisine: your (female) neighbour
  • tes voisins: your neigbours

I’m speaking about your neigbour(s) (polite)

  • votre voisin: your neighbour
  • vos voisins: your neighbours

Pronunciation

 

/ə/ → je, que
/ɔ̃/ → mon, pompier
! monsieur /ə/
/œ/ → professeur, cœur, bonheur


Work, Mr. Nixter, Flickr.
Boulvard St. Germain, by Roman Boed, Flickr.

3. Exercises

Type in the French translation of the sentence in English. If you are stuck or need a suggestion, look closely into the dialogue above. Some detail might have escaped your attention.
  The punctuation marks have already been added there for you. Don't add the punctuation mark ( " . ", " ? ", " ! ") at the end of the sentence as it won't validate your answer ! Sometimes you may be asked to add a comma ( " , ") inside a sentence.
  For the French characters, if you don't know how to type them on your keyboard, please use the virtual keyboard provided below the exercise. The French characters are necessary for the sentences to be correctly completed. Otherwise, your sentence won't be validated.
  Please, remember: this kind of exercise, that is reading the lesson first and then trying to retrieve it from your memory and / or helping yourself by looking back into the lesson is EXTRAORDINARILY efficient. You will be surprised how fast you will learn and how quickly you will actually build your own sentences.

1. What do you do for a living, sir?
Qu’est-ce que , Monsieur ?
2. What does your neighbour do for a living ?
a) ? (polite)
b) ? (friendly)
3. She is a doctor.
.
4. I’m a firefighter and she’s a veterinary.
Je .
5. I work at school.
.
6.I’m a professor of French
.
7. Where do you work ? (friendly)
a. ? (inversion)
b. ? (est-ce que)

4. Homework

  1. Write in French what kind of work you do and where (in what place) you work. Record your work.
  2. Choose 5 people from your surroundings and write what their professions are and where they work.

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Lesson 1: Introduce Yourself

Learn how to introduce yourself in French, tell your name, your age and where you are from. You will also see how to ask simple questions in French, basic French conjugation, the verb to be (être), to have (avoir), to be called (s'appeler) and you will discover names of different nationalities in French. You will also have your first lesson on French phonetics: how to correctly pronounce je, j'ai, tu and d'où.

1. Dialogue : Je m’appelle … .

Comment t’appelles-tu ?
- Je m’appelle José.
Es-tu espagnol ?
- Oui, je suis espagnol. Je viens de Barcelone.
Quel âge as-tu ?
- J’ai 21 ans. Et toi ?
Moi, je m’appelle Julien, j’ai 25 ans et je suis français.
Je viens de Bordeaux.

 

2. Notes

Comments on French grammar, vocabulary, phonetics.

Grammar: Basic Conjugation

A. Basic words of French: 

être, avoir, venir, s'appeler (more about the conjugation of the 2 most important verbs in this article) 

Congratulations! You have just discovered three very basic albeit important and frequent French verbs and one reflexive verb: a very common type of verb in Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, among others).
s’appeler = to be called
Je m'appelle Jean. | Tu t'appelles Tom. | Elle s'appelle Anna. | Il s'appelle Julien.

être = to be
Je suis espagnol. | Tu es français. | Elle / Il est de Paris. ( She / He is from Paris)

avoir = to have
J’ai suis 21 ans. (Je + ai = J'ai). | Tu as une voiture. | Il / Elle a un passeport français.

venir = to come.
 venir de = to come from venir à = to come to
Je viens de Londres (London). Tu viens de Chine. Elle vient d'Allemagne (Germany)
D'où viens-tu ? Where do you come from ? (où: where)

Grammar: Asking Questions

Asking Questions in French

1. Inversion
Very formal and very polite way of asking questions.
It consists in inverting the subject and the verb.
1. Je suis espagnol. Es-tu espagnol ? (Are you Spanish ?)*
2. Il est américain. Est-il américain ? '(Are you American ?)
3. Il s'appelle Marc. Comment s'appelle-t-il ? (  s'appelle-il e-i)
2. Est-ce que
A very popular way of asking questions in French. Used in everyday speech as well as in formal situations.
It consists in adding est-ce que before any affirmative statement.
Tu es français. Est-ce que tu es français ?
Vous avez rendez-vous. Est-ce que vous avez rendez-vous ?
3. Intonation
The easiest one and the most popular in spoken French is raising intonation.
Tu es anglais ? ↗
Tu parles français ? ↗
Tu viens de Bordeaux ? ↗

Dialogue Vocabulary

French English
s’appeler to be called / to have as a name …
être to be
avoir to have
venir to come
venir de to come from

Additional Vocabulary

Nationalities ( Les nationalités )

The names of nationalities in French are written in small letters, unlike in the English language !

French English
français French
anglais English
sénégalais Senegalese
marocain Moroccan
allemand German
russe Russian
américain American
espagnol Spanish
suédois Swedish

Phonetics

 

Je /ə/ , / J’ai  /ɛ/  

 

 

Tu /y/ , d’où  /u/  

 

 

3. Exercise: Translate into French

Click to show the explanation of the exercise

Type in the French translation of the sentence in English. If you are stuck or need a suggestion, look closely into the dialogue above. Some detail might have escaped your attention.

  The punctuation marks have already been added there for you. Don't add the punctuation mark ( " . ", " ? ", " ! ") at the end of the sentence as it won't validate your answer ! Sometimes you may be asked to add a comma ( " , ") inside a sentence.
  For the French characters, if you don't know how to type them on your keyboard, please use the virtual keyboard provided below the exercise. The French characters are necessary for the sentences to be correctly completed. Otherwise, your sentence won't be validated.
  Please, remember: this kind of exercise, that is reading the lesson first and then trying to retrieve it from your memory and / or helping yourself by looking back into the lesson is EXTRAORDINARILY efficient. You will be surprised how fast you will learn and how quickly you will actually build your own sentences.

1. What's your name ?
?
2. My name's José.
José.
3. Are you Spanish ?
?
4. Yes, I'm Spanish.
Oui, .
5. I come from Barcelone.
.
6. How old are you ?
?
7. I'm 21 years old. And you ?
. Et toi ?
8. My name is Julien.
Julien.
9. I'm 25 (years old).
ans.
10. I'm French.
.
11. I come from Bordeaux.
.

4. Homework

  1. Read the dialogue aloud 3 times. Do it slowly, be careful with your pronunciation. You need to feel your facial and tongue muscles work. This will do miracles to your pronunciation and will make your speech more automatic and fluent.
  2. Basing yourself on the dialogue from this lesson, answer the following questions (your name, age, origin). Look up in a dictionary the words you don't know. Record your answers, upload to SoundCloud and drop you answer in the comment section !

     

    1. Comment t'appelles-tu ?
    2. Quel âge as-tu ?
    3. D'où viens-tu ?
    4. Quelle est ta nationalité ?