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 çava ? 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 unedemiheure. 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 teprésente 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)
Jevais_à la fac
Jevais_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 markshave 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 sentencewon'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 EXTRAORDINARILYefficient. You will be surprised how fast you will learn and how quickly you will actually build your own sentences.
Translate the following sentences
4. Homework
Read the dialogue out loud several times (3-5 times). The same goes for the pronunciation exercise.
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).
