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).
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 addressto 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 faitvotre 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-vousdans la vie ? = Qu’est-ceque 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 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.
4. Homework
Write in French what kind of work you do and where (in what place) you work. Record your work.
Choose 5 people from your surroundings and write what their professions are and where they work.
Learn how to briefly talk about yourself in French. Learn how say what your name and age are, where you live (city and country), what you do for a living, what you like doing, where you work and what languages you speak. Audio text with interactive exercises to improve your learning.
Read the text below and listen to the audio for pronunciation. Next, do the reading comprehension exercise and answer the questions at the end. For any problems with comprehension, take a look into the Notes section.
1. Text: Talk About Yourself in French
Bonjour. Je m’appelle Marie. J’ai 27 ans et j’habiteà Nantes, en France. J’ai toujours vécu dans cette ville. Je suis professeur de français et je travaille à l’Université. J’aimeapprendre les langues étrangères. Je parle anglais et espagnol. J’aime également sortir avec des amis et voyager. Je suis déjà allée* en Allemagne, en Pologne, en Espagne, en Angleterre et en Irlande. Et toi, quels pays as-tu visités ?
2. Notes
Vocabulary
French
English
habiter à
to live, to dwell
travailler
to work
aimer
to like
apprendre
to learn
parler
to speak
les langues étrangères
foreign languages
sortir
to go out
aller
to go
quel (quels / quelle / quelles)
which, what
visiter
to visit, to go to
habiter à Nantes / à Paris / à Rome
travailleràl‘hôpital /àla radio / au centre commercial
J‘aivécu: I have lived / I lived … aimer apprendre / manger / voyager / rencontrer
Grammar
Le présent et le passé (Le passé composé )
A. Simple Present Tense:
- Le présent : current actions and situations, habits, general truths
Examples:
Je m’appelle Marie.
J’habite à Nantes.
Je parle espagnol.
Je suis professeur.
Conjugation example:
The most common French verb group is the the “-er” group, that all the verb that end on “er”. Examples: parler, habiter, aimer, s’appeler.
All of them conjugate the same way, by adding the appropriate suffixes to the stem (its base) of the verb. -e, -es,-e, -ons, -ez, -ent
habiter : to live in, to dwell
j’habite en France
tu habites à Paris
il / elle / on habite près de chez moi.
nous habitons ensemble
vous habitez loin
ils / elles habitentà côté.
B. Past Tense
- Le passé composé: completed actions in the past.
être / avoir + verb (past participle).
Whether you need to use être or avoir depends on the verb.
Eg. avoir + vivre
Je vis à Nantes. I live in Nantes.
J’ai vécu à Nantes. I lived / have lived in Nantes.
Eg. être + aller
Je vais à Berlin. I go to Berlin.
Je suis allé à Berlin. I have been to Berlin.
Je vais à l’école. I go to school.
Je suis allé à l’école. I went to school / I have been to school.
! I have been to Spain = Je suis allé en Espagne = J’ai visité Espagne.
! Je suis allée = you add the “e” at the end of the “allé” when you “Je” refers to a girl. It exists and is visible only in writing.
Le passé composé conjugation
avoir + vivre
être + aller
J’ai vécu à Madrid
Tu as vécu en Espagne
Il / elle / on a vécu séparement
Nous avons vécu dans une maison
Vous avez vécu à Moscou
Ils / elles ont vécu en couple
Je suis allé à Paris
Tu es allé au travail
Il / elle / on est allé(e) se laver les mains
Nous sommes allés à l’église
Vous êtes allé(s)* vous promener
Ils / elles sont allés en vacances
The “s” in this sentence should appear if “Vous” refers to more than one person. If it is “vous” as in the polite and formal way of addressing someone, the “s” is dropped.
Phonetics
Je /ə/
J’ai /ɛ/
3. Exercises
Reading Comprehension:
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.
4. Homework
Write about yourself following the structure of the dialogue in this lesson. You need to include:
what your name is and how old you are
where you live (city, country)
what kind of work you do and where you work
what you like doing
what foreign languages you speak
what countries you have visited
Or answer the following questions. Record the answers, upload them to SoundCloud and post them in the comments below or on my Facebook page:
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’ai21 ans. Et toi ? Moi, je m’appelle Julien, j’ai 25 ans et je suis français. Je viens deBordeaux.
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’aisuis 21 ans. (Je + ai = J'ai). | Tu as une voiture. | Il / Elle a un passeport français.
venir = to come. venir de = to come fromvenir 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 quetu 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 insmall 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 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.
4. Homework
Read the dialogue aloud 3 times. Do it slowly, be careful with your pronunciation. You need to feel your facial and tonguemuscles work. This will do miracles to your pronunciation and will make your speech more automatic and fluent.
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. Recordyour answers, upload to SoundCloud and drop you answer in the comment section !
