1.

Basic Phrases / les expressions de base Bonjour /bu/ Hello / Good day / Good morning Salut /saly/ Hi / Bye Merci (beaucoup) /msi boku/ Thank you (very much) Bienvenu(e) /bj vny/ Welcome (also You're welcome in Quebec) A plus tard /a ply ta/ See you later Je suis dsol(e) /dezle/ I'm sorry Comment allez-vous ? /kmtale vu/ How are you? (formal) a va ? /sa va/ How are you? (informal) Comment vous appelez-vous ? /kmvu zaple vu/ What's your name? (formal) Enchant(e) / te/ Nice to meet you. Vous tes d'o ? / Vous venez d'o ? /vu zt du/ /vu vne du/ Where are you from? (formal) Bonsoir /b swa / Good evening Au revoir /()vwa/ Goodbye De rien. /d j / You're welcome. Allons-y! /alzi/ Let's go! A bientt /a bj to/ See you soon Pardon ! /pad / Excuse me! (pushing through a crowd) / Sorry! (stepped on someone's foot) Je vais bien / ve bj / I'm fine. a va. /sa va/ I'm fine. (informal response to a va ?) Tu t'appelles comment ? /ty tapl km / What's your name? (informal) Monsieur, Madame, Mademoiselle /msj/ /madam/ /madwazl/ Mister, Misses, Miss Tu es d'o ? / Tu viens d'o ? /ty du/ /ty vjdu/ Where are you from? (informal) Bonne nuit /bn ni/ Good night (only said when going to bed) S'il vous plat / S'il te plat /sil vu pl/ Please (formal / informal) Je vous en prie. /vu zpri/ You're welcome. (formal) / Go ahead. A tout l'heure /a tu ta l/ See you in a little while A demain /a dm / See you tomorrow Excusez-moi ! /ekskyze mwa/ Excuse me! (getting someone's attention) / I'm sorry! (more formal apology) Trs bien / mal / pas mal /t bj /mal/ /pa mal/ / Very good / bad / not bad Oui / non /wi/ /n / Yes / no Je m'appelle... / mapl/ My name is... Mesdames et Messieurs /medam/ /mesj/ Ladies and gentlemen Je suis de... / Je viens de... / si d/ / vjd/ I am from...

O habitez-vous ? /u abite vu/ Where do you live? (formal) Quel ge avez-vous ? /kl ave vu/ How old are you? (formal) Parlez-vous franais ? / Tu parles anglais ? /pale vu fr / /ty pal / s gl Do you speak French? (formal) / Do you speak English? (informal) Comprenez-vous? / Tu comprends? /k ne vu/ /ty k p p / Do you understand? (formal / informal) Pouvez-vous m'aider ? / Tu peux m'aider ? /puve vu mede/ /ty p mede/ Can you help me? (formal / informal) Tenez / Tiens /tne/ /tj / Hey / Here (formal / informal) O est ... / O sont ... ? /u / /u s / Where is ... / Where are ... ? Comment dit-on ____ en franais ? /kmdi t __ f / s How do you say ____ in French? a ne fait rien. /sa n f j / It doesn't matter. Je suis fatigu(e) / Je suis malade. / si fatie/ / si malad/ I'm tired / I'm sick. Je m'ennuie. / m i/ n I'm bored.

Tu habites o ? /ty abit u/ Where do you live? (informal) Tu as quel ge ? /ty kl / How old are you? (informal) Je parle allemand. / pal alm/ I speak German.

J'habite ... /abit a/ I live in... J'ai ____ ans. /e __ / I am ____ years old. Je ne parle pas espagnol. / n pal pa spal/ I don't speak Spanish.

Je comprends / k p / I understand

Je ne comprends pas / n k pa/ p I don't understand

Bien sr. /bjsy / Of course. Je sais / s/ I know Voici / Voil /vwasi/ /vwala/ Here is/are... / There it is. Qu'est-ce que c'est que a ? /ks k s k sa/ What is that? Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? /ks ki s pas/ What's happening? J'ai faim / J'ai soif. /e f / e swaf/ / I'm hungry / I'm thirsty. a m'est gal. / Je m'en fiche. /sa m teal/ / m fi / It's the same to me / I don't care. (informal)

Comment ? /km / What? Pardon? Je ne sais pas /n s pa/ I don't know Il y a ... / Il y avait... /il i a/ /il i av/ There is / are... / There was / were... Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ? /ks kil i a/ What's the matter? Je n'ai aucune ide. / ne okyn ide/ I have no idea. J'ai chaud / J'ai froid. /e o/ /e fw/ I'm hot / I'm cold. Ne vous en faites pas. / Ne t'en fais pas. /n vu f t pa/ /n tf pa/ Don't worry (formal / informal)

Ce n'est pas grave. /s n pa gav/ It's no problem. / It's alright. A vos souhaits ! / A tes souhaits ! /a vo sw/ /a te sw/ Bless you! (formal / informal) C'est vous ! / C'est toi ! /s ta vu/ /s ta tw/ It's your turn! (formal / informal) Tu me manques. /ty m m k/ I miss you. (informal)

J'ai oubli. /e ublije/ I forgot. Flicitations ! /felisitasj / Congratulations! Taisez-vous ! / Tais-toi ! /tze vu/ /t tw/ Shut up! / Be quiet! (formal / informal) Quoi de neuf ? /kw d nf/ What's new?

Je dois y aller. / dwa i ale/ I must go. Bonne chance ! /bn s/ Good luck! Je vous aime / Je t'aime / vu zm/ / tm/ I love you (formal & plural / informal) Pas grand-chose. /pa g oz/ Not a whole lot.

Notice that French has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in French (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to more than one person. Also notice that some words take an extra e, shown in parentheses. If the word refers to a woman or is spoken by a woman, then the e is added in spelling; but in most cases, it does not change the pronunciation. To make verbs negative, French adds ne before the verb and pas after it. However, the ne is frequently dropped in spoken French, although it must appear in written French.

2. Pronunciation / la prononciation For a more in-depth look at French pronunciation, try to the French Phonetics tutorial. French Vowels Sample words vie, midi, lit, riz rue, jus, tissu, usine bl, nez, cahier, pied jeu, yeux, queue, bleu lait, aile, balai, reine sur, uf, fleur, beurre chat, ami, papa, salade bas, ne, grce, chteau loup, cou, caillou, outil eau, dos, escargot, htel

IPA [i] [y] [e] [] [ ] [] [a] [] [u] [o]

Phonetic spelling ee ee rounded ay ay rounded eh eh rounded ah ah longer oo oh

General spellings i, y u , et, final er and ez eu e, , , ai, ei, ais u, eu a, , a, ou o,

[] []

aw uh

sol, pomme, cloche, horloge fentre, genou, cheval, cerise

o e

[] is disappearing in modern French, being replaced by [a]. Vowels that do not exist in English are marked in blue. French semi-vowels Sample words General spelling fois, oui, Louis oi, ou lui, suisse ui oreille, Mireille ill, y French nasal vowels Sample words General spelling gant, banc, dent en, em, an, am, aon, aen in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein, eim, un, um, pain, vin, linge en, eng, oin, oing, oint, ien, yen, en brun, lundi, parfum un rond, ongle, front on, om [] is being replaced with [ in modern French ] In words beginning with in-, a nasal is only used if the next letter is a consonant. Otherwise, the in- prefix is pronounce een before a vowel. French Consonants egz examen, exercice eks exceptionnel, expression sh architecte, archives k orchestre, archologie see dmocratie, nation s cent, ceinture, maon k caillou, car, cube zh genou, gingembre g gomme, ganglion t maths, thme, thym zh jambe, jus, jeune k que, quoi, grecque silent haricot, herbe, hasard z rose, falaise, casino z six ans, beaux arts s six, dix, soixante (these 3 only!)

IPA [w] [ ] [j] IPA [a] [ ]

Phonetic spelling w ew-ee yuh Phonetic spelling awn ahn

[] uhn [o] ohn

ex + vowel ex + consonant ch (Latin origin) ch (Greek origin) ti + vowel (except ) c + e, i, y; or c + a, o, u g + e, i, y g + a, o, u th j qu, final q h vowel + s + vowel x + vowel final x

There are a lot of silent letters in French, and you usually do not pronounce the final consonant, unless that final consonant is C, R, F or L (except verbs that end in -r).

Liaison: French slurs most words together in a sentence, so if a word ends in a consonant that is not pronounced and the next word starts with a vowel or silent h, slur the two together as if it were one word. S and x are pronounced as z; d as t; and f as v in these liaisons. Liaison is always made in the following cases: after a determiner: un ami, des amis before or after a pronoun: vous avez, je les ai after a preceding adjective: bon ami, petits enfants after one syllable prepositions: en avion, dans un livre after some one-syllable adverbs (trs, plus, bien) after est It is optional after pas, trop fort, and the forms of tre, but it is never made after et. Silent e: Sometimes the e is dropped in words and phrases, shortening the syllables and slurring more words.

rapid(e)ment, lent(e)ment, sauv(e)tage /apidm / /sovta / / tm / sous l(e) bureau, chez l(e) docteur /sul byo/ /el dkto/ il y a d(e)... , pas d(e)... , plus d(e)... /yad/ /pad/ / plyd/ je n(e), de n(e) /n/ /dn/ j(e) te, c(e) que /t/ /sk/ (note the change of the pronunciation of the j as well)

Stress & Intonation: Stress on syllables is not as heavily pronounced as in English and it generally falls on the last syllable of the word. Intonation usually only rises for yes/no questions, and all other times, it goes down at the end of the sentence.

3. Alphabet / l'alphabet

a b c d e f g h i

/a/ /be/ /se/ /de/ // /f/ // /a/ /i/

j k l m n o p q r

/i/ /ka/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /o/ /pe/ /ky/ //

s t u v w x y z

/s/ /te/ /y/ /ve/ /dublve/ /iks/ /igrk/ /zd/

4. Nouns, Articles & Demonstratives / les noms, les articles & les demonstratifs All nouns in French have a gender, either masculine or feminine. For the most part, you must memorize the gender, but there are some endings of words that will help you decide which gender a noun is. Nouns ending in -age and -ment are usually masculine, as are nouns ending with a consonant. Nouns ending in -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -t, and -ette are usually feminine.

Articles and adjectives must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. And articles have to be expressed even though they aren't always in English; and you may have to repeat the article in some cases. Demonstratives are like strong definite articles. Definite Articles (The) Masculine le lit /l li/ the bed Feminine la pomme /la pm/ the apple Before Vowel l'oiseau /lwazo/ the bird Indefinite Articles (A, An, Some) Masculine un lit / li/ a bed Feminine une pomme / yn pm/ an apple Plural des gants /de / some gloves Plural les gants /le / the gloves

Demonstrative Adjectives (This, That, These, Those) Masc. ce lit /s li/ this/that bed Masc, Before Vowel cet oiseau /s twazo/ this/that bird Fem. cette pomme /st pm/ this/that apple Plural ces gants /se / these/those gloves

If you need to distinguish between this or that and these or those, you can add -ci to the end of the noun for this and these, and -l to the end of the noun for that and those. For example, ce lit-ci is this bed, while ce lit-l is that bed.

5. Useful Words / les mots utiles It's / That's There is/are and but now especially except of course so so not bad book pencil pen paper dog c'est voil et mais maintenant surtout sauf bien sr comme ci, comme a pas mal le livre le crayon le stylo le papier le chien /s/ /vwala/ /e/ /m/ /m / tn /sytu/ /sof/ /bjsy / /km si, km sa/ /pa mal/ /l liv/ /l kj / /l stilo/ /l papje/ /l j / There is/are Here is/are always often sometimes usually also, too again late almost friend (fem) friend (masc) woman man girl il y a voici toujours souvent quelquefois d'habitude aussi encore en retard presque une amie un ami une femme un homme une fille /il i a/ /vwasi/ /tuu/ /suv / /klkfwa/ /dabityd/ /osi/ / / k /ta/ /psk/ /y nami/ / nami/ /yn fam/ / nm/ /yn fij/

cat money

le chat l'argent (m)

/l a/ /la /

boy job / work

un garon le travail

/ gas / /l tavaj/

The expression il y a is reduced to y a in everyday speech. When il y a is followed by a number, it means ago. Il y a cinq minutes means five minutes ago. Some common slang words for money include: le fric, le pze, le pognon, des sous and for job/work: le boulot.

6. Subject Pronouns / les pronoms sujets Subject Pronouns je tu il elle on // /ty/ /il/ /l/ / / I You (informal) He She One nous vous ils elles /nu/ /vu/ /il/ /l/ We You (formal and plural) They (masc.) They (fem.)

Il and elle can also mean it when they replace a noun (il replaces masculine nouns, and elle replaces feminine nouns) instead of a person's name. Ils and elles can replace plural nouns as well in the same way. Notice there are two ways to say you. Tu is used when speaking to children, animals, or close friends and relatives. Vous is used when speaking to more than one person, or to someone you don't know or who is older. On can be translated into English as one, the people, we, they, or you. Tutoyer and vouvoyer are two verbs that have no direct translation into English. Tutoyer means to use tu or be informal with someone, while vouvoyer means to use vous or be formal with someone.

7. To Be & To Have / Etre & avoir Present tense of tre / t / - to be I am You are He is She is One is I was You were He was She was One was je suis tu es il est elle est on est j'tais tu tais il tait elle tait on tait / si/ /ty / /il / /l / /n / /et/ /tu et/ /il et/ /l et/ /net / We are You are They are They are nous sommes vous tes ils sont elles sont /nu sm/ /vu zt/ /il s / /l s / /nu zetj / /vu zetje/ /il zet/ /l zet/

Past tense of tre - to be We were You were They were They were nous tions vous tiez ils taient elles taient

Je and any verb form that starts with a vowel (or silent h) combine together for ease of pronunciation. Future Tense of tre - to be I will be You will be He will be She will be One will be I have You have He has She has One has I had You had He had She had One had I will have You will have He will have She will have One will have je serai tu seras il sera elle sera on sera j'ai tu as il a elle a on a j'avais tu avais il avait elle avait on avait j'aurai tu auras il aura elle aura on aura / se/ /ty sa/ /il sa/ /l sa/ /s a/ We will be You will be They will be They will be nous serons vous serez ils seront elles seront /nu s / /il s / /l s / /nu zav / /vu zave/ /il z / /l z / /nu zavj / /vu zavje/ /il zav/ /l zav/ /nu zo / /il zo / /l zo / /vu se/

Present tense of avoir /avwa / - to have /e/ /ty / /il / /l / /n / /av/ /ty av/ /il av/ /l av/ /nav / /oe/ We have You have They have They have nous avons vous avez ils ont elles ont

Past tense of avoir - to have We had You had They had nous avions vous aviez ils avaient elles avaient

Future tense of avoir - to have We will have You will have They will have They will have nous aurons vous aurez ils auront elles auront /ty o/ /vu zoe/

/il oa/ /l oa/ /no a/

In spoken French, the tu forms of verbs that begin with a vowel contract with the pronoun: tu es = t'es /t/, tu as = t'as /t/, etc. In addition, it is very common to use on (plus 3rd person singular conjugation) to mean we instead of nous. Common Expressions with avoir and Etre Avoir and tre are used in many common and idiomatic expressions that should be memorized: avoir chaud avoir froid avoir peur avoir raison avoir tort /avwa o/ /avwa fwa/ /avwa p/ /avwa z / /avwa t/ to be hot to be cold to be afraid to be right to be wrong /t d tu/ to be back /t ta/ to be late /t nav s/ to be early to be in tre d'accord /t dak/ agreement /t sy l pw tre sur le point de to be about to d/ tre de retour tre en retard tre en avance

avoir faim avoir soif avoir sommeil avoir honte avoir besoin de avoir l'air de avoir l'intention de avoir envie de

/avwa f / /avwa swaf/ /avwa smj/ /avwa t/ /avwa bzw d/ /avwa d/ /avwa t sj /

to be hungry to be thirsty to be sleepy to be ashamed to need to look like, seem to intend to

tre en train de tre enrhume nous + tre (un jour)

/t t d/ /t yme/ /t u/

to be in the act of to have a cold to be (a day)

/avwa d/ to feel like vi /avwa d la avoir de la chance to be lucky s/ J'ai froid. I'm cold. Tu avais raison. You were right. Il aura sommeil ce soir. He will be tired tonight. Elle a de la chance ! She's lucky! Nous aurons faim plus tard. We will be hungry later. Vous aviez tort. You were wrong. Ils ont chaud. They are hot. Elles avaient peur hier. They were afraid yesterday. 8. Question Words / les interrogatifs Who What Why When Where How How much / many Which / what 9. cardinal Numbers / Les nombres cardinaux Zero One Two Three Four Five Six Zro Un Deux Trois Quatre Cinq Six

Je suis en retard! I'm late! Tu tais en avance. You were early. Elle sera d'accord. She will agree. Nous sommes lundi. It is Monday. Vous tiez enrhum. You had a cold. Ils seront en train d'tudier. They will be (in the act of) studying. Elles taient sur le point de partir. They were about to leave. On est de retour. We/you/they/the people are back.

Qui Quoi Pourquoi Quand O Comment Combien Quel(le)

/ki/ /kwa/ /pukwa/ /k / /u/ /km / /k bj / /kl/

/zeo/ // /d/ /tw/ /kat/ /s k/ /sis/

Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty-one Twenty-two Twenty-three Thirty Thirty-one Thirty-two Forty Fifty Sixty Seventy (Belgium & Switzerland) Seventy-one Seventy-two Eighty (Belgium & Switzerland) Eighty-one Eighty-two Ninety (Belgium & Switzerland) Ninety-one Ninety-two One Hundred One Hundred One Two Hundred Two Hundred One Thousand Two Thousand

Sept Huit Neuf Dix Onze Douze Treize Quatorze Quinze Seize Dix-sept Dix-huit Dix-neuf Vingt Vingt et un Vingt-deux Vingt-trois Trente Trente et un Trente-deux Quarante Cinquante Soixante Soixante-dix Septante Soixante et onze Soixante-douze Quatre-vingts Octante Quatre-vingt-un Quatre-vingt-deux Quatre-vingt-dix Nonante Quatre-vingt-onze Quatre-vingt-douze Cent Cent un Deux cents Deux cent un Mille Deux mille

/st/ /it/ /nf/ /dis/ / z/ /duz/ /tz/ /katz/ /k z/ /sz/ /dist/ /dizit/ /diznf/ /v / /v e / t /vd/ /vt w/ /t t/ /t e // t /t d/ t /ka t/ /s t/ k /swas t/ /swas tdis/ /spt t/ /swas e t z/ /swas duz/ t /katv / /kt t/ /katvt/ /katvd/ /katvdis/ /nn t/ /katv z/ /katvduz/ /s / /st/ /d s / /d st/ /mil/ /d mil/

Million Billion

Un million Un milliard

/o milj / /o milja/

French switches the use of commas and periods. 1,00 would be 1.00 in English. Belgian and Swiss French use septante and nonante in place of the standard French words for 70 and 90 (though some parts of Switzerland use huitante for 80 and octante is barely used anymore). Also, when the numbers 5, 6, 8, and 10 are used before a word beginning with a consonant, their final consonants are not pronounced. Phone numbers in France are ten digits, beginning with 01, 02, 03, 04, or 05 depending on the geographical region, or 06 and 07 for cell phones. They are written two digits at a time, and pronounced thus: 01 36 55 89 28 = zro un, trente-six, cinquante-cinq, quatre-vingt-neuf, vingt-huit. Ordinal Numbers / Les nombres ordinaux first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth eleventh twelfth twentieth twenty-first thirtieth premier / premire deuxime / second troisime quatrime cinquime sixime septime huitime neuvime dixime onzime douzime vingtime vingt et unime trentime

The majority of numbers become ordinals by adding -ime. But if a number ends in an e, you must drop it before adding the -ime. After a q, you must add a u before the -ime. And an f becomes a v before the -ime. Listen to the la tlphone : un message mp3 and try the cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise from French Listening Resources.

10. Days of the Week / Les jours de la semaine Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday lundi mardi mercredi jeudi vendredi /ldi/ /madi/ /mkdi/ /di/ /v di/ d

Saturday Sunday day week today yesterday tomorrow next last day before yesterday day after tomorrow the following day the day before

samedi dimanche le jour la semaine aujourd'hui hier demain prochain / prochaine dernier / dernire avant-hier aprs-demain le lendemain la veille

/samdi/ /dim/ /l u/ /la s()mn/ /oudi/ /j/ /dm / /p /p n/ / /dnje/ /dnj/ /av / tj /apdm / /l l dm / /la vj/

Articles are not used before days, except to express something that happens habitually on a certain day, such as le lundi = on Mondays. Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing.

Listen to the l'heure & la date : l'emploi du temps mp3 and try the cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise from French Listening Resources.

11. Months of the Year / Les mois de l'annEe January February March April May June July August September October November December month year decade century millennium janvier fvrier mars avril mai juin juillet aot septembre octobre novembre dcembre le mois l'an / l'anne la dcennie le sicle le millnaire / vje/ /fevije/ /mas/ /avil/ /m/ / / /ij/ /u(t)/ /spt b / /ktb/ /nv / b /des / b /l mwa/ /l /lane/ / /deseni/ /l sjkl/ /milen/

To express in a certain month, such as in May, use en before the month as in "en mai." With dates, the ordinal numbers are not used, except for the first of the month: le premier mai but le deux juin. Also note that months are all masculine and not capitalized in French (same as days of the week).

12. Seasons / Les saisons Summer Fall Winter Spring l't l'automne l'hiver le printemps /lete/ /lotn/ /liv/ /l p t / in the summer in the fall in the winter in the spring en t en automne en hiver au printemps /nete/ /not n/ /niv / /o pr / t

13. Directions / Les directions on the left on the right straight ahead North South East West le nord le sud l'est l'ouest /l n/ /l syd/ /lst/ /lwst/ gauche droite tout droit Northeast Northwest Southeast Southwest le nord-est le nord-ouest le sud-est le sud-ouest /a go/ /a dwt/ /tu dw/ /l n(d)st/ /l n(d)wst/ /sydst/ /sydwst/

14. Colors & Shapes / Les couleurs & les formes Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple White Brown Black Pink Gold Silver Gray rouge orange jaune vert / verte bleu / bleue violet / violette blanc / blanche brun / brune marron noir / noire rose dor / dore argent / argente gris / grise /u/ square circle triangle rectangle oval cube sphere cylinder cone octagon box light dark le carr le cercle le triangle le rectangle l'ovale le cube la sphre le cylindre le cne l'octogone la bote clair / claire fonc / fonce /kae/ /skl/ /tij gl/ /val/ /kyb/ /sf/ /sil / d /kon/ /ktogn/ /bwat/ /kl/ /f se/ /kt gl/

// /on/ /bl/ /vjl/ /vjlt/ /bl /bl / / /bo/ /byn/ /ma / /nwa/ /oz/ /de/ /v/ /vt/

/a te/

/gi/ /giz/

Some adjectives of color do not change to agree with gender or number, such as adjectives that also exist as nouns: orange, marron, rose; and compound adjectives: bleu clair, noir fonc remain masculine even if they describe a feminine noun. Remember to place the color adjective after the noun.

15. Weather / Le temps qu'il fait What's the weather like? It's nice bad cool cold warm, hot cloudy beautiful mild stormy sunny humid muggy windy foggy snowing raining freezing hailing It is ____ degrees. Quel temps fait-il ? Il fait bon Il fait mauvais Il fait frais Il fait froid Il fait chaud Il fait nuageux Il fait beau Il fait doux Il fait orageux Il fait soleil Il fait humide Il fait lourd Il fait du vent Il fait du brouillard Il neige Il pleut Il gle Il grle Il fait ____ degrs. /kl t f til/ /il f b / /il f mve/ /il f f/ /il f fw/ /il f o/ /il f nya/ /il f bo/ /il f du/ /il f a/ /il f slj/ /il f ymid/ /il f lu/ /il f dy v / /il f dy buja/ /il n/ /il pl/ /il l/ /il gl/ /il f __ dge/

Il pleut des cordes /il pl de kod/ is a common expression meaning it's pouring. Il caille /il kaj/ or a caille /sa kaj/ is slang for it's freezing. And remember that France uses Celcius degrees. Listen to the le climat: le temps dans les Alpes mp3 and try the cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise from French Listening Resources.

16. Time / Le temps qui passe What time is it? It is... one o'clock two o'clock noon midnight a quarter after three one o'clock sharp four o'clock sharp twelve thirty six thirty Quelle heure est-il ? Il est... une heure deux heures midi minuit trois heures et quart une heure prcise quatre heures prcises midi (minuit) et demi six heures et demie /kl til/ /il / /yn / /d z/ /midi/ /mini/ /tw z e ka/ /yn pesiz/ /kat pesiz/ /midi (mini) e dmi/ /si z e dmi/

a quarter to seven five twenty ten fifty in the morning/AM in the afternoon/PM in the evening/PM

sept heures moins le quart cinq heures vingt onze heures moins dix du matin de l'aprs-midi du soir

/st mwl ka / /s v k / / mwdis/ z /dy mat / /d lapmidi/ /dy swa/

Official French time is expressed as military time (24 hour clock.) You can only use regular numbers, and not demi, quart, etc. when reporting time with the 24 hour system. For example, if it is 18h30, you must say dixhuit heures trente. The word pile /pil/ is also a more informal way of saying prcise (exactly, sharp). Listen to the l'heure & la date : l'emploi du temps mp3 and try the cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise from French Listening Resources.

17. Family & Animals / La famille & les animaux Family Relatives Parents la famille des parents les parents les grandsGrandparents parents la mre / Mom maman Stepmother/Mother-in-Law la belle-mre Dad le pre / papa Stepfather/Father-in-Law le beau-pre Daughter la fille Son Sister Half/Step Sister Sister-in-Law Stepdaughter/Daughter-inLaw Brother Half/Step Brother Brother-in-Law Stepson/Son-in-Law Twins (m) Twins (f) Uncle le fils la sur la demi-sur la belle-sur la belle-fille le frre le demi-frre le beau-frre le beau-fils les jumeaux les jumelles l'oncle /famij/ /pa / /pa / /g pa / /m/ /mm / /blm/ /p/ /papa/ /bop/ /fij/ Niece Nephew Grandchildren la nice le neveu les petits-enfants /njs/ /n()v/ /p()tiz f / /p()tit fij/ /p()tifis/

Granddaughter la petite-fille Grandson le petit-fils le parrain la marraine le filleul la filleule

Godfather Godmother Godson Goddaughter Distant /fis/ Relatives /s/ Single /dmi s/ Married /bls/ Separated /bl fij/ Divorced /f/ Widower /dmi f/ Widow /bo f/ /bo fis/ /ymo/ /yml/ / kl/ Dog Cat Puppy Kitten

/pa / /man/ /fijl/ /fijl/ /pa des parents loigns elwae/ clibataire /selibat/ mari(e) /maje/ spar(e) /sepae/ divorc(e) veuf veuve le chien / la chienne (m) / (f) le chat / la chatte (m) / (f) le chiot le chaton /divse/ /vf/ /vv/ /j / jn/ / /a/ /at/ /jo/ /at /

Aunt Grandmother Grandfather Cousin (f) Cousin (m) Wife Husband Woman Man Child (m) / (f) Girl Boy

la tante la grand-mre le grand-pre la cousine le cousin la femme le mari la femme l'homme un enfant / une enfant la fille le garon

/t t/ /g / m /g / p /kuzin/ /kuz / /fam/ /mai/ /fam/ /m/ / f / /fij/ /gas /

Pig Rooster Rabbit Cow Horse Duck Goat Goose Sheep Lamb Donkey Mouse

le cochon le coq le lapin la vache le cheval le canard la chvre l'oie le mouton l'agneau l'ne la souris

/k / /kk/ /lap / /va/ /()val/ /kana/ /v/ /wa/ /mut / /ao/ /n/ /sui/

Le gendre / / is another word for son-in-law. d

Listen to the la famille : ma famille mp3 and try the cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise from French Listening Resources. Slang words for people and pets: The entire family Grandma Grandpa Children Kid Woman Man toute la smala mm / mamie pp / papi des gosses un gamin / une gamine une nana un mec / type / gars /tut la smala/ /meme/ /mami/ /pepe/ /papi/ /gs/ /gam /gamin/ / /nana/ /mk/ /tip/ /ga/ Sister Brother Son Aunt Uncle Dog Cat la frangine le frangin le fiston tata / tatie tonton le cabot / clbard le minou /fin/ /f / /fist / /tata/ /tati/ /t t / /kabo/ /kleba/ /minu/

Listen to the animaux : chien ou chat ? mp3 and try the cloze (fill-in-the-blank) exercise from French Listening Resources.

18. To Know People & Places / connaitre & savoir connatre-to know people /k n t / connais connais connat /kn/ /kn/ /kn/ connaissons connaissez connaissent savoir-to know facts /savwa / sais sais sait /s/ /s/ /s/ savons savez savent /sav / /sav/ /save/

/kns / /kns/

/knse/

Connatre is used when you know (are familiar with) people, places, food, movies, books, etc. and savoir is used when you know facts. When savoir is followed by an infinitive it means to know how. There is another form of savoir commonly used in the expressions que je sache that I know (of) and pas que je sache not that I know (of).

Je connais ton frre. I know your brother. Je sais que ton frre s'appelle Jean. I know that your brother is named John. Connaissez-vous Grenoble ? Do you know (Are you familiar with) Grenoble? / Have you ever been to Grenoble? Oui, nous connaissons Grenoble. Yes, we know (are familiar with) Grenoble. / Yes, we've been to Grenoble. Tu sais o Grenoble se trouve. You know where Grenoble is located. Ils savent nager. They know how to swim. Connatre can be translated several ways into English: Tu connais le film, Les Enfants ? Have you seen the film, Les Enfants? Tu connais Lyon ? Have you ever been to Lyon? Tu connais la tartiflette ? Have you ever eaten tartiflette?

19. Formation of Plural Nouns / la formation des noms pluriels To make a noun plural, you usually add an -s (which is not pronounced). But there are some exceptions: If a noun already ends in an -s, add nothing. If a noun ends in -eu or -eau, add an x. If a masculine noun ends in -al or -ail, change it to -aux. Some nouns ending in -ou add an -x instead of -s. bus(es) boat(s) horse(s) knee(s) Sing. le bus le bateau le cheval le genou Plural les bus les bateaux les chevaux les genoux

Exceptions: festival, carnaval, bal, pneu, bleu, landau, dtail, chandail all add -s. There are only seven nouns ending in -ou that add -x instead of -s: bijou, caillou, chou, genou, pou, joujou, hibou. There are, of course, some irregular exceptions: un il (eye) - des yeux (eyes); le ciel (sky) - les cieux (skies); and un jeune homme (a young man) - des jeunes gens (young men). Notice that the only time the pronunciation will change in the plural form is for masculine nouns that change -al or -ail to -aux and for the irregular forms. All other nouns are pronounced the same in the singular and the plural - it is only the article that changes pronunciation (le, la, l' to les).
20. Possessive Adjectives / les adjectifs possessifs

Masc. My Your His/Her/Its Our Your Their mon /m / ton /t / son /s /

Fem. ma /ma/ ta /ta/ sa /sa/ notre /nt/ votre /vt/ leur /l/

Plural mes /m/ tes /t/ ses /s/ nos /no/ vos /vo/ leurs /l/

notre /nt/ votre /vt/ leur /l/

Possessive pronouns go before the noun. When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, you must use the masculine form of the pronoun for ease of pronunciation. Ma amie is incorrect and must be mon amie, even

though amie is feminine. Remember that adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number, not the possessor! Sa mre can mean his mother or her mother even though sa is the feminine form, because it agrees with mre and not the possessor (his or her). C'est ma mre et mon pre. This is my mother and my father. Ce sont vos petits-enfants ? These are your grandchildren? Mes parents sont divorcs. My parents are divorced. Sa grand-mre est veuve. His grandmother is a widow. Notre frre est mari, mais notre sur est clibataire. Our brother is married, but our sister is single. Ton oncle est architecte, n'est-ce pas ? Your uncle is an architect, isn't he? Leurs cousines sont nerlandaises. Their cousins are Dutch.