Introductory lessons
- Introduction
- The alphabet
- Greetings
- Formal speech
- Numbers
- Dates
- Telling time
French
Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts
Contents
- 1 Vocabulary · Greetings · Les salutations
- 2 Vocabulary · Good-bye · Au revoir
- 3 Vocabulary · Names
- 4 Vocabulary · How are you? · Ça va?
- 5 Exercises
Vocabulary · Greetings · Les salutations[edit | edit source]
When talking to one's peers or to children, Salut is used as a greeting. Its English equivalents would be hi and hey. Bonjour, literally meaning good day, should be used for anyone else. One way of remembering these greetings, is that they come in masculine/feminine pairs. One is upon arrival, the other upon departure.
jour: bonjour / bonne journée
matin: bonjour / bonne matinée (early in the morning), bonne journée (early or late in the morning)
après-midi: bonjour / bon(ne) après-midi (early in the afternoon), bonne journée (early or late in the afternoon), bonne soirée (late in the afternoon)
soir: bonjour, bonsoir / bonne soirée (early or late in the evening), bonne nuit (very late in the evening)
nuit: bonjour, bonsoir / bonne nuit
The French never say Bon matin, they do use matinée, journée, soirée but never use nuitée.
Vocabulary · Good-bye · Au revoir[edit | edit source]
In addition to being used as an informal greeting, Salut also means bye. Again, it should only be used among friends. Another informal greeting is ciao, an Italian word commonly used in France. Au revoir is the only formal way to say Good-bye. If you will be meeting someone again soon, use À bientôt or À tout à l'heure. À demain is used if you will be seeing the person the following day.
Vocabulary · Names [edit | edit source]
Tu t'appelles comment? is used to informally ask someone for his or her name. It is normal to just reply by stating your name, however you may also respond with je m'appelle , meaning I am called....
Jacques | Bonsoir, Marie. | |
Good evening, Marie. | ||
Marie | Euh? Tu t'appelles comment? | |
Eh? What's your name? | ||
Jacques | Moi, je m'appelle Jacques. | |
Me, my name is Jacques. | ||
Marie | Ah, oui. Quoi de neuf, Jacques? | |
Ah, yes. What's new, Jacques? | ||
Jacques | Pas grand-chose. Alors, au revoir, à demain, Marie. | |
Not much. Then, bye, see you tomorrow, Marie. | ||
Marie | À la prochaine, Jacques. | |
See you, Jacques. |
Vocabulary · How are you? · Ça va?[edit | edit source]
Comment allez-vous? (formal) , Comment vas-tu? (informal) , Comment ça va? / Ça va? (informal) | /kɔ.mɑ̃‿tal.e vu/ (help·info), /kɔ.mɑ̃ va ty/ (help·info), /kɔ.mɑ̃ sa va/ (help·info) | How are you? | lit: How do you go?, It goes? | ||
Est-ce que vous allez bien? | /es.kə vu.z‿al.e bjɛ̃/ (help·info) | Are you well? | |||
Ça va (très) bien | /sa va (tʁɛ) bjɛ̃/ (help·info) | I'm doing (very) well. | lit. It's going (very) well | ||
Je vais bien | /ʒə ve bjɛ̃/ (help·info) | I am well. | |||
Ça va Oui, ça va | /sa va/ (help·info) /wi sa va/ (help·info) | Things are going fine. Yes, I'm fine. | |||
Très bien, merci | /tʁɛ bjɛ̃ mɛʁ.si/ (help·info) | Very well, thanks. | |||
Pas mal | /pɑ mal/ (help·info) | Not Bad | |||
Pas si bien/pas très bien | /pɑ si (tʁɛ) bjɛ̃/ (help·info) | Not so well | |||
(très) mal | /tʁɛ mal/ (help·info) | (very) bad | |||
Comme ci, comme ça | /kɔm si kɔm sa/ (help·info) | So-so | |||
Désolé(e) | /de.zɔ.le/ (help·info) | Sorry. | Désolée if feminine, same pronunciation | ||
Et toi? Et vous? | /e twɑ/ (help·info) /e vu/ (help·info) | And you? (informal) And you? (formal) |
DIALOGUE:Two good friends, Olivier and Luc, are meeting.
Olivier | Salut Luc. Ça va? | |
Hi Luc. How are you? | ||
Luc | Ça va bien, merci. Et toi, ça va? | |
I'm well, thanks. And you, how are you? | ||
Olivier | Pas mal. | |
Not bad. | ||
Luc | Quoi de neuf? | |
What's new? | ||
Olivier | Pas grand-chose. Au revoir Luc. | |
Not much. Goodbye, Luc. | ||
Luc | Au revoir, à demain. | |
Goodbye, see you tomorrow. |
Ça va? is used to ask someone how they are doing. The phrase literally means It goes?, referring to the body and life. A more formal way to say this is Comment allez-vous?. You can respond by using ça va as a statement; Ça va. in this case is used for I'm fine. The adverb bien /bjɛ̃/ is used to say well, and is often said both alone and as Ça va bien. Bien is preceded by certain adverbs to specify the degree to which you are well. Common phrases are assez bien, meaning rather well, très bien, meaning very well, and vraiment bien, meaning really well. The adverb mal /mal/ is used to say badly. Pasnot /pɑ/ is commonly added to mal to form Pas mal., meaning Not bad. Comme ci, comme ça., literally translating to Like this, like that., is used to say So, so.
To be polite, you can add merci /mɛʁ.si/, meaning thank you, in your responses to the questions e.g., très bien, merci.
Exercises [edit | edit source]
ExerciseTranslation
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
- Translate from French to English.
Bonne soirée | Have a good evening. |
À tout à l'heure | See you (later today) |
Je vais bien. | I am well. |
Et vous? | And you? (formal) |
À demain | See you tomorrow |
Comment allez-vous? | How are you? (formal) |
Salut | Hi./Bye. |
Très bien, merci. | Very well, thanks. |
Est-ce que vous allez bien? | Are you well? |
Je m'appelle | My name is |
Bonne nuit | Good night |
À bientôt | See you soon |
Pas si bien/pas très bien | Not so well |
Ça va bien | I'm doing well. |
Bonjour | Hello |
ExerciseTranslation
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
- Translate from English to French.
What's your name? | Tu t'appelles comment? |
Have a nice day | Bonne journée |
Hi./Bye. | Salut. |
Not much. | Pas grand-chose. |
Have a good evening | Bonne soirée |
ExerciseResponses
- Your friend François sees you and starts a conversation. How might you respond?
- François: Salut. Comment vas-tu?
- You: _________
- François: Quoi de neuf?
- You: _________
- François: À la prochaine.
- You: _________
ExerciseBasic phrases dialogue
- Put the following conversation in order:
First | Second | Third | Fourth | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Michel | Je ne vais pas très bien. | Bonjour, Jacques | Au revoir | Comment ça va? |
2. Jacques | Désolé. | Ça va très bien! Et vous? Allez-vous bien? | À demain. | Salut, Michel! |
Solution
First | Second | Third | Fourth | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Michel | Bonjour, Jacques | Comment ça va? | Je ne vais pas très bien. | Au revoir |
2. Jacques | Salut, Michel! | Ça va très bien! Et vous? Allez-vous bien? | Désolé. | À demain. |
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Introduction · The alphabet · Greetings · Formal speech · Numbers · Dates · Telling time
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French: Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts