Learning the basics of French/Introducing Yourself

This lesson contains the basic French alphabet and pronunciation guide, along with common phrases used for introductions.

French alphabet

This is the French alphabet with approximate pronunciation and IPA (see also: IPA for French and French phonology).

Letter	Pronunciation
Letter	IPA	Approximate
A	/ɑ/	ah
B	/be/	bay
C	/se/	say
D	/de/	day
E	/ə/	euh (like Am. English "look")
F	/ɛf/	eff
G	/ʒe/	jay
H	/aʃ/	ash
I	/i/	ee (like English "e")
J	/ʒi/	gee (Warning: Don't confuse with "g")
K	/kɑ/	kah
L	/ɛl/	ell
M	/ɛm/	emm
N	/ɛn/	enn
O	/o/	oh
P	/pe/	pay
Q	/ky/	kooh
R	/ɛʁ/	air
S	/ɛs/	ess
T	/te/	tay
U	/y/	ooh
V	/ve/	vay
W	/dublə ve/	doobluh vay
X	/iks/	eeks
Y	/igʁɛk/	ee grek
Z	/zɛd/	zed

It is important to realize that several sounds greatly differ in French:

the letter a is only pronounced "ah"
the letter e (by itself) is only pronounced "euh" (when it takes the accent ´like é it is pronounced "ay")
the letter i is only pronounced "ee"
the letter h is normally silent, and rarely pronounced

There are five accents within French:

French Grammar • Introducing Yourself • audio (info •101 kb • help) The accents Les accents
Accent	Role	name in French	example in French
`	changes the sound of the e over which it is, but change the meaning of the word for an a or an u	Accent grave	achète, à, où
´	Only over an e, to change the sound	Accent aigu	désolé(e)
^	change the length of the vowel (longer than before)	Accent circonflexe	(un) hôtel
¨	often over an e and with another vowel just before (e.g. uë), you have to say the 2 vowels distinctly and not together.	Tréma	Noël
ç	Changes the sound for the C. Is only placed before an a, o or u. It makes the c become /s/.	Cédille	français

In Romance Languages, it is common to have a formal and informal way to say "you." In French, we have tu (informal) and vous (formal), and each is conjugated differently, as you will see later on. To help determine which form of "you" should be used, one must consider the other person's age, profession, and overall relationship.

If the other person is a minor, very close personally, or a family member, "tu" should be used. If the other person is an adult, not very well known, or a stranger, "vous" should be used.

You will see demonstrations in the dialogues below.

Vocabulary

French Vocabulary • Introducing Yourself • bogusOggFile (upload) Greetings Les salutations
Salut	Hi./Bye.	(informal)
Bonjour	Hello	(more formal than salut)(all day)
Bonsoir	Hello	(after 19h00 [7:00 pm])
Quoi de neuf ?	What's up (about you)? (lit. what's new)
Pas grand-chose.	Not much. (lit. not a lot of things)

French Vocabulary • Introducing Yourself • audio (info •202 kb • help) Good-bye Au revoir
Salut.	Hi/Bye	(informal)
Au revoir.	Good-bye.	ohrvwahr (ev not pronounced)
À demain.	See you tomorrow.	ah duhman (Lit: To/Until Tomorrow)
Au revoir, à demain.	Bye, see you tomorrow.
À tout à l'heure.	See you (later today)!	ah tootah luhr
À la prochaine.	See you (tomorrow)!	ah lah proh shayn
Bonne journée	Have a nice day
Bonne soirée	Good evening
Bonne nuit	Good night	bun nwee
À bientôt.	See you soon.	ah byantoe
Ciao	Bye.	chow (Italian)

French Vocabulary • Introducing Yourself • audio (info •111 kb • help) Introductions Introductions
Comment vous appellez-vous ? (formal), Comment t'appelles tu ? (informal), Quel est ton nom ? (informal)	What is your name? (Literally, "How do you call yourself?") What is your name? (Literally, "Which is your name?")
Je m'appelle _____.	My name is _____. (literally "I call myself _____.")
Mon nom est _____.	My name is _____. (literally "My name is _____.")

French Vocabulary • Introducing Yourself • audio (info •105 kb • help) How are you? Ça va?
Comment allez-vous ? (formal), Comment vas-tu ? (informal), Comment ça va ?/Ça va ? (informal)	How are you?
Ça va (très) bien.	I'm(very) well. (lit. It's going (very) well.)
Oui, ça va.	I'm ok. (literally "Yes, it goes.")
Très bien, merci.	Very well, thanks.
Pas mal.	Not bad.
pas si bien/pas très bien	not so well
(très) mal	(very) bad
Comme ci, comme ça. / Bof	So-So.
Désolé(e).	I'm sorry.
Et toi ? Et vous ?	And you? (informal) And you? (formal)

Dialogues

Example 1 (a girl talking to her friend)

name	French	English	pronunciation
Anne:	Salut ! Ça va ?	Hi! How's it going?	(Sahlu! Sah vah)
Bertrand:	Bien, et toi?	Well, and you?	(Beeyan, eh twah?)
Anne:	Bien!	Well!

Example 2 (a woman talking to a stranger)

name	French	English	pronunciation
Madame Michelle :	Bonsoir Monsieur, comment allez-vous ?	Good evening sir, how are you?	(Banswar Muhseeure, coman tallay-voo?)
Monsieur Dupont :	Bien, et vous ?	Well, and you?	(Beeyan, eh voo?)
Mme. Michelle :	Très bien !	Very well!	(Tray beeyan)

Example 3 (a boy introducing his friend to an adult)

name	French	English	pronunciation
Claude:	Monsieur Dupont, je vous présente Anne.	Mister Dupont, I would like to introduce you to Anne.	(Muhseeure Doopan, juh voo praysahnt Ann.)
M. Dupont:	Enchanté.	Nice to meet you (enchanted)	(Anshantay)
Anne:	Ravie de faire votre connaissance.	Thrilled to meet you.	(Rahvee duh fair votruh conaysans.)

Example 4 (Sofia has just met Michel)

Name	French	English	Pronunciation
Michel:	Bonjour, je m'appelle Michel. Comment vous appelez-vous ?	Hello, my name is Michel. What is your name?	Bonzhoor, zha m'appayl mishel. koman voo zaplay voo
Sofía:	Bonjour, Michel. Je m'appelle Sofía. Comment ça s'écrit, 'Michel' ?	Hello, Michel. My name is Sofía. How is your name written, 'Michel' ?	bonzhoor, mishel. zha m'appayl soffeeyah. koman sa saykree, Mishel
Michel:	Ça s'écrit M-I-C-H-E-L. Comment allez-vous ?	It is written M-I-C-H-E-L. How are you?	Sa saycree emm-ee-say-ash-euh-ell koman talay voo
Sofía:	Comme-ci comme-ça. Et vous ?	So-so. What about you?	Komsi komsa. ay voo
Michel:	Très bien, merci.	Very good, thanks.	Tray beeyan, mayrsee
Sofía:	Bien ! À demain, Michel.	Well, see you tomorrow, Michel.	Beeyan ah duman, mishel
Michel:	À demain !	See you tomorrow!	ah duman

Les Nombres (numbers) 1-20

number	in French	pronunciation	number	in French	pronunciation
1	un	(uhn)	11	onze	(ohnze)
2	deux	(duh)	12	douze	(dooze)
3	trois	(trwah)	13	treize	(trez)
4	quatre	(katr)	14	quatorze	(katorz)
5	cinq	(sank)	15	quinze	(kanz)
6	six	(sees)	16	seize	(sez)
7	sept	(set)	17	dix-sept	(dees-set)
8	huit	(weet)	18	dix-huit	(dees-weet)
9	neuf	(nuff)	19	dix-neuf	(dees-nuff)
10	dix	(dees)	20	vingt	(van)

Être and avoir

Être and avoir are the first two important verbs you will need. Before you can use them, you need to understand the available targets within French:

French Grammar • Introducing Yourself • audio (info •61 kb • help) Subject Pronouns Les pronoms personnels
1st person	singular	je	I
1st person	plural	nous	we
2nd person	singular	tu	you
2nd person	plural	vous	you
3rd person	singular	il, elle, on	he, she, one
3rd person	plural	ils, elles	they (masculine) they (feminine)

Être means to be, and avoir means to have.

French Verb • Introducing Yourself • audio (info •103 kb • help) être to be
	Singular			Plural
first person	je suis	jeuh swee	I am	nous sommes	noo sum	we are
second person	tu es	too ay	you are	vous êtes	voozett	you are
third person	il est	eel ay	he is	ils sont	eelsohn	they are (masc. or mixed)
	elle est	ell ay	she is	ils sont	eelsohn	they are (masc. or mixed)
	on est	ohn ay	one is	elles sont	ellsohn	they are (fem.)

French Verb • Present Indicative • audio (100 kb • help) avoir to have
	Singular		Plural
first person	j'ai	I have	nous avons	we have
second person	tu as	you have	vous avez	you have
third person	il a	he has	ils ont	they have (masc. or mixed)
	elle a	she has	ils ont	they have (masc. or mixed)
	on a	one has	elles ont	they have (fem.)

Exercises

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