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
	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	listen	number	in French	pronunciation	listen
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
	plural	nous	we
2nd person	singular	tu	you
	plural	vous	you
3rd person	singular	il, elle, on	he, she, one
	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 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 on a one has elles ont they have (fem.)

Exercises

Exercises