French is the official language of 29 countries around the world. It’s a cool and romantic language, so let’s learn French!!
Some basics
Accents
While the French alphabet is identical to the English one, there are accents that appear on letters that change the way they sound.
Here’s a list of them:
é - Accent aigu; only used on the letter e and makes an ‘a’ sound
à, è, ù - Accent grave; used to differentiate some words, like ou (or) and où (where)
â, ê, î, ô, û - Accent circonflexe; this accent indicates that an s used to followed the vowel at some point in history
ç - Cédille; this accent makes a soft c sound
ë, ï, ü - Tréma; this accent means that the vowel should be pronounced separate from the vowel next to it, like in noël
Pronouns
Pronouns are very important in the French language, especially when conjugating verbs. Here are the different pronouns:
Je - I
Tu - You (singular)
Il - He
Elle - She
Iel - They (singular)
Nous - We
Vous - You (plural); also used when being polite
Ils - They (masculine, plural)
Elles - They (feminine, plural)
Regular verbs
Verbs in French fall into two categories, regular and irregular. Regular verbs fall into three categories, -ER verbs, -IR verbs, and -RE verbs. All the verbs in these categories use formulas for conjugations.
-ER verbs
The verb endings for this category are brought to you by the verb regarder (to watch)
Je regarde
Tu regardes
Il/Elle/Iel regarde
Nous regardons
Vous regardez
Ils/Elles regardent
A song to help remember them
To the tune of Old Macdonald Had a Farm
e
e–s
e
o-n-s
e-z
e-n-t
-IR verbs
Brought to you by the verb finir (to finish)
Je finis
Tu finis
Il/Elle/Iel finit
Nous finissons
Vous finissez
Ils/Elles finissent
A song to help remember them
To the tune of the Mexican hat dance
i-s
i-s
i-t
i-s-s-o-n-s
i-s-s-e-z
i-s-s-e-n-t
-RE verbs
Brought to you by the verb vendre (to sell)
Je vends
Tu vends
Il/Elle/Iel vend
Nous vendons
Vous vendez
Ils/Elles vendent
A song to help remember
To the tune of Three Blind Mice
s
s
sh
s
s
sh
o-n-s, o-n-s
e-z
e-n-t
e-z
e-n-t
les verbes re, les verbes re
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t follow the typical conjugation patterns. Here are the most common ones:
ÊTRE (to be)
Je suis
Tu es
Il/Elle/Iel est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils/Elles sont
AVOIR (to have)
J’ai
Tu as
Il/Elle/Iel a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/Elles ont
ALLER (to go)
Je vais
Tu vas
Il/Elle/Iel va
Nous Allons
Vous Allez
Ils/Elles vont
FAIRE (to do)
Je fais
Tu fais
Il/Elle/Iel fait
Nous faisons
Vous fêtes
Ils/Elles fonts
Helpful phrases
Bonjour - Hello
Au revoir - Goodbye
Merci - Thank you
De rien - You’re welcome
S’il te plait - Please
Pardonnez-moi - Excuse me
Où est le toilette? - Where is the washroom?
Don’t hesitate to ask any questions! I’ll also be adding posts with different vocabulary words and more irregular verbs!
