FRENCH 101

Vocabulaire
Salut! - Hello!
Bonjour! - Good morning / good day!
Bonsoir! - Good afternoon / evening! (After about 6pm)
H hey

Comment allez-vous? - How are you?

They might respond:
Bien, merci. - Fine, thanks.
Bien, et vous? - Fine, what about you?

If you are talking to a friend, you can say:

(Comment) a va? - Hows it going?
You might hear the following in reply:
a va. - Fine.
a va bien. - Well.
Pas mal. - Not bad.
Bof! - So so!

When its time to leave, you would normally say:

Au revoir! - Goodbye!
tout lheure! - See you later!
demain! - See you tomorrow!
bientt! - See you soon!
PASSEZ UNE BONNE JOURNE have a good day

Its polite to say:

Monsieur/Madame - Sir/Madam, Mr/Mrs

There are two ways to say please:

sil te plat - please (to a friend)

If youre talking to a grown-up or someone you dont know, you say:

sil vous plat - please
merci - thanks

Comment tu tappelles? - Whats your name?

Je mappelle - My name is

O habites-tu? - Where do you live?

Jhabite en - I live in
Quel ge as-tu? - How old are you?

Quest-ce que tu aimes faire comme loisirs? - What do you like doing in
your free time?
Jaime lire. - I like to read.
Jaime danser. - I like to dance.
Jaime jouer au football. - I like to play football.
Je fais du sport. - I play sport.
Je joue avec lordinateur. - I play on the computer.
Jaime faire des excursions! - I like to go on trips!
Et toi? - What about you?
Jaime aller la plage. - I like to go to the beach.
Jaime aller au cinma. - I like to go to the cinema.
Jaime faire les magasins. - I like to go shopping.
Pourquoi? - Why?
Parce que cest sensationnel / sensationnelle. - Because its amazing.
Parce que cest marrant / marrante. - Because its funny.
Parce que cest fantastique. - Because its great / fantastic.

Cest combien? - How much is it?

Cest euro - It costs euro.
a fait combien? - How much is it?
a faiteuro. - It costs euro.

Je naime pas a! - I dont like that!

Jadore a! - I love that!
Je dteste a! - I dont like that at all!

Comment tu te sens? - How do you feel?

Je suis content/te. - I feel happy
Je me sens triste. - I feel sad.
Je suis fche. - I feel annoyed.

Cest super! - Its fantastic!

Cest magnifique! - Its fabulous!
Cest nul / nulle! - Its rubbish!
Cest affreux / affreuse! - Its awful!
Cest ennuyeux / ennuyeuse! - Its boring!

le petit djeuner - breakfast

le djeuner - lunch
le dner - dinner
Jai faim! - Im hungry!
Je voudrais manger! - I want to eat!
Bon apptit! - Enjoy your food!
Jai soif. - Im thirsty.
Je bois une eau minrale - I drink a mineral water.
Cest bon pour la sant. - Its good for your health.
Cest mauvais pour la sant. - Its bad for your health.

Je ne comprends pas. - I dont understand.

Rptez, sil vous plat. - Repeat that, please.
Plus lentement, sil vous plat. - Slower, please.

Useful familiar conversational

phrases in French:
(Ouais,) Grave ! - I know, right? / Yeah, seriously!
Tu mtonnes ! - Youre telling me!
Idem / Pareil ! - Ditto / Same!
Nimporte quoi ! - Whatever! / Bullshit! (The te is quite often pronounced as
a syllable despite the usually silent vowels on the end of French words: Nun-
por-teuh kwa)
Cest nimporte quoi - Its ridiculous / crazy
Srieux ? - Seriously? Really?
Jtais mort(e) de rire - (Lit.) I died laughing / I pissed myself laughing
Je suis clat(e) - Im shattered / knackered / super tired (Note: can also be
used to describe being really high)
Jai la flemme (de faire quelque chose) - I cant be bothered / arsed (to do
something

Ways to slow down a conversation in

French
Short words (basic equivalents of what?)
hein? - huh?
comment? - what was that/ what?
pardon? - excuse me, what?
qu'est-ce que vous avez dit? - what (did you say)?
t'as dit quoi? - what did ya say? (very, very informal)

Expressing you didnt understand

je ne suis pas sr d'avoir compris - Im not sure I understood
Je n'ai pas compris - I didnt understand
Je ne l'ai pas entendue - I didnt hear it
 Asking for repetition and/or slower pace
plus lentement s'il vous plat - slower please
pourriez-vous rpter s'il vous plat? - could you please repeat?

B.A.G.S.
All adjectives go after the noun, except for BAGS
eg. The white house - La maison blanche
Beauty
o Beau/Belle, Joli/Jolie
o Beautiful, Pretty
Age
o Nouveau/Nouvelle, Jeune, Vieua/Vieille
o New, Young, Old
Goodness
o Bon/Bonne, Mauvais/Mauvaise
o Good, Bad
Size
o Petit/Petite, Grand/Grande, Gros/Grosse
o Small, Large, Fat

Subjonctif ou indicatif?
Indicatif:
je sais que - I know that
je suis sr(e) que - I am sure that
je suis certain(e) que - I am certain that
je crois que - I believe that
je pense que - I think that
j'espre que I hope that
il est certain(e) que it is certain that
il est clair que it is clear that
il est vident que it is obvious that
il est exact que it is exact that
il est probable que it is probable that
il parat que it seems that
il me semble que it seems to me that
Il est invitable que it is inevitable that

Subjonctif:
j'ai peur que I am afraid that
je veux que I want
je ne croix pas que I dont believe that
je ne suis pas sr(e)/certain(e) que I am not sure/certain that
je suis dsol(e) que I am sorry that
je suis heureux(-euse) que I am happy that
je suis fier(e) que I am proud that
il est amusant que it is amusing that
il est bon que it is good that
il est dommage que it is a pity that
il est douteux que - it is doubtful that
il est essentiel que it is esencial that
il est tonnant que - it is astonishing that
il est gentil que - it is nice that
il est impratif que - it is imperative that
il est important que- it is important that
il est possible que - it is possible that
il est improbable que - it is improbable that
il est indispensable que - it is essential that
il est injuste que - it is unfair that
il est juste que - it is fair that
il est intressant que - it is interesting that
il est ironique que - it is ironic that
il est naturel que - it is natural that
il est ncessaire que - it is necessary that
il est normal que - it is normal that
il est prfrable que - it is preferable that
il est rare que - it is rare that
il est surprenant que - it is surprising that
il est (grand) temps que - it is (about) time that
il est urgent que - it is urgent that
il est utile que - it is useful that
il est inutile que it is useless that
il convient que - it is appropriate that
il faut que - it is necessary that
il se peut que - it is possible that
il semble que - it seems that
il suffit que - it is enough that
il vaut mieux que - it is better that
ce nest vaut pas (cela ne vaut pas) la peine que it is not worth the trouble
that
il n'est pas sr(e) que it is not sure that
il n'est pas certain que it is not certain that
il n'est pas vrai que it is not true that
il est trange que it is strange that
c'est formidable/gnial que it is great that
Ways to say yes in French :)
words like yah
oui - yes (obviously you know this one)
ouais - yeah
ouaip - yep
eh oui - guess so
mais oui - sure
si! - yes, on the contrary

words of acceptance
d'accord - alright, ok
je ne dis pas non - I dont say no

words like yes, certainly

certainement - certainly 8D
tout fait - absolutely
bien sr que oui - of course

miscellaneous
volontiers - with pleasure

Food in french
Les fruits - fruits
Une pomme apple
Une banane banana
Une cerine cherry
Un raisin grapes
Un pche - peach
Un abricot - apricot
Une poire pear
Une fraise strawberry
Un citron lemon
Une orange orange
Un ananas pineapple
Une pastque - watermelon
Une olive - olive
Les Lgumes - vegetables
Un oignon onion
Une carotte carrot
Une tomate tomato
Une pomme de terre potato
Un al Garlic
Un mas corn
Un petit pois peas
Une salade salad
Un champignon mushroom
Produits laitiers dairy products
Un lait milk
Un beurre butter
Un fromage cheese
Un yaourt yogurt
Une glace ice cream
Une crme Chantilly whipped cream
Viandes meats
Un poulet chicken
Un boeuf beef
Un veau veal
Un porc pork
Un agneau lamb
Un poisson fish
Les Boissons drinks
un th tea
un caf coffee
un jus (dorange) (orange) juice
un vin wine
une bire beer
pour assaisonner to season
des herbes herbs
un sel salt
un poivre pepper
un sucre sugar
une moutarde mustard
un vinaigre vinegar
une baguette baguette
un croissant croissant
un pain bread
une confiture jam
une soupe soup
une salade salad
un sandwich sandwich
 des oeufs eggs
un gteau cake
un chocolat chocolate
un riz - rice

breakfast in french
le petit djeuner - breakfast
les crales - cereal
le lait - milk
la confiture - jam/jelly
le jambon - ham
le fromage - cheese
le biscuit scandinave - crispbread
les fruits secs - dried fruit
la confiture doranges - marmalade
le beurre - butter
le jus de fruits - fruit juice
le croissant - croissant
le caf - coffee
le caf au lait - coffee with milk
le caf crme -coffee with foamed milk
le croissant - croissant
le chocolat chaud - hot chocolate
le th - tea
la brioche - brioche
le pain - bread
le petit djeuner anglais - English breakfast
luf sur le plat - fried egg
le toast - toast
la tomate - tomato
la saucisse - sausage
le bacon - bacon
le pain perdu - French toast
luf coque - soft boiled egg
loeuf dur - hard boiled egg
les ufs brouills - scrambled eggs
la yaourt aux fruits - fruit yoghurt
les crpes - crpes
les gauffres - waffles
le porridge - porridge
les fruits - fruits
lomelette - omelette
la baguette - baguette
Swear words and insults in French
Merde
Means: shit
Example: Merde, jai oubli de faire mes devoirs!

Putain
Means: Fuck (but its used for almost everything)
Examples: Putain, a mnerve! / Cest gnial putain! / On a russi putain!

Bordel
Means: mess, shit, damn
Example: Cest quoi ce bordel? / Bordel, quest-ce que cest que a?

La vache
Means: crap
Example: La vache, il ma bien eu!

Oh mon dieu
Means: Oh my god
Example: Oh mon dieu il a vraiment fait a?

Connard / Fils de pute / Encul

Means: asshole, son of a bitch, fucker (when youre talking to a boy).
These are popular insults but very vulgar.

Connasse / Salope / Ptasse

Means: asshole, bitch, slut (when youre talking to a girl).
These are popular insults but very vulgar.

Enfoir / Abruti / Imbcile / Salaud

Means: asshole. These are popular insult but a little bit less vulgar.

Va te faire foutre
Means: Fuck you

Branleur
Means: wanker
Example: Tes quun branleur!
 Dgage
Means: piss off
Example: Dgage, sors de ma chambre!

Tu me fais chier
Means: Youre pissing me off

Je men fous
Means: I dont give a shit

Ta gueule
Means: shut up

Sen prendre plein la gueule

Means: being critized violently or insulted
Example: Il a trich et il sen ai pris plein la gueule.

How to ask about things

Quest-ce que cest?-Whats that?/What is it?
Cest-That is
Ce sont-Those are
Voici-This/here is
Voil-These/here are
Quest-ce quil y a ?-What is there ?
Il y a-There is/are
Il ny a pas-There is/are no
Est-ce quil y a ?-Is/are there?

Vocabulaire: connecteurs
dopposition et concession
(Its important to point out that in many cases, these have more equivalents in
English than I show here, but since sometimes there are a lot of them, I just
wrote the general ones to give a good idea of the meaning)

Mais (but): est la conjonction la plus utilise.

Alors que, tandis que (while/as/whereas) + indicatif.
linverse de, contrairement (unlike, contrary to).
Mme si (even if/although) + indicatif.
Bien que, quoique (although/despite) + subjonctif.
 Cependant, nanmoins, pourtant, toutefois, en
revanche (however/but/nevertheless/nonetheless/though).
Par contre, en revanche (in contrast). *
Malgr, en dpit de, au mpris de (despite/regardless of) + indicatif.
Quand mme (still/anyway): in informal situations and specially when
speaking, it tends to replace connectors or reinforce them. For example: il
naime pas la musique classique, pourtant il est quand mme all au
concert (he doesnt like classic music, yet he still went to the concert).

Negation in French
Bonjour!
There are many ways to negate verbs in French. The most used and
obvious way is using ne pas, but thats just one of many negation
phrases. Below is a list of the negation words:
Ne aucun (masculine - if the following noun is masculine)/aucune
(feminine - if the following noun is feminine) - none/not any
Ne jamais - never
Ne ni ni - neither nor
Ne personne OR Personne ne - nobody/no one
Ne plus - no more/not anymore
Ne que - only
Ne rien OR Rien ne - nothing/not anything

The ne always follows the subject and the 2nd negation word (such as
aucun, jamais, etc) closely follows the verb (there are so many
exceptions that Id have to make a separate post). Here are some
examples:
Elle nest pas ici. - She isnt here.
Jai aucune ide ce qui se passe. - I havent any idea whats happening.
Elle na ni surs ni frres. - She has neither sisters nor brothers.
Tu ninvites plus Jessica? - You dont invite Jessica anymore?
Elle netait jamais ici. - She was never here.
Personne na rien vu. - Nobody saw anything.
coutez-vous la musique classique? Non, je naime que la musique rap. -
Do you listen to classical music? No, I only like rap music.
**Its important to note that in French you can have 2 negation
words (like personne and rien) and it is fine (unlike in English
where 2 negatives make a positive).**
Vocab for essays (Spanish-French-
English)

I had this list in Spanish and French, and I decided to translate it into English. So
here it is, a trilingual vocabulary list for essays :)

Con tal que - Tant que - As long as

Ni siquiera - Mme pas - Not even
Por eso - Cest pourquoi - That is why
Mientras - Pendant que - While
Mientras que - Tandis que - While
Mientras tanto - Pendant ce temps - In the meantime, Meanwhile
Resulta que - Il en rsulte que - It follows that
A raz de - la suite de - In the wake of, Following
A partir de - partir de - From
Cabe subrayar que - Il faut souligner que - It should be emphasized that
Desde luego - Dcidment, Certainement - Definitly, Certainly
De ahora en adelante - Dsormais - Henceforth
Ya no - Ne plus - No longer
Ya que - Puisque - Since, As
Sea como sea - Quoi quil en soit - Either way
Desde entonces - Depuis lors - Since then
A pesar de - Malgr - In spite of
En vez de - Au lieu de - Instead of
Desde hace tiempo - Depuis longtemps - For a long time
Tan pronto como - Ds que - As soon as
A medida - Au fur et mesure - Progressively
En efecto - En effet - In fact, Indeed
Entonces - Donc, Alors - So
Adems- De plus - Besides, Moreover
A continuacin- Puis, Ensuite - Then
Tambin - Aussi - Also
En particular - En particulier - In particular
Especialmente - Notamment - Specially