Français Enlex

Note 1
Age
Note that where English says to be X years old, French says avoir X ans (to have X years).
How old?
how old are you?

= quel âge as-tu?
what age is she?

= quel âge a-t-elle?
The word ans (years) is never dropped:
he is forty years old

or he is forty
or he is forty years of age
= il a quarante ans
she’s eighty
= elle a quatre-vingts ans
the house is a hundred years old

= la maison a cent ans
a man of fifty
= un homme de cinquante ans
a child of eight and a half

= un enfant de huit ans et demi
I feel sixteen
= j’ai l’impression d’avoir seize ans
he looks sixteen
= on lui donnerait seize ans
Note the use of de after âgé and à l’âge:
a woman aged thirty

= une femme âgée de trente ans
at the age of forty

= à l’âge de quarante ans
Mrs Smith, aged forty
or Mrs Smith (40)
= Mme Smith, âgée de quarante ans
Do not confuse que and de used with plus and moins:
I’m older than you

= je suis plus âgé que toi
she’s younger than him

= elle est plus jeune que lui
Anne’s two years younger

= Anne a deux ans de moins
Margot’s older than Suzanne by five years

= Margot a cinq ans de plus que Suzanne
Robert’s younger than Thomas by six years

= Robert a six ans de moins que Thomas
X-year-old
a forty-year-old
= quelqu’un de quarante ans
a sixty-year-old woman
= une femme de soixante ans
an eighty-year-old pensioner
= un retraité de quatre-vingts ans
they’ve got an eight-year-old

= ils ont un enfant de huit ans
and a five-year-old
= et un autre de cinq ans
Approximate ages
Note the various ways of saying these in French:
he is about fifty
= il a environ cinquante ans
or il a une cinquantaine d’années
or (less formally) il a dans les cinquante ans
(Other round numbers in -aine used to express age are dizaine (10), vingtaine (20), trentaine (30),
quarantaine (40), soixantaine (60) and centaine (100).)
she’s just over sixty

= elle vient d’avoir soixante ans
she’s just under seventy

= elle aura bientôt soixante-dix ans
she’s in her sixties

= elle a entre soixante et soixante-dix ans
she’s in her early sixties

= elle a entre soixante et soixante-cinq ans
she’s in her late sixties

= elle va avoir soixante-dix ans
or (less formally) elle va sur ses soixante-dix ans
she must be seventy

= elle doit avoir soixante-dix ans
he’s in his mid forties

= il a entre quarante et cinquante ans
or (less formally) il a dans les quarante-cinq ans
he’s just ten

= il a tout juste dix ans
he’s barely twelve

= il a à peine douze ans
games for the under twelves

= jeux pour les moins de douze ans
only for the over eighties

= seulement pour les plus de quatre-vingts ans
Note 2
British regions and counties
The names of British regions and counties usually have the definite article in French, except when used
with the preposition en.
In, to and from somewhere

Most counties and regions are masculine; with these, in and to are translated by dans le, and from by du:
to live in Sussex
= vivre dans le Sussex
to go to Sussex
= aller dans le Sussex
to come from Sussex
= venir du Sussex
Note however:
Cornwall
= la Cornouailles
to live in Cornwall
= vivre en Cornouailles
to go to Cornwall
= aller en Cornouailles
to come from Cornwall

= venir de la Cornouailles
Uses with nouns
There are rarely French equivalents for English forms like Cornishmen, and it is always safe to use de
with the definite article:
Cornishmen
= les habitants mpl de la Cornouailles
Lancastrians
= les habitants du Lancashire
In other cases, du is often possible:
a Somerset accent
= un accent du Somerset
the Yorkshire countryside

= les paysages du Yorkshire
but it is usually safe to use du comté de:
the towns of Fife

= les villes du comté de Fife
the rivers of Merioneth

= les rivières du comté de Merioneth
or de la région de:
Grampian cattle
= le bétail de la région des Grampians
Note 3
Capacity measurement
For cubic measurements  Volume measurement.
British liquid measurements

20 fl oz = 0,57l (litre)
1 qt = 1,13l* (litres)
1 pt = 0,57l
1 gal = 4,54l
*There are three ways of saying 1,13l, and other measurements like it: un virgule treize litres, or (less
formally) un litre virgule treize, or un litre treize. For more details on how to say numbers  Numbers.
American liquid measurements
16 fl oz = 0,47l
1 qt = 0,94l
1 pt = 0,47l
1 gal = 3,78l
Phrases
what does the tank hold?

= combien le réservoir contient-il?
what’s its capacity?

= quelle est sa contenance?
it’s 200 litres

= il fait 200 litres
its capacity is 200 litres

= il fait 200 litres
my car does 28 miles to the gallon

= ma voiture fait dix litres aux cent† or ma voiture fait du dix litres aux cent
they use 20,000 litres a day

= ils utilisent 20000 litres par jour
† Note that the French calculate petrol consumption in litres per 100 km. To convert miles per gallon to
litres per 100 km and vice versa simply divide the factor 280 by the
known figure.
A holds more than B

= A contient plus que B
B holds less than A

= B contient moins que A
A has a greater capacity than B
= A a une plus grande contenance que B
B has a smaller capacity than A

= B a une moins grande contenance que A
A and B have the same capacity

= A et B ont la même contenance
20 litres of wine
= 20 litres de vin
it’s sold by the litre

= cela se vend au litre
Note the French construction with de, coming after the noun it describes:
a 200-litre tank
= un réservoir de 200 litres
Note 4
The clock
What time is it?
It is… Il est… say…
4 o’clock 4 heures quatre heures

or 4 h
4 o’clock in 4 h 00 quatre heures du matin

the morning
or 4 am
4 o’clock in 16 h 00 quatre heures de l’après-midi or seize heures*

the afternoon
or 4 pm
0400 4 h 00 quatre heures
4.02 4 h 02 quatre heures deux
two minutes past four 4 h 02 or quatre heures deux minutes†
4.05 4 h 05 quatre heures cinq
five past four 4 h 05 quatre heures cinq
4.10 4 h 10 quatre heures dix
ten past four 4 h 10 quatre heures dix
4.15 4 h 15 quatre heures quinze‡

a quarter past four 4 h 15 quatre heures et quart‡
4.20 4 h 20 quatre heures vingt
4.25 4 h 25 quatre heures vingt-cinq
4.30 4 h 30 quatre heures trente‡
half past four 4 h 30 quatre heures et demie§
4.35 4 h 35 quatre heures trente-cinq
twenty-five to five 4 h 35 cinq heures moins vingt-cinq
4.37 4 h 37 quatre heures trente-sept
twenty-three 4 h 37 cinq heures moins vingt-trois

minutes to five
4.40 4 h 40 quatre heures quarante
twenty to five 4 h 40 cinq heures moins vingt
4.45 4 h 45 cinq heures moins le quart
4.50 4 h 50 quatre heures cinquante
ten to five 4 h 50 cinq heures moins dix
4.55 4 h 55 quatre heures cinquante cinq
five to five 4 h 55 cinq heures moins cinq
5 o’clock 5h cinq heures
16.15 16 h 15 seize heures quinze
16.25 16 h 25 seize heures vingt-cinq
8 o’clock in 8 h du soir huit heures du soir

the evening
8 pm 20 h 00 vingt heures
12.00 12 h 00 douze heures
noon or 12 noon 12 h 00 midi
midnight or 24 h 00 minuit
12 midnight
In timetables etc., the twenty-four hour clock is used, so that 4 pm is seize heures. In ordinary usage, one
says quatre heures (de l’après-midi).
what time is it?

= quelle heure est-il?
my watch says five o’clock
= il est cinq heures à ma montre
could you tell me the time?

= pouvez-vous me donner l’heure?
it’s exactly four o’clock

= il est quatre heures juste or il est exactement quatre heures
it’s about four

= il est environ quatre heures
it’s almost three o’clock

= il est presque trois heures
it’s just before six o’clock

= il va être six heures
it’s just after five o’clock

= il est à peine plus de cinq heures
it’s gone five

= il est cinq heures passées
When?
French never drops the word heures: at five is à cinq heures and so on.
French always uses à, whether or not English includes the word at. The only exception is when there is
another preposition present, as in vers cinq heures (towards five o’clock), avant cinq heures (before five
o’clock) etc.
what time did it happen?

= à quelle heure cela s’est-il passé?
what time will he come at?

= à quelle heure va-t-il venir?
it happened at two o’clock

= c’est arrivé à deux heures
he’ll come at four

= il viendra à quatre heures
at ten past four

= à quatre heures dix
at half past eight

= à huit heures et demie
at three o’clock exactly

= à trois heures précises
at about five
= vers cinq heures or à cinq heures environ
at five at the latest

= à cinq heures au plus tard
a little after nine

= un peu après neuf heures
it must be ready by ten

= il faut que ce soit prêt avant dix heures
I’ll be here until 6 pm

= je serai là jusqu’à six heures du soir
I won’t be here until 6 pm

= je ne serai pas là avant six heures du soir
it lasts from seven till nine

= cela dure de sept à neuf heures
closed from 1 to 2 pm
= fermé entre treize et quatorze heures
every hour on the hour

= toutes les heures à l’heure juste
at ten past every hour

= toutes les heures à dix
† This fuller form is possible in all similar cases in this list. It is used only in ‘official’ styles.
‡ Quatre heures et quart sounds less official than quatre heures quinze (and similarly et demie and moins
le quart are the less official forms). The demie and quart forms are not used with the 24-hour clock.
§ Demi agrees when it follows its noun, but not when it comes before the noun to which it is hyphenated,
e.g. quatre heures et demie but les demi-heures etc. Note that midi and minuit are masculine, so midi et
demi and minuit et demi.
Note 5
Colours
Not all English colour terms have a single exact equivalent in French: for instance, in some
circumstances brown is marron, in others brun. If in doubt, look the word up in the dictionary.
Colour terms
what colour is it?
= c’est de quelle couleur? or (more formally) de quelle couleur est-il?
it’s green
= il est vert or elle est verte
to paint sth green

= peindre qch en vert
to dye sth green
= teindre qch en vert
to wear green
= porter du vert
dressed in green
= habillé de vert
Colour nouns are all masculine in French:
I like green
= j’aime le vert
I prefer blue
= je préfère le bleu
red suits her

= le rouge lui va bien
it’s a pretty yellow!

= c’est un joli jaune!
have you got it in white?

= est-ce que vous l’avez en blanc?
a pretty shade of blue

= un joli ton de bleu
it was a dreadful green

= c’était un vert affreux
a range of greens
= une gamme de verts
Most adjectives of colour agree with the noun they modify:
a blue coat
= un manteau bleu
a blue dress
= une robe bleue
blue clothes
= des vêtements bleus
Some that don’t agree are explained below.
Words that are not true adjectives

Some words that translate English adjectives are really nouns in French, and so don’t show agreement:
a brown shoe
= une chaussure marron
orange tablecloths
= des nappes fpl orange
hazel eyes
= des yeux mpl noisette
Other French words like this include: cerise (cherry-red), chocolat (chocolate-brown) and émeraude
(emerald-green).
Shades of colour
Expressions like pale blue, dark green or light yellow are also invariable in French and show no
agreement:
a pale blue shirt

= une chemise bleu pâle
dark green blankets

= des couvertures fpl vert foncé
a light yellow tie

= une cravate jaune clair
bright yellow socks

= des chaussettes fpl jaune vif
French can also use the colour nouns here: instead of une chemise bleu pâle you could say une chemise
d’un bleu pâle; and similarly des couvertures d’un vert foncé (etc). The nouns in French are normally
used to translate English adjectives of this type ending in -er and -est:
a darker blue
= un bleu plus foncé
the dress was a darker blue

= la robe était d’un bleu plus foncé
Similarly:
a lighter blue
= un bleu plus clair (etc.)
In the following examples, blue stands for most basic colour terms:
pale blue
= bleu pâle
light blue
= bleu clair
bright blue
= bleu vif
dark blue
= bleu foncé
deep blue
= bleu profond
strong blue
= bleu soutenu
Other types of compound in French are also invariable, and do not agree with their nouns:
a navy-blue jacket
= une veste bleu marine
These compounds include: bleu ciel (sky-blue), vert pomme (apple-green), bleu nuit (midnight-blue),
rouge sang (blood-red) etc. However, all English compounds do not translate directly into French. If in
doubt, check in the dictionary.
French compounds consisting of two colour terms linked with a hyphen are also invariable:
a blue-black material
= une étoffe bleu-noir
a greenish-blue cup
= une tasse bleu-vert
a greeny-yellow dress
= une robe vert-jaune
English uses the ending -ish, or sometimes -y, to show that something is approximately a certain colour,
e.g. a reddish hat or a greenish paint. The French equivalent is -âtre:
blue-ish
= bleuâtre
greenish or greeny
= verdâtre
greyish
= grisâtre
reddish
= rougeâtre
yellowish or yellowy
= jaunâtre
etc.
Other similar French words are rosâtre, noirâtre and blanchâtre. Note however that these words are often
rather negative in French. It is better not to use them if you want to be complimentary about something.
Use instead tirant sur le rouge/jaune etc.
To describe a special colour, English can add -coloured to a noun such as raspberry (framboise) or flesh
(chair). Note how this is said in French, where the two-word compound with couleur is invariable, and,
unlike English, never has a hyphen:
a chocolate-coloured skirt
= une jupe couleur chocolat
raspberry-coloured fabric
= du tissu couleur framboise
flesh-coloured tights
= un collant couleur chair
Colour verbs
English makes some colour verbs by adding -en (e.g. blacken). Similarly French has some verbs in -ir
made from colour terms:
to blacken
= noircir
to redden
= rougir
to whiten
= blanchir
The other French colour terms that behave like this are: bleu (bleuir), jaune (jaunir), rose (rosir) and vert
(verdir). It is always safe, however, to use devenir, thus:
to turn purple
= devenir violet
Describing people
Note the use of the definite article in the following:
to have black hair

= avoir les cheveux noirs
to have blue eyes

= avoir les yeux bleus
Note the use of à in the following:
a girl with blue eyes

= une jeune fille aux yeux bleus
the man with black hair

= l’homme aux cheveux noirs
Not all colours have direct equivalents in French. The following words are used for describing the colour
of someone’s hair (note that les cheveux is plural in French):
fair
= blond
dark
= brun
blonde or blond
= blond
brown
= châtain inv
red
= roux
black
= noir
grey
= gris
white
= blanc
Check other terms such as yellow, ginger, auburn, mousey etc. in the dictionary.
Note these nouns in French:
a fair-haired man
= un blond
a fair-haired woman
= une blonde
a dark-haired man
= un brun
a dark-haired woman
= une brune
The following words are useful for describing the colour of someone’s eyes:
blue
= bleu
light blue
= bleu clair inv
light brown
= marron clair inv
brown
= marron inv
hazel
= noisette inv
green
= vert
grey
= gris
greyish-green
= gris-vert inv
dark
= noir
Note 6
Countries and continents
Most countries and all continents are used with the definite article in French:
France is a beautiful country

= la France est un beau pays
I like Canada
= j’aime le Canada
to visit the United States

= visiter les États-Unis
to know Iran
= connaître l’Iran
A very few countries do not:
to visit Israel
= visiter Israël
When in doubt, check in the dictionary.
All the continent names are feminine in French. Most names of countries are feminine e.g. la France, but
some are masculine e.g. le Canada.
Most names of countries are singular in French, but some are plural (usually, but not always, those that
are plural in English) e.g. les États-Unis mpl (the United States), and les Philippines fpl (the Philippines).
Note, however, the plural verb sont:
the Philippines is a lovely country

= les Philippines sont un beau pays

With continent names, feminine singular names of countries and masculine singular names of countries
beginning with a vowel, for in and to, use en, and for from, use de:
to live in Europe
= vivre en Europe
to go to Europe
= aller en Europe
to come from Europe

= venir d’Europe
to live in France
= vivre en France
to go to France
= aller en France
to come from France

= venir de France
to live in Afghanistan
= vivre en Afghanistan
to go to Afghanistan
= aller en Afghanistan
to come from Afghanistan

= venir d’Afghanistan
Note that names of countries and continents that include North, South, East, or West work in the same
way:
to live in North Korea

= vivre en Corée du Nord
to go to North Korea
= aller en Corée du Nord
to come from North Korea

= venir de Corée du Nord
With masculine countries beginning with a consonant, and with plurals, use au or aux for in and to, and du
or des for from:
to live in Canada
= vivre au Canada
to go to Canada
= aller au Canada
to come from Canada

= venir du Canada
to live in the United States

= vivre aux États-Unis
to go to the United States

= aller aux États-Unis
to come from the United States

= venir des États-Unis
to live in the Philippines

= vivre aux Philippines
to go to the Philippines
= aller aux Philippines
to come from the Philippines
= venir des Philippines
Adjective uses: français or de France or de la France?

For French, the translation français is usually safe; here are some typical examples:
the French army

= l’armée française
the French coast

= la côte française
French cooking
= la cuisine française
French currency
= la monnaie française
the French Customs

= la douane française
the French government

= le gouvernement français
the French language

= la langue française
French literature
= la littérature française
French money
= l’argent français
the French nation

= le peuple français
French politics
= la politique française
a French town
= une ville française
French traditions
= les traditions françaises
Some nouns, however, occur more commonly with de France (usually, but not always, their English
equivalents can have of France as well as French):
the Ambassador of France or the French Ambassador

= l’ambassadeur de France
the French Embassy

= l’ambassade de France
the history of France or French history
= l’histoire de France
the King of France or the French king

= le roi de France
the rivers of France

= les fleuves et rivières de France
the French team

= l’équipe de France
but note:
the capital of France or the French capital

= la capitale de la France
Note that many geopolitical adjectives like French can also refer to nationality, e.g. a French tourist 
Nationalities, or to the language, e.g. a French word  Languages.
Note 7
Currencies and money
For how to say numbers in French  Numbers.
French money
write say
25 c vingt-cinq cents
1 €* un euro
1,50† € un euro cinquante or un euro cinquante cents
2€ deux euros
2,75 € deux euros soixante-quinze
20 € vingt euros
100 € cent euros
1000 € mille euros
1000000 € un million d’euros
* Note that French normally puts the abbreviation after the amount, unlike British (£1) or American
English ($1). However, in some official documents amounts may be given as €10000 etc.
† French uses a comma to separate units (e.g. 2,75 €), where English normally has a period (e.g. £5.50).
there are 100 cents in one euro

= il y a 100 cents dans un euro
a hundred-euro note
= un billet de cent euros
a twenty-euro note
= un billet de vingt euros
a two-euro coin
= une pièce de deux euros
a 50-cent piece
= une pièce de cinquante cents
British money
write say
1p un penny
25p vingt-cinq pence or vingt-cinq pennies
50p cinquante pence or cinquante pennies
£1 une livre
£1.50 une livre cinquante or une livre cinquante pence
£2.00 deux livres
a five-pound note
= un billet de cinq livres
a pound coin
= une pièce d’une livre
a 50p piece
= une pièce de cinquante pence
American money
write say
12c douze cents
$1 un dollar
$1.50 un dollar cinquante or un dollar cinquante cents
a ten-dollar bill
= un billet de dix dollars
a dollar bill
= un billet d’un dollar
a dollar coin
= une pièce d’un dollar
How much?
how much is it? or how much does it cost?
= combien est-ce que cela coûte?
it’s 15 euros
= cela coûte 15 euros
the price of the book is 30 euros

= le prix du livre est de§ 30 euros
the car costs 15,000 euros

= la voiture coûte 15000 euros
it costs over 500 euros

= ça coûte plus de 500 euros
just under 1,000 euros

= un peu moins de 1000 euros
more than 200 euros

= plus de 200 euros
less than 200 euros

= moins de 200 euros
it costs 15 euros a metre

= cela coûte 15 euros le mètre
another ten pounds

= encore dix livres
§ The de is obligatory here.
In the following examples, note the use of à in French to introduce the amount that something costs:
a two-euro stamp
= un timbre à deux euros
a £10 ticket
= un billet à 10 livres
and the use of de to introduce the amount that something consists of:
a £500 cheque
= un chèque de 500 livres
a two-thousand-pound grant
= une bourse de deux mille livres
Handling money
200 euros in cash
= 200 euros en liquide
a cheque for 500 euros

= un chèque de 500 euros
to change a 100-euro note

= faire la monnaie d’un billet de 100 euros
a dollar travellers’ check

= un chèque de voyage en dollars
a sterling travellers’ cheque

= un chèque de voyage en livres
a £100 travellers’ cheque

= un chèque de voyage de 100 livres
there are 1.12 euros to the dollar

= le dollar vaut 1,12 euros
to pay in pounds
= payer en livres
to make a transaction in euros

= faire une transaction en euros
Note 8
Date
Where English has several ways of writing dates, such as May 10, 10 May, 10th May etc. French has
only one generally accepted way: le 10 mai, (say le dix mai). However, as in English, dates in French
may be written informally: 10.5.68 or 31/7/65 etc.
The general pattern in French is:
le cardinal number month year

le 10 mai 1901
But if the date is the first of the month, use premier, abbreviated as 1er:
May 1st 1901

= le 1er mai 1901
Note that French does not use capital letters for months, or for days of the week  The months of the
year and  The days of the week; also French does not usually abbreviate the names of the months:
Sept 10
= le 10 septembre etc.
If the day of the week is included, put it after the le:
Monday, May 1st 1901

= le lundi 1er mai 1901
Monday the 25th

= lundi 25 (say lundi vingt-cinq)
Saying and writing dates

what’s the date?
= quel jour sommes-nous?
it’s the tenth

= nous sommes le dix or (less formally) on est le dix
it’s the tenth of May

= nous sommes le dix mai or (less formally) on est le dix mai
write say
May 1 le 1er mai le premier mai

May 2 le 2 mai le deux mai
May 11 le 11 mai le onze mai
May 21 le 21 mai le vingt et un mai
May 30 le 30 mai le trente mai
May 6 1968 le 6 mai 1968 le six mai mille neuf cent soixante-huit
Monday May 6 1968 le lundi 6 mai 1968 le lundi six mai mille neuf cent soixante-huit
16.5.68 GB or
5.16.68 US 16.5.68 le seize cinq soixante-huit
AD 230 230 apr. J.-C. deux cent trente après Jésus-Christ
2500 BC 2500 av. J.-C. deux mille cinq cents ans avant Jésus-Christ*
the 16th century le XVIe siècle† le seizième siècle
* (i) There are two ways of saying hundreds and thousands in dates:
1968
= mille neuf cent soixante-huit or dix-neuf cent soixante-huit
(ii) The spelling mil is used in legal French, otherwise mille is used in dates, except when a round
number of thousands is involved, in which case the words l’an are added:
1900
= mille neuf cents
2000
= l’an deux mille
† French prefers Roman numerals for centuries:
the 16th century

= le XVIe
Saying on
French uses only the definite article, without any word for on:
it happened on 6th March

= c’est arrivé le 6 mars (say le six mars)
he came on the 21st

= il est arrivé le 21 (say le vingt et un)
see you on the 6th

= on se voit le 6 (say le six)
on the 2nd of every month

= le 2 de chaque mois (say le deux ...)
he’ll be here on the 3rd

= il sera là le 3 (say le trois)
Saying in
French normally uses en for years but prefers en l’an for out-of-the-ordinary dates:
in 1968
= en 1968 (say en mille neuf cent soixante-huit or en dix-neuf cent…)
in 1896
= en 1896 (say en mille huit cent quatre-vingt-seize or en dix-huit cent…)
in the year 2000

= en l’an deux mille
in AD 27
= en l’an 27 (say l’an vingt-sept) de notre ère
in 132 BC
= en l’an 132 (say l’an cent trente-deux) avant Jésus-Christ
With names of months, in is translated by en or au mois de:
in May 1970
= en mai mille neuf cent soixante-dix or au mois de mai mille neuf cent soixante-dix
With centuries, French uses au:
in the seventeenth century

= au dix-septième siècle
The word siècle is often omitted in colloquial French:
in the eighteenth century

= au dix-huitième siècle or (less formally) au dix-huitième
Note also:
in the early 12th century

= au début du XIIe siècle (say du douzième siècle)
in the late 14th century

= à or vers la fin du XIVe siècle (say du quatorzième siècle)
Phrases
Remember that the date in French always has the definite article, so, in combined forms, au and du are
required:
from the 10th onwards

= à partir du 10 (say du dix)
stay until the 14th

= reste jusqu’au 14 (say au quatorze)
from 21st to 30th May

= du 21 au 30 mai (say du vingt et un au trente mai)
around 16th May

= le 16 mai environ/vers le 16 mai (say le seize mai) or aux environs du seize mai (say du seize mai)
not until 1999

= pas avant 1999 (say mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf)
Shakespeare (1564-1616)
= Shakespeare (1564-1616) (say Shakespeare, quinze cent soixante-quatre - seize cent seize)
Shakespeare b. 1564 d.1616

= Shakespeare, né en 1564, mort en 1616 (say Shakespeare, né en quinze cent soixante-quatre, mort en
seize cent seize).
Note that French has no abbreviations for né and mort.
in May ’45
= en mai 45 (say en mai quarante-cinq)
in the 1980s
= dans les années 80 (say dans les années quatre-vingts)
in the early sixties

= au début des années 60 (say des années soixante)
in the late seventies

= à la fin des années 70 (say des années soixante-dix)
the riots of ’68

= les émeutes de 68 (say de soixante-huit)
the 14-18 war

= la guerre de 14 or de 14-18 (say de quatorze or de quatorze-dix-huit)
the 1912 uprising

= le soulèvement de 1912 (say de mille neuf cent douze)
Note 9
The days of the week
Note that French uses lower-case letters for the names of days; also, French speakers normally count the
week as starting on Monday.
Write the names of days in full; do not abbreviate as in English (Tues, Sat and so on). The French only
abbreviate in printed calendars, diaries etc.
Monday
= lundi
Tuesday
= mardi
Wednesday
= mercredi
Thursday
= jeudi
Friday
= vendredi
Saturday
= samedi
Sunday
= dimanche
What day is it?

(Lundi in this note stands for any day; they all work the same way; for more information on dates in
French  Date.)
what day is it?

= quel jour sommes-nous? or (very informally) on est quel jour?
it is Monday
= nous sommes lundi
today is Monday
= c’est lundi aujourd’hui
Note the use of French le for regular occurrences, and no article for single ones. (Remember: do not
translate on.)
on Monday
= lundi
on Monday, we’re going to the zoo

= lundi, on va au zoo
I’ll see you on Monday morning

= je te verrai lundi matin
but
on Mondays
= le lundi
on Mondays, we go to the zoo

= le lundi, on va au zoo
I see her on Monday mornings

= je la vois le lundi matin
Specific days
Monday afternoon
= lundi après-midi
one Monday evening

= un lundi soir
that Monday morning

= ce lundi matin-là
last Monday night

= la nuit de lundi dernier or (if evening) lundi dernier dans la soirée
early on Monday
= lundi matin de bonne heure
late on Monday
= lundi soir tard
this Monday
= ce lundi
that Monday
= ce lundi-là
that very Monday

= précisément ce lundi-là
last Monday
= lundi dernier
next Monday
= lundi prochain
the Monday before last

= l’autre lundi
a month from Monday

= dans un mois lundi
in a month from last Monday

= dans un mois à dater de lundi dernier
finish it by Monday
= termine-le avant lundi
from Monday on
= à partir de lundi
Regular events
every Monday
= tous les lundis
each Monday
= chaque lundi
every other Monday

= un lundi sur deux
every third Monday

= un lundi sur trois
Sometimes
most Mondays
= presque tous les lundis
some Mondays
= certains lundis
on the second Monday in the month

= le deuxième lundi de chaque mois
the odd Monday or the occasional Monday

= le lundi de temps en temps
Happening etc. on that day

Monday’s paper
= le journal de lundi or de ce lundi
the Monday papers

= les journaux du lundi
Monday flights
= les vols du lundi
the Monday flight

= le vol du lundi
Monday closing (of shops)

= la fermeture du lundi
Monday’s classes
= les cours de lundi or de ce lundi
Monday classes
= les cours du lundi
Monday trains
= les trains du lundi
Note 10
Forms of address
Only those forms of address in frequent use are included here; titles of members of the nobility or of
church dignitaries are not covered; for the use of military ranks as titles  Military ranks and titles.
Speaking to someone
Where English puts the surname after the title, French normally uses the title alone (note that when
speaking to someone, French does not use a capital letter for monsieur, madame and mademoiselle,
unlike English Mr etc., nor for titles such as docteur).
good morning, Mr Johnson

= bonjour, monsieur
good evening, Mrs Jones

= bonsoir, madame
goodbye, Miss Smith
= au revoir, mademoiselle
The French monsieur and madame tend to be used more often than the English Mr X or Mrs Y. Also, in
English, people often say simply Good morning or Excuse me; in the equivalent situation in French, they
might say Bonjour, monsieur or Pardon, madame. However, the French are slower than the British, and
much slower than the Americans, to use someone’s first name, so hi there, Peter! to a colleague may well
be simply bonjour!, or bonjour, monsieur; bonjour, cher ami; bonjour, mon vieux etc., depending on the
degree of familiarity that exists.
In both languages, other titles are also used, e.g.:
hallo, Dr. Brown or hallo, Doctor

= bonjour, docteur
In some cases where titles are not used in English, they are used in French, e.g. bonjour, Monsieur le
directeur or bonjour, Madame la directrice to a head teacher, or bonjour, maître to a lawyer of either sex.
Other titles, such as professeur (in the sense of professor), are used much less than their English
equivalents in direct address. Where in English one might say Good morning, Professor, in French one
would probably say Bonjour, monsieur or Bonjour, madame.
Titles of important positions are used in direct forms of address, preceded by Monsieur le or Madame le
or Madame la, as in:
yes, Chair
= oui, Monsieur le président or (to a woman) oui, Madame la présidente
yes, Minister
= oui, Monsieur le ministre or (to a woman) oui, Madame le ministre
Note the use of Madame le when the noun in question, like ministre here, or professeur and other titles,
has no feminine form, or no acceptable feminine. A woman Member of Parliament is addressed as
Madame le député, a woman Senator Madame le sénateur, a woman judge Madame le juge and a
woman mayor Madame le maire. Women often prefer the masculine word even when a feminine form
does exist, as in Madame l’ambassadeur to a woman ambassador, Madame l’ambassadrice being
reserved for the wife of an ambassador.
Speaking about someone

Mr Smith is here
= monsieur Smith est là
Mrs Jones phoned

= madame Jones a téléphoné
Miss Black has arrived

= mademoiselle Black est arrivée
Ms Brown has left

= madame Brown or (as appropriate) mademoiselle Brown est partie
(French has no equivalent of Ms.)
When the title accompanies someone’s name, the definite article must be used in French:
Dr Blake has arrived
= le docteur Blake est arrivé
Professor Jones spoke

= le professeur Jones a parlé
This is true of all titles:
Prince Charles
= le prince Charles
Princess Marie
= la princesse Marie
Note that with royal etc. titles, only 1er is spoken as an ordinal number (premier) in French; unlike English,
all the others are spoken as cardinal numbers (deux, trois, and so on).
King Richard I
= le roi Richard 1er (say Richard premier)
Queen Elizabeth II
= la reine Elizabeth II (say Elizabeth deux)
Pope John XXIII

= le pape Jean XXIII (say Jean vingt-trois)
Note 11
French departments
The names of French departments usually have the definite article, except when used after the
preposition en.

For in and to, use dans le or dans les for masculine and plural names of departments:
to live in the Loiret

= vivre dans le Loiret
to go to the Loiret
= aller dans le Loiret
to live in the Landes

= vivre dans les Landes
to go to the Landes
= aller dans les Landes
to live in the Loir-et-Cher

= vivre dans le Loir-et-Cher
to go to the Loir-et-Cher
= aller dans le Loir-et-Cher
For in and to, use en for feminine names of departments:
to live in Savoy
= vivre en Savoie
to go to Savoy
= aller en Savoie
to live in Seine-et-Marne
= vivre en Seine-et-Marne
to go to Seine-et-Marne
= aller en Seine-et-Marne
For from, use du (or de l’ before a vowel) for masculine and des for plural names of departments:
to come from the Loiret

= venir du Loiret
to come from the Landes

= venir des Landes
to come from the Loir-et-Cher

= venir du Loir-et-Cher
For from, use de without the definite article for feminine names of departments:
to come from Savoy

= venir de Savoie
to come from Seine-et-Marne

= venir de Seine-et-Marne
Uses with nouns

Use de with the definite article in most cases:
a Cantal accent
= un accent du Cantal
the Var area

= la région du Var
the Creuse countryside

= les paysages de la Creuse
Loiret people
= les gens du Loiret
Yonne representatives
= les représentants de l’Yonne
Landes restaurants
= les restaurants des Landes
the Calvados team

= l’équipe du Calvados
Ardennes towns
= les villes des Ardennes
but use de without the definite article with feminine names that include et:
Seine-et-Marne hotels
= les hôtels de Seine-et-Marne
Some cases are undecided:
Savoy roads
= les routes de Savoie or de la Savoie
Note 12
French provinces and regions
Both traditional pre-Revolution regions and modern administrative regions usually take the definite article
as in l’Alsace, la Champagne etc.:
I like Alsace
= j’aime l’Alsace
Champagne is beautiful
= la Champagne est belle
For names which have a compound form, such as Midi-Pyrénées or Rhône-Alpes, it is safer to include
the words la région:
do you know Midi-Pyrénées?

= connaissez-vous la région Midi-Pyrénées?

There are certain general principles regarding names of French provinces and regions. However, usage
is sometimes uncertain; doubtful items should be checked in the dictionary.
For in and to, with feminine names and with masculine ones beginning with a vowel, use en without the
definite article:
to live in Burgundy
= vivre en Bourgogne
to go to Burgundy
= aller en Bourgogne
to live in Anjou
= vivre en Anjou
to go to Anjou
= aller en Anjou
For in and to with masculine names beginning with a consonant, use dans le:
to live in the Berry
= vivre dans le Berry
to go to the Berry
= aller dans le Berry
For from with feminine names and with masculine ones beginning with a vowel, use de without the
definite article:
to come from Burgundy

= venir de Bourgogne
to come from Anjou

= venir d’Anjou
For from with masculine names beginning with a consonant, use du:
to come from the Berry

= venir du Berry
Regional adjectives
Related adjectives and nouns exist for most of the names of provinces and regions. Here is a list of the
commonest:
Alsace alsacien(ne)
Anjou angevin(e)
Aquitaine aquitain(e)
Auvergne auvergnat(e)
Béarn béarnais(e)
Berry berrichon(ne)
Bourbonnais bourbonnais(e)
Bourgogne bourguignon(ne)
Bresse bressan(e)
Bretagne breton(ne)
Cévennes cévenol(e)
Champagne champenois(e)
Charente charentais(e)
Corse corse
Dauphiné dauphinois(e)
Flandre flamand(e)
Franche-Comté franc-comtois(e)
Jura jurassien(ne)
Languedoc languedocien(ne)
Limousin limousin(e)
Lorraine lorrain(e)
Normandie normand(e)
Périgord périgourdin(e)
Picardie picard(e)
Poitou poitevin(e)
Provence provençal(e)
Savoie savoyard(e)
Touraine tourangeau(-elle)
Vendée vendéen(ne)
Vosges vosgien(ne)
These adjectives mean of X, as in the following (where alsacien stands for any of them):
an Alsace accent
= un accent alsacien
Alsace costume
= le costume alsacien
the Alsace countryside

= les paysages alsaciens
Alsace traditions
= les traditions alsaciennes
Alsace villages
= les villages alsaciens
These words can also be used as nouns, meaning a person from X; in this case they are written with a
capital letter:
a person from Alsace

= un Alsacien
an Alsace woman
= une Alsacienne
the people of Alsace

= les Alsaciens mpl
Note 13
Games and sports
With or without the definite article?
French normally uses the definite article with names of games and sports:
football
= le football
bridge
= le bridge
chess
= les échecs mpl
marbles
= les billes fpl
cops and robbers

= les gendarmes et les voleurs
to play football
= jouer au football
to play bridge
= jouer au bridge
to play chess
= jouer aux échecs
to play marbles or at marbles

= jouer aux billes
to play cops and robbers or at cops and robbers

= jouer aux gendarmes et aux voleurs
to like football
= aimer le football
to like chess
= aimer les échecs
But most compound nouns (e.g. saute-mouton, colin-maillard, pigeon vole) work like this:
hide-and-seek
= cache-cache m
to play at hide-and-seek
= jouer à cache-cache
to like hide-and-seek
= aimer jouer à cache-cache
Names of other ‘official’ games and sports follow the same pattern as bridge in the following phrases:
to play bridge with X against Y

= jouer au bridge avec X contre Y
to beat sb at bridge
= battre qn au bridge
to win at bridge
= gagner au bridge
to lose at bridge
= perdre au bridge
she’s good at bridge

= elle joue bien au bridge
a bridge club
= un club de bridge
Players and events

a bridge player
= un joueur de bridge
but
I’m not a bridge player
= je ne joue pas au bridge
he’s a good bridge player

= il joue bien au bridge
a game of bridge
= une partie de bridge
a bridge champion
= un champion de bridge
the French bridge champion

= le champion de France de bridge
a bridge championship
= un championnat de bridge
to win the French championship

= gagner le championnat de France
the rules of bridge

= les règles du bridge
Playing cards
The names of the four suits work like club here:
clubs
= les trèfles mpl
to play a club
= jouer un trèfle
a high/low club
= un gros/petit trèfle
the eight of clubs

= le huit de trèfle
the ace of clubs

= l’as de trèfle
I’ve no clubs left

= je n’ai plus de trèfle
have you any clubs?

= as-tu du trèfle?
clubs are trumps

= l’atout est trèfle
to call two clubs

= demander deux trèfles
Other games’ vocabulary can be found in the dictionary at match, game, set, trick etc.
Note 14
The human body
When it is clear who owns the part of the body mentioned, French tends to use the definite article where
English uses a possessive adjective:
he raised his hand

= il a levé la main
she closed her eyes

= elle a fermé les yeux
Note, for instance, the use of la and mon here:
she ran her hand over my forehead

= elle a passé la main sur mon front
For expressions such as he hurt his foot or she hit her head on the beam, where the owner of the body
part is the subject of the verb, i.e. the person doing the action, use a reflexive verb in French:
she has broken her leg

= elle s’est cassé la jambe
(literally she has broken to herself the leg - there is no past participle agreement because the preceding
reflexive pronoun se is the indirect object).
he was rubbing his hands

= il se frottait les mains
she was holding her head

= elle se tenait la tête
Note also the following:
she broke his leg

= elle lui a cassé la jambe
(literally she broke to him the leg)
the stone split his lip

= le caillou lui a fendu la lèvre
(literally the stone split to him the lip)
Describing people
For ways of saying how tall someone is  Length measurement; of stating someone’s weight 
Weight measurement; and of talking about the colour of hair and eyes  Colours.
Here are some ways of describing people in French:

his hair is long
= il a les cheveux longs
he has long hair

= il a les cheveux longs
a boy with long hair

= un garçon aux cheveux longs
a long-haired boy
= un garçon aux cheveux longs
the boy with long hair

= le garçon aux cheveux longs
her eyes are blue

= elle a les yeux bleus
she has blue eyes

she is blue-eyed
the girl with blue eyes

= la fille aux yeux bleus
a blue-eyed girl
= une fille aux yeux bleus
his nose is red

= il a le nez rouge
he has a red nose

= il a le nez rouge
a man with a red nose

= un homme au nez rouge
a red-nosed man
= un homme au nez rouge
When referring to a temporary state, the following phrases are useful:
his leg is broken

= il a la jambe cassée
the man with the broken leg

= l’homme à la jambe cassée
but note
a man with a broken leg

= un homme avec une jambe cassée
Note 15
The human voice
Voices and singers
voice singer
soprano = soprano m soprano m or f (depending on whether a boy soprano or

a woman)
mezzo-soprano = mezzo-soprano m mezzo-soprano f
contralto = contralto m contralto f
alto = alto m alto m
counter-tenor = haute-contre f haute-contre m
tenor = ténor m ténor m
baritone = baryton m baryton m
bass-baritone = baryton-basse m baryton-basse m
bass = basse f basse f
In the following examples tenor and ténor stand for any of the above voices:
he’s a tenor
= il est ténor or c’est un ténor
he sings tenor
= il chante ténor
a tenor voice
= une voix de ténor
the tenor part

= la partie ténor
a tenor solo
= un solo de ténor
Note 16
Illnesses, aches and pains
Where does it hurt?
where does it hurt?
= où est-ce que ça vous fait mal? or (more formally) où avez-vous mal?
his leg hurts

= sa jambe lui fait mal
(Do not confuse faire mal à qn with the phrase faire du mal à qn, which means to harm sb.)
he has a pain in his leg

= il a mal à la jambe
Note that with avoir mal à French uses the definite article (la) with the part of the body, where English has
a possessive (his), hence:
his head was aching
= il avait mal à la tête
English has other ways of expressing this idea, but avoir mal à fits them too:
he had toothache
= il avait mal aux dents
his ears hurt

= il avait mal aux oreilles
Accidents
she broke her leg
= elle s’est cassé la jambe
Elle s’est cassé la jambe means literally she broke to herself the leg; because the se is an indirect object,
the past participle cassé does not agree. This is true of all such constructions:
she sprained her ankle

= elle s’est foulé la cheville
they burned their hands

= ils se sont brûlé les mains
Chronic conditions
Note that the French often use fragile (weak) to express a chronic condition:
he has a weak heart

= il a le cœur fragile
he has kidney trouble

= il a les reins fragiles
he has a bad back

= il a le dos fragile
Being ill
Mostly French uses the definite article with the name of an illness:
to have flu
= avoir la grippe
to have measles
= avoir la rougeole
to have malaria
= avoir la malaria
This applies to most infectious diseases, including childhood illnesses. However, note the exceptions
ending in -ite (e.g. une hépatite, une méningite) below.
When the illness affects a specific part of the body, French uses the indefinite article:
to have cancer
= avoir un cancer
to have cancer of the liver

= avoir un cancer du foie
to have pneumonia
= avoir une pneumonie
to have cirrhosis
= avoir une cirrhose
to have a stomach ulcer

= avoir un ulcère à l’estomac
Most words in -ite (English -itis) work like this:
to have bronchitis
= avoir une bronchite
to have hepatitis
= avoir une hépatite
When the illness is a generalized condition, French tends to use du, de l’, de la or des:
to have rheumatism
= avoir des rhumatismes
to have emphysema
= avoir de l’emphysème
to have asthma
= avoir de l’asthme
to have arthritis
= avoir de l’arthrite
One exception here is:
to have hay fever

= avoir le rhume des foins
When there is an adjective for such conditions, this is often preferred in French:
to have asthma
= être asthmatique
to have epilepsy
= être épileptique
Such adjectives can be used as nouns to denote the person with the illness, e.g. un/une asthmatique and
un/une épileptique etc.
French has other specific words for people with certain illnesses:
someone with cancer
= un cancéreux/une cancéreuse
If in doubt check in the dictionary.
English with is translated by qui a or qui ont, and this is always safe:
someone with malaria

= quelqu’un qui a la malaria
people with Aids

= les gens qui ont le Sida
Falling ill
The above guidelines about the use of the definite and indefinite articles in French hold good for talking
about the onset of illnesses.
French has no general equivalent of to get. However, where English can use catch, French can use
attraper:
to catch mumps
= attraper les oreillons
to catch malaria
= attraper la malaria
to catch bronchitis
= attraper une bronchite
to catch a cold
= attraper un rhume
Similarly where English uses contract, French uses contracter:
to contract Aids
= contracter le Sida
to contract pneumonia
= contracter une pneumonie
to contract hepatitis
= contracter une hépatite
For attacks of chronic illnesses, French uses faire une crise de:
to have a bout of malaria

= faire une crise de malaria
to have an asthma attack

= faire une crise d’asthme
to have an epileptic fit

= faire une crise d’épilepsie
Treatment
to be treated for polio
= se faire soigner contre la polio
to take something for hay fever

= prendre quelque chose contre le rhume des foins
he’s taking something for his cough

= il prend quelque chose contre la toux
to prescribe something for a cough

= prescrire un médicament contre la toux
malaria tablets
= des cachets contre la malaria
to have a cholera vaccination

= se faire vacciner contre le choléra
to be vaccinated against smallpox

= se faire vacciner contre la variole
to be immunized against smallpox

= se faire immuniser contre la variole
to have a tetanus injection

= se faire vacciner contre le tétanos
to give sb a tetanus injection

= vacciner qn contre le tétanos
to be operated on for cancer

= être opéré d’un cancer
to operate on sb for appendicitis

= opérer qn de l’appendicite
Note 17
Islands
In French, some names of islands always have the definite article and some never do.
Island names with definite article

These behave like the names of countries  Countries and continents, with different constructions
depending on gender and number:
Corsica
= la Corse
in Corsica
= en Corse
to Corsica
= en Corse
from Corsica
= de Corse
Note that where the English has the definite article, French normally has as well:
the Balearics
= les Baléares fpl
in the Balearics
= aux Baléares
to the Balearics
= aux Baléares
from the Balearics

= des Baléares
Islands without definite article

As in English, most island names have no definite article; these work like names of towns  Towns and
cities:
Cyprus
= Chypre
in Cyprus
= à Chypre
to Cyprus
= à Chypre
from Cyprus
= de Chypre
Cyprus sherry
= le sherry de Chypre
English uses on with the names of small islands; there is no such distinction in French:
on St. Helena
= à Sainte-Hélène
on Naxos
= à Naxos
As with names of cities and towns, it is safest to avoid explicit genders; use l’île d… instead:
Cuba is beautiful
= l’île de Cuba est belle
Names with or without île in them

English and French tend to work the same way in this respect:
Guernsey
= Guernesey
the island of Guernsey

= l’île de Guernesey
the Balearics
= les Baléares
the Balearic Islands

= les îles Baléares
the Orkney Isles

= les îles Orcades
Exceptions
There are some exceptions to these rules, e.g. Fiji, Samoa, Jamaica. If in doubt, look up island name in
the dictionary.
Note 18
Lakes
Normally, English Lake X becomes le lac X in French (note the small l at lac):
Lake Michigan
= le lac Michigan
Lake Victoria
= le lac Victoria
But when a lake shares its name with a town, English Lake X becomes le lac de X in French:
Lake Annecy
= le lac d’Annecy
Lake Constance
= le lac de Constance
Lake Como
= le lac de Côme
Sometimes English can drop the word Lake but it is always safe to keep the word lac in French:
Trasimeno
= le lac Trasimène
Balaton
= le lac Balaton
Loch and Lough in names are normally not translated (note the use of the definite article and the small l
in French):
Loch Ness
= le loch Ness
Lough Erne
= le lough Erne
Note 19
Languages
Note that names of languages in French are always written with a small letter, not a capital as in English;
also, French almost always uses the definite article with languages, while English does not. In the
examples below the name of any language may be substituted for French and français:
French is easy
= le français est facile
I like French
= j’aime le français
to learn French
= apprendre le français
However, the article is never used after en:
say it in French
= dis-le en français
a book in French
= un livre en français
to translate sth into French

= traduire qch en français
and it may be omitted with parler:
to speak French
= parler français or parler le français
When French means in French or of the French, it is translated by français:
a French expression
= une expression française
the French language

= la langue française
a French proverb
= un proverbe français
a French word
= un mot français
and when you want to make it clear you mean in French and not from France, use en français:
a French book
= un livre en français
a French broadcast
= une émission en français
When French means relating to French or about French, it is translated by de français:
a French class
= une classe de français
a French course
= un cours de français
a French dictionary
= un dictionnaire de français
a French teacher
= un professeur de français
but
a French-English dictionary
= un dictionnaire français-anglais
See the dictionary entry for -speaking and speaker for expressions like Japanese-speaking or German
speaker. French has special words for some of these expressions:
English-speaking
= anglophone
a French speaker
= un/une francophone
Note also that language adjectives like French can also refer to nationality e.g. a French tourist 
Nationalities, or to the country e.g. a French town  Countries and continents.
Note 20
Length measurement
Note that French has a comma where English has a decimal point.
1 in
= 2,54 cm* (centimètres)
1 ft
= 30,48 cm
1 yd
= 91,44 cm
1 furlong
= 201,17 m (mètres)
1 ml
= 1,61 km (kilomètres)
* There are three ways of saying 2,54 cm, and other measurements like it: deux virgule cinquante-quatre
centimètres, or (less formally) deux centimètres virgule cinquante-quatre, or deux centimètres cinquante-
quatre. For more details on how to say numbers  Numbers.
Length
how long is the rope?
= de quelle longueur est la corde?
it’s ten metres long

= elle fait dix mètres
a rope about six metres long

= une corde d’environ six mètres de* long
A is longer than B
= A est plus long que B
B is shorter than A
= B est plus court que A
A is as long as B
= A est aussi long que B
A is the same length as B

= A a la même longueur que B
A and B are the same length

= A et B ont la même longueur or A et B sont de* la même longueur
it’s three metres too short

= il est trop court de trois mètres
it’s three metres too long

= il est trop long de trois mètres
ten metres of rope

= dix mètres de corde
sold by the metre

= vendu au mètre
a six-foot-long python
= un python de six pieds de* long
an avenue four kilometres long

= une avenue de quatre kilomètres de* long
* The de is obligatory in these constructions.

Height
People
how tall is he?

= quelle est sa taille? or combien est-ce qu’il mesure?
he’s six feet tall

= il fait un mètre quatre-vingts or il mesure un mètre quatre-vingts
he’s 1m 50
= il fait 1,50 m (say un mètre cinquante)
he’s about five feet

= il fait à peu près un mètre cinquante
A is taller than B
= A est plus grand que B
B is smaller than A
= B est plus petit que A
A is as tall as B
= A est aussi grand que B
A is the same height as B

= A a la même taille que B
A and B are the same height

= A et B ont la même taille or A et B sont de* la même taille
a six-foot-tall athlete
= un athlète d’un mètre quatre-vingts
a footballer over six feet in height

= un footballeur de plus d’un mètre quatre-vingts
Things
how high is the tower?

= quelle est la hauteur de la tour?
it’s 50 metres
= elle fait 50 mètres or elle mesure 50 mètres
about 25 metres high

= environ 25 mètres de* haut
it’s 100 metres high

= elle fait cent mètres de* haut or elle fait cent mètres de hauteur
at a height of two metres

= à une hauteur de deux mètres or à deux mètres de hauteur
A is higher than B
= A est plus haut que B
B is lower than A
= B est moins haut que A
A is as high as B
= A est aussi haut que B
A is the same height as B

= A a la même hauteur que B
A and B are the same height

= A et B ont la même hauteur or A et B sont de* la même hauteur
a 100-metre-high tower
= une tour de 100 mètres de* haut
a mountain over 4,000 metres in height

= une montagne de plus de quatre mille mètres
how high is the plane

= à quelle hauteur or à quelle altitude est l’avion?
what height is the plane flying at?

= à quelle altitude l’avion vole-t-il?
the plane is flying at 5,000 metres

= l’avion vole à une altitude de cinq mille mètres or à cinq mille mètres d’altitude*
Distance
what’s the distance from A to B?
= quelle distance y a-t-il entre A et B?
how far is it from Paris to Nice?

= combien y a-t-il de kilomètres de Paris à Nice?
how far away is the school from the church?

= à quelle distance l’école est-elle de l’église?
it’s two kilometres

= il y a deux kilomètres
at a distance of five kilometres

= à une distance de 5 kilomètres or à cinq kilomètres de distance
C is nearer B than A is
= C est plus près de B que A
A is nearer to B than to C
= A est plus près de B que de C
A is as far away as B
= A est aussi loin que B
A and B are the same distance away

= A et B sont à la même distance
a ten-kilometre walk
= une promenade de dix kilomètres
Width/breadth
In the following examples, broad may replace wide and breadth may replace width, but the French
remains large and largeur.
what width is the river?

= de* quelle largeur est la rivière?
how wide is it?

= combien fait-elle de* large?
about seven metres wide

= environ sept mètres de* large
it’s seven metres wide

= elle fait sept mètres de* large or de* largeur
A is wider than B
= A est plus large que B
B is narrower than A
= B est plus étroit que A
A is as wide as B
= A est aussi large que B
A is the same width as B

= A a la même largeur que B
a ditch two metres wide

= un fossé de deux mètres de* large
a piece of cloth two metres in width

= une pièce de tissu de deux mètres de* largeur
a river 50 metres wide

= une rivière de 50 mètres de* largeur
Depth
what depth is the river?
= de* quelle profondeur est la rivière?
how deep is it?

= combien fait-elle de* profondeur?
it’s four metres deep

= elle fait quatre mètres de* profondeur
at a depth of ten metres

= à dix mètres de* profondeur or à une profondeur de* dix mètres
A is deeper than B
= A est plus profond que B
B is shallower than A
= B est moins profond que A
Note that French has no word for shallow:
A is as deep as B
= A est aussi profond que B
A is the same depth as B

= A a la même profondeur que B
a well 20 metres deep

= un puits de vingt mètres de* profondeur
Note 21
Military ranks and titles
The following list gives the principal ranks in the French services. For translations, see the individual
dictionary entries.
The Navy = La marine nationale

amiral
vice-amiral d’escadre
vice-amiral
contre-amiral
capitaine de vaisseau
capitaine de frégate
capitaine de corvette
lieutenant de vaisseau
enseigne de vaisseau (1re et 2e classe)
aspirant
major
maître principal
premier maître
maître
second maître
quartier-maître (1re et 2e classe)
matelot
The Army = L’armée de terre

général d’armée
général de corps d’armée
général de division
général de brigade
colonel
lieutenant-colonel
commandant
capitaine
lieutenant
sous-lieutenant
aspirant
major
adjudant-chef
adjudant
sergent-chef or maréchal des logis-chef (cavalry)
sergent or maréchal des logis (cavalry)
caporal-chef or brigadier-chef (cavalry)
caporal or brigadier (cavalry)
soldat or cavalier (cavalry)
The Air Force = L’armée de l’air

général d’armée aérienne
général de corps aérien
général de division aérienne
général de brigade aérienne
colonel
lieutenant-colonel
commandant
capitaine
lieutenant
sous-lieutenant
aspirant
major
adjudant-chef
adjudant
sergent-chef
sergent
caporal-chef
caporal
aviateur
Speaking about someone

he’s a colonel
= il est colonel
to be promoted to colonel
= être promu colonel
he has the rank of colonel

= il a le rang de colonel
she’s a lieutenant in the Army

= elle est lieutenant dans l’armée de terre
he’s just a private

= il est simple soldat
Colonel Smith has arrived

= le colonel Smith est arrivé
Speaking to someone
In the armée de terre, the mon is used to superior officers from lieutenant upwards, except for major. Mon
is never prefixed to ranks in the marine nationale or the armée de l’air and never used to personnel of
inferior rank in any of the three services.
Service personnel to superior officers
yes, sir
= oui, mon colonel (or mon capitaine, mon lieutenant etc.)
yes, ma’am
= oui, colonel (or capitaine, lieutenant etc.)
Service personnel to someone of lower rank
yes, sergeant
= oui, sergent
Note 22
The months of the year
Don’t use capitals for the names of the months in French, and note that there are no common
abbreviations in French as there are in English (Jan, Feb and so on). The French only abbreviate in
printed calendars etc.
January = janvier
February = février
March = mars
April = avril
May = mai
June = juin
July = juillet
August = août
September = septembre
October = octobre
November = novembre
December = décembre
Which month?
(May in this note stands for any month; they all work the same way; for more information on dates in
French  Date.)
what month is it?

= quel mois sommes-nous? or (very informally) on est quel mois?
it was May
= nous étions en mai
what month was he born?

= de quel mois est-il?
When?
in May
= en mai or au mois de mai
they’re getting married this May

= ils se marient en mai
that May
= cette année-là en mai
next May
= en mai prochain
in May next year

= l’an prochain en mai
last May
= l’année dernière en mai
the May after next

= dans deux ans en mai
the May before last

= il y deux ans en mai
Which part of the month?
at the beginning of May

= au début de mai
in early May
= début mai
at the end of May

= à la fin de mai
in late May
= fin mai
in mid-May
= à la mi-mai
for the whole of May

= pendant tout le mois de mai
throughout May
= tout au long du mois de mai
Regular events
every May
= tous les ans en mai
every other May

= tous les deux ans en mai
most Mays
= presque tous les ans en mai
Uses with other nouns

one May morning
= par un matin de mai
one May night

= par une nuit de mai or (if evening) par un soir de mai
For other uses, it is always safe to use du mois de:
May classes
= les cours du mois de mai
May flights
= les vols du mois de mai
the May sales

= les soldes du mois de mai
Uses with adjectives

the warmest May
= le mois de mai le plus chaud
a rainy May
= un mois de mai pluvieux
a lovely May
= un beau mois de mai
Note 23
Musical instruments
Playing an instrument
Note the use of de with jouer:
to play the piano

= jouer du piano
to play the clarinet

= jouer de la clarinette
but
to learn the piano

= apprendre le piano
Players
English -ist is often French -iste; the gender reflects the sex of the player.
a violinist
= un or une violoniste
a pianist
= un or une pianiste
A phrase with joueur/joueuse de X is usually safe.
a piccolo player
= un joueur or une joueuse de piccolo
a horn player
= un joueur or une joueuse de cor
But note the French when these words are used with good and bad like this:
he’s a good pianist

= il joue bien du piano
he’s not a good pianist

= il ne joue pas bien du piano
he’s a bad pianist

= il joue mal du piano
As in English, the name of the instrument is often used to refer to its player:
she’s a first violin

= elle est premier violon
Music
a piano piece
= un morceau pour piano
a piano arrangement
= un arrangement pour piano
a piano sonata
= une sonate pour piano
a concerto for piano and orchestra

= un concerto pour piano et orchestre
the piano part

= la partie pour piano
Use with another noun

De is usually correct:
to take piano lessons

= prendre des leçons de piano
a violin maker
= un fabricant de violons
a violin solo
= un solo de violon
a piano teacher
= un professeur de piano
but note the à here:
a violin case
= un étui à violon
Note 24
Nationalities
Words like French can also refer to the language (e.g. a French textbook  Languages) and to the
country (e.g. French history  Countries and continents).
Note the different use of capital letters in English and French; adjectives never have capitals in French:
a French student
= un étudiant français/une étudiante française
a French nurse
= une infirmière française/un infirmier français
a French tourist
= un touriste français/une touriste française
Nouns have capitals in French when they mean a person of a specific nationality:
a Frenchman
= un Français
a Frenchwoman
= une Française
French people or the French
= les Français mpl
a Chinese man
= un Chinois
a Chinese woman
= une Chinoise
Chinese people or the Chinese

= les Chinois mpl
English sometimes has a special word for a person of a specific nationality; in French, the same word can
almost always be either an adjective (no capitals) or a noun (with capitals):
Danish
= danois
a Dane
= un Danois, une Danoise
the Danes
= les Danois mpl
Note the alternatives using either adjective (il/elle est…etc.) or noun (c’est…) in French:
he is French
= il est français or c’est un Français
she is French
= elle est française or c’est une Française
they are French

= (men or mixed) ils sont français or ce sont des Français (women) elles sont françaises or ce sont des
Françaises
When the subject is a noun, like the teacher or Paul below, the adjective construction is normally used in
French:
the teacher is French

= le professeur est français
Paul is French
= Paul est français
Anne is French
= Anne est française
Paul and Anne are French

= Paul et Anne sont français
Other ways of expressing someone’s nationality or origins are:
he’s of French extraction

= il est d’origine française
she was born in Germany
= elle est née en Allemagne
he is a Spanish citizen
= il est espagnol
a Belgian national
= un ressortissant belge
she comes from Nepal

= elle vient du Népal
Note 25
Numbers
Cardinal numbers in French
0 zéro*
1 un†
2 deux
3 trois
4 quatre
5 cinq
6 six
7 sept
8 huit
9 neuf
10 dix
11 onze
12 douze
13 treize
14 quatorze
15 quinze
16 seize
17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit
19 dix-neuf
20 vingt
21 vingt et un
22 vingt-deux
30 trente
31 trente et un
32 trente-deux
40 quarante
50 cinquante
60 soixante
70 soixante-dix
septante (in Belgium, Canada, Switzerland etc.)
71 soixante et onze
septante et un (etc)
72 soixante-douze
73 soixante-treize
74 soixante-quatorze
75 soixante-quinze
76 soixante-seize
77 soixante-dix-sept
78 soixante-dix-nuit
79 soixante-dix-neuf
80 quatre-vingts‡
81 quatre-vingt-un§
82 quatre-vingt-deux
90 quatre-vingt-dix
nonante (in Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, etc)
91 quatre-vingt-onze
nonante et un
92 quatre-vingt-douze
nonante-deux (etc.)
99 quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
100 cent
101 cent un†
102 cent deux
110 cent dix
111 cent onze
112 cent douze
187 cent quatre-vingt-sept
200 deux cents
250 deux cent|| cinquante
300 trois cents
1000|| mille
1001 mille un†
1002 mille deux
1020 mille vingt
1200 mille** deux cents
2000 deux mille††
10000 dix mille
10200 dix mille deux cents
100000 cent mille
102000 cent deux mille
1000000 un million‡‡
1264932 un million deux cent soixante-quatre mille neuf cent trente-deux
1000000000 un milliard‡‡
1000000000000 un billion‡‡
* In English 0 may be called nought, zero or even nothing; French is always zéro; a nought = un zéro.
† Note that one is une in French when it agrees with a feminine noun, so un crayon but une table, une
des tables, vingt et une tables, combien de tables? - il y en a une seule etc.
‡ Also huitante in Switzerland. Note that when 80 is used as a page number it has no s, e.g. page eighty
= page quatre-vingt.
§ Note that vingt has no s when it is in the middle of a number. The only exception to this rule is when
quatre-vingts is followed by millions, milliards or billions, e.g. quatre-vingts millions, quatre-vingts billions
etc.
Note that cent does not take an s when it is in the middle of a number. The only exception to this rule is
when it is followed by millions, milliards or billions, e.g. trois cents millions, six cents billions etc. It has a
normal plural when it modifies other nouns, e.g. 200 inhabitants = deux cents habitants.
|| Note that figures in French are set out differently; where English would have a comma, French has
simply a space. It is also possible in French to use a full stop (period) here, e.g. 1.000. French, like
English, writes dates without any separation between thousands and hundreds, e.g. in 1995 = en 1995.
** When such a figure refers to a date, the spelling mil is preferred to mille, i.e. en 1200 = en mil deux
cents. Note however the exceptions: when the year is a round number of thousands, the spelling is
always mille, so en l’an mille, en l’an deux mille etc.
†† Mille is invariable; it never takes an s.
‡‡ Note that the French words million, milliard and billion are nouns, and when written out in full they take
de before another noun, e.g. a million inhabitants is un million d’habitants, a billion francs is un billion de
francs. However, when written in figures, 1,000,000 inhabitants is 1000000 habitants, but is still spoken
as un million d’habitants. When million etc. is part of a complex number, de is not used before the nouns,
e.g. 6,000,210 people = six millions deux cent dix personnes.
Use of en
Note the use of en in the following examples:
there are six

= il y en a six
I’ve got a hundred

= j’en ai cent
En must be used when the thing you are talking about is not expressed (the French says literally there of
them are six, I of them have a hundred etc.). However, en is not needed when the object is specified:
there are six apples

= il y a six pommes
Approximate numbers
When you want to say about…, remember the French ending -aine:
about ten
= une dizaine
about ten books

= une dizaine de livres
about fifteen
= une quinzaine
about fifteen people

= une quinzaine de personnes
about twenty
= une vingtaine
about twenty hours

= une vingtaine d’heures
Similarly une trentaine, une quarantaine, une cinquantaine, une soixantaine and une centaine (and une
douzaine means a dozen). For other numbers, use environ (about):
about thirty-five
= environ trente-cinq
about thirty-five francs

= environ trente-cinq francs
about four thousand

= environ quatre mille
about four thousand pages

= environ quatre mille pages
Environ can be used with any number: environ dix, environ quinze etc. are as good as une dizaine, une
quinzaine etc.
Note the use of centaines and milliers to express approximate quantities:
hundreds of books
= des centaines de livres
I’ve got hundreds

= j’en ai des centaines
hundreds and hundreds of fish

= des centaines et des centaines de poissons
I’ve got thousands

= j’en ai des milliers
thousands of books
= des milliers de livres
thousands and thousands

= des milliers et des milliers
millions and millions

= des millions et des millions
Phrases
numbers up to ten
= les nombres jusqu’à dix
to count up to ten
= compter jusqu’à dix
almost ten
= presque dix
less than ten

= moins de dix
more than ten

= plus de dix
all ten of them
= tous les dix
all ten boys

= les dix garçons
Note the French word order:
my last ten pounds

= mes dix dernières livres
the next twelve weeks

= les douze prochaines semaines
the other two

= les deux autres
the last four

= les quatre derniers
Calculations in French
say
10 + 3= 13 dix et trois font or égalent treize

10 - 3= 7 trois ôté de dix il reste sept or dix moins trois égale sept
10 × 3= 30 dix fois trois égale trente
30 : 3= 10 (30 ÷ 3 = 10) trente divisé par trois égale dix
Note how the French division sign differs from the English.
52 cinq au carré
53 cinq puissance trois
54 cinq puissance quatre
5100 cinq puissance cent
5n cinq puissance n
12 racine carrée de douze
25 = 5 racine carrée de vingt-cinq égale cinq
B>A B est plus grand que A
A<B A est plus petit que B
Decimals in French
Note that French uses a comma where English has a decimal point.
say
0,25 zéro virgule vingt-cinq
0,05 zéro virgule zéro cinq
0,75 zéro virgule soixante-quinze
3,45 trois virgule quarante-cinq
8,195 huit virgule cent quatre-vingt-quinze
9,1567 neuf virgule quinze cent soixante-sept
or neuf virgule mille cinq cent soixante-sept
9,3456 neuf virgule trois mille quatre cent cinquante-six
Percentages in French
say
25% vingt-cinq pour cent
50% cinquante pour cent
100% cent pour cent
200% deux cents pour cent
365% troix cent soixante-cinq pour cent
4,25% quatre virgule vingt-cinq pour cent
Fractions in French
say
1
/2 un demi*
1
/3 un tiers
1
/4 un quart
1
/5 un cinquième
1
/6 un sixième
1
/7 un septième
1
/8 un huitième
1
/9 un neuvième
1
/10 un dixième
1
/11 un onzième
1
/12 un douzième (etc.)
2
/3 deux tiers†
2
/5 deux cinquièmes
2
/10 deux dixièmes (etc.)
3
/4 trois quarts
3
/5 trois cinquièmes
3
/10 trois dixièmes (etc.)
11/2 un et demi
11/3 un (et) un tiers
11/4 un et quart
11/5 un (et) un cinquième
11/6 un (et) un sixième
11/7 un (et) un septième (etc.)
52/3 cinq (et) deux tiers
53/4 cinq (et) trois quarts
54/5 cinq (et) quatre cinquièmes
45/100ths of a second = quarante-cinq centièmes de seconde
Ordinal numbers in French§

1st 1er‡ premier (feminine première)
2nd 2e second or deuxième
3rd 3e troisième
4th 4e quatrième
5th 5e cinquième
6th 6e sixième
7th 7e septième
8th 8e huitième
9th 9e neuvième
10th 10e dixième
11th 11e onzième
12th 12e douzième
13th 13e treizième
14th 14e quatorzième
15th 15e quinzième
16th 16e seizième
17th 17e dix-septième
18th 18e dix-huitième
19th 19e dix-neuvième
20th 20e vingtième
21st 21e vingt et unième
22nd 22e vingt-deuxième
23rd 23e vingt-troisième
24th 24e vingt-quatrième
25th 25e vingt-cinquième
30th 30e trentième
31st 31e trente et unième
40th 40e quarantième
50th 50e cinquantième
60th 60e soixantième
70th 70e soixante-dixième
or septantième (in Belgium, Canada, Switzerland etc.)
71st 71e soixante et onzième or septante et unième (etc.)
72nd 72e soixante-douzième
73rd 73e soixante-treizième
74th 74e soixante-quatorzième
75th 75e soixante-quinzième
76th 76e soixante-seizième
77th 77e soixante-dix-septième
78th 78e soixante-dix-huitième
79th 79e soixante-dix-neuvième
80th 80e quatre-vingtième¶
81st 81e quatre-vingt-unième
90th 90e quatre-vingt-dixième
or nonantième (in Belgium, Canada, Switzerland etc.)
91st 91e quatre-vingt-onzième, or nonante et unième (etc.)
99th 99e quatre-vingt-dix-neuvième
100th 100e centième
101st 101e cent et unième
102nd 102e cent-deuxième
196th 196e cent quatre-vingt-seizième
200th 200e deux centième
300th 300e trois centième
400th 400e quatre centième
1,000th 1000e millième
2,000th 2000e deux millième
1,000,000th 1000000e millionième
Like English, French makes nouns by adding the definite article:
the first
= le premier (or la première, or les premiers mpl or les premières fpl)
the second
= le second (or la seconde etc.)
the first three
= les trois premiers or les trois premières
Note the French word order in:
the third richest country in the world

= le troisième pays le plus riche du monde
* Note that half, when not a fraction, is translated by the noun moitié or the adjective demi; see the
dictionary entry.
† Note the use of les and d’entre when these fractions are used about a group of people or things: two-
thirds of them = les deux tiers d’entre eux.
‡ This is the masculine form; the feminine is 1re and the plural 1ers (m) or 1res (f).
§ All the ordinal numbers in French behave like ordinary adjectives and take normal plural endings where
appropriate.
¶ Also huitantième in Switzerland.
Note 26
Oceans and seas
Note that the words océan and mer do not have capitals in French.
the Atlantic Ocean

= l’océan Atlantique
the Pacific Ocean

= l’océan Pacifique
the Indian Ocean

= l’océan Indien
the Caspian Sea

= la mer Caspienne
the Baltic Sea

= la mer Baltique
As in English, French often drops the words océan or mer. When this happens, oceans have masculine
gender (from the masculine word océan) and seas have feminine gender (from the feminine mer):
the Pacific
= le Pacifique
the Baltic
= la Baltique
but
the Aegean
= la mer Égée
If in doubt, look up the name in the dictionary.
Use with other nouns

Here are some useful patterns, using Pacifique as a typical name:
the Pacific coast

= la côte du Pacifique
a Pacific crossing
= une traversée du Pacifique
a Pacific cruise
= une croisière dans le Pacifique
Pacific currents
= les courants du Pacifique
Pacific fish
= les poissons du Pacifique
the Pacific islands

= les îles du Pacifique
Note 27
Points of the compass
abbreviated as
north = nord N
south = sud S
east = est E
west = ouest O
nord, sud, est, ouest is the normal order in French as well as English.
northeast = nord-est NE
northwest = nord-ouest NO
north-northeast = nord-nord-est NNE
east-northeast = est-nord-est ENE
Where?
Compass points in French are not normally written with a capital letter. However, when they refer to a
specific region in phrases such as I love the North or he lives in the North, and it is clear where this North
is, without any further specification such as of France or of Europe, then they are written with a capital
letter, as they often are in English, too. In the following examples, north and nord stand for any compass
point word.
I love the North

= j’aime le Nord
to live in the North

= vivre dans le Nord
Normally, however, these words do not take a capital letter:
in the north of Scotland

= dans le nord de l’Écosse
Take care to distinguish this from
to the north of Scotland (i.e. further north than Scotland)

= au nord de l’Écosse
in the south of Spain

= dans le sud de l’Espagne*
it is north of the hill

= c’est au nord de la colline
a few kilometres north

= à quelques kilomètres au nord
due north of here

= droit au nord
* Note that the south of France is more usually referred to as le Midi.
There is another set of words in French for north, south etc., some of which are more
common than others:
(north) septentrion (rarely used) septentrional(e)

(south) midi méridional(e)
(east) orient oriental(e)
(west) occident occidental(e)
Translating northern etc.

a northern town
= une ville du Nord
a northern accent
= un accent du Nord
the most northerly outpost

= l’avant-poste le plus au nord
Regions of countries and continents work like this:
northern Europe
= l’Europe du Nord
the northern parts of Japan

= le nord du Japon
eastern France
= l’est de la France
For names of countries and continents which include these compass point words, such as North America
or South Korea, see the dictionary entry.
Where to?
French has fewer ways of expressing this than English has; vers le is usually safe:
to go north
= aller vers le nord
to head towards the north

= se diriger vers le nord
to go northwards
to go in a northerly direction
a northbound ship
= un bateau qui se dirige vers le nord
With some verbs, such as to face, the French expression changes:
the windows face north

= les fenêtres donnent au nord
a north-facing slope
= une pente orientée au nord
If in doubt, check in the dictionary.
Where from?
The usual way of expressing from the is du:
it comes from the north

= cela vient du nord
from the north of Germany

= du nord de l’Allemagne
Note also these expressions relating to the direction of the wind:
the north wind

= le vent du nord
a northerly wind
= un vent du nord
prevailing north winds

= des vents dominants du nord
the wind is in the north

= le vent est au nord
the wind is coming from the north
= le vent vient du nord
Compass point words used as adjectives

The French words nord, sud, est and ouest are really nouns, so when they are used as adjectives they
are invariable.
the north coast

= la côte nord
the north door

= la porte nord
the north face (of a mountain)

= la face nord
the north side

= le côté nord
the north wall

= le mur nord
Nautical bearings
The preposition by is translated by quart in expressions like the following:
north by northwest
= nord quart nord-ouest
southeast by south
= sud-est quart sud
Note 28
Quantities
Note the use of en (of it or of them) in the following examples. This word must be included when the thing
you are talking about is not expressed (the French says literally there is of it a lot, there is of it two kilos, I
have of them a lot etc.). However, en is not needed when the commodity is specified e.g. there is a lot of
butter = il y a beaucoup de beurre.
how much is there?

= combien y en a-t-il?
there’s a lot
= il y en a beaucoup*
there’s not much

= il n’y en a pas beaucoup
there’s two kilos

= il y en a deux kilos
how much sugar have you got?
= combien de sucre as-tu?
I’ve got a lot

= j’en ai beaucoup
I’ve not got much

= je n’en ai pas beaucoup
I’ve got two kilos

= j’en ai deux kilos
how many are there?

= combien y en a-t-il?
there are a lot

= il y en a beaucoup
there aren’t many

= il n’y en a pas beaucoup
there are twenty

= il y en a vingt
how many apples have you?

= combien de pommes as-tu? or tu as combien de pommes?
I’ve got a lot

= j’en ai beaucoup
I haven’t many
= je n’en ai pas beaucoup
I’ve got twenty

= j’en ai vingt
A has got more than B

= A en a plus que B
A has got more money than B

= A a plus d’argent que B
much more than

= beaucoup plus que
a little more than

= un peu plus que
A has got more apples than B

= A a plus de pommes que B
many more apples than B

= beaucoup plus de pommes que B
a few more apples than B

= quelques pommes de plus que B
a few more people than yesterday
= quelques personnes de plus qu’hier
B has got less money than A

= B a moins d’argent que A
B has got less than A

= B en a moins que A
much less than

= beaucoup moins que
a little less than

= un peu moins que
B has got fewer than A

= B en a moins que A
B has got fewer apples than A

= B a moins de pommes que A
many fewer than

= beaucoup moins que
Relative quantities
how many are there to the kilo?
= combien y en a-t-il au kilo?
there are ten to the kilo

= il y en a dix au kilo
you can count six to the kilo

= il faut en compter six au kilo
how many do you get for ten francs?

= combien peut-on en avoir pour dix francs?
you get five for ten francs

= il y en a cinq pour dix francs
how much does it cost a litre?

= combien coûte le litre?
it costs £5 a litre
= ça coûte cinq livres le litre
how much do apples cost a kilo?

= combien coûte le kilo de pommes?
apples cost ten francs a kilo

= les pommes coûtent dix francs le kilo
how much does it cost a metre?

= combien coûte le mètre?
how much does your car do to the gallon?
= combien consomme votre voiture?
it does 28 miles to the gallon

= elle fait dix litres aux cent
(Note that the French calculate petrol consumption in litres per 100 km. To convert mpg to litres per 100
km and vice versa, simply divide 280 by the known figure.)
how many glasses do you get to the bottle?

= combien y a-t-il de verres par bouteille?
you get six glasses to the bottle

= il y a six verres par bouteille
* Never use très with beaucoup.
Note 29
Rivers
The English word river can be either fleuve or rivière in French. Major rivers, all of which flow into the sea,
are fleuves: the rest are rivières. Here are some examples of fleuves in France: la Garonne, la Loire, la
Seine, le Rhin, le Rhône and la Somme: other fleuves include: le Nil, le Danube, le Gange, le Tage,
l’Indus, l’Amazone, le Congo, le Mississippi, le Niger and le Saint-Laurent.
The following French rivers are rivières: la Marne, l’Oise, l’Allier, la Dordogne, la Saône.
As in English, French uses the definite article with names of rivers:
the Thames
= la Tamise
to go down the Rhine

= descendre le Rhin
to live near the Seine

= habiter près de la Seine
the course of the Danube

= le cours du Danube
In English you can say the X, the X river or the river X. In French it is always le X (or la X):
the river Thames

= la Tamise
the Potomac river

= le Potomac
When the name of the river is used as an adjective, French has de + definite article:
Seine barges
= les péniches de la Seine
a Rhine castle
= un château des bords du Rhin
the Rhine estuary

= l’estuaire du Rhin
Note 30
Seasons
French never uses capital letters for names of seasons as English sometimes does.
spring
= le printemps
summer
= l’été m
autumn or fall
= l’automne m
winter
= l’hiver m
in spring
= au printemps
in summer
= en été
in autumn or fall
= en automne
in winter
= en hiver
In the following examples, summer and été are used as models for all the season names. French
normally uses the definite article, whether or not English does.
I like summer or I like the summer

= j’aime l’été
during the summer

= pendant l’été or au cours de l’été
in early summer
= au début de l’été
in late summer
= à la fin de l’été
for the whole summer

= pendant tout l’été
throughout the summer
= tout au long de l’été
last summer
= l’été dernier
next summer
= l’été prochain
the summer before last

= il y a deux ans en été
the summer after next

= dans deux ans en été
However, words like chaque, ce etc. may replace the definite article:
every summer
= tous les ans en été
this summer
= cet été
There is never any article when en is used:
in summer
= en été
until summer
= jusqu’en été
Seasons used as adjectives with other nouns

De alone, without article, is the usual form, e.g.
summer clothes
= des vêtements d’été
the summer collection

= la collection d’été
the summer sales

= les soldes d’été
a summer day
= une journée d’été
a summer evening
= un soir d’été
a summer landscape
= un paysage d’été
summer weather
= un temps d’été
Note 31
Shops, trades and professions
Shops
In English you can say at the baker’s or at the baker’s shop; in French the construction with chez (at the
house or premises of…) is common but you can also use the name of the particular shop:
at the baker’s
= chez le boulanger or à la boulangerie
I’m going to the grocer’s

= je vais chez l’épicier or à l’épicerie
I bought it at the fishmonger’s

= je l’ai acheté chez le poissonnier or à la poissonnerie
go to the chemist’s
= va à la pharmacie or chez le pharmacien
at or to the hairdresser’s
= chez le coiffeur/la coiffeuse
to work in a butcher’s
= travailler dans une boucherie
Chez is also used with the names of professions:
at or to the doctor’s
= chez le médecin
at or to the lawyer’s
= chez le notaire
at or to the dentist’s
= chez le dentiste
Note that there are specific names for the place of work of some professions:
the lawyer’s office

= l’étude f du notaire
the doctor’s surgery (GB) or office (US)

= le cabinet du médecin
Cabinet is also used for architects and dentists. If in doubt, check in the dictionary.
People
Talking of someone’s profession, we could say he is a dentist. In French this would be either il est
dentiste or c’est un dentiste. Only when the sentence begins with c’est, can the indefinite article (un or
une) be used.
Paul is a dentist
= Paul est dentiste
she is a dentist
= elle est dentiste or c’est une dentiste
she’s a geography teacher

= elle est professeur de géographie or c’est un professeur de géographie
With adjectives, only the c’est construction is possible:
she is a good dentist

= c’est une bonne dentiste
In the plural, if the construction begins with ce sont then you need to use des (or de before an adjective):
they are mechanics

= ils sont mécaniciens or ce sont des mécaniciens
they are good mechanics

= ce sont de bons mécaniciens
Trades and professions

what does he do?
= qu’est-ce qu’il fait?
what’s your job?

= qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie?
I’m a teacher
= je suis professeur
to work as a dentist
= travailler comme dentiste
to work for an electrician

= travailler pour un électricien
to be paid as a mechanic
= être payé comme mécanicien
he wants to be a baker
= il veut devenir boulanger
Note 32
The signs of the Zodiac
Aries = le Bélier 21 mars-20 avril
Taurus = le Taureau 21 avril-20 mai
Gemini = les Gémeaux 21 mai-21 juin
Cancer = le Cancer 22 juin-22 juillet
Leo = le Lion 23 juillet-22 août
Virgo = la Vierge 23 août-22 septembre
Libra = la Balance 23 septembre-23 octobre
Scorpio = le Scorpion 24 octobre-21 novembre
Sagittarius = le Sagittaire 22 novembre-21 décembre
Capricorn = le Capricorne 22 décembre-19 janvier
Aquarius = le Verseau 20 janvier-18 février
Pisces = les Poissons 19 février-20 mars
I’m Leo
= je suis Lion
I’m Gemini
= je suis Gémeaux
born in Leo or under the sign of Leo

= né sous le signe du Lion
born in Gemini
= né sous le signe des Gémeaux
Leos/Ariens are very generous

= les Lions/les Béliers sont très généreux
what’s the horoscope for Leos?

= que dit l’horoscope pour les Lions?
the sun is in Leo

= le soleil est au Lion
All the signs work in the same way in French.
Note 33
Sizes
In the following tables of equivalent sizes, French sizes have been rounded up, where necessary. (It is
always better to have clothes a little too big than a little too tight.)
Men’s shoe sizes Women’s shoe sizes

in UK & US in France In UK in US in France
6 40 3 6 35
7 41 31/2 61/2 36
8 42 4 7 37
9 43 5 71/2 38
10 44 6 8 39
11 45 7 81/2 40
12 46 8 9 41
Men’s clothing sizes Women’s clothing sizes

in UK & US in France in UK in US in France
28 38 8 4 34
30 40 10 6 36
32 42 12 8 38-40
34 44 14 10 42
36 46 16 12 44-46
38 48 18 14 48
40 50 20 16 50
42 52
44 54
46 56
Men’s shirt collar sizes

in UK & US in France
14 36
141/2 37
15 38
151/2 39
16 40
161/2 41
17 42
171/2 43
18 44
Note that for shoe and sock sizes French uses pointure, so a size 37 is une pointure 37. For all other
types of garment (even stockings and tights) the word taille is used, so a size 16 shirt is une chemise
taille 40, etc.
what size are you?

= quelle taille faites-vous? or quelle pointure faites-vous?
I take size 40 (in clothes)

= je prends du 40 or je fais du 40
I take a size 7 (in shoes)

= je chausse du 40 or je fais du 40
my collar size is 15
= je porte un 38 or je porte du 38
I’m looking for collar size 16

= je cherche un 40
his shoe size is 39

= il chausse du 39
a pair of shoes size 39

= une paire de chaussures pointure 39
have you got the same thing in a 16?

= avez-vous ce modèle en 40?
have you got this in a smaller size?

= avez-vous ce modèle dans une plus petite taille (or pointure)? or avez-vous ce modèle en plus petit?
have you got this in a larger size?

= avez-vous ce modèle dans une plus grande taille (or pointure)? or avez-vous ce modèle en plus grand?
they haven’t got my size

= ils n’ont pas ma taille (or ma pointure)
Note 34
Speed
Speed of road, rail, air etc. travel
In French, speed is measured in kilometres per hour:
100 kph = approximately 63 mph

100 mph = approximately 160 kph
50 mph = approximately 80 kph
X miles per hour

= X miles à l’heure
X kilometres per hour

= X kilomètres à l’heure or X kilomètres-heure
100 kph
= 100 km/h
what speed was the car going at?

= à quelle vitesse la voiture roulait-elle?
it was going at 150 kph

= elle roulait à 150 km/h (cent cinquante kilomètres-heure)
it was going at fifty (mph)

= elle roulait à quatre-vingts à l’heure (i.e. at 80 kph)
the speed of the car was 200 kph

= la vitesse de la voiture était de 200 km/h
(the de must not be omitted here)
what was the car doing?

= la voiture faisait du combien?
it was doing ninety (mph)

= elle faisait du 150 (du cent cinquante: i.e. 150 kph)
it was going at more than 200 kph

= elle roulait à plus de 200 km/h
it was going at less than 40 kph

= elle roulait à moins de 40 km/h
A was going at the same speed as B

= A roulait à la même vitesse que B
A was going faster than B

= A roulait plus vite que B
B was going slower than A

= B roulait moins vite que A or B roulait plus lentement que A
Speed of light and sound
sound travels at 330 metres per second
= le son se déplace à 330 m/s (trois cent trente mètres-seconde or mètres à la seconde)
the speed of light is 186,300 miles per second

= la vitesse de la lumière est de 300 000 km/s (trois cent mille kilomètres-seconde or kilomètres à la
seconde) (note that the de must not be omitted here)
Note 35
Spelling and punctuation
The alphabet and accents
This table presents a useful way of clarifying difficulties when you are spelling names etc.
A comme Anatole means A for Anatole, and so on.
When spelling aloud…
A A comme Anatole
B B comme Berthe
C C comme Célestin
ç c cédille
D D comme Désiré
E E comme Eugène
é e accent aigu
è e accent grave
ê e accent circonflexe
ë e tréma
F F comme François
G G comme Gaston
H H comme Henri
I I comme Irma
J J comme Joseph
K K comme Kléber
L L comme Louis
M M comme Marcel
N N comme Nicolas
O O comme Oscar
P P comme Pierre
Q Q comme Quintal
R R comme Raoul
S S comme Suzanne
T T comme Thérèse
U U comme Ursule
V V comme Victor
W W comme William
X X comme Xavier
Y Y comme Yvonne
Z Z comme Zoé
Spelling
capital B
= B majuscule
small b
= b minuscule
it has got a capital B

= cela s’écrit avec un B majuscule
in small letters
= en minuscules
double t
= deux t
double n
= deux n
apostrophe
= apostrophe
d apostrophe
= d apostrophe
hyphen
= trait d’union
rase-mottes has got a hyphen

= rase-mottes s’écrit avec un trait d’union
Dictating punctuation
. point or un point (full stop)
, virgule (comma)
: deux points (colon)
; point-virgule (semicolon)
! point d’exclamation† (exclamation mark)
? point d’interrogation† (interrogation mark)
à la ligne (new paragraph)
( ouvrez la parenthèse (open brackets)
) fermez la parenthèse (close brackets)
() entre parenthèses (in brackets)
[] entre crochets (in square brackets)
- tiret (dash)
… points de suspension (three dots)
« ou “ ouvrez les guillemets (open inverted commas)
» ou ” fermez les guillemets (close inverted commas)
«» ou “” entre guillemets (in inverted commas)
The use of inverted commas in French

In novels and short stories, direct speech is punctuated differently from English:
The inverted commas lie on the line, e.g.

«Tiens, dit-elle, en ouvrant les rideaux, les voilà!» ‡
This example also shows that the inverted commas are not closed after each stretch of direct speech. In
modern texts they are often omitted altogether (though this is still sometimes frowned on):
Il l’interrogea:
- Vous êtes arrivé quand?
- Pourquoi cette question? Je n’ai rien fait de mal.
- C’est ce que nous allons voir.
Note the short dash in this case that introduces each new speaker. Even if inverted commas had been
used in the above dialogue, they would have been opened before vous and closed after voir, and not
used at other points.
English-style inverted commas are used in French to highlight words in a text:
Le ministre a voulu “tout savoir” sur la question.
† Note that, unlike English, French has a space before ! and ? and : and ;, e.g. Jamais !, Pourquoi ? etc.
This is not usual, however, in dictionaries, where it would take up too much room.
‡ Single inverted commas are not much used in French.
Note 36
Street directions
How do I get there?
En sortant de la gare, allez tout droit, traversez la place où attendent les taxis, puis le parking. Vous
déboucherez dans la Grand-Rue. Continuez dans la même direction sur plusieurs centaines de mètres.
Vous passerez trois feux rouges. Tournez à droite au troisième, et vous vous trouverez dans la rue
Maginot. Prenez la troisième rue à gauche (il y a une banque qui fait l’angle) et continuez jusqu’au bout
de cette rue. Vous verrez le théâtre en face de vous. Empruntez le passage à gauche du théâtre,
descendez les escaliers et vous vous retrouverez dans l’avenue des Marronniers. Prenez-la sur votre
gauche en marchant sur le trottoir de gauche. Vous verrez une boucherie chevaline sur la droite de la rue
juste avant le deuxième carrefour. Traversez le carrefour en diagonale. Vous apercevrez une sorte de
terrain vague sur votre droite après le carrefour. Le dernier magasin, juste avant le terrain vague, est celui
d’un tailleur, et il y a un café dans une cour derrière. Je vous y attendrai avec la valise et toutes les
instructions. Mais attention: pas un mot à qui que ce soit!
Note 37
Surface area measurements
1 sq in = 6,45 cm2 (centimètres carrés)*

1 sq ft = 929,03 cm2
1 sq yd = 0,84 m2 (mètres carrés)
1 acre = 40,47 ares = 0,4 ha (hectares)
1 sq ml = 2,59 km2 (kilomètres carrés)
* There are three ways of saying 6,45 cm2, and other measurements like it:
six virgule quarante-cinq centimètres carrés, or (less formally) six centimètres carrés virgule quarante-
cinq, or six centimètres carrés quarante-cinq.
For more details on how to say numbers  Numbers.
how big is your garden?

= quelle est la superficie de votre jardin?
what’s its area?

= il a quelle superficie?
it’s 200 square metres

= il mesure 200 mètres carrés
its surface area is 200 square metres

= il mesure 200 mètres carrés de superficie
it’s 20 metres by 10 metres

= il mesure 20 mètres sur 10 mètres or il fait 20 mètres sur 10 mètres
sold by the square metre

= vendu au mètre carré
there are 10,000 square centimetres in a square metre

= il y a 10000 centimètres carrés dans un mètre carré
10,000 square centimetres make one square metre

= 10000 centimètres carrés font un mètre carré
A is the same area as B

= A a la même superficie que B
A and B are the same area

= A et B ont la même superficie
a 200-square-metre plot
= un terrain de 200 mètres carrés
Note 38
Swiss cantons
All names of cantons are masculine, and the definite article is normally used:
Ticino
= le Tessin
Valais
= le Valais
Graubünden
= les Grisons
So:
I like Ticino
= j’aime le Tessin
the Valais is beautiful

= le Valais est beau
do you know Graubünden?

= connaissez-vous les Grisons?
Many cantons have names which are also names of towns. If you are not sure of the name in French, le
canton de X is usually safe, and in some cases this is the only form available, as, for instance, le canton
de Vaud (because le Vaud sounds like le veau = the calf). Similarly it is usual to say le canton de
Lucerne, le canton de Berne, le canton de Fribourg to distinguish them from the towns bearing those
names).

For in and to, use dans le or dans les, and for from use du or des:
to live in the Valais

= vivre dans le Valais
to go to the Valais
= aller dans le Valais
to come from the Valais

= venir du Valais
to live in Graubünden
= vivre dans les Grisons
to go to Graubünden
= aller dans les Grisons
to come from Graubünden

= venir des Grisons
to live in the Vaud

= vivre dans le canton de Vaud
to go to the Vaud
= aller dans le canton de Vaud
to come from the Vaud

= venir du canton de Vaud
Uses with other nouns

There are a number of words used as adjectives and as nouns referring to the people of the canton, e.g.:
bernois, valaisan, vaudois. When nouns, these start with a capital letter.
However, it is always safe to make a phrase with du, de l’ or des:

a Valais accent
= un accent du Valais
the Graubünden area

= la région des Grisons
the Vaud countryside

= les paysages du canton de Vaud
Note 39
Temperature
Temperatures in French are written as in the tables below. Note the space in French between the figure
and the degree sign and letter indicating the scale. When the scale letter is omitted, temperatures are
written thus: 20°; 98,4° etc. (French has a comma, where English has a decimal point).
Note also that there is no capital on centigrade in French; capital C is however used as the abbreviation
for Celsius and centigrade as in 60 °C.
For how to say numbers in French  Numbers.
Celsius or centigrade Fahrenheit

(C) (F)
100 °C 212 °F température d’ébullition de l’eau (boiling point)

90 °C 194 °F
80 °C 176 °F
70 °C 158 °F
60 °C 140 °F
50 °C 122 °F
40 °C 104 °F
37 °C 98,4 °F
30 °C 86 °F
20 °C 68 °F
10 °C 50 °F
0 °C 32 °F température de congélation de l’eau (freezing point)
-10 °C 14 °F
-17,8 °C 0 °F
-273,15 °C -459,67 °F le zéro absolu (absolute zero)
-15°C
= -15 °C (moins quinze degrés Celsius)
the thermometer says 40°

= le thermomètre indique quarante degrés
above 30°C
= plus de trente degrés Celsius
over 30° Celsius

= plus de trente degrés Celsius
below 30°
= en dessous de trente degrés
People
body temperature is 37°C
= la température du corps est de* 37 °C (trente-sept degrés Celsius)
what is his temperature?

= quelle est sa température?
his temperature is 38°

= il a trente-huit (de* température)
* The de is obligatory here.
Things
how hot is the milk? or what temperature is the milk?
= à quelle température est le lait?
it’s 40°C
= il est à 40 °C
what temperature does water boil at?

= à quelle température l’eau bout-elle?
it boils at 100°C
= elle bout à 100 °C
at a temperature of 200°
= à une température de deux cents degrés
A is hotter than B
= A est plus chaud que B
B is cooler than A
= B est moins chaud que A
B is colder than A
= B est plus froid que A
A is the same temperature as B

= A est à la même température que B
A and B are the same temperature

= A et B sont à la même température
Weather
what’s the temperature today?
= quelle température fait-il aujourd’hui? (this French phrase is also the equivalent of both how hot is it?
and how cold is it?)
it’s 65°F
= il fait 65 °F (soixante-cinq degrés Fahrenheit)
it’s 40 degrees
= il fait 40 degrés
Nice is warmer (or hotter) than London

= il fait plus chaud à Nice qu’à Londres
it’s the same temperature in Paris as in London

= il fait la même température à Paris qu’à Londres
Note 40
Time units
Lengths of time
a second
= une seconde
a minute
= une minute
an hour
= une heure
a day
= un jour
a week
= une semaine
a month
= un mois
a year
= un an/une année
a century
= un siècle
For time by the clock  The clock; for days of the week  The days of the week; for months  The
months of the year; for dates  Date.
How long?
Note the various ways of translating take into French.
how long does it take?

= combien de temps faut-il?
it took me a week
= cela m’a pris une semaine or il m’a fallu une semaine
I took an hour to finish it

= j’ai mis une heure pour le terminer
it’ll only take a moment
= c’est l’affaire de quelques instants
Translate both spend and have as passer:
to have a wonderful evening

= passer une soirée merveilleuse
to spend two days in Paris

= passer deux jours à Paris
Use dans for in when something is seen as happening in the future:
I’ll be there in an hour

= je serai là dans une heure
in three weeks’ time

= dans trois semaines
Use en for in when expressing the time something took or will take:
he did it in an hour
= il l’a fait en une heure
The commonest translation of for in the ‘how long’ sense is pendant:
I worked in the factory for a year

= j’ai travaillé à l’usine pendant un an
But use pour for for when the length of time is seen as being still to come:
we’re here for a month

= nous sommes là pour un mois
And use depuis for for when the action began in the past and is or was still going on:
she has been here for a week

= elle est ici depuis huit jours
she had been there for a year

= elle était là depuis un an
I haven’t seen her for years

= je ne l’ai pas vue depuis des années
Note the use of de when expressing how long something lasted or will last:
a two-minute delay
= un retard de deux minutes
an eight-hour day
= une journée de huit heures
five weeks’ pay

= cinq semaines de salaire
When?
In the past
when did it happen?

= quand est-ce que c’est arrivé?
two minutes ago

= il y a deux minutes
a month ago
= il y a un mois
years ago
= il y a des années
it’ll be a month ago on Tuesday

= ça fera un mois mardi
it’s years since he died

= il y a des années qu’il est mort
a month earlier
= un mois plus tôt
a month before
= un mois avant or un mois auparavant
the year before

= l’année d’avant or l’année précédente
the year after

= l’année d’après or l’année suivante
a few years later

= quelques années plus tard
after four days

= au bout de quatre jours
last week
= la semaine dernière
last month
= le mois dernier
last year
= l’année dernière
a week ago yesterday

= il y a eu huit jours hier
a week ago tomorrow

= il y aura huit jours demain
the week before last

= il y a quinze jours
over the past few months

= au cours des derniers mois
In the future
when will you see him?

= quand est-ce que tu le verras?
in a few days
= dans quelques jours (see also above, the phrases with in translated by dans)
any day now

= d’un jour à l’autre
next week
= la semaine prochaine
next month
= le mois prochain
next year
= l’année prochaine
this coming week

= la semaine qui vient or (more formally) au cours de la semaine à venir
over the coming months

= au cours des mois à venir
a month from tomorrow

= dans un mois demain
How often?
how often does it happen?
= cela arrive tous les combien?
every Thursday
= tous les jeudis
every week
= toutes les semaines
every year
= tous les ans
every second day

= tous les deux jours
every third month

= tous les trois mois
day after day

= jour après jour
year after year
= année après année
the last Thursday of the month

= le dernier jeudi du mois
twice a month
= deux fois par mois
once every three months

= une fois tous les trois mois
How much an hour (etc)?

how much do you get an hour?
= combien gagnez-vous de l’heure?
I get $20
= je gagne 20 dollars de l’heure
to be paid $20 an hour

= être payé 20 dollars de l’heure
but note:
to be paid by the hour

= être payé à l’heure
how much do you earn a month?

= combien gagnez-vous par mois?
$3,000 a month
= 3000 dollars par mois
Forms in -ée: an/année, matin/matinée etc.
The -ée forms are often used to express a rather vague amount of time passing or spent in something,
and so tend to give a subjective slant to what is being said, as in:
a long day/evening/year
= une longue journée/soirée/année
a whole day
= toute une journée or une journée entière
we spent a lovely day there

= nous y avons passé une journée merveilleuse
When an exact number is specified, the shorter forms are generally used, as in:
it lasted six days

= cela a duré six jours
two years’ military service

= deux ans de service militaire
However there is no strict rule that applies to all of these words. If in doubt, check in the dictionary.
Note 41
Towns and cities
Occasionally the gender of a town is clear because the name includes the definite article, e.g. Le Havre
or La Rochelle. In most other cases, there is some hesitation, and it is always safer to avoid the problem
by using la ville de:
Toulouse is beautiful
= la ville de Toulouse est belle

For in and to with the name of a town, use à in French; if the French name includes the definite article, à
will become au, à la, à l’ or aux:
to live in Toulouse
= vivre à Toulouse
to go to Toulouse
= aller à Toulouse
to live in Le Havre
= vivre au Havre
to go to Le Havre
= aller au Havre
to live in La Rochelle
= vivre à La Rochelle
to go to La Rochelle
= aller à La Rochelle
to live in Les Arcs

= vivre aux Arcs
to go to Les Arcs
= aller aux Arcs
Similarly, from is de, becoming du, de la, de l’ or des when it combines with the definite article in town
names:
to come from Toulouse

= venir de Toulouse
to come from Le Havre

= venir du Havre
to come from La Rochelle

= venir de La Rochelle
to come from Les Arcs
= venir des Arcs
Belonging to a town or city

English sometimes has specific words for people of a certain city or town, such as Londoners, New
Yorkers or Parisians, but mostly we talk of the people of Leeds or the inhabitants of San Francisco. On
the other hand, most towns in French-speaking countries have a corresponding adjective and noun, and
a list of the best-known of these is given at the end of this note.
The noun forms, spelt with a capital letter, mean a person from X:
the inhabitants of Bordeaux

= les Bordelais mpl
the people of Strasbourg

= les Strasbourgeois mpl
The adjective forms, spelt with a small letter, are often used where in English the town name is used as
an adjective:
Paris shops
= les magasins parisiens
However, some of these French words are fairly rare, and it is always safe to say les habitants de X, or,
for the adjective, simply de X. Here are examples of this, using some of the nouns that commonly
combine with the names of towns:
a Bordeaux accent
= un accent de Bordeaux
Toulouse airport
= l’aéroport de Toulouse
the La Rochelle area

= la région de La Rochelle
Limoges buses
= les autobus de Limoges
the Le Havre City Council

= le conseil municipal du Havre
Lille representatives
= les représentants de Lille
Les Arcs restaurants

= les restaurants des Arcs
the Geneva road

= la route de Genève
Brussels streets
= les rues de Bruxelles
the Angers team

= l’équipe d’Angers
the Avignon train

= le train d’Avignon
but note
Orleans traffic
= la circulation à Orléans
Names of cities and towns in French-speaking countries and their adjectives

Remember that when these adjectives are used as nouns, meaning a person from X or the people of X,
they are spelt with capital letters.
Aix-en-Provence = aixois(e)
Alger = algérois(e)
Angers = angevin(e)
Arles = arlésien(ne)
Auxerre = auxerrois(e)
Avignon = avignonnais(e)
Bastia = bastiais(e)
Bayonne = bayonnais(e)
Belfort = belfortain(e)
Berne = bernois(e)
Besançon = bisontin(e)
Béziers = biterrois(e)
Biarritz = biarrot(e)
Bordeaux = bordelais(e)
Boulogne-sur-Mer = boulonnais(e)
Bourges = berruyer(-ère)
Brest = brestois(e)
Bruges = brugeois(e)
Bruxelles = bruxellois(e)
Calais = calaisien(ne)
Cannes = cannais(e)
Carcassonne = carcassonnais(e)
Chambéry = chambérien(ne)
Chamonix = chamoniard(e)
Clermont-Ferrand = clermontois(e)
Die = diois(e)
Dieppe = dieppois(e)
Dijon = dijonnais(e)
Dunkerque = dunkerquois(e)
Fontainebleau = bellifontain(e)
Gap = gapençais(e)
Genève = genevois(e)
Grenoble = grenoblois(e)
Havre, Le = havrais(e)
Lens = lensois(e)
Liège = liégeois(e)
Lille = lillois(e)
Lourdes = lourdais(e)
Luxembourg = luxembourgeois(e)
Lyon = lyonnais(e)
Mâcon = mâconnais(e)
Marseille = marseillais(e) or phocéen(ne)
Metz = messin(e)
Modane = modanais(e)
Montpellier = montpelliérain(e)
Montréal = montréalais(e)
Moulins = moulinois(e)
Mulhouse = mulhousien(ne)
Nancy = nancéien(ne)
Nantes = nantais(e)
Narbonne = narbonnais(e)
Nevers = nivernais(e)
Nice = niçois(e)
Nîmes = nîmois(e)
Orléans = orléanais(e)
Paris = parisien(ne)
Pau = palois(e)
Périgueux = périgourdin(e)
Perpignan = perpignanais(e)
Poitiers = poitevin(e)
Pont-à-Mousson = mussipontain(e)
Québec = québécois(e)
Reims = rémois(e)
Rennes = rennais(e)
Roanne = roannais(e)
Rouen = rouennais(e)
Saint-Étienne = stéphanois(e)
Saint-Malo = malouin(e)
Saint-Tropez = tropézien(ne)
Sancerre = sancerrois(e)
Sète = sétois(e)
Sochaux = sochalien(ne)
Strasbourg = strasbourgeois(e)
Tarascon = tarasconnais(e)
Tarbes = tarbais(e)
Toulon = toulonnais(e)
Toulouse = toulousain(e)
Tours = tourangeau(-elle)
Tunis = tunisois(e)
Valence = valentinois(e)
Valenciennes = valenciennois(e)
Versailles = versaillais(e)
Vichy = vichyssois(e)
Note 42
US states
In some cases, there is a French form of the name, but not always (if in doubt, check in the dictionary).
Each state has a gender in French and is used with the definite article, except after the preposition en,
e.g.:
Arkansas
= l’Arkansas m
California
= la Californie
Texas
= le Texas
So:
Arkansas is beautiful
= l’Arkansas est beau
I like California
= j’aime la Californie
do you know Texas?

= connaissez-vous le Texas?

For in and to, use en for feminine states and for masculine ones beginning with a vowel, e.g.:
in Alaska
= en Alaska
to Alaska
= en Alaska
in California
= en Californie
to California
= en Californie
For in and to, use au for masculine states beginning with a consonant, e.g.:
in Texas
= au Texas
to Texas
= au Texas
For from use de for feminine states and for masculine ones beginning with a vowel, e.g.:
from California
= de Californie
from Alaska
= d’Alaska
For from use du for masculine states beginning with a consonant, e.g.:
from Texas
= du Texas
Coming from somewhere: Uses with another noun

There are a few words e.g. californien, new-yorkais, texan used as adjectives and as nouns (with a
capital letter) referring to the inhabitants. In other cases it is usually safe to use de for feminine states,
and to use de l’ or du for masculine states, e.g.:
the Florida countryside

= les paysages de Floride
Illinois representatives
= les représentants de l’Illinois
but
a Louisiana accent
= l’accent de la Louisiane
New-Mexico roads
= les routes du Nouveau-Mexique
Note 43
Volume measurement
For pints, gallons, litres etc.  Capacity measurement.
1 cu in
= 16,38 cm3
1 cu ft
= 0,03 m3
1 cu yd
= 0,76 m3
There are three ways of saying 16,38 cm3, and other measurements like it: seize virgule trente-huit
centimètres cubes or (less formally) seize centimètres cubes virgule trente-huit or seize centimètres
cubes trente-huit. For more details on how to say numbers  Numbers.
what is its volume?

= quel est son volume?
its volume is 200 cubic metres

= ça fait 200 mètres cubes
it’s 200 cubic metres

= ça fait 200 mètres cubes
it’s one metre by two metres by three metres

= ça mesure un mètre sur deux mètres sur trois mètres
sold by the cubic metre

= vendu au mètre cube
A has a greater volume than B

= le volume de A est supérieur à celui de B
B has a smaller volume than A

= le volume de B est inférieur à celui de A
Note the use of de in this construction.
there are a million cubic centimetres in a cubic metre

= il y a un million de centimètres cubes dans un mètre cube
a million cubic centimetres make one cubic metre

= un million de centimètres cubes font un mètre cube
a 200-cubic-metre tank
= un réservoir de 200 mètres cubes
Note 44
Weight measurement
1 oz
= 28,35 g* (grammes)
1 lb†
= 453,60 g
1 st
= 6,35 kg (kilos)
1 cwt
= 50,73 kg
1 ton
= 1014,60 kg
* There are three ways of saying 28,35 g, and other measurements like it: vingt-huit virgule trente-cinq
grammes, or (less formally) vingt-huit grammes virgule trente-cinq, or vingt-huit grammes trente-cinq.
For more details on how to say numbers  Numbers.
† English a pound is translated by une livre in French, but note that the French livre is actually 500 grams
(half a kilo).
People
what’s his weight?
= combien pèse-t-il?
how much does he weigh?

= combien pèse-t-il?
he weighs 10 st (or 140 lbs)
= il pèse 63 kg 500 (soixante-trois kilos et demi)
he weighs more than 20 st

= il pèse plus de 127 kilos
Things
what does the parcel weigh?
= combien pèse le colis?
how heavy is it?

= quel poids fait-il?
it weighs ten kilos

= il pèse dix kilos
about ten kilos

= environ dix kilos
it was 2 kilos overweight

= il pesait deux kilos de trop
A weighs more than B

= A pèse plus lourd que B
A is heavier than B
= A est plus lourd que B
B is lighter than A
= B est plus léger que A
A is as heavy as B
= A est aussi lourd que B
A is the same weight as B

= A a le même poids que B
A and B are the same weight

= A et B ont le même poids
6 lbs of carrots
= six livres de carottes
2 kilos of butter
= deux kilos de beurre
11/2 kilos of tomatoes

= un kilo cinq cents de tomates
sold by the kilo

= vendu au kilo
there are about two pounds to a kilo

= il y a à peu près deux livres anglaises dans un kilo
a 3-lb potato
= une pomme de terre de trois livres
a parcel 3 kilos in weight

= un colis de trois kilos

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Note 1

how old are you?

what age is she?

The word ans (years) is never dropped:

he is forty years old

the house is a hundred years old

a child of eight and a half

Note the use of de after âgé and à l’âge:

a woman aged thirty

at the age of forty

Do not confuse que and de used with plus and moins:

I’m older than you

she’s younger than him

Anne’s two years younger

Margot’s older than Suzanne by five years

Robert’s younger than Thomas by six years

they’ve got an eight-year-old

Note the various ways of saying these in French:

she’s just over sixty

she’s just under seventy

she’s in her sixties

she’s in her early sixties

she’s in her late sixties

she must be seventy

he’s in his mid forties

he’s just ten

he’s barely twelve

games for the under twelves

only for the over eighties

In, to and from somewhere

to come from Cornwall

Uses with nouns

In other cases, du is often possible:

the Yorkshire countryside

but it is usually safe to use du comté de:

the towns of Fife

the rivers of Merioneth

For cubic measurements  Volume measurement.

British liquid measurements

American liquid measurements

what does the tank hold?

what’s its capacity?

it’s 200 litres

its capacity is 200 litres

my car does 28 miles to the gallon

they use 20,000 litres a day

A holds more than B

B holds less than A

B has a smaller capacity than A

A and B have the same capacity

it’s sold by the litre

It is… Il est… say…

4 o’clock 4 heures quatre heures

4 o’clock in 4 h 00 quatre heures du matin

4 o’clock in 16 h 00 quatre heures de l’après-midi or seize heures*

0400 4 h 00 quatre heures

4.02 4 h 02 quatre heures deux

two minutes past four 4 h 02 or quatre heures deux minutes†

4.05 4 h 05 quatre heures cinq

five past four 4 h 05 quatre heures cinq

4.10 4 h 10 quatre heures dix

ten past four 4 h 10 quatre heures dix

4.15 4 h 15 quatre heures quinze‡