Basics

Allaine Rose Mae Malala, RN RM MANc

Most Frequently Used Expressions

English French Pronunciation

Sir
Madame Miss (Ms.) Im American

Monsieur
Madame Mademoiselle Je suis amricain/ Amricaine

Muh-ssyuh
Mah-dahm Mahd-mwah-zehl Zhuh swee zahmay-ree-kan/ Ah-may-ree-kehn

Do you speak English?

Parlez-vous anglais?

Pahr-lay voo ahn-gleh

English Yes No Thank you Please You're welcome

French Oui Non Merci S'il vous plat Il n'y a pas de quoi

Pronunciation Wee Nong Mehr-see Seel voo play eel nyah pah der kwah

Hello/Good morning/ afternoon

Bonjour

bong-zhoor

English Hello/Good evening Goodbye Good night Excuse me Sorry

French Bonsoir

Pronunciation bong-swahr

Au revoir Bonne nuit Excusez-moi Dsol

oh rer-vwahr bonn nwee ex-kewzay mwah day-zo-lay

Leave me alone!

Laissez-moi tranquille.

lay-say mwah trahng-keel

English Where? When? How? Why? Who? Which? What?

French O? Quand? Comment? Pourquoi? Qui? Lequel?/Laquelle? Que/Quoi?

Pronunciation Oo Kahn Kommahn Poor-kwah Kee ler-kell/lah-kell Kuh/kwah

English Hello/Good evening Goodbye Good night Excuse me Sorry

French Bonsoir

Pronunciation bong-swahr

Au revoir Bonne nuit Excusez-moi Dsol

oh rer-vwahr bonn nwee ex-kewzay mwah day-zo-lay

Leave me alone!

Laissez-moi tranquille.

lay-say mwah trahng-keel

English

French

Pronunciation Zhuh pahrl uhn puh frahn-she Voo muh kohn-pruh-nay

I speak a little Je parle un peu French. franais. Do you understand me? I understand I dont understand What did you say? Vous me comprenez?

Je comprends. Je ne comprends pas Quest-ce que vous avez dit?

Zhuh kohn-prahn Kehs-kuh voo Kohn-prahn-pah Kehs-kuh voo zah-vay dee

English Please repeat

French Rptez, sil vous plat Comment allez-vous? Je mappelle

Pronunciation Ray-pay-tay seel voo pleh Koh-moh thale voo

How are you?

My name is What is your name?

Zhuh mah-pehl

Comment vous appelez-vous?

Kohn-mahn voo zah-play voo

Quelles sont What is your vos name, address, coordonnes? phone number?

Kel sohn voh koh-ohr-do-nay

English
Very well, thanks Everythings fine And you? Im looking for I am

French
Trs bien, merci

Pronunciation
Treh byan merh-see Sah vah

a va.

Et vous?
Je cherche

Ay voo
Zhuh shehrsh

Je suis

Zhus wee

I am from
I am ____ years old

Je suis de
J'ai ____ ans

Zhus wee day

zha ___an

Lets practice

try reading these potentially useful phrases without the aid of any pronunciation clues.

1. Bonjour. Je mappelle _________. Comment vous appelez-vous? (Hello. My name is_______. Whats your name?) 2. Je parle un peu le franais. (I speak a little French.) 3. Excusez-moi. Je ne comprends pas. (Excuse me. I dont understand.) 4. Quest-ce que vous avez dit? Rptez, sil vous plat. (What did you say? Please repeat it.) 5. J'ai vignt ans. (I am 20 years old.)

Working with Numbers

Number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

French Zro Un Deux Trois Quatre Cinq Six Sept Huit Neuf Dix

Pronunciation [zay-ro] [uh] [duhr] [twa] [katr] [sank] [sees] [set] [weet] [nurf] [dees]

Number 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

French Onze Douze Treize Quatorze Quinze Seize Dix-sept Dix-huit Dix-neuf Vingt Vingt et un Vingt-deux

Pronunciation [onz] [dooz] [trez] [katorz] [kanz] [sez] [dee-set] [dees-weet] [dees-nurf] [van] [vant-ay-uh] [van-duh]

Number French

Pronunciation

30 40 50 60 70 71 79 80 81 89 90 91 99 100

Trente Quarante Cinquante Soixante soixante-dix soixante et onze soixante-dix-neuf quatre-vingts quatre-vingt-un quatre-vingt-neuf quatre-vingt-dix quatre-vingt-onze quatre-vingt-dix-neuf cent

[tront] [karont] [sank-ont] [swa-sont] [swa-son-dees] [swa-sont-ay-onz] [swa-son-dees-nurf] [kat-ra-van] [kat-ra-vant-uh] [kat-ra-van-nurf] [kat-ra-van-dees] [kat-ra-vant-onz] [kat-ra-van-dees-nurf] [son]

Try to introduce yourself

Je mappelle (My name is) Je suis ( I am)

Cognates

Cognates

is a word that is spelled exactly the same, or almost the same, as a word in English and that has the same meaning.

Perfect Cognates

cognates that are exactly the same in both French and English

Read the following sentences in French.

1. La blouse est orange. lah blooz eh toh-rahNzh 2. Le service est horrible. luh sehr-vees eh toh-reebl 3. L'excursion est impossible. lehk-skewr-zyohN eh taN-pohseebl

4. Le guide est capable. luh geed eh kah-pahbl

5. Le client est certain. luh klee-yahN eh sehr-taN

Near Cognates

cognates that are nearly the same in both French and English

Verb Cognates

French verbs (words that show action or a state of being) that are so similar to their English counterparts. The majority of French verbs fall into one of three families: the er family, the ir family, and the re family. This concept is foreign to us, since English has borrowed so much from so many different languages that no verb families exist

The largest French family, by far, is the er family. Any verbs belonging to a family are considered regular, while those that do not belong to a family are designated as irregular

This is easy
1. Le serveur aide le touriste. luh sehr-vuhr ehd luh too-reest 2. Maman prpare de la soupe et de la salade. mah-mahN pray-pahr duh lah soop ay duh lah sah-lahd

3. Le mcanicien rpare le moteur. luh may-kah-nee-syaN ray-pahr luh moh-tuhr

4. Le bb regarde la tlvision. luh bay-bay ruh-gahrd lah taylay-vee-zyohN 5. Le touriste rserve la chambre. luh too-reest ray-sehrv lah shahNbr

6. Le guide recommande le caf. luh geed ruh-koh-mahNd luh kah-fay

7. L'employ vend la marchandise. l'ahN-plwah-yay vahN lah mahrshahN-deez 8. L'enfant adore la musique moderne. lahN-fahN ah-dohr lah mew-zeek moh-dehrn 9. L'acteur prfre l'opra italien. lahk-tuhr pray-fehr l'oh-pay-rah eetah-lyaN 10. La famille dsire l'htel confortable. lah fah-mee-y day-zeer lo-tehl kohNfohr-tahbl

You will see how adding an s after an accent circonflexe (^) and how substituting an s for an or adding one after it will help you figure out the meanings of many words.

False friends

Faux amis or false friends are words spelled exactly the same or almost the same in both French and English, but which have very different meanings in each language and might even be different parts of speech.

Idioms

an idiom is a particular word or expression whose meaning cannot be readily understood by either its grammar or the words used. Examples of some common English idioms are: To look on the bright side. To fall head over heels. On the other hand.

Vocabulary

English

French

Pronunciation

I'd like I want I like it I don't like it OK/Agreed.

Je voudrais Je veux a me plat a ne me plat pas a va d'accord C'est bien

zher voodray zher ver sahm play sah ner mer play pah sah vah dah-korr say byan

That's fine

Color
English French Pronunciation

Black White Gray Red Blue Yellow Green orange Purple brown pink Light Dark

noir/noire blanc/blanche gris/grise Rouge bleu/bleue Jaune vert/verte Orange Violet

(nwahr) (blahng/blahnsh) (gree/greez) (roozh) (bluh) (zhawn) (vehr/vehrt) (oh-RAHNZH) (vee-oh-LEH)

Marron
Rose clair fonc

(mah-ROHNG)
(rose) (clare) (fon-say)

Family
English the father the mother daddy mommy the brother the sister the son daughter/ girl the boy a child / the children French le pre la mre Papa Maman le frre la soeur le fils la fille le garon un enfant/ les enfants Pronunciation Pehr Mehr Papah Mah-moh Fehr Sew Fiss Feehl Garsohn Uh-fahn

Days of week (jours de la semaine)

English Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday French Lundi mardi Mercredi Jeudi Vendredi Samedi Dimanche Pronunciation

Sunday

Months of Year (mois de l'anne)

English French Pronunciation

January February

janvier fvrier

March
April May

mars
avril mai juin

June

English

French

Pronunciation

July August September October November December

juillet Aot Septembre Octobre Novembre dcembre