CHAPTER 1

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER

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Learning a new language is tricky, its more than just memorizing "Adieu" in French is "Goodbye." Not everything translates this perfectly, however, its much more complicated than that. Aside from learning simple translations, we also must learn how to say the words with the proper accent and pronunciation. In this first chapter, we are going to look at the alphabet and ways the French letters are pronounced. We are also going to look at simple and essential words and phrases to get started with French. An important note: letters in the alphabet, pronunciations, and words used in translations may vary from country to country.

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The French Alphabet

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Now that we've learned the alphabet, let's look at some key pronunciation rules for the French letters. As mentioned previously, these sounds may vary country to country and I will primarily stick to the pronunciations from France. NOTE: if a letter is missing in the list below, that means it makes the same sound as in English and therefore isn't worth noting.

 

French Pronunciation Rules​

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Letter                          English Equivalent                English Example

A                                 ah                                          Andre, obvious

B                                 b                                            bat, bike

C                                 k                                            cat, kite

C (before i/e/y)            s                                           city, center, cycle

D                                 d                                           dog, dig

E                                  uh                                         under, up

F                                  f                                            fan, far 

G                                  zh                                         massage

H                                  (silent)

I                                   ee                                         geek

J                                   zh/jh                                    (has a z sound to it)

K                                   k                                          kitten, kite

L                                    l                                           lake, lob         

M                                  m                                         mop, mat 

N                                   n                                          no, not

O                                   o                                          open, ocean

P                                    p                                          put, pan

Q                                   k                                           cat, cap

R                                    r                                            rat, (gutteral)

S                                    z                                            was, has

Ss                                   s                                            sit, sat

T                                    t                                             tip, toe

U                                   eew                                        eew

V                                    v                                            live, van

W                                   w                                            wag, wit

X                                    ks                                            sox, box

Y                                    ee/y                                        greek, yam

Z                                     z                                             zebra

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Basic Grammar

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Here we are going to learn some basic parts of speech that relate to both French and English, but we will also look at components unique to French.

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Sentence Essentials

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Every sentence requires:

1. Subject

2. Verb

3. Terminal Punctuation

4. Complete Thought

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Subject a noun that is performing something in a sentence

Example:

Shaun eats a sandwich.

Shaun is the subject because he is performing an action.

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Subjects can appear as nouns or pronouns.

Noun a person place, thing, idea, or animal

Pronoun a word that replaces a noun

Example:

Shaun eats the sandwich.

He eats the sandwich.

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The same person is a subject in both sentences: "Shaun" and "he." Shaun is a subject noun whereas "he" is a subject pronoun.

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UNIQUE TO FRENCH: although we have some masculine and feminine nouns and pronouns in English (i.e. he, she, prince, princess, etc.), ALL nouns are either masculine or feminine in French, even inanimate objects. When studying nouns, it is highly recommended to study the definite article associated to the noun to know the gender.

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Verb an action- something you can do (we will learn more about this in chapter 2)

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Example:

Henry finishes his homework.

"Finishes" is the verb because its an action.

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Terminal Punctuation: marks in sentences that indicate the end of a sentence.

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French does have the same terminal punctuation that English has: "." "!" and "?"

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Finally, the last important attribute to having a proper sentence in a complete thought.

Example:

Jake walks.                    (COMPLETE THOUGHT)

Mark runs to the.         (INCOMPLETE THOUGHT)

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Another essential component would be that the sentence needs to start with a capital letter.

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Other Parts of Speech

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Adjective describes a noun

Example:

The yellow bird eats the small seed.

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UNIQUE TO FRENCH: French adjectives CAN appear before the noun in its describing however they more commonly appear AFTER the noun.

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Adverb describes how a verb is performed

Example:

Neal spoke calmly to the child.

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Preposition words that introduce words/phrases that share direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships

Example:

He went to the party at his friends house.

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Conjunction word or phrase that connections other words and phrases

Example: 

Maria and Stephanie danced and sang at the party.

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Interjection an abrupt remark

Example:

Stop!

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Plural, Formal, and Number​

 

Before we look at the vocabulary for this chapter, let's look at a few key notations that will be found in the list below. These are in parentheses and are important to understand the phrases and their uses better.

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Formal formal speech is to be used when talking to: 1. someone much older 2. someone in authority above you, i.e. a teacher or boss.

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Familiar familiar (or informal) speech is used when talking to: 1. someone younger or around your age 2. someone you are close to, like friends or family

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Singular this refers to one person or thing

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Plural this refers to more than one person or thing

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Masculine this refers to male objects or people

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Mixed this refers to more than one person or object but at least one person or object is male

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Feminine this refers to female objects or people

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Articles

 

Articles are essentially articles. There are two basic types of articles which are definite and indefinite. Definite articles refer to something specific. If I say, "Give me THE book." it is implied that I'm talking about a specific book. If I say, "Give me A book." it means that I don't need a specific book, I just need a book in general.

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In English the articles are "a, an, the, some." 'The' can refer to multiple things or one thing; I can the THE book or THE books. I cannot do that for the indefinite article for example "A book" would become "SOME books."

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In French, articles are dependent on the noun they are modifying. This means if the noun is singular, the article is singular. What is different from French to English is that nouns can be feminine or masculine and therefore French articles also need to agree in gender and number to the nouns they modify. Check out the notes below.

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Definite Articles

The

le (ms)

la (fs)

l' (when a singular noun starts with a vowel or an "h")

les (plural)

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Indefinite Articles

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A/an

un (ms)

une (fs)

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Some

des (plural)

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Partitive Articles

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There is a difference between saying "some cakes" and "some cake." If you have multiples of something, you will use "des" as we previously talked about. However, if you have part of a whole (i.e. some cake), you will use these Partitive articles.

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Du     (ms)

De la (fs)

De l' (noun starts with vowel or "h")

Des (plural)

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Contractions

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Contractions are when you take two words and put them together, usually removing at least one letter. This exists in English but it is rare in Spanish. Below are two contractions in Spanish.

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à (at/to) + le (the ms) = au (to the / at the)

à (at/to + les (the plural) = aux (to the / at the)

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de (from/of) + le (the ms) = du (from the / of the)

de (from/of) + les (the plural) = des (from the / of the)

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Chapter 1 Vocabulary

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Conversation Starters

Hello/hi          

How are you?         

I am well.           

And you?                

What's your name?     

My name is...              

Nice to meet you.        

Where are you from?        

I'm from...                                       

The United States         

Good morning           

Good afternoon                         

Good evening

Good night         

See you later!                      

Goodbye                  

Also                       

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Asking for Clarification and Being Polite

I am practicing... 

English                          

French   

I understand.                                

Do you understand me?         

Can you repeat it?                 

More slowly 

Can you translate it?   

Sorry                        

Please                           

Excuse me                   

Yes                                 

No/Not                   

Good job   

Good

Well                 

Thank you                   

Much/A lot                               

You're welcome                    

How do you say…                       

What does... mean?                

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Helpful Words and Phrases

I speak                              

You speak/talk                   

He speaks/talks                 

She speaks/talks                                  

I have                        

You have                          

He has               

She has                               

A question              

I like                               

You like/Do you like                

The cat                                

The dog                              

The water

The food

There is/there are

Because                          

Of/from                        

And                            

Or                                    

At/to                         

But                             

With                              

Without     

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten                 

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Common Nouns                     

Young person                 

Old person                   

The boy                      

The girl                            

The man                      

The woman                  

The adult               

The child                 

The son                         

The daughter

The children         

The friend              

The mother             

The father

The parents               

The brother           

The sister     

The cousin          

The husband          

The wife                    

The boyfriend        

The girlfriend         

The aunt              

The uncle              

The nephew          

The niece                    

The grandfather

The grandmother

The grandparents               

The great grandfather

The great grandmother   

The great grandparents   

The grandchild 

The grandchildren    

Sir/Mr.                   

Ma'am/Mrs.  

The people         

The person        

The family        

The store           

The school           

The house    

The restaurant     

The park          

The work/job