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French I Tutorial

French Index | French II | French III | French IV | French V | French VI | French VII | Informal French & Slang | French mp3s
Romance Languages | French & Italian | French & German

Champs-Elysées is a great French audio magazine for improving listening comprehension and cultural understanding of the French-speaking world.
If you're interested in buying books to supplement your French studies, I've recommended some books from Amazon.

For fastest downloading, as well as the DownThemAll add-on. This will allow you to download all of the mp3s on this page at once and increase the download speed up to 400%. Recordings of mp3s were done by a native speaker of French from Haute-Savoie.

[ French I Zip file of mp3s - 20.95 MB ]

1. Some Basic Phrases [ mp3 - 2.94 MB ]

Notice that French has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in French (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to more than one person.

Also notice that some words take an extra e, shown in parentheses. If the word refers to a woman or is spoken by a woman, then the e is added in spelling; but in most cases, it does not change the pronunciation.

To make verbs negative, French adds ne before the verb and pas after it. However, the ne is frequently dropped in spoken French, although it must appear in written French.

2. Pronunciation [ mp3 - 4.22 MB ]

French Vowels
IPA	Phonetic spelling	Sample words	General spellings
[i]	ee	vie, midi, lit, riz	i, y
[y]	ee rounded	rue, jus, tissu, usine	u
[e]	ay	blé, nez, cahier, pied	é, et, final er and ez
[ø]	ay rounded	jeu, yeux, queue, bleu	eu
[ɛ]	eh	lait, aile, balai, reine	e, è, ê, ai, ei, ais
[œ]	eh rounded	sœur, œuf, fleur, beurre	œu, eu
[a]	ah	chat, ami, papa, salade	a, à, â
[ɑ]	ah longer	bas, âne, grâce, château	a, â
[u]	oo	loup, cou, caillou, outil	ou
[o]	oh	eau, dos, escargot, hôtel	o, ô
[ɔ]	aw	sol, pomme, cloche, horloge	o
[ə]	uh	fenêtre, genou, cheval, cerise	e

[ɑ] is disappearing in modern French, being replaced by [a]

 

French nasal vowels
IPA	Phonetic spelling	Sample words	General spelling
[ã]	awn	gant, banc, dent	en, em, an, am, aon, aen
[ɛ̃]	ahn	pain, vin, linge	in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein, eim, un, um, en, eng, oin, oing, oint, ien, yen, éen
[œ̃]	uhn	brun, lundi, parfum	un
[õ]	ohn	rond, ongle, front	on, om

[œ̃] is being replaced with [ɛ̃] in modern French

In words beginning with in-, a nasal is only used if the next letter is a consonant.  Otherwise, the in- prefix is pronounce een before a vowel.

 

French Consonants
ex + vowel	egz	examen, exercice
ex + consonant	eks	exceptionnel, expression
ch (Latin origin)	sh	architecte, archives
ch (Greek origin)	k	orchestre, archéologie
ti + vowel (except é)	see	démocratie, nation
c + e, i, y; or ç	s	cent, ceinture, maçon
c + a, o, u	k	caillou, car, cube
g + e, i, y	zh	genou, gingembre
g + a, o, u	g	gomme, ganglion
th	t	maths, thème, thym
j	zh	jambe, jus, jeune
qu, final q	k	que, quoi, grecque
h	silent	haricot, herbe, hasard
vowel + s + vowel	z	rose, falaise, casino
x + vowel	z	six ans, beaux arts
final x	s	six, dix, soixante (these 3 only!)

There are a lot of silent letters in French, and you usually do not pronounce the final consonant, unless that final consonant is C, R, F or L (except verbs that end in -r).

Liaison: French slurs most words together in a sentence, so if a word ends in a consonant that is not pronounced and the next word starts with a vowel or silent h, slur the two together as if it were one word. S and x are pronounced as z; d as t; and f as v in these liaisons. Liaison is always made in the following cases:

• after a determiner: un ami, des amis
• before or after a pronoun: vous avez, je les ai
• after a preceding adjective: bon ami, petits enfants
• after one syllable prepositions: en avion, dans un livre
• after some one-syllable adverbs (très, plus, bien)
• after est

It is optional after pas, trop fort, and the forms of être, but it is never made after et.

Silent e: Sometimes the e is dropped in words and phrases, shortening the syllables and slurring more words.

• rapid(e)ment, lent(e)ment, sauv(e)tage (pronounced ra-peed-mawn, not ra-peed-uh-mawn)
• sous l(e) bureau, chez l(e) docteur (pronounced sool bewr-oh, not soo luh bewr-oh)
• il y a d(e)... , pas d(e)... , plus d(e)... (eel yahd, pahd, plewd, not eel ee ah duh, pah duh, or plew duh)
• je n(e), de n(e)  (zhuhn, duhn, not zhuh nuh or duh nuh)
• j(e) te, c(e) que  (shtuh, skuh, not zhuh tuh or suh kuh - note the change of the pronunciation of the j as well)

Stress & Intonation: Stress on syllables is not as heavily pronounced as in English and it generally falls on the last syllable of the word. Intonation usually only rises for yes/no questions, and all other times, it goes down at the end of the sentence.

3. Alphabet [ mp3 - 538 KB ]

4. Nouns, Articles and Demonstrative Adjectives [ mp3 - 373 KB ]

All nouns in French have a gender, either masculine or feminine.  For the most part, you must memorize the gender, but there are some endings of words that will help you decide which gender a noun is.  Nouns ending in -age and -ment are usually masculine, as are nouns ending with a consonant.  Nouns ending in -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -té, and -ette are usually feminine.

Articles and adjectives must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify.  And articles have to be expressed even though they aren't always in English; and you may have to repeat the article in some cases.  Demonstratives are like strong definite articles.

If you need to distinguish between this or that and these or those, you can add -ci to the end of the noun for this and these, and -là to the end of the noun for that and those.  For example, ce lit-ci is this bed, while ce lit-là is that bed.

5. Useful Words and General Vocabulary [ mp3 - 1.11 MB ]

Note: The expression il y a is reduced to y a in everyday speech. When il y a is followed by a number, it means ago.  Il y a cinq minutes means five minutes ago.
Some common slang words for money include: le fric, le pèze, le pognon, des sous and for job/work: le boulot.

6. Subject Pronouns [ mp3 - 204 KB ]

Note:  Il and elle can also mean it when they replace a noun (il replaces masculine nouns, and elle replaces feminine nouns) instead of a person's name.  Ils and elles can replace plural nouns as well in the same way.  Notice there are two ways to say you.  Tu is used when speaking to children, animals, or close friends and relatives.  Vous is used when speaking to more than one person, or to someone you don't know or who is older.  On can be translated into English as one, the people, we, they, or you.

Tutoyer and vouvoyer are two verbs that have no direct translation into English. Tutoyer means to use tu or be informal with someone, while vouvoyer means to use vous or be formal with someone.

7. To Be and To Have [ mp3 - 1.83 MB ]

Note: Je and any verb form that starts with a vowel (or silent h) combine together for ease of pronunciation.

In spoken French, the tu forms of verbs that begin with a vowel contract with the pronoun: tu es = t'es, tu as = t'as, etc.
In addition, it is very common to use on (plus 3rd person singular conjugation) to mean we instead of nous.

Common Expressions with avoir and être [ mp3 - 1.33 MB ]
Avoir and être are used in many common and idiomatic expressions that should be memorized:

8. Question Words [ mp3 - 183 KB ]

9. Numbers / Les numéros [ mp3 - 1.06 MB ]

Note:  French switches the use of commas and periods.  1,00 would be 1.00 in English.  Belgian and Swiss French use septante, octante and nonante in place of the standard French words for 70, 80, and 90 (though some parts of Switzerland use huitante instead of octante).  Also, when the numbers 5, 6, 8, and 10 are used before a word beginning with a consonant, their final consonants are not pronounced. Phone numbers in France are ten digits, beginning with 01, 02, 03, 04, or 05 depending on the geographical region, or 06 for cell phones. They are written two digits at a time, and pronounced thus: 01 36 55 89 28 = zéro un, trente-six, cinquante-cinq, quatre-vingt-neuf, vingt-huit.

Ordinal Numbers [ mp3 - 356 KB ]

Note:  The majority of numbers become ordinals by adding -ième.  But if a number ends in an e, you must drop it before adding the -ième.  After a q, you must add a u before the -ième.  And an f becomes a v before the -ième.

10. Days of the Week / Les jours de la semaine [ mp3 - 481 KB ]

Note:  Articles are not used before days, except to express something that happens habitually on a certain day, such as le lundi = on Mondays. Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing.

11. Months of the Year / Les mois de l'année [ mp3 - 383 KB ]

Note:  To express in a certain month, such as in May, use en before the month as in "en mai."  With dates, the ordinal numbers are not used, except for the first of the month:  le premier mai but le deux juin.  Also note that months are all masculine and not capitalized in French (same as days of the week).

12. Seasons / Les saisons [ mp3 - 157 KB ]

13. Directions / Les directions [ mp3 - 254 KB ]

on the left	à gauche	ah gohsh
on the right	à droite	a dwaht
straight ahead	tout droit	too dwah

14. Colors and Shapes / Les couleurs et les formes [ mp3 - 814 KB ]

Note: Some adjectives of color do not change to agree with gender or number, such as adjectives that also exist as nouns: orange, marron, rose; and compound adjectives: bleu clair, noir foncé remain masculine even if they describe a feminine noun.  Remember to place the color adjective after the noun.

15. Weather / Le temps qu'il fait [ mp3 - 757 KB ]

Note:   Il pleut des cordes is a common expression meaning it's pouring. Il caille or ça caille is slang for it's freezing. And remember that France uses Celcius degrees.

16. Time / Le temps qui passe [ mp3 - 529 KB ]

Note:  Official French time is expressed as military time (24 hour clock.) You can only use regular numbers, and not demi, quart, etc. when reporting time with the 24 hour system. For example, if it is 18h30, you must say dix-huit heures trente. The word pile is also a more informal way of saying précise (exactly, sharp).

17. Family and Animals / La famille et les animaux [ mp3 - 2.01 MB ]

Note: Le gendre is another word for son-in-law.

Slang words for people and pets:

18. To Know People and Places [ mp3 - 843 KB ]

Note:  Connaître is used when you know (are familiar with) people, places, food, movies, books, etc. and savoir is used when you know facts.  When savoir is followed by an infinitive it means to know how.
There is another form of savoir commonly used in the expressions que je sache that I know (of) and pas que je sache not that I know (of).

Je connais ton frère.  I know your brother.
Je sais que ton frère s'appelle Jean.  I know that your brother is named John.
Connaissez-vous Grenoble ?  Do you know (Are you familiar with) Grenoble? / Have you ever been to Grenoble?
Oui, nous connaissons Grenoble.  Yes, we know (are familiar with) Grenoble. / Yes, we've been to Grenoble.
Tu sais où Grenoble se trouve.  You know where Grenoble is located.
Ils savent nager.  They know how to swim.

Connaître can be translated several ways into English:
Tu connais le film, Les Enfants ? Have you seen the film, Les Enfants?
Tu connais Lyon ? Have you ever been to Lyon?
Tu connais la tartiflette ? Have you ever eaten tartiflette?

19. Formation of Plural Nouns [ mp3 - 637 KB ]

20. Possessive Adjectives [ mp3 - 654 KB ]

Note:  Possessive pronouns go before the noun.  When a feminine noun begins with a vowel, you must use the masculine form of the pronoun for ease of pronunciation.  Ma amie is incorrect and must be mon amie, even though amie is feminine.

C'est ma mère et mon père.  This is my mother and my father.
Ce sont vos petits-enfants ?  These are your grandchildren?
Mes parents sont divorcés.  My parents are divorced.
Sa grand-mère est veuve.  His grandmother is a widow.
Notre frère est marié, mais notre sœur est célibataire.  Our brother is married, but our sister is single.
Ton oncle est architecte, n'est-ce pas ?  Your uncle is an architect, isn't he?
Leurs cousines sont néerlandaises.  Their cousins are Dutch.

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French Index | French II | French III | French IV | French V | French VI | French VII | Informal French & Slang | French mp3s
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