Lesson 10 : Grammar, the past and vocabulary

In the grammar part of the lesson 10, I’ll explain the French expression “il y a” which is very used in this language. Then we’ll begin to learn  past tense and we finally see time vocabulary. Are you ready? Let’s go!

GRAMMAR : IL Y A ….

1. the French expression il y a  means “there is” or “there are”

It is one of the most important expressions in the French language. It’s usually followed by an indefinite article + noun, a number + noun, or an indefinite pronoun.

Il y a des gens là-bas. There are some people over there.

Il y a un chien dans le jardin. There’s a dog in the garden.

Il y a 2 choses à faire. There are 2 things to do.

2. Il y a can also be followed by a period of time to mean “ago” 

J’ai vu mes parents il y a trois semaines. I saw my parents three weeks ago.

Il y a 5 ans que nous avons quitté la France. We left France two years ago.

3. Ask a question with il y a using “est-ce que” or an inversion

Like we learnt in the previous lesson

Ask a question starting with “est-ce que”:

Est-ce qu‘il y a un chien méchant ? Is there a vicious dog?

Est-ce qu‘il y a des enfants dans le jardin ? Are there any kids in the garden?

Ask a question with an inversion :

How to process with an inversion:

1. first,  put y at the beginning of your interrogative sentence.

2. invert il and a

3. place -t- between il and a :

Y a-t-il un chien dans le jardin ? Is there a dog in the garden?

Y a-t-il des enfants ?
Are there any kids?

Of course, you can use il y a with the interrogative words we learnt in lesson 9:

Pourquoi est-ce qu’il y a un chien sur mon lit ? Why is there a dog in my bed?

Combien d’enfants y a-t-il dans le jardin ? How many kids are in the garden?

CONJUGATION : PAST TENSE

The 4 most common past tenses in French are :

1. Passé composé
2. passé simple
3. imparfait
4. plus-que-parfait

Let’s start today with the passé composé
 The “passé composé”
It is a compound tense which means it has 2 parts.

1. The first is the auxiliary verb : avoir or être (verbs you should know very well)
2. the second is the past participle.

To find the past participle, you have to determine the stem of the infinitive. To do so, drop the -er, -ir, -oir or -re, as usual. Then, add an ending as shown in the following tab :

The verbs avoir, être, and faire have irregular past participles.

avoir : eu
être : été
faire : fait
Most verbs form the passé composé with avoir, however there are a small number of verbs that are always conjugated with être. The most common are :

Thoses verbs  can be easily remebered by the Acronym MRS. RD VANDERTRAMP:
• M : monté
• R : resté
• S : sorti
• R : revenu
• D : devenu
• V: venu
• A : arrivé
• N : né
• D : descendu
• E : entré
• R : rentré
• T : tombé
• R : retourné
• A : allé
• M : mort
• P : parti

VOCABULARY : TIME

In French, “il est” is used to express the time; though it would literally translate as “he is”, it is actually, in this case, equivalent to “it is” (unpersonal “il”). Unlike in English, it is always important to use “heures” (“hours”) when referring to the time. In English, it is OK to say, “It’s nine,” but this wouldn’t make sense in French.
Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?

Il est une heure. It is one o’clock.
Il est deux heures. It is two o’clock.
Il est huit heures. It is eight o’clock.

Il est midi. It is noon.

Il est minuit. It is midnight.

Il est six heures cinq. It is five past six.
Il est cinq heures et quart. It is a quarter past five.
Il est trois heures quinze. It is three fifteen.
Il est sept heures et demie. It is half past seven.
Il est sept heures trente. It is seven thirty.
Il est deux heures moins vingt It is twenty to three
Il est quatre heures quarante. It is four forty.

Lesson 9 : Interrogative phrases, conjugation of the third group and how to speak about the weather

In the grammar part of lesson 9 we’ll see the interrogative phrases and how to convert a declarative sentence into an interrogative one. Then you’ll know everything about the question : who, when and where. We’ll continue to learn a new type of third group verbs and we’ll finish by speaking about the weather. Are you ready?

Première partie : grammaire/First part : Grammar

How we convert a declarative sentence into an interrogative sentence?

Only 3 methodes:

 1. By using Est-ce-que…

Which is very commonly used.

Tu participes à cette fête. You take part in this party.

Est-ce que tu participes à cette fête ? Do you take part in this party ?

Paul aime la musique. Paul is fond of painting.

Est-ce que Paul aime la musique? Is Paul fond of painting?

2. By reverting the subject and the verb

Tu participes à cette fête

Participes–tu à cette fête ? Do you take part in this party?

Be carful: a dash must be included between the verb and the subject and notice that in French there is a space between the last word and the question mark

Paul aime la musique.

Paul aime-t-il la peinture ?

Be careful: You can’t say : “Aime Paul la peinture ?”  Replace the firstname by the corresponding pronoun by keeping the firstname at the beginning of the phrase.

3. By changing your voice tone

The last one is the easier! Just add a question mark and change your voice tone. The hardest thing is to find the right French tone…No problem with text!

Tu participes à cette fête.

Tu participes à cette fête ?

Paul aime la musique.

Paul aime la musique ?

Now, let see how to ask all the questions to want … It’s very easy because it’s just like in English !

Interrogative word + Verb + Subject + …

Who : Qui

Qui est cette femme ? Who is that woman?

Why : Pourquoi

Pourquoi aimes–tu marcher ? Why do you like walking?

Where : où

Où vas tu chaque samedi ? Where do you go every saturday?

When : Quand

Quand es–tu allé chez le dentiste pour la dernière fois ? When did you go to the dentist for the last time?

Seconde partie : Conjugaison /Second part : conjugation

Let’s continue with another type of third group verb : The “ouvrir” forme. Yhe infinitive is on “IR” like a verb of the second group but it’s present conjugation is like the first group verb… I know even for French people, that’s not funny at all.

Ouvrir (to open)

J’ouvre

Tu ouvres

Il, elle, on ouvre

Nous ouvrons

Vous ouvrez

Ils, elles ouvrent

Other verbs like OUVRIR :

Offrir to offer

Souffrir to suffer

Couvrir to cover

Découvrir to discover

 Entrouvrir to open a little

 Rouvrir to open again

Troisième partie : vocabulaire/Third part: vocabulary

What’s the weather like?

The best to have something to say in any kind of situation. In France, speaking about the weather is the subject number one!

In the grammar part of lesson 8,  we will learn in details possesive ant demonstrative adjectives. Then we will start the conjugation of the third group verbs which is the more difficult one, including for the French people. But don’t worry, we’ll proceed step by step.

Première partie : grammaire/First part : Grammar

Demonstrative adjectives

As in English, demonstrative adjective is used to indicate someone or something. But in French, it must agree in gender and in number with the noun it modify.

J’aime ce professeur. I like this/that teacher

Cette histoire est intéressante. This/that story is interesting.

Cet éléphant est très vieux. This/that elephant is very old.

Cette élection est truquée. This election is rigged.

As you can see in the belowing example, for one singular form in English, we find 3 different forms in French.

Ce is for the masculine noun. It can be removed by the definite article you know : LE

Cet is for the masculine noun beginning by a voyel. It can be removed by the definite article: L’

Cette is used for the feminine noun (beginning by a voyel or not)

Don’t worry, it’s easier for the plural : just one form for masculine and feminine nouns as in English.

Ces enfants ne mangent pas assez. These/Those children don’t eat enough.

In English, you have This or That to make a difference and be explicite with the demonstrative adjectives.

In French, you can mark this difference too but your listener can usually understand by the context which you mean, but if you want to stress one or the other, you can use the suffixes -ci (meaning here) or -là (meaning there).

Ce livre-ci est intéressant. This book is interesting.

Cette rose-là est magnifique. That rose is magnificent.

Ces enfants-ci sont plus sages que ces enfants-là. These children are wiser than those children.

But keep in mind, we use those forms in French only if the context is not clear or to compare two different people or things. But we’ll this in a future lesson, not now.

Possesive adjectives

Here is a great tab to sum up the different form of possesive adjectives in French

Singular                                                                                                   Plural

English             Masculine             Feminine            Before vowel
My                           Mon                       Ma                      Mon                     Mes
Your (tu form)        Ton                        Ta                       Ton                      Tes
His,her,its                Son                         Sa                        Son                     Ses
Our                          Notre                    Notre                   Notre                  Nos
Your (vous form)   Votre                    Votre                   Votre                   Vos
their                           leur                      leur                      leur                    Leurs

Now, you have to notice 2 points:

1. An important difference between French and English is that in French it is the gender of the noun that determines which form to use, not the gender of the subject.

A man would say ma voiture (my car) when talking about a car, and a woman would also say ma voiture : the car is femine in French.

 It doesn’t matter whether the owner of the car is male or female

Likewise, both men and women would say mon vélo (my bike) because vélo is masculine.

2. If you want describ 2 or more singular nouns in French, use a possessive adjective in front of each one:

Son père et sa mère His father and mother.

Votre fils et votre fille. Your daughter and son

Notice that to describ 2 or more plural nouns, you have the choice :

Ses frères et ses soeurs  OR Ses frères et soeurs. His brothers and sisters.

Tes neveux et tes nièces OR Tes neveux et nièces. Your nephews and nieces.

Seconde partie : Conjugaison /Second part : conjugation

The third group verbs are irregular. But don’t panic, we’ll learn them step by step.

Third group verbs 

You studied the second group verbs ending by -ir. It’s not the same here. Be careful.

1. The “partir” form

Partir (to leave)

Je pars

Tu pars

Il,elle, on part

Nous partons

Vous partez

Ils, elles partent

The others verbs like PARTIR:

sentir (to smell)
consentir (to grant)
pressentir (to have a premonition about something)
ressentir (to feel)
mentir (to lie)
démentir (to deny)
départir (to desist)
repartir (to leave again)
se repentir (to repent)
sortir (to go out)
ressortir (to go out again)

2. The “prendre” form

Prendre (to take)

Je prends

Tu prends

Il, elle, on prend

Nous prenons

Vous prenez

Ils, elles prennent

The other verbs like PRENDRE
apprendre (to learn)
comprendre (to understand)
détendre (to relax)
désapprendre (to unlearn)
entreprendre (to undertake, to begin)
s’éprendre (to become passionate)
se méprendre (to misunderstand)
réapprendre (to learn again)
reprendre (to resume, to continue)
surprendre (to surprise)

We’ll continue with others forms in the next lesson.

Now, in each lesson we study 3 points. In the grammar part of lesson 7,  we will learn in details how to build a sentence: affirmative or negative. Then we will see the conjugation of the second group verbs and we will finish the lesson with vocalury as usual.

Première partie : grammaire/First part : Grammar

Building sentences

It’s exactly the same way as in English for the affirmative form :

Subject + Verb + Complement

Alain mange une pomme    Alan eats an apple

Le soleil brille dans le ciel    The sun shines in the sky

Le chat chasse la souris  The cat hunts the mouse

All the affirmative sentences are built on this template.

Building a negative sentence

The French use ne…pas to make negative sentences.

Alain ne mange pas de pomme.  Alan doesn’t eat an apple

Le soleil ne brille pas dans le ciel. The sun doesn’t shine in the sky

Le chat ne chasse pas la souris. The cat doesn’t hunt the mouse.

As you can see the negative form ne…pas is around the French verb. Ne is always before the verb and pas is always after it.

Important: if the verbs begins by a voyel, you have to use n’ instead of ne

Je n’aime pas danser. I don’t like dancing.

It also exists two other forms for builiding negative sentences in order to translate never and anymore you just have to replace “pas” by another word. And this point is not very difficult.

• Use jamais instead of “pas” to say never : Je ne serai jamais cosmonaute! I will never be a cosmonaut!

• Use plus instead of “pas” to say anymore : Je ne suis plus au bureau. I am not at the office anymore. Reverting to the above paragraph, don’t forget to use n’ instead of nebefore a verb beginning by a voyel.Je n’aimerai jamais les épinards. I will never like sphinaches.Je n’aime plus danser. I don’t like dancing anymore. 

  
  

  Conjugation of the second group verbs

We have already studied the conjugation of the first group verbs. The conjugation of the second group is a bit more difficult. But it still regular and there is no variations in its conjugation: don’t worry!

All the verbs oh this group are finishing by IR and you just have replace this end by the good termination for each person.

Here is the verb FINIR (to end)

Présent

Je finis

Tu finis

Il, elle, on finit

Nous finissons

Vous finissez

Ils, elles finissent

You only have to memorise the ends: is – is – it – issons – issez- issent

Few verbs of the second group:

Grandir (to grow up)

Choisir (to choose)

Agir (to act)

Nourrir (to feed)

Réfléchir (to think, to ponder)

Réunir (to gather, to combine) 

Exercise: conjugate the verb choisir and the verb réfléchir

Je choisis - Tu choisis - Il choisit - Nous choisissons - Vous choisissez - Ils choisissent

Je réfléchis - Tu réfléchis - Il réfléchit - Nous réfléchissons - Vous réfléchissez - Ils réfléchissent

Troisième partie : vocabulaire/Third part: vocabulary

Les couleurs – colors

In the lesson 6 we saw in details the adjectives. Here is a great tabs to resume the different color and how to use them correctly.

As you will see in the tab, two colors adjectives doesn’t change : marron and orange

Describ human and animal parts

Do you know well the french color?

1. Pink

• a) violet
• b) jaune
• c) rose
• d) bleu

1c, 2a, 3d, 4c.

Introduction to French sentences and parts of speech

Introduction aux phrases françaises et ses éléments

From now, all the lessons will be explained fully in French, but don’t worry the English translation is not far.

Une phrase est un groupe de mots avec au moins un verbe et un sujet, et beaucoup d’éléments peuvent y être inclus.

A sentence is a group of words, with at least a subject and a verb, and lots of parts of speech may be included in it.

Il y a quatre types différents de phrase en français: déclarative, exclamative, interrogative et impérative.

There are different types of sentences: statement, exclamative, interrogative and command

1. 1. La phrase déclarative (statement)

a) affirmative (affirmative statements)

Je vais à la plage I’m going to the beach

J’ai faim. I’m hungry

b) négative (negative statements)

Je ne vais pas au marché avec toi. I’m not going to the market with you

Je ne suis pas fatigué. I’m not tired

1. 2. La phrase exclamative (exclamative)

It uses in case of surprise, exclamation or indignation. This sentence is built like a statement one but you have to add an exclamation point!

Je l’espère vraiment! I really hope so!

Je veux venir avec vous! I want to go with you!

1. 3. La phrase interrogative (interrogative)

It’s the form used to ask questions

As tu besoin d’aide? Do you need help?

Où vas tu? Where are you going?

1. 4. La phrase impérative (imperative)

This sentence is used to give an order or a command. And it’s the only form with a subject implied by conjugation of the verb which is imperative.

Fais tes devoirs. Do your homework

Aide moi à retrouver mes clés. Help me to find me keys

Sois sage. Be good.

DIFFERENT PARTS OF SPEECH

There are 8 different parts of speech you have to learn. Here is a quick presentation of each one, before depper explanation in future lesson.

Adjectif (adjective) :

Un adjectif qualifie un nom ou un pronom. Il peut décrire une forme, une taille, une couleur et doit toujours s’accorder en genre et ne nombre avec le pronom ou le nom qu’il qualifie.

An adjective qualifies a noun or a pronoun. It may describe a shape, size or color and must always be agreed in number and gender with the noun or pronoun that it qualifies.

Les nouveaux élèves entrent dans la classe. The new students are coming in the class

Adverbe (adverb) : Un adverbe est un mot invariable qui modifie un verbe, un adjectif ou un autre adverbe. Il donne des détails. Il se termine souvent par -ment

An adverb is an invariable word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another verb. It gives details. He often ends by –ment.

Je parle lentement pour que les élèves comprennent. I speak slowly for the students understand me.

Article (article): we have already learnt this part.

Conjonction (conjunction) : La conjontion relie deux mots ou des groupes de mots.It links words or group of words

Je cuisine parce que j’ai faim. I am cooking because i’m hungry

Nom (noun) : Un nom représenter quelque chose ou quelqu’un de concret comme une personne, un animal ou un lieu, mais aussi une chose abstraite comme une idée. A noun represents something or someone concrete like a person, an animal or a place, but also an abstract thing like an idea.

J’ai vu un chat-Je m’appelle Pierre-La gentillesse est rare. I saw a cat-My name is Peter-Kindess is rare.

Prépostion (preposition) : Les prépositions sont de petits mots place devant un nom pour indique sa relation avec un verbe, un adjective ou un autre nom. Prepositions are the little words that are placed in front of nouns in order to indicate a relationship between that noun and a verb, an adjective, or another noun.

Je pose mes clés sur la table quand je rentre du travail. I put my keys on the table when i come back from work.

Pronom (pronoun) : Un pronom remplace un nom. Les pronoms français s’accordent en genre et en nombre avec le mot qu’il remplace. Il y en a plusieurs sortesA pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun. French pronouns usually have to agree with the gender, number, and/or person of the nouns they replace. There are several kinds or pronoun.

Mon petit frère a cassé un verre. Il a cassé un verre. My littre brother broke a glass. He broke a glass.

Verbe (verb):Le verbe est le mot qui traduit l’action dans une phrase. A verb is the action word in a sentence.

L’enfant mange une pomme. The kid is eating an apple.

DIALOGUE & VOCABULARY

Vocabulary

Fin (féminin) : end

Vacances (feminine pluriel) : holidays

Finies : ended

Famille (féminin) : family

Prendre : to take

Avion (masculin) : plane

Rentrer : to come back

Vérifient : check

Dernière : last

Fois (fem.) : time

Bagage (masc.) : luggage

Avant : before

Quitter : to leave

Regarder : to look at

Chambre (fem) : bedroom

Rien : anything/nothing

Oublier : to forget

Chéri: sweetheart

Rester : to stay

Armoire (fém.) : chest

Lit (masc.) : bed

Passeport (masc.) : passport

Sacoche (fem.) : bag

Temps (masc.) : time

Partir : to leave

Décoller : to take off

Arriver : to arriv

Enregistrer : to register

Attends : Wait

Toilettes (feminin pluriel) : restroom

Rejoindre : to go back to

Devant : in front of

Quelques : a few

Conduit : drive

Jusqu’à : to

Aéroport : airport

Bouchon (masc.) : traffic jam

Route (fem) : way

Etre en retard : to be late

Vite : quick

Guichet (masc.) : ticket office

Pendant : while

Paye : pay

Chauffeur (masc.) : driver

Visage (masc.) : face

En colère : angry

Dit : say

Avec : with

Portefeuille : wallet

Sautent : jump

DIALOGUE

La fin des vacances

The holidays’end

Les vacances sont finies, toute la famille va prendre l’avion pour rentrer en France. Marie et jacques vérifient une dernière fois les bagages avant de quitter l’hôtel.

The holidays are over, all the family is going to take the plane to come back to France. Marie and Jack are checking luggage for the last time before leaving the hotel.

Jacques : Marie, as tu bien regardé dans la chambre des enfants pour vérifier s’ils n’avaient rien oublié ? Marie did you look at well the kids’ bedroom to check if they didn’t forget anything?

Marie : oui, mon chéri je viens d’y aller. Il ne reste rien dans les armoires, et rien sur les lits. Et toi, tu as vérifié les passeports ? yes sweetheart, i just checked. There is nothing in the chests and nothing on the beds.And you, did you check the passports?

Jacques : Oui, tout va bien. Ils sont dans ma sacoche. Bon, il est temps de partir. L’avion décolle dans 2h30, mais le temps d’arriver à l’aéroport et d’enregistrer les bagages …Yes, everything is ok. They are in my bag. Well, it’s time to go. The plane takes off in two hours and half, but we need time to go to the airport and to register the luggage…

Marie : Charlotte, Edouard, prenez vos affaires, nous allons prendre le taxi pour l’aéroport. Charlotte, Edouard, take your staff, we are going to take the cab to the airport.

Charlotte : Attends maman, Ed est aux toilettes, je l’attends et nous vous rejoignons en bas. Wait, mum. Ed is in the restroom. I’m waiting for him and we’ll go back to you downstairs.

Les deux enfants rejoignent leurs parents devant l’hôtel quelques minutes plus tard. Ils prennent le taxi qui les conduit jusqu’à l’aéroport. Il y a des bouchons sur la route, la famille est en retard. The 2 kids go back to their parents in front of the hotel a few minutes later. They take the taxi that drives them to the airport. There is traffic jam on the way, the family is late.

Jacques : vite les enfants, Marie, allez au guichet pendant que je paye le chauffeur de taxi …Quick kids, Marie go to the ticket office while i’m paying the taxi driver.

Quelques minutes plus tard, jacques rejoint sa famille au guichet, le visage en colère. Et dit : j’ai oublié ma sacoche avec mon portefeuille et les passeports à l’hôtel. A few minutes later, Jack goes back to his family at the ticket office with an angry face. And he says: I forgot my bag with my wallet and the passport in the hotel.

Charlotte et Edouard sautent et disent: les vacances ne sont pas encore finies ! Charlotte and Edouard jump and say : holidays are not yet over !

Quatrième leçon : Grammaire et conjugaison

In the lesson 4 we will learn the French pronoun and the Present conjugation of: to have avoir, to be être and to go aller because those verbs are very used in French.

Here is a simple tab to learn the French pronouns:

Notice : there is no equivalent in French for the English pronoun “it” as in French you have to use he if you are speaking about a masculine thing or animal as you have to use “she” when you are talking about a feminine thing or animal

Example :

La souris s’enfuit  => Elle s’enfuit   ( « souris »is a feminine noun in French) The mouse is running away => It is running away

Le jardin est grand => Il est grand (« jardin » is a masculine French noun)                               The garden is big => It is big

We have already seen this point in a previous lesson, but notice well that “Vous”  is a plural form but in French you also have to use “Vous” instead of “Tu” if you do not know the person well or if this person is someone important, like a teacher for students or a boss
for employees.

Conjugation of three very common French verbs

The French conjugation is something quite difficult because there are different kinds of verbs but we will learn this in next lesson. For now, let’s start with three verbs very
useful: être, avoir et aller (to be, to have and to go)

Here is a tab of Present:

Notice that for the verb « avoir » at the first personn, you have to use the pronoun “j’” instead of “je” before a voyel.

Exercise – Exercice

Choose the correct sentence – Choisis la phrase correcte :

A  He is nice

1. Il est gentil
2. Il es gentil
3. Il ai gentil
4. Il aie gentil

B I am tall

1. Je sui grand
2. Je suie grand
3. Je suit grand
4. Je suis grand

C We are hungry

1. Nous avon faim
2. Nous avont faim
3. Nous ont faim
4. Nous avons faim

D They are fine

1. Ils va bien
   
2. Ils allont bien
3. Ils vont bien
4. Ils vas bien

E You have got a dog

1. Tu as un chien
2. Tu a un chien
3. Tu ai un chien
4. Tu ont un chien

F You are going to the market

1. Vous allons au marché
2. Vous vont au marché
3. Vous allez au marché
4. Vous avez au marché

Answers : A1, B4, C4, D3, E1, F3

Continue reading Lesson 4: Grammar, Conjugation and Vocabulary and Dialogue →

In the lesson 3 we will learn some basics of French grammar and it is now time to introduce French dialogues.

First part: Basic grammar 1: article and noun
In French, all words have gender: masculine or feminine gender
Un garçon. (a boy)
Une fille. (a girl)
The French articles agree with the noun in gender and number: masculine or feminine and plural forms.

There are 3 kinds of articles in French:
1.Definite articles
2.Indefinite articles
3.Partitive articles

1. Definite articles
Here is a simple tab to explain the definite articles
English – anglais
French – français

The
Le garçon (masc.) the boy

La fille (fem.) the girl

Les enfants (pl.) the children

As we saw, French makes a distinction between masculine and feminine gender. So in French, you have to use le for masculine persons or things and la for feminine persons or things.
Warning before a voyel you have to use l’ instead of “le” or “la”
In the plural, only les is used for both of masculine and feminine forms.

2. Indefinite articles
Here is a simple tab to explain the indefinite articles
English – anglais
French – français
a
Un garçon (masc.) a boy

Une fille (fem.) a girl

some

Des enfants (pl.) some children

Un is used for masculine persons or things and Une is used for feminine persons or things.
In the plural, only des is used for both of masculine and feminine forms.

3. Partitive articles
The partitive articles in French correspond to “some” or “any” in English. There are 4 forms of the French partitive article:
1.du masculine singular
2.de la feminine singular
3.de l’ masc. or fem. in front of a vowel or h muet
4.des masc. or fem. Plural

The partitive indicates that the quantity is unknown or uncountable. When the quantity is known/countable, use the indefinite article (or a number):
Le garçon mange du gâteau. The boy is eating some cake
La fille mange un gâteau. The girl is eating a cake

Second part: Introducing dialogues: Family

Vocabulary about family:
Père/papa Father/dad /daddy
Mère/maman Mother/Mum/mummy
Frère Brother
Sœur Sister
Oncle Uncle
Tante Aunt
Neveu nephew
Nièce Niece
Grand père/papy Grandfather/ granddaddy
Grand-mère/mamy Grandmother/ granny
Petit fils Grandson
Petite fille Granddaughter

Dialogue about family
Deux homes sont assis dans un train. Le voyage est long. L’un des deux commence une conversation :
Two men are sitting in a train. The journey is long. One of them begins a conversation:
Pierre : Bonjour, je m’appelle Pierre et vous ? (good morning, my name is Pierre, and you what’s your name ?)
Jean ¨Paul : Je m’appelle Jean Paul. (my name is Jean Paul)
Pierre : Ravi de vous rencontrer. (nice to meet you)
Jean Paul : Avez-vous des enfants ? (have you got children ?)
Pierre : Oui, j’ai trois enfants. Deux garçons et une fille. Et vous ? (yes, i have three children. Two boys and a girl. And you, have you got children ?)
Jean ¨Paul : J’ai aussi des enfants. Un garçon et une fille. Ils sont grands et j’ai cinq petits enfants : 3 petites filles et deux petits fils. (I have also some chidren. A boy and a girl. They are old and i have five grandchildren: three granddaughters and two grandsons.)
Pierre : Vous avez une grande famille. J’ai beaucoup de frères et sœurs. J’ai trois frères et trois sœurs. Ils ont tous des enfants. J’ai donc beaucoup de neveux et de nièces. (you have a big family. I have lots of brothers and sisters. I have three brothers and three sisters. They all have children. So I have a lot of nephews and nieces)
Jean Paul : j’aime les grandes familles. Le train entre en gare. Merci pour cette conversation. Au revoir Pierre. (I like the big families. The train is coming in the station. Thank you for this conversation. Good Bye Pierre)
Pierre : Au revoir.(Good Bye)

Lesson 2 : Basic greetings – Deuxième leçon : les salutations de base

Say hello

Say please and thank you

Basic meeting questions(Q) and  answers(R)

IMPORTANT : In French there is a respectfull way to speak with the people you do not know. So if you know the person well you have to say TU but if you do not know this person at all or if you have to show your respect for this person, you have to use VOUS (in English it is YOU in every case)

Q: Comment allez vous? (How are you?)

R: Je vais bien, merci. (I am fine, thank you.)

Q: Comment vous appelez vous? (What’s your name?)

R: Je m’appelle Pierre. (My name is Peter.)

Q: Quel âge avez-vous? (How old are you?)

R: J’ai 25 ans. (I am 25 years old.)

Q: D’où venez-vous? (Where are you come from?)

R: Je viens de France. (I am from France.)

Q: Où habitez vous? (Where do you live?)

R: J’habite à Paris. (I live in Paris.)