Learn to Speak French French (français) French is a Romance language spoken by about 338 million people. It is the third most spoken language in Europe, after German and English, and is also spoken in parts of Africa, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania. The French alphabet (l’alphabet français) A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i J j K k L l M m [ɑ] [be] [se] [de] [ə] [ɛf] [ʒe] [aʃ] [i] [ʒi] [ka] [ɛl] [ɛm] N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z [ɛn] [o] [pe] [ky] [ɛʀ] [ɛs] [te] [y] [ve] [dubləve] [iks] [igʀɛk] [zɛd]
Subject Pronouns / Les pronoms sujets
| je | /ʒə/ | I | nous | /nu/ | We |
| tu | /ty/ | You (informal) | vous | /vu/ | You (formal and plural) |
| il elle on | /il/ /ɛl/ /ɔ̃/ | He She One | ils elles | /il/ /ɛl/ | They (masc.) They (fem.) |
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, they, you, in the indefinite sense, and it is often used instead of nous to mean we.
Je is reduced to j’ before a word beginning with a vowel sound in both formal and informal language. Tu is reduced to t’ before a vowel sound in informal language only.
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.
Object Pronouns In French:
