French Lessons- Vocabulary
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Monday | lundi (pronounced: lun-dee) |
| Tuesday | mardi (pronounced like: Mardi Gras) |
| Wednesday | mercredi (pronounced: mer-cra-dee) |
| Thursday | jeudi (pronounced: ju-dee) |
| Friday | vendredi (pronounced: von-dra-dee) |
| Saturday | samedi (pronounced: sa-mey-dee) |
| Sunday | dimanche (pronounced: dee-man-sh) |
French Months of the Year
This lesson will teach you how to say the months of the year in French. The names of the months are considered to be international words. They are fairly similar in French and English languages and should be easy for you to learn. Note that in French, the months are not capitalized unless they occur in the beginning of a sentence. Besides that, all months in French are masculine.
| French word | English translation | Pronunciation | |
| janvier | January | zhah(n)-vyay | |
| février | February | fay-vree-yay | |
| mars | March | mahrs | |
| avril | April | ah-vreel | |
| mai | May | meh | |
| juin | June | zhwa(n) | |
| juillet | July | zhwee-eh | |
| août | August | oo or oot | |
| septembre | September | sehp-tah(n)br | |
| octobre | October | ohk-tohbr | |
| novembre | November | noh-vah(n)br | |
| décembre | December | day-sah(n)br |
French Prepositions Used with Months
In order to say that something is going to happen “in” a certain month, French speakers use the preposition “en”, which is pronounced as [ah(n)]. If you’d like to say that something has been happening “since” a certain month, the preposition “depuis” should be used. The table below gives a few examples:| depuis décembre | since December | duh-pwee day-sah(n)br | |
| un mois | a month | uh(n) mwah | |
| une année | a year | ewn ah-nay | |
| un an | one year | uhN nahN |
Phrases and examples
Il y a douze mois dans l’année There are twelve months in a year Je suis né le 10 décembre I was born on the 10th of December
Comments
Unlike English, the names of the months do not begin with a capital letter.
As you can read and listen to the sounds of the words for the months in French, you will notice that they are very similar to English and should not give you any problems in learning by heart. Listen and repeat as often as possible.
|
PROFESSIONS |
|
| engineer | un ingénieur |
| mechanic | un méchanicien |
| technician | un(e) technicien(ne) |
| electrician | un électricien |
| builder | un maçon |
| secretary | une secrétaire |
| cook | un(e) cuisinier / cuisinière |
| policeman | un agent de police |
| hairdresser | un(e) coiffeur / coiffeuse |
| waiter | un serveur |
| waitress | une serveuse |
| unemployed | en chômage |
|
GREETINGS |
|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Good day | Bonjour |
| Good evening | Bonsoir |
| Good night | Bonsoir |
| Hi | Salut |
| Good bye | Au revoir |
| See you soon | A bientôt |
|
GENERAL RESPONSES |
|
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| That depends | Cela dépend |
| I don’t know | Je ne sais pas |
| I don’t think so | Je ne crois pas |
| I suppose so | Je suppose que oui |
| I think so | Je crois que oui |
| It doesn’t matter | Ça ne fait rien |
| I don’t mind | Cela m’est égal |
| Of course | Bien sûr |
| True | Vrai |
| With pleasure | Avec plasir |
|
QUESTION WORDS |
|
| Where? | Où? |
| When? | Quand? |
| Why? | Porquoi? |
| What? | Qu’est-ce que/qui…? |
| Who? | Qui? |
| How? | Comment? |
| How much/many? | Combien? |
| Is/are there? | Y a-t-il? |
| Congratulations! | Félicitations! |
| Happy Birthday! | Bon anniversaire! |
| Happy Christmas! | Joyeux Noël! |
| Happy New Year! | Bonne Année! |
| Happy Easter! | Joyeuses Pâques! |
| Good Luck! | Bonne chance! |
| Enjoy the meal! | Bon appétit! |
| Have a safe journey! | Bon voyage! |
| Have a good holiday! | Bonnes vacances! |
| Take Care! | Prenez/Prends garde! |
| Have a nice day! | Bonne journée! |
|
ETIQUETTE |
|
| Please | S’il vous/te plaît |
| Thank you (very much) | Merci (beaucoup) |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| I’m sorry, but… | Je regrette, mais… |
| That’s a shame | Quel dommage |
| May I… ? | Puis-je… ? |
Spoken French[/caption]
Personality Traits in French
Now let’s say you’re in France and a friend tries to set you up on a blind date. You’ll need to know some personality trait vocabulary in French. Let’s look at some basic personality trait adjectives in French:| Masculine | Plural Masculine | Feminine | Plural Feminine | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| intelligent | intelligents (an tehl ee jahn) | intelligente | intelligentes (an tehl ee jahntuh) | intelligent |
| gentil | gentils (jahn tee) | gentille | gentilles (jahn teeyuh) | kind |
| avare | avares (ah vahr) | avare | avares (ah vahr) | stingy |
| sympathique | sympathiques (sam pah teek) | sympathique | sympathiques (sam pah teek) | nice/sympathetic |
| méchant | méchants (meh shahn) | méchante | méchantes (meh shahn tuh) | mean |
| créatif | créatifs (cray ah teef) | créative | créatives (cray ah teev) | creative |
| artistique | artistiques (ahr tee steek) | artistique | artistiques (ahr tee steek) | artistic |
| timide | timides (tee meed) | timide | timides (tee meed) | timid/ shy |
| sortant | sortants (sohr tahn) | sortante | sortantes (sohr tahntuh) | outgoing |
| branché | branchés (brahn shay) | branchée | branchées (brahn shay) | cool/connected |
| charmant | charmants (shahr mahn) | charmante | charmantes (shahr mahntuh) | charming |
| fidèle | fidèles (fee dehl) | fidèle | fidèles (fee dehl) | loyal |
| bavard | bavards (bah vahr) | bavarde | bavardes (bah vahr duh) | talkative |
| calme | calmes (cahl muh) | calme | calmes (cahlmuh) | quiet/ calm |
| organisé | organisés (ohr gah nee zay) | organisée | organisées (ohr gah nee zay) | organized |
| désorganisé | désorganisés (day zohr gah nee zay) | désorganisée | désorganisées (day zohr gah nee zay) | disorganized/messy |
| compréhensif | compréhensifs (cohm pray ahn seef) | compréhensive | compréhensives (cohm pray ahn seev) | understanding |
| bon | bons (bohn) | bonne | bonnes (buhnnuh) | good |
| mauvais | mauvais (moh vay) | mauvaise | mauvaises (moh vehz) | bad |
| paresseux | paresseux (pah reh suh) | paresseuse | paresseuses (pah reh suhz) | lazy |
| travailleur | travailleurs (trah vah ee uhr) | travailleuse | travailleuses (trah vah ee uhz) | hardworking |
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