être means to be
This is used when you want to say 'I am' or 'you are' etc. Here's the verb table:
Je suis (I am) Nous sommes (We are)
Tu es (You are) Vous êtes (You are)
Il est (He is) Ils sont (They are)
Elle est (She is) Elles sont (They are)
On est (We are/one is)
As with avoir, similar rules apply. Tu es is used for speaking to friends or to just one person and the vous part is used when talking to lots of people or someone older than you that you maybe don't know. Ils sont is used if you're talking about a group of people when at least one of them is a guy and elles sont is used when you're talking about a group of people where evryone is feminine.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Basic verbs
I have to admit, verbs are just...yuck. They can be a pain in the bum to learn. The good news is that once you've learned the general pattern of one, the rest don't really seem as hard. It's just getting the hang of it that's a bit tricky.
The first main verb the french use is avoir which means to have.Here's the verb table:
J'ai I have Nous avons We have
Tu as You have (friend / one person) Vous avez You have ( Many people)
Il a He has Ils ont They have (masculine)
Elle a She has Elles ont They have (feminine)
On a One has / they have
A couple of things to mention. Tu as is used when you're speaking to a friend or someone you know fairly well or just one person. It's more informal. Vous avez is used if you're talking to a group of people (like a class) or if you're talking to someone older than you (Vous is a sign of respect). On a can be used more informally to mean we so you don't have ot use the nous avons bit. Ils ont is used when talking about a group of people where at least one of them is masculine. If every single one of them is feminine, then you can use Elles ont.
Whew! Told you it was a bit tricky. This is one of the main verbs used though so once you get the hang of it, you can start putting together simple phrases. It is also, i will admit, one of the slightly harder ones to learn. A lot of the others do just follow a normal pattern. I gave you this one first though because of how common and useful it is. It doesn't take that long to learn.
To help you along, I'll include some links on the blog to other sites that have french (verb) games and tutorials on so that you can practice. Some of them should have a sound facility as well so you can hear what each french word should sound like.
Have fun with verbs and keep watching this space for regular updates! :)
P.S please feel free to leave me any comments about how you're finding these mini tutorials and if there's anything in particular you would like me to cover. Thank you!
The first main verb the french use is avoir which means to have.Here's the verb table:
J'ai I have Nous avons We have
Tu as You have (friend / one person) Vous avez You have ( Many people)
Il a He has Ils ont They have (masculine)
Elle a She has Elles ont They have (feminine)
On a One has / they have
A couple of things to mention. Tu as is used when you're speaking to a friend or someone you know fairly well or just one person. It's more informal. Vous avez is used if you're talking to a group of people (like a class) or if you're talking to someone older than you (Vous is a sign of respect). On a can be used more informally to mean we so you don't have ot use the nous avons bit. Ils ont is used when talking about a group of people where at least one of them is masculine. If every single one of them is feminine, then you can use Elles ont.
Whew! Told you it was a bit tricky. This is one of the main verbs used though so once you get the hang of it, you can start putting together simple phrases. It is also, i will admit, one of the slightly harder ones to learn. A lot of the others do just follow a normal pattern. I gave you this one first though because of how common and useful it is. It doesn't take that long to learn.
To help you along, I'll include some links on the blog to other sites that have french (verb) games and tutorials on so that you can practice. Some of them should have a sound facility as well so you can hear what each french word should sound like.
Have fun with verbs and keep watching this space for regular updates! :)
P.S please feel free to leave me any comments about how you're finding these mini tutorials and if there's anything in particular you would like me to cover. Thank you!
Basic french greetings
Bonjour! Salut!
So you've decided to take on the challenge that is the french language...well you've definitely come to the right place! I'm still learning and perfecting it at the moment but I do know the basics. A couple of my friends have been nagging me to teach them bits here and there so I've decided to set up a blog to (hopefully) help them and anyone else who's interested.
This 1st post will be about the main greetings used and I'll cover verbs, genders, common phrases etc in upcoming posts. J'espère que vous les aimez bien (I hope you like them)!
Main phrases used (pronunciation tips are in brackets) :
Bonjour - Hello or good day (bon - jure)
Salut - Hi. This tends to be used between friends or people you know. Otherwise just stick to bonjour. (Sa - loo)
Bonsoir - Good evening (Bon - swa)
Au revoir - Bye (say it how you see it...sorry...can't really help much with this one)
Allo - Hello. Surprisingly a lot of french people actually say this instead of bonjour. it's just like hello...but with a french accent!
Ça va? - How are you? This is a key 1st phrase in most conversations. Again, pretty much say it how you see it.
Bien merci - Good thank you.
Mal - Bad (If you're having a particularly offish kind of day.)
This is just one of many posts to come which literally covers the basics. I'll cover some more interesting stuff in the next posts! :)
So you've decided to take on the challenge that is the french language...well you've definitely come to the right place! I'm still learning and perfecting it at the moment but I do know the basics. A couple of my friends have been nagging me to teach them bits here and there so I've decided to set up a blog to (hopefully) help them and anyone else who's interested.
This 1st post will be about the main greetings used and I'll cover verbs, genders, common phrases etc in upcoming posts. J'espère que vous les aimez bien (I hope you like them)!
Main phrases used (pronunciation tips are in brackets) :
Bonjour - Hello or good day (bon - jure)
Salut - Hi. This tends to be used between friends or people you know. Otherwise just stick to bonjour. (Sa - loo)
Bonsoir - Good evening (Bon - swa)
Au revoir - Bye (say it how you see it...sorry...can't really help much with this one)
Allo - Hello. Surprisingly a lot of french people actually say this instead of bonjour. it's just like hello...but with a french accent!
Ça va? - How are you? This is a key 1st phrase in most conversations. Again, pretty much say it how you see it.
Bien merci - Good thank you.
Mal - Bad (If you're having a particularly offish kind of day.)
This is just one of many posts to come which literally covers the basics. I'll cover some more interesting stuff in the next posts! :)
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