Francophonez

here, the superscript « ᵐ » is used to represent masculine nouns, and « ᶠ » will be used to show that a noun is feminine.

• world, mondeᵐ [mɔ̃d] • time, tempsᵐ [tɑ̃] • home, foyerᵐ [fwa.je] • life, vieᶠ [vi] • person, personneᶠ [pɛʁ.sɔn]* • man, hommeᵐ [ɔm]   • woman, femmeᶠ [fam] • girl, filleᶠ [fij] • boy, garçonᵐ [ɡaʁ.sɔ̃]   • name, nomᵐ [nɔ̃] • thing, choseᶠ [ʃoz]

• this/that, ce* [sə] • — cet [sɛt] — (liaison) • — cette [sɛt] — (female) • — ces [se] — (plural)

* « ce » only means « it » when used with « être »; for example, « c’est », which means « it is ». it can only be used with singular, masculine adjectives. * when using these words to say « this », « -ci » [si] is used at the end of the noun; for example, « cet homme-ci ». when using it to mean « that », « -là » [la] is used at the end of the noun; for example, « ces maisons-là ».

• this/that, ça [sa] — (informal)

• when writing numbers, commas are used as a decimal separator (10,99), while spaces are used as a thousands separator (3 451 900).  • spaces are required before and after punctuation marks made up of two or more parts (or lines). • colons are used to introduce speech, e.g.  « il a dit : « elle est vraiment fâchée. »» • instead of quotation marks, guillemets (« ») are used to represent speech. unlike english, they are used at the start and the end of an entire conversation. • a dash is used to introduce another person’s speech on the next line.

• my name is (name), je m’appelle (name) • — to be called, appeler — appelle [a.pɛl] • i am (age) years old, j’ai (age) ans • — year (age), an — ans [ɑ̃] • my birthday is the (day) of (month), mon anniversaire est le (day) (month) • — birthday, anniversaire [a.ni.vɛʁ.sɛʁ] • i live in (place), j’habite à (place) • — to live, habiter — habite [a.bit] • i am (nationality), je suis (nationality)

french verbs are divided into three groups, depending on the ending of their infinitive form. the following chart shows the conjugation endings. there are other verbs that have irregular conjugations as well. for example, « aller » is an irregular verb. the different groups are verbs ending with « -er » (e.g. « parler »),  « -ir » (« choisir ») and « -re » (« perdre »).

• nice, gentil(e) [ʒɑ̃.ti] • funny, amusant(e) [a.my.zɑ̃] • boring, ennuyeux / ennuyeuse [ɑ̃.nɥi.jø] • handsome/beautiful, beau / belle [bo] / [bɛl] (before noun) • good, bon(ne) [bɔ̃] (before noun) • bad, mauvais(e) [mo.vɛ] (before noun) • big/tall, grand(e) [ɡʁɑ̃] * • small, petit(e) [pə.ti] (before noun)   • young, jeune [ʒœn] (before noun) • old, vieux / vieille [vjø] (before noun) ** • interesting, intéressant(e) [ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.sɑ̃] • smart, intelligent(e) [ɛ̃.te.li.ʒɑ̃]   • sad, triste [tʁist] • angry, fâché(e) [fɑ.ʃe] • happy, heureux / heureuse [œ.ʁø]  • disgusting, dégoûtant(e) [de.ɡu.tɑ̃]   • pretty, joli(e) [ʒɔ.li] • cute, migon(ne) [mi.ɲɔ̃] • fat, gros(se) [ɡʁo] • thin, maigre [mɛɡʁ]  

auxiliary verbs are verbs used in forming the tense, mood and voice of other verbs; they are generally used accompanying the main verb of a sentence. here, the subscript « ₚ » will be used to denote the second-person plural in english ( « you » ).

• to be, être [ɛtʁ] • — i am, je suis [sɥi] • — you are, tu es [ɛ]   • — he/she is, il/elle est [ɛ]   • — we are, nous sommes [sɔm]   • — youₚ are, vous êtes [ɛt] • — they are, ils/elles sont [sɔ̃]

nous sommes petits, we are small. - as an auxiliary verb, « être » is generally used to form the passive voice. il est poursuivi, he is being chased.

• to have, avoir [a.vwaʁ] • — i have, j’ai [e] • — you have, tu as [a] • — he/she has, il/elle a [a] • — we have, nous avons [a.vɔ̃] • — youₚ have, vous avez [a.ve] • — they have, ils/elles ont [ɔ̃]  

tu es un stylo, you have a pen. - as an auxiliary verb, « avoir » is used to form the perfect tense. j’ai mangé les nouilles, i (have) ate the noodles. 

• to go, aller [a.le] • — i go, je vais [vɛ] • — you go, tu va [vɑ] • — he/she goes, il/elle va [va] • — we go, nous allons [a.lɔ̃] • — youₚ go, vous allez [a.le] • — they go, ils/elles vont [vɔ̃]

• welcome, bienvenue [bjɛ̃.və.ny]  • pleased to meet you, enchanté [ɑ̃.ʃɑ̃.te]*    • hello, bonjour [bɔ̃.ʒuʁ] — (formal, morning/afternoon) • hello, bonsoir [bɔ̃.swaʁ] — (formal, evening) • goodbye, au revoir [ɔʁ.vwaʁ] — (formal, morning/afternoon) • goodbye, bonne nuit [bɔn.nɥi] — (formal, evening) • hello/goodbye, salut [sa.ly] — (informal) • how are you (going)?, comment allez-vous? [kɔ.mɑ̃.t‿a.le.vu] — (formal) • how are you (going)?, ça va? [sa.va] — (informal) • it’s going well, ça va bien [sa.va.bjɛ̃]   • (how about) you?, et vous? [e.vu] — (formal) • (how about) you?, et toi? [e.twa] — (informal) • have a nice day, bonne journée [bɔn.ʒuʁ.ne] • please, s'il vous plaît [sil.vu.plɛ] — (formal) • please, s'il te plaît [sil.tə.plɛ] — (informal) • thank you, merci [mɛʁ.si] • you’re welcome, de rien [də.ʁjɛ̃]   • excuse me, excusez-moi [ɛk.sky.ze.mwa] • sorry, désolé [de.zɔ.le] • yes, oui [wi] • maybe, peut-être [pø.t‿ɛtʁ] • okay, d’accord [da.kɔʁ] • no, non [nɔ̃]

the spelling and pronunciation of french adjectives are affected by the noun’s grammatical gender and number. it also applies to the speaker, the person being talked to or about.

with french personal pronouns, there are two grammatical numbers (singular (S), plural (P)), three grammatical persons (first, second and third - 1, 2 and 3) and three genders: masculine, feminine and a pronoun for non-specific objects or beings (the « indeterminate » (I)). 

* in informal situations, the indeterminate ( « on » ) can be used in place of the first-person plural ( « nous » ). in formal situations, the second-person singular ( « tu » ) has to be replaced with the plural equivalent ( « vous » ). the third-person singulars ( « il » and « elle » ) can also be translated into « it » , and are used according to the noun’s grammatical gender.

•  100 cent [sɑ̃]

200-900 can be expressed with the first number followed by « cents » .* — • 111 cent onze • 250 deux cent cinquante • 500 cinq cents • 909 neuf cent neuf 

* only multiples of one-hundred in 200-900 can use « cents » after it. if there are any numbers following the first one (for example, 209, 983, etc) then « cent » must still be used.

•  1.000 mille [mil] 

2.000-999.000 can be expressed with the numbers before the full stop followed by « mille » . — 1.100 mille cent • 5.555 cinq mille cinq cent cinquante-cinq • 10.000 dix mil • 75.000 soixante-dix-cinq mille • 100.000 cent mille •  250.789 deux cent cinquante mille sept cent quatre-vingts-neuf

•  1.000.000 un million [œ̃.mil.jɔ̃]

the international phonetic alphabet is a system of phonetic notation, and the representation of spoken language. the following letters, along with examples of how to pronounce them in both french and english, are transcribed as sounds which are spoken in french.

•  consonants •  — /b/, bon, book •  — /d/, deux, dog •  — /f/, faire, foot •  — /g/, garçon, gum •  — /k/, corps, cat •  — /l/, laisser, leap •  — /m/, même, more, •  — /n/, nous, need •  — /ɲ/, gagner, canyon •  — /ŋ/, funk, camping •  — /p/, père, pear •  — /ʁ/, treize, loch* •  — /s/, soixante, sick •  — /ʃ/, chance, shoe •  — /t/, tout, tickle •  — /v/, vous, vein •  — /z/, zéro, zoo •  — /ʒ/, jamais, measure

* /ʁ/ is a guttural R, which is pronounced from the back of the vocal tract. •  semivowels •  — /j/, fille, yet •  — /w/, oui, wet •  — /ɥ/, huit, (between yet and wet)

•  oral vowels •  — /a/, femme, trap •  — /ɑ/, pâte, bra •  — /e/, les, (between be and best) •  — /ɛ/, renne, best •  — /ə/, faisons, again •  — /i/, fils, please •  — /œ/, sœur, bird •  — /ø/, deux, (between but and bird) •  — /o/, bureau, story •  — /ɔ/, hôpital, off •  — /u/, coup, (between food and good) •  — /y/, tu, too

•  nasal vowels •  — /ɑ̃/, temp, song* •  — /ɛ̃/, bien, hang •  — /œ̃/, un, burn •  — /ɔ̃/, nom, drawn

* /◌̃/ is used to represent a nasal vowel, where the soft palate is lowered.

•  suprasegmentals •  — /./, (syllable boundary) •  — /‿/, (liaison) *