Objectives:

  • Learn basic French greetings and pronunciation.
  • Learn basic common French phrases.

french pdf lesson grammar free

1. French Greetings

Let’s start by saying a few basic words in French.

French Pronunciation English
bonjour bon-zhoor Hello
bonsoir bon-swahr Good evening
au revoir oh ruh-vwar Goodbye
oui wee Yes
non nawn No

2. Basic Pronunciation Guide

Let’s start with the consonants.

There are many similarities between English and French:

The consonants “b, c, d, f, g, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, x, z” are generally pronounced the same way in French and in English.

  • “Ch” is generally pronounced [ʃ] like “sh” in English

chocolat, chat

“ph” is generally pronounced [f] like “f” in English

Examples :

philosophie, éléphant

  • Some words are also pronounced [k], they are few in number:

orchestre, technique, charisme

Now let’s look at some vowels:

  • “i” is pronounced [i] like in “see”, “she”, “me”

Examples:

ici, merci, île

  • “a” is generally pronounced [a] or [ɑ] as in “lie”, “why”, “not”, “on”, “dog”

Examples:

papa, magique, ami, animal

  • “ou” is pronounced [u] like in “blue”, “too”

Examples:

chou, fou

  • “o” is pronounced [o] or [ɔ] like in “go” or “door”

Examples :

passeport, fort, gros, démographie

Note: The final “e, s, t” are not pronounced.

Examples :

chat, chocolat, passeport, fort, gros

Exercise:

Read the words below: 


free basic pronounciation guide


3. Common Phrases

French Pronunciation English
s’il vous plaît see voo play Please
merci mair-see Thank you
désolé day-soh-lay Sorry
excusez-moi ex-kew-zay mwah Excuse me
à plus tard ah ploo tar See you later
Comment allez-vous ? kom-mawn tah-lay voo How are you? (formal)
Ça va ? sah vah How are you? (informal)
Ça va bien, merci. sah vah byan, mair-see I’m good, thank you
Comme ci, comme ça. kohm see, kohm sah I’m so-so
Pas bien. pah byan Not good

Practice Exercise
Try to use these phrases in a simple conversation. For example:

A: Bonjour!
B: Bonjour! Comment allez-vous ?
A: Ça va bien, merci. Et vous ?
B: Ça va bien, merci.

answers

A: Hello!

B: Hello! How’s it going?

A: I’m doing well, thank you. How about you?

B: I’m fine, thank you.


French greetings lesson : PDF Downloads