Basics 1 · 476dcdcc942fcc3d9872268591b99a1f
Welcome to French!
French pronunciation may seem tricky at first, but a lot of of the sounds are actually similar to English!
Exception! The e in femme is pronounced like the a in chat.
To pronounce a French u, round your lips (as if blowing a kiss!), touch your tongue to the back of your bottom teeth, and say ee.
Gender
In French, all nouns are either masculine or feminine, even when they don’t refer to people. For masculine nouns use un, and for feminine nouns use une.
un garçona boy
une fillea girl
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| un garçon un homme un croissant |
une fille une femme une orange |
Verbs
In English, verbs don’t change much depending on the person (I run, We run, etc.), but there are exceptions. For example, we say I am, but You are, and She is. In French, all verbs change depending on whether it’s I, you, she, etc.
| être to be |
|
|---|---|
| je I |
suis am |
| tu you (informal) |
es are |
| il he |
est is |
| elle she |
est is |
Notice that il and elle always have the same verb form, so we’ll group them together from now on.
Use your nose!
French has some sounds that are pronounced while air flows out through the nose. When this happens, the n or m that follows the vowel isn’t actually pronounced.
nasal "eh"