French Phrases: Basic French words
Function words
The following are some basic 'function' words in French. They provide some of
the 'glue' that allow other words (nouns, adjectives etc) to be put together to
form sentences.
See also: French subject pronouns.
| de | də, d, t | of, from | | du | dy | of/from the (masculine1 singular); some | | des | de | of/from the (plural); some | | à | a | to; at; in2 | | au | o | to/at/in2 the (masculine1 singular) | | aux | o | to/at/in2 the (plural) | | le | lə, lø | the (with masculine1 word) | | la | la | the (with feminine1 word) | | les | le | the (with plural) | | pour | puʁ | for | | par | paʁ | by; via | | sur | syʁ | on | | dans | dɑ̃ | in2 | | en | ɑ̃ | in2 | | avec | avɛk | with | | dehors | dəɔʁ | outside, out | | là | la | here, there; now | | ici | isi | here | | là-bas | laba | there, over there | | mon | mõ | my (masculine) | | ma | ma | my (feminine) | | mes | me | my (plural) | | votre | vɔtʁə | your | | quoi? | kwa | what? | | quand? | kɑ̃ | when? | | pourquoi? | puʁkwa | why? | | quel? | kɛl | which? | | combien de... | kõbjæ̃d | how much...?, how many...? | | comment? | kɔmɑ̃ | how?; pardon?, what did you say? | | parce que | paʁsk(ə) | because | | près de... | pʁe də, pʁɛd | near to... | | près d'ici | pʁɛdisi | nearby, near here | | loin | lwæ̃ | far | | très | tʁe | very | | peu | pø | little, hardly | | bien | bjæ̃ | well; rather | | assez | ase | quite; enough, sufficiently | | trop | tʁo | too; too much | | trop de... | tʁod | too much...; too many... | | pas | pa | not | | jamais | ʒame | never | | toujours | tuʒuʁ | always; still | | encore | ɑ̃kɔʁ | still, yet | | plus | ply, plys | more | | moins | mwæ̃ | less, fewer | | que | kə | that; what |
 Suggest a change / proposez une modificationNotes:
1. French nouns are arbitrarily divided into two groups, usually called 'masculine' and
'feminine', according to various criteria such as the gender of the person/animal they
represent, or the ending of the noun. The gender of the noun determines which form of
determiners (words meaning 'the', 'a', 'some', 'any', 'my' etc) and adjectives are used.
2. As a very general rule, dans is used in cases where there is a determiner
and en in other cases, such as before names of countries and regions
and in figurative expressions. In some cases, au, à la
and aux are used with a similar meaning to dans le/dans la/dans les.
The following phrases are worth knowing:
| il y a... | il i ja, ilja | there is...; there are... | | y a... (Informal) | ja... | there is...; there are... | | c'est... | se | it's... | | ce n'est pas... | sne pa | it isn't... | | ceci est... | søsi e | this is... | | ce n'est pas... | s(ə)ne pa | it isn't... | | voilà | vwala | here's..., there's... | | voici | vwasi | here is... | | est-ce que... | ɛsk(ə) | is it true that... (formula used to ask a question in French) | | est-ce qu'il y a...? | ɛskilja | is there...? | | j'ai... | ʒe | I have... | | avez-vous...? | ave vu | do you have...? | | je suis... | ʒə sɥi | I am... | | je ne suis pas... | ʒən sɥi pas | I'm not... | | êtes vous...? | ɛt vu | are you...? | | (en) anglais | (ɑ̃n) ɑ̃gle | (in) English | | (en) français | (ɑ̃) fʁɑ̃se | (in) French |
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Page written by Neil Coffey. Copyright (c) Javamex UK 2008. All rights reserved. | Search phrases:
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