BON À SAVOIR!
If you have to ask Vous avez quel âge?, you can always add sans indiscrétion (if you dont mind my asking).
To talk about who you are and what you do, use je suis (I am). This comes from the verb être. For more information on être, see here.
Je suis une amie de Paul.Im a friend of Pauls.Je suis le frère de Ben.Im Bens brother.Je suis célibataire.Im single.Je travaille en tant que programmeur pour lentreprise Dunier.I work as a programmer for the Dunier company.Je suis enseignant.Im a teacher.BON À SAVOIR!
When you say what you do in French, you dont put an article in front of the job name: Im a baker is je suis boulanger. However, you do need an article when you address someone by their title, so Mrs Chairwoman is Madame la Directrice.
I have
Jai deux sœurs.I have two sisters.Jai un fils et une fille.I have one son and one daughter.On a de la famille dans le sud de la France.We have relatives in southern France.Elle a les yeux bleus.She has blue eyes.Il a les cheveux châtain.He has brown hair.I live
Je vis au pays de Galles.I live in Wales.Je vis seul.I live alone.On habite dans un appartement.We live in a flat.BON À SAVOIR!
If youre female, youll say seule (alone) rather than seul.
Im staying
Je suis descendu à lhôtel du Palais.Im staying at the Palace Hotel.Vous êtes descendu à quel hôtel?Which hotel are you staying at?Je suis à Paris pour une semaine.Im staying in Paris for a week.Je loge chez des amis.Im staying with friends.To say that youve done something for a given length of time, use ça fait followed by a time word such as jour (day), semaine (week) or an (year) and the verb in the present tense. For more information on the present tense, see here.
I havefor
Ça fait cinq ans que je suis infirmière.Ive been a nurse for five years.Ça fait dix ans que je vis en France.Ive lived in France for ten years.Je suis à Saint-Raphaël depuis deux semaines.Ive been in Saint-Raphaël for two weeks.Japprends le français depuis 6 mois.Ive been learning French for 6 months.ASKING FOR INFORMATION
When youre chatting socially, you will want to ask any number of questions. One simple way of finding out information from someone is to say parlez-moi (tell me) to someone you dont know very well or parle-moi to someone youre on friendly terms with.
Tell me
Parlez-moi de votre famille.Tell me about your family.Parlez-moi un peu de vous.Tell me a bit about yourself.Parle-moi de ton nouveau copain.Tell me about your new boyfriend.Dis-moi en quoi consiste ton boulot.Tell me what your job involves.Another handy way of asking for information in spoken French is to put cest at the beginning of the sentence before the question word: quoi (what), où (where), quand (when) and so on.
What?
Cest quoi ton adresse?Whats your address?Cest quoi le numéro de téléphone dOlivier?Whats Oliviers phone number?Quest-ce que tu fais dans la vie?What do you do?À quoi elle ressemble?What does she look like?Where?
Où est votre bureau?Where is your office?Cest où cette soirée?Where is the party being held?Où est-ce que tu travailles?Where do you work?Où est-ce que tu habites?Where do you live?Tu viens doù?Where do you come from?Tu loges où?Where are you staying?When?
Cest quand ton anniversaire?When is your birthday?Quand est-ce que tu arrives?When will you be here?Quand est-ce que Laurent doit arriver?When is Laurent supposed to get here?Quand est-ce que James vient nous rendre visite?When is James coming to visit us?À quelle heure on se retrouve?What time are we meeting?If you want to ask how long someone has been doing something, use Ça fait longtemps que? (How long have you?) followed by the present tense. For more information on the present tense, see here.
If you want to ask how long someone has been doing something, use Ça fait longtemps que? (How long have you?) followed by the present tense. For more information on the present tense, see here.
How long have?
Ça fait longtemps que tu es en France?How long have you been in France?Ça fait longtemps que tu travailles ici?How long have you been working here?Ça fait longtemps que vous attendez?How long have you been waiting?A very versatile way of asking someone socially how something is going or has gone is to use Ça se passe bien,? (How is?) or Ça sest bien passé,? (How was?).
How?
Ça sest bien passé, tes vacances?How was your holiday?Ça sest bien passé, votre vol?How was your flight?Ça se passe bien, à luniversité?Hows university going?Sometimes youll want to ask why a friend or acquaintance did or didnt do something. You can use Pourquoi? (Why?) and the past tense to ask. For more information on the past tense, see here.
Why?
Pourquoi est-ce que tu ne mas pas téléphoné?Why didnt you call me?Pourquoi est-ce que tu ny es pas allé?Why didnt you go?Pourquoi est-ce que tu as déménagé?Why did you move house?Pourquoi est-ce quelle a démissionné?Why did she quit her job?SAYING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO
When youre talking to friends or colleagues you will often need to be able to talk about what you would like to do. To say what you want to do, use je voudrais (Id like). voudrais comes from the verb vouloir. For more information on vouloir, see here.
Id like to
Je voudrais te remercier de mavoir aidé.Id like to thank you for helping me.Je voudrais parler à M. Gautier, sil vous plaît.Id like to speak to Mr Gautier, please.On voudrait tinviter à prendre un verre.Wed like to take you out for a drink.On voudrait te présenter un ami.Wed like you to meet a friend.You can also use je veux (I want) to talk about what you want to do. If you want to say that you want someone to do something, you use je veux que followed by the subjunctive. For more information on the subjunctive, see here.
I want to
Je veux organiser une soirée surprise.I want to organize a surprise party.Je veux inviter quelques amis pour mon anniversaire.I want to have a few friends over for my birthday.Je veux que tu viennes avec moi.I want you to come with me.Je veux que la soirée soit réussie.I want the evening to be a success.MAKING SUGGESTIONS
One easy way of making suggestions to your friends and colleagues is to use on pourrait (we could) followed by the verb in the infinitive. pourrait comes from the verb pouvoir. For more information on pouvoir, see here.
We could
On pourrait demander à Paul de se joindre à nous.We could ask Paul to join us.On pourrait se voir à un autre moment.We could meet another time.On pourrait prendre un verre un de ces jours.We could go out for a drink some time.On pourrait se retrouver au Café de la Poste.We could meet up at the Café de la Poste.Just as in English you can make a suggestion by simply asking Pourquoi ne pas? (Why dont?). You will notice that French speakers very often omit ne to make sentences shorter this is mainly in spoken French.
Why dont?
Pourquoi ne pas se donner rendez-vous un de ces jours?Why dont we get together sometime?Pourquoi pas inviter Fabien et sa copine?Why dont we invite Fabien and his girlfriend?Pourquoi pas déjeuner avec moi?Why dont you meet me for lunch?Pourquoi tu ne les appelles pas?Why dont you phone them?You can also make a suggestion using the French phrase Et si? (How about?) which is followed by a verb in the imperfect tense. For more information on the imperfect tense, see here.
How about?
Et si on les invitait à dîner?How about asking them round for dinner?Et si tu venais avec nous?How about if you came with us?Et si je passais te prendre le matin?How about if I picked you up in the morning?Use Est-ce que je devrais? (Should I?) followed by the verb in the infinitive to ask if you should do something. devrais comes from the verb devoir. For more information on devoir, see here.