you say what you do in French, you don’t put an article in front of the job name: I’m 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…
| J’ai deux sœurs. | I have two sisters. |
| J’ai 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 you’re female, you’ll say seule (alone) rather than seul.
I’m staying…
| Je suis descendu à l’hôtel du Palais. | I’m staying at the Palace Hotel. |
| Vous êtes descendu à quel hôtel? | Which hotel are you staying at? |
| Je suis à Paris pour une semaine. | I’m staying in Paris for a week. |
| Je loge chez des amis. | I’m staying with friends. |
To say that you’ve 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 have…for…
| Ça fait cinq ans que je suis infirmière. | I’ve been a nurse for five years. |
| Ça fait dix ans que je vis en France. | I’ve lived in France for ten years. |
| Je suis à Saint-Raphaël depuis deux semaines. | I’ve been in Saint-Raphaël for two weeks. |
| J’apprends le français depuis 6 mois. | I’ve been learning French for 6 months. |
When you’re 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 don’t know very well or parle-moi to someone you’re 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 c’est at the beginning of the sentence before the question word: quoi (what), où (where), quand (when) and so on.
What…?
| C’est quoi ton adresse? | What’s your address? |
| C’est quoi le numéro de téléphone d’Olivier? | What’s Olivier’s phone number? |
| Qu’est-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? |
| C’est 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 d’où? | Where do you come from? |
| Tu loges où? | Where are you staying? |
When…?
| C’est 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.
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 s’est bien passé,…? (How was…?).
How…?
| Ça s’est bien passé, tes vacances? | How was your holiday? |
| Ça s’est bien passé, votre vol? | How was your flight? |
| Ça se passe bien, à l’université? | How’s university going? |
Sometimes you’ll want to ask why a friend or acquaintance did or didn’t do something. You can use Pourquoi…? (Why…?) and the past tense to ask. For more information on the past tense, see here.
Why…?
