AS PER MSU BARODA FRENCH SYLLABUS (updates daily with a new topic)

FRENCH NOTES

TOPICS COVERED TILL DATE :

1. Introduction
2. The French alphabets
3. Some common greetings in French
4. Common French words used in English
5. Basic conversational questions in French
6. How to count numbers in French 
7. The days of the week in French
8. The months of the year in French
9. Articles (a,an,the) in french
10. The Family in French
11. Name of colors in French
12. Countries and nationalities, Continents
13. The professions in French
14. French words for body parts

1. INTRODUCTION

French is one of the widely spoken languages in the world. This language has now became a major international communication language. It is the second most learned language after English language. 

Approx. 220 million people in today's world speak French language which makes it the sixth most spoken language of the world.

France is a country located on the western edge of Europe, bordered by the Bay of Biscay (North Atlantic Ocean) in the west, by the English Channel in the northwest, by the North Sea in the north.

Neighboring countries of France :

France borders Belgium and Luxembourg in the northeast, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy in the east, the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco, Spain, and Andorra in the south. France also shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom.

FRENCH LANGUAGE is spoken in : 

1. Belgium 
2. Benin
3.  Burkina Faso
4.  Burundi
5.  Cameroon
6.  Canada 
7. Chad
8.  the Ivory Coast, 
9. the Democratic Republic of the Congo
10.  Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea
11. France
12.  Haiti 
13. Luxembourg
14. Madagascar
15. Mali
16. Monaco
17.  Niger
18. Rwanda 
19. Senegal
20. Seychelles
21. Switzerland
22. Togo and 
23. Vanuatu.

FRANCOPHONIE  - Refers to all the government of the countries or official bodies which have in common use of French in their work or their trade.

FRANCOPHONE - A person who speaks French. ( It is used as an adjective too, for example: francophone country - France, Belgium, Luxembourg , Cannada, Switzerland)

Why FRANCE is famous ?

FRANCE is famous for its culture and a lot of things.Some of the following are :

1.  Les voitures ( the cars )
2. L'opera (the opera)
3. La tour Eiffel (the eiffel tower)
4. Le français ( the french )
5. Paris 
6. La relovulation Français ( the french revolution)
7. L'art ( the art)
8. La mode ( the fashion)
9. Le parfum ( the perfume)
10. Le Vin (the wine)
11. Le champagne 
12. Le formage (the cheese)
13. Napaléon Bonaparte
14. La monnaic (the Euro)

and many more things like The Louvre, Mont Blanc etc.

2. L' ALPHABETS

The French alphabet (l'alphabet français)
(with pronunciation)
(Downloadable image)
NOTE: 
This is pronounced like J but is actually the letter G. We'll have a similar problem for J.
The French R sound is also hard to pronounce. It's like a light gargle in the back of the mouth.
The French U is hard to pronounce. Say 'ee' and then, keeping the shape of the inside of your mouth constant, move your lips to make the sound 'oo'. This will allow you to pronounce the French U. This also applies to the pronunciation of the letter Q
Y  Literally means Greek I.
Click on the video below for pronunciation




The French alphabet has 26 letters among them 6 vowels and 20 consonants.
Letter
Pronunciation
Examples
A
/ah/ - the sound in 'spa'
aller (ah-lay) means 'to go'
B
/beh/ - similar to 'bay'
une batte (eeoon baht) means 'a bat'
C
/seh/ - similar to 'say' (C or S sound)
un couteau (uh koo-toh) means 'a knife
D
/deh/ - similar to 'day'
dormir (dohr-meer) means 'to sleep'
E
/uh/ - the sound in 'wool'
les cheveux (lay shuh-vuh) means 'hair'
F
/eff/ - similar to English
fort (fohr) means 'strong'
G
/zheh/ - similar to the g in 'massage'
le gaz (luh gahz) means 'gas'
H
/ah-sh/ - said like 'osh' in gosh,
usually silent in French but there are a few words with an aspirated 'h'
-l'huile (lweel) means oil, and the 'h' is silent
-le haricot (luh ah-ree-koh) means 'the bean'
I
/ee/ - the sound in geek
finir (fee-neer) means 'to finish'
J
/zhee/ - similar to jhee
jouer (zhoo-ay) means 'to play'
K
/kah/ sounds like English (rarely used in French)
un kangourou (uh kahn-goo-roo) means kangaroo
L
/ell/ - sounds like English
un livre (uh lee-vruh) means 'a book'
M
/ehm/ - sounds like English
mon ami (moh-nahm-ee) means 'my friend'
N
/ehn/ - similar to English, sometimes nasal
la naissance (lah nay-ssahnss) means 'birth'
O
/oh/ - similar to English
un ordinateur (uh- nohr-dee-nah-tuhr) means 'a computer'
P
/peh/ - said like the 'pu' in 'put'
payer (pay-ay) means 'to pay'
Q
/keoo/ - said like KEE with rounded lips
qui (kee) means 'who'
R
/ehr/ - guttural throat 'r', like gargling
un renard (uh rruh-nahrr) means 'a fox'
S
/ess/ - usually one 's' sounds like 'z'
double 's' sounds like 's'
un poisson (uh pwah--ssohn) means 'a fish'
du poison (deeoo pwah-zohn) means 'some poison'
T
/teh/ - said like 'tay'
une tarte (eeoon tarr-tuh) means 'a pie'
U
/eew/ - said like EE with rounded lips
une ruse (eeoon reeooz) means 'a joke or trick'
V
/veh/ - said like 'vay'
une voiture (eeoon vwah-teeoor) means 'a car'
W
/doobluh veh/ - sounds similar to double vay (rarely used in French)
un wagon-lit (uh vahgohn lee) or (uh wah-gohn-lee) means a train car for sleeping
X
/eeks/ - similar to English
une exercise (eeoon ehks-ehr-see-ss) means 'an exercise'
Y
/ee grehk/ - sounds like EE then gr-ek
un yaourt (uh yah-oo-rt) means 'a yogurt'
Z
/zehd/ - sounds like zed
un zèbre (uh zeh-bruh) means 'a zebra' 

3. Some common greetings in French

LES SALUTATIONS

1. Salut - hi / goodbye (informal)
2. Bonjour - good morning (formal)
3. Bon apré-midi -  good afternoon
4. Bonsoir - good evening
5. Bonne nuit - good night
6. Merci - Thank you
7. S'il vous plait - please
8. Enchante - nice to see you
9. De rein - mention not ( you are welcome)
10. Bon anniversaire - Happy birthday
11. Joyeux anniversaire - Happy birthday
12. Bon voyage - happy journey
13. Bon appetit - enjoy your meal
14. Prendre Conge - To take a leave
15. à demain - see you tomorrow
16. à lundi - see you on Monday
17. à biento^t  -  see you soon
18. Bonnes vacances - Happy vacation
19.  A tout à l'leure - see you shortly
20. Au revoir - bye
21. Bonne soirèe - Have a nice evening
22. Désolè [e] - sorry
23. D'accord - thanks/ okay
24. à la Samaine Prochaine - See you next week
25. Bonne Journee - Have a good day
26. Merci beaucoup - Thanks a lot.
27. Je te Remercie - I thank you.
28. Bon matin - good morning (early morning)
29. Bonne Matinee - good morning
30. Adieu - Good bye

4. COMMON FRENCH WORDS USED IN ENGLISH

1. Deja vu
2. Bouquet
3. Coup
4. Toilette
5. Genre
6. Depot
7. Critique
8. Brunette
9. Menu
10. Cafe
11. RSVP ( Répondez s'il vous plait )

5. SOME BASIC CONVERSATIONAL QUESTIONS IN FRENCH

Q. Comment allez vous? ( How are you? ) - Used during formal conversation, for example when you ask this question to your teacher, professor and any elderly respected person.

A. Je vais bien et vous? - I'm good and you? .

     or Je vais mal - I'm not well.

Q. Comment ça va? Or Comment vas tu? ( how are you) - Used during informal conversation, for example when you ask this question to your friends or somebody very close to you like your younger brother.

A. ça va bien et toi?. - Things are going well and you?

OR ça va mal. - Things are going bad.

OR comme ci comme ça. - So- So OR okay - okay

Q.Comment vous appelez vous? - formal

Comment tu t'applelles? - informal

( what is your name ?)

A. Je m'appelle  Abhishek Sharma ( your name)

Q. Quel est votre prénom OR quel est ton prènom ?- What is your first name? ( votre - formal, ton- informal)

A. Mon prénom est Abhishek ( My first name is Abhishek )

Q. Quel est votre nom? OR quel est ton nom? - What is your surname?

A. Mon nom est Sharma ( My surname is Sharma)

6. HOW TO COUNT NUMBERS IN FRENCH

LES numéros / CHIFFRES 

(zoom if you watching in mobile)

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
0	zéro	zay-roh
1	un	ahn
2	deux	duhr
3	trois	twah
4	quatre	katr
5	cinq	sank
6	six	seese
7	sept	set
8	huit	wheet
9	neuf	nurf
10	dix	deese

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
11	onze	onz
12	douze	dooz
13	treize	trez
14	quatorze	kah-tohrz
15	quinze	cans
16	seize	sez
17	dix-sept	deese-set
18	dix-huit	dees-wheet
19	dix-neuf	dees-nurf
20	vingt	vahn

In  17 , 18, and 19 , you must have noticed that they are just simple addition of  10 + 7 = 17 ( dix-sept)

similarily, 10+ 8 = 18 ( dix- huit)

                 10+9 =19 ( dix- neuf )

NEXT, YOU MUST LEARN THIS CHART  GIVEN BELOW BEFORE STARTING FURTHER NUMBERS

number	in French	pronunciation
10	dix	dees
20	vingt	van
30	trente	tront
40	quarante	ka ront
50	cinquante	san kont
60	soixante	swa sont
70	soixante-dix	swa sont dees
80	quatre-vingts	ka tre van
90	quatre-vingt-dix	ka tre van dees
100	cent	san

Now, in numbers from 21 to 69, You have to remember that 21, 31,41,51 and 61 are written with "et in between without putting hyphen" and in rest numbers you have to put Hyphen.

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
21	vingt et un	vahn-tay-ahn
22	vingt-deux	vahn-duhr
23	vingt-trois	vahn-twah
24	vingt-quatre	vahn-katr
25	vingt-cinq	vahn-sank
26	vingt-six	vahn-seese
27	vingt-sept	vahn-set
28	vingt-huit	vahn-wheet
29	vingt-neuf	vahn-nurf
30	trente	trawnt

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
31	trente et un	trawnt-tay-ahn
32	trente-deux	trawnt-duhr
33	trente-trois	trawnt-twah
34	trente-quatre	trawnt-katr
35	trente-cinq	trawnt-sank
36	trente-six	trawnt-seese
37	trente-sept	trawnt-set
38	trente-huit	trawnt-wheet
39	trente-neuf	trawnt-nurf
40	quarante	kuh-rawnt

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
41	quarante et un	kuh-rawnt-tay-ahn
42	quarante-deux	kuh-rawnt-duhr
43	quarante-trois	kuh-rawnt-twah
44	quarante-quatre	kuh-rawnt-katr
45	quarante-cinq	kuh-rawnt-sank
46	quarante-six	kuh-rawnt-seese
47	quarante-sept	kuh-rawnt-set
48	quarante-huit	kuh-rawnt-wheet
49	quarante-neuf	kuh-rawnt-nurf
50	cinquante	sank-awnt

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
51	cinquante et un	sank-awnt-tay-ahn
52	cinquante-deux	sank-awnt-duhr
53	cinquante-trois	sank-awnt-twah
54	cinquante-quatre	sank-awnt-katr
55	cinquante-cinq	sank-awnt-sank
56	cinquante-six	sank-awnt-seese
57	cinquante-sept	sank-awnt-set
58	cinquante-huit	sank-awnt-wheet
59	cinquante-neuf	sank-awnt-nurf
60	soixante	swah-sawnt

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
61	soixante et un	swah-sawnt-tay-ahn
62	soixante-deux	swah-sawnt-duhr
63	soixante-trois	swah-sawnt-twah
64	soixante-quatre	swah-sawnt-katr
65	soixante-cinq	swah-sawnt-sank
66	soixante-six	swah-sawnt-seese
67	soixante-sept	swah-sawnt-set
68	soixante-huit	swah-sawnt-wheet
69	soixante-neuf	swah-sawnt-nurf
70	soixante-dix	swah-sawnt-deese

Now from 70 on wards you have to remember the simple mathematical addition pattern.

like 60 + 10 = 70 (soixante-dix)

       60+ 11 = 71 (soixante et onze)

       60+ 12 =72  (soixante douze) and so on till 79.

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
71	soixante et onze	swah-sawnt-tay-uhn
72	soixante-douze	swah-sawnt-dooz
73	soixante-treize	swah-sawnt-trez
74	soixante-quatorze	swah-sawnt-kah-tohrz
75	soixante-quinze	swah-sawnt-cans
76	soixante-seize	swah-sawnt-sez
77	soixante-dix-sept	swah-sawnt-deese-set
78	soixante-dix-huit	swah-sawnt-dees-wheet
79	soixante-dix-neuf	swah-sawnt-dees-nurf

NOTE :

80 is 4 times twenty 

i.e 4 x 20 = 80 ( quatre -vingts ). Here you should make a note that we have added 's' in vingts. 

81 is written as quatre-vingt-un . Here we have not put 's' in vingt and hyphen is put while writing. 

( remember 21,31,41,51,61,71 do not take hyphen while writing). Same pattern is followed till 89.

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
81	quatre-vinght-un	ka-truh-vahn-tay-ahn
82	quatre-vingt-deux	ka-truh-vahn-duhr
83	quatre-vingt-trois	ka-truh-vahn-twah
84	quatre-vingt-quatre	ka-truh-vahn-katr
85	quatre-vingt-cinq	ka-truh-vahn-sank
86	quatre-vingt-six	ka-truh-vahn-seese
87	quatre-vingt-sept	ka-truh-vahn-set
88	quatre-vingt-huit	ka-truh-vahn-wheet
89	quatre-vingt-neuf	ka-truh-vahn-nurf

NOW NUMBERS FROM 90 ON WARDS :

90 can be explained as :

4 x 20  + 10 = 90 ( quatre-vingt-dix)

91 =  4 x 20 + 11 ( quatre-vingt-onze). HERE 91 also takes hyphen.

Number	French Spelling	Pronunciation
91	quatre-vingt-onze	ka-truh-vahn-onz
92	quatre-vingt-douze	ka-truh-vahn-dooz
93	quatre-vingt-treize	ka-truh-vahn-trez
94	quatre-vingt-quatorze	ka-truh-vahn-kah-tohrz
95	quatre-vingt-quinze	ka-truh-vahn-cans
96	quatre-vingt-seize	ka-truh-vahn-sez
97	quatre-vingt-dix-sept	ka-truh-vahn-deese-set
98	quatre-vingt-dix-huit	ka-truh-vahn-dees-wheet
99	quatre-vingt-dix-neuf	ka-truh-vahn-dees-nurf
100	cent	sawnt

NUMBERS AFTER 100 FOLLOWS THE SAME PATTERN AS WE SEEN ABOVE, WE CAN UNDERSTAND THROUGH THESE EXAMPLES :

Number	French Spelling
101	cent un
110	cent dix
111	cent onze
175	cent soixante quinze
200	deux cents
225	deux cents vingt-cinq
1,000	mille
10,000	dix mille
100,000	cent mille
1,000,000	un million

7. THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

LES JOURS DE LA SAMAINE

 

French	Pronunciation	Day
lundi	luhn-dee	Monday
mardi	mahr-dee	Tuesday
mercredi	mehr-cruh-dee	Wednesday
jeudi	juh-dee	Thursday
vendredi	vahn-druh-dee	Friday
samedi	sahm-dee	Saturday
dimanche	dee-mansh	Sunday

8. THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR

LES MOIS DE l' année

French	Pronunciation	Month
janvier	jahn-veeay	January
février	fay-vreeay	February
mars	mahrs	March
avril	ah-vreel	April
mai	may	May
juin	jwehn	June
juillet	jwee-ay	July
aoà»t	ah-oot	August
septembre	sep-tahm-br	September
octobre	oc-toe-br	October
novembre	no-vehm-br	November
décembre	day-sehm-br	December

9. Articles – le, la, les, un, une, des, du,de la

LES ARTICLES

There are three types for articles in French

1. Definite / Défini : The English definite article, the, has four equivalent forms in French, depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.

La - Singular feminine

Le - Singular masculine

Les - Plural (for both masculine and feminine)

L' - When letter begins with vowel or h muet

       2. Indefinite / Indéfini : The English indefinite article has two forms, a and an, while the French has three, depending on the gender and number of the noun.

The English equivalent of des is some, which is not considered an article in English.

feminine)

 

Une - Singular feminine

Un - Singular masculine

Des - Plural (for both masculine and feminine)

     3.Partitive / Partitif :  Referring to only a portion or some of an uncountable noun, often food or drink.

There are four forms in French, depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.

De la - feminine singular

Du - masculine singular

Des - Plural(for both feminine and masculine)

De l' - When letter begins with vowel or h muet

10. La famille

THE FAMILY

brother	un frère		sister	une sœur
father	un père		mother	une mère
son	un fils		daughter	une fille
husband spouse	un mari un époux		wife spouse	une femme une épouse
uncle	un oncle		aunt	une tante
nephew	un neveu		niece	une nièce
cousin – male	un cousin		cousin – female	une cousine
grandfather	un grand-père		grandmother	une grand-mère
great grandfather	arrière-grand-père		great grandmother	arrière-grand-mère
grandson	un petit-fils		granddaughter	une petite-fille
great grandson	arrière-petit-fils		great granddaughter	arrière-petite-fille

step-father father-in-law	beau-père		step-mother mother-in-law	belle-mère
step-brother brother-in-law	beau-frère		step-sister sister-in-law	belle-sœur
step-son son-in-law	beau-fils		step-daughter daughter-in-law video part 1	belle-fille

in-laws	les beaux-parents, la belle-famille
son-in-law	le gendre		daughter-in-law	la bru

Video part 2

11. NAME OF COLORS IN FRENCH

LES COULEURS

Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural	English
rouge	rouge	rouges	rouges	red
jaune	jaune	jaunes	jaunes	yellow
rose	rose	roses	roses	pink
bleu	bleue	bleus	bleues	blue
vert	verte	verts	vertes	green
gris	grise	gris	grises	grey
noir	noire	noirs	noires	black
violet	violette	violets	violettes	purple
blanc	blanche	blancs	blanches	white
brun	brune	bruns	brunes	dark brown
orange	orange	orange	orange	orange
marron	marron	marron	marron	brown

12. COUNTRIES AND NATIONALITIES

LES PAYS ET LES NATIONALITÉS

English	French	Nationality
Algeria	Algérie	Algérien(ne)
Belgium	Belgique	Belge
Brazil	Brésil	Brésilien
Canada	Canada	Canadien(ne)
China	Chine	Chinois(e)
Egypt	Egypte	Egyptien(ne)
England	Angleterre	Anglais(e)
France	France	Français(e)
Germany	Allemagne	Allemand(e)
India	Inde	Indien(ne)
Ireland	Irlande	Irlandais(e)
Italy	Italie	Italien(ne)
Japan	Japon	Japonais(e)
Mexico	Mexique	Mexicain(e)
Netherlands	Pays-Bas	Néerlandais(e)
Poland	Pologne	Polonais(e)
Portugal	Portugal	Portugais(e)
Russia	Russie	Russe
Spain	Espagne	Espagnol(e)
Switzerland	Suisse	Suisse
United States	États Unis	Américain(e)

THE CONTINENTS

English	French	Nationality
Africa	Afrique (Ah-freek)	Africain(e)
Antarctica	Antarctique (an-tar-tik)
Asia	Asie (ah-zee)	Asiatique
Australia	Australie (os-tra-li)	Australien(ne)
Europe	Europe (ö-rop)	Européen(ne)
North America	Amérique du Nord (Ah-may-reek du nord)	Nord-Américan(e)
South America	Amérique du Sud (Ah-may-reek du sud)	Sud-Américain(e)

13. THE PROFESSIONS

LES PROFESSIONS

In French language, we have different masculine and feminine forms.However some professions have just one form.

 

Some common Professions which have just one form :

1. médecin (pronounced : mehd-san) / doctor
2. comptable (pronounced : kon-tah-bluh) / accountant
3. architecte (pronounced : ar-shee-tekt) / architect
4. ingénieur (pronounced : an-zhehn-yur) / engineer
5. secrétaire (pronounced : seh-cray-tehr) / secretary
6. vétérinaire (pronounced : vay-tay-ree-nehr) / veterinarian
7. pilote (pronounced : pee-lot) / pilot
8. dentiste (pronounced : don-teest) / dentist
9. journaliste (pronounced zhor-nah-leest) / journalist
10. élève (pronounced : ay-lev) / pupil, student (K-12th grade

SOME OTHER PROFESSIONS WITH THEIR MASCULINE AND FEMININE FORMS

ENGLISH actor / actress		MASCULINE un acteur	FEMININE une actrice
artist		un artiste	une artiste
baker		un boulanger	une boulangère
butcher		un boucher	—
carpenter		un charpentier	—
cashier		un caissier	une caissière
chef		un chef	une chef
civil servant		un fonctionnaire	une fonctionnaire
dentist		un dentiste	une dentiste
doctor		un médecin	—
electrician		un électricien	—
employee		un employé	une employée
engineer		un ingénieur	—
fireman		un pompier	—
lawyer (barrister)		un avocat	une avocate
maid		—	une femme de chambre
manager		un gérant	—
mechanic		un mécanicien	une mécanicienne
nurse		un infirmier	une infirmière
painter		un peintre	—
pharmacist		un pharmacien	une pharmacienne
plumber		un plombier	—
police officer		un policier	—
receptionist		un réceptionniste	une réceptionniste
scientist		un scientifique	une scientifique
secretary		un secrétaire	une secrétaire
student		un étudiant	une étudiante
teacher		un professeur un prof un enseignant	— une prof une enseignante
waiter / waitress		un serveur	une serveuse
writer		un écrivain	—

NOTE : If you notice carefully, you can find that most of the masculine forms changes to feminine form according to the ending of the words,for example if the masculine word ends with 'en' then feminine form has 'enne' at its end. e.g. un musicien changes to une musicienne.

SIMILARILY,

Masculine - Feminine

er - ère

on - onne

os - osse

eur - euse

teur - trice

vif - vive

en - enne

14. FRENCH WORDS FOR BODY PARTS

Name of body parts from head to toe

le corps		body
des cheveux		hair
une tête		head
un crâne		skull, head
un visage		face
un œil des yeux		eye eyes
un nez		nose
une joue		cheek
une bouche une gueule		mouth (familiar)
une lèvre		lip
une dent		tooth
une oreille		ear
un cou		neck
une gorge		throat
une poitrine		chest
un cœur		heart
un estomac		stomach
un bras		arm
une épaule		shoulder
un coude		elbow
un poignet		wrist
une main		hand
un doigt		finger
un ongle		fingernail
un pouce		thumb
un dos		back
une jambe		leg
un genou		knee
une cheville		ankle
un pied		foot
un orteil		toe