verbs

appeler or s'appeler?

• appeler

  appeler directly translates as 'to call' and is used when one person calls another person or thing. It can also be used in a variety of contexts, such as to summon someone or something, to make a phone call, or to give a name.

  French Sentence	English translation
  Je vais appeler Paul au téléphone.	I'm going to call Paul on the phone.
  Peux-tu appeler un taxi?	Can you call a taxi?
  Ils vont appeler leur fille Élise.	They are going to name their daughter Elise.

• S'appeler

  S'appeler is a reflexive form of appeler and means 'to be called' or 'to call oneself'. It is used when the subject is also the object, i.e. when referring to oneself, as in saying one's name.

  French Sentence	English translation
  Comment t'appelles-tu ?	What is your name?
  Elle s'appelle Marie.	Her name is Marie
  Nous nous appelons Jean et Luc.	Our names are Jean and Luc

• conjugation table

  Singular	Plural
  Je m'appelle	Nous nous appelons
  Tu t'appelles	Vous vous appelez
  Il/Elle s'appelle	Ils/Elles s'appellent

  In summary, while both appeler and s'appeler refer to the concept of calling, appeler is used for calling others or naming things, whereas s'appeler refers to what someone is called or calling oneself by name.

habiter

• conjugation table

  Singular	Plural
  J'habite	Nous habitons
  Tu habites	Vous habitez
  Il/Elle habite	Ils/Elles habitent

• Example sentences

  French Sentence	English Translation
  J'habite à Paris.	I live in Paris.
  Nous habitons dans une maison.	We live in a house.
  Ils habitent au Canada.	They live in Canada.
  Où habitez-vous ?	Where do you live?
  Elle habite avec ses parents.	She lives with her parents.
  Tu habites près de l'école.	You live near the school.

• Country names along with the correct preposition

  French Country Name	English Translation
  au Canada	Canada
  aux États-Unis	the United States
  en France	France
  en Italie	Italy
  en Iran	Iran
  en Espagne	Spain
  en Allemagne	Germany
  en Chine	Chine
  en Angleterre	England
  en Suisse	Switzerland
  au Japon	Japan
  en Belgique	Belgium
  aux Pays-Bas	the Netherlands

  So for instance we can say:

  French Sentence	English Translation
  J'habite à Paris, en France.	I live in Paris, France.

épeler

This verb means to spell and it is mostly used to ask someone to spell their name as in:

• Conjugation table

  Singular	Plural
  j'épelle	nous épelons
  tu épelles	vous épelez
  il/elle épelle	ils/elles épellent

être

While we're at it let's also have a refresher and see how être is conjugated:

Aller

Aller is a very common French verb meaning "to go". It's one of the irregular verbs in French, so its conjugation is different from regular verbs.

• Conjugation Table

  Singular	Plural
  je vais	nous allons
  tu vas	vous allez
  il/elle va	ils/elles vont

• Example sentences

  French Sentence	English Translation
  Je vais au cinéma.	I am going to the cinema.
  Je vais en France.	I am going to France.
  Tu vas à la plage.	You are going to the beach.
  Il va au restaurant.	He is going to the restaurant.
  Nous allons à la fête.	We are going to the party.
  Nous allons en Chine.	We are going to China.
  Vous allez au parc.	You are going to the park.
  Ils vont à l'école.	They are going to school.
  Ils vont à Paris.	They are going to Paris.
  Tu vas bien?	How are you?/Are you okay?

Avoir

Conjugation of Avoir

Sentence Examples

Possession:

Existence:

Time:

Age:

naître

Naître means "to be born" in French. It's a regular verb, meaning its conjugation follows a predictable pattern.

Conjugation Table(Past Indicative)

Example sentences

étudier

Meaning: To study

Étudier is a regular French verb that follows the pattern of verbs ending in -er. It's commonly used to describe the act of learning or acquiring knowledge.

Conjugation Table

situer

Meaning: To situate, to locate

Situer is a regular French verb that follows the pattern of verbs ending in -er. It's often used to indicate the position or location of something.

Present Tense Conjugation

Chercher

Meaning: To search, to look for

Chercher is a regular French verb that follows the pattern of verbs ending in -er. It's often used to indicate the position or location of something.

Conjugation Table

Porter

The French verb "porter" is a regular -er verb, meaning it follows a standard conjugation pattern. It primarily translates to "to carry" or "to wear."

Conjugation Table

Example sentences

Coûter

The French verb "coûter" means "to cost." It is used to indicate the price of something, or to express the value or expense of something in terms of money or effort.

Conjugation of "coûter" in the Present Tense

Example Sentences

Faire

Conjugation of "faire" in the Present Tense

Example Sentences

trouver

The French verb trouver means "to find" or "to discover." It's a regular -er verb, and it's used when you want to say that you have found something or when you're referring to the act of discovering or locating something. It can also be used in more abstract senses, such as finding an opinion or feeling about something.

Conjugation of trouver (Present Tense)

Example Sentences

grammar

quel and quelle

Quel and quelle are French interrogative adjectives used to ask questions about nouns. Like "which" or "what" in English.

• Quel: Used before masculine singular nouns.

• Quelle: Used before feminine singular nouns.

• Sentence examples

  French Sentence	English Translation
  Quelle est votre profession?	What do you do for a living?
  Quel est ton/votre nom ?	What's your name?
  Quelle est votre adresse?	What's your address?
  Quel est votre numéro de téléphone?	What's your telephone number?

French Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives in French indicate ownership or possession. They agree in gender and number with the possessed item.

List of French Possessive Articles

Usage examples

Understanding c'est and the Indefinite Article in French

c'est is a contraction of the verb être (to be) and the pronoun ce. It is used to say "it is" or "this is".

The indefinite article in French is used to refer to nouns that are not specific. It has two forms:

• un (masculine): a, one
• une (feminine): a, one

Example Sentences

Understanding "il y a"

"Il y a" is a fundamental French expression that translates to "there is" or "there are." It's used to indicate the existence of something or someone.

How to use "il y a"

• To express quantity:

  • Il y a beaucoup de livres. (There are many books.)
  • Il y a peu de personnes. (There are few people.)

• To indicate a location:

  • Il y a un parc. (There is a park.)
  • Il y a des magasins. (There are stores.)

• To talk about time:

  • Il y a deux heures, j'étais à la maison. (Two hours ago, I was at home.)
  • Il y a longtemps que je ne l'ai pas vu. (It's been a long time since I saw him.)

Example sentences with various contexts

First group verbs

More than 80 percent of French verbs are -er verbs. It’s great for you, because after you know their pattern of conjugation in the present tense, you can pretty much conjugate 80 percent of French verbs !

To conjugate a regular -er verb, drop the -er of the infinitive to get the stem ( le radical in French). Then add the six present tense endings specific to -er verbs:

• -e
• -es
• -e
• -ons
• -ez
• -ent

habiter is one such verb.

Qu'est-ce que?

• Meaning: What is that/this?

+Qu'est-ce que c'est?
-Ce sont des affiches

Usage with Il y a

tonic pronouns(pronom tonique)

• moi
• toi
• lui/elles
• nous
• vous
• eux/elles

Whose something

indefinite articles in negative sentences

In class practice

1403.08.09

+C'est ton telephone?
-Oui, c'est Mon telephone
-Non, c'est Son telephone(Jean)
-Non, c'est Ton telephone(Toi)

quel est ton/votre nom? - Falco
quel est ton/votre numero? - 0913
quelle est ton/votre adresse? - 35, Rue X

Vocabulary

Countries & Nationalities

Professions

prepositions