Chapter 1: Salutations & Small Talk

Unit 1 Intro: Salutations & Intro

tiens

Oh or Hold it. Colloquial way to express a slight surprise and comes from the verb “to hold”.

Bonjour

Good morning (use any time of the day)

Ca va?

How are you? or How is it going?

Comment allez-vous?

More formal way to ask “How are you?” or literally: How do you go?

Tu

Informal way of saying You and used only with well-known acquaintances.

Vous

Is the polite way to say You when speaking to strangers.

Salut

Hi or bye. Is more informal, but is used very often.

Bonsoir

Good evening.

Monsieur

Sir

Madame

Madam

Ça va bien, merci

Fine, thank you OR it’s going well, thank you.

bien

well

Merci

Thank you.

très

very

oui

yes

non

no

pas

not

et

and

Et vous?

And you?

il n’y a pas de quoi

Don’t mention it.

De rien

You’re welcome.

Beaucoup

A lot.

Froid

Cold

il fait

it makes / it does

il fait froud

it is cold

aujhourd’hui

today

chaud

hot

beau

nice / beautiful in masculine form.

ce matin

this morning

il fait beau ce matin

It is nice this morning

il fait chaud aujourd’hui

It is hot today

il fait beau ce matin

it is nice this morning

ce soir

tonight; this evening

il fait chaud ce soir

It is hot tonight.

un froid de canard

bitter cold / a cold of duck

pleuvoir

to rain

il pleut

it rains

neiger

to snow

il neige

it snows

il fait un froid de canard aujourd’hui

it is bitter cold today

en effet

indeed

Le

The definite article “the” in English for masculine nouns.

La

The definite article “the” in English for feminine nouns.

Les

The definite article “the” in English for plural nouns regardless of gender.

La France est belle en été

France is beautiful in summer.

être

to be

elle

she

est

is

marrant

Funny in the masculine form. Adjectives have a masculine and a feminine form.

marrante

Funny in the feminine form.

belle

Feminine form of nice/beautiful.

la France

France. Countries that end with an e are feminine except Mexico (Mexique).

Elle est belle

She is beautiful

La France est belle

France is beautiful

L’été

the summer

en été

in summer

janvier

January

février

February

mars

March

avril

April

mai

May

juin

June

juillet

July

août

August

septembre

September

octobre

October

novembre

November

décembre

December

le printemps

the spring

l’automne

the fall

l’hiver

the winter

La France est belle au printemps

France is beautiful in spring

au mois de juillet

In the month of July / in July

Bon, à tout à l’heure

Well, see you later

Au revour

Formal way to say Good-bye

A bientôt

See you soon

Ciao!

An informal way to say good-bye, we can also use salut. Formal way is aur revoir

Lundi

Monday

A lundi !

See you on Monday!