Easy French Phrase Book: Over 1500 Common Phrases For Everyday Use And Travel

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This one will really impress people. This is some real français soutenu (formal French), and you’ll rarely hear a young French person say this. On prend l’apéro ensemble ? (Let’s have an apéritif together?)

That’s a rarity to be sure, but it’s better to be prepared while traveling! French for Travelers to Get Around Town

Some verbs are irregular, meaning that they use different roots when conjugated. The good news is that irregular verbs are very much in the minority. The bad news is that nearly all of the most useful everyday verbs are irregular; you will have to learn their conjugations individually if you wish to use them effectively: aller (to go), venir (to come), voir (to see), faire (to do), acheter (to buy), manger (to eat), boire (to drink), sortir (to go out), dormir (to sleep), pouvoir (to be able to), and vouloir (to want). The worst of these are probably être (to be) and avoir (to have), by far the most common verbs for everyday communication. Here are the present tense conjugations of each; you'll notice the entire word changes for each form of the verb: Très bien cuit – This should get you a "well done" steak that is totally cooked through. Mais, attention! If chef is not used to catering to les Anglo-Saxons, he might just overdo it and give you a plate of leather. Again, travel French isn’t just about getting around, eating well and having fun. There are also French phrases to know in case of emergency. Grammar [ edit ] Like Spanish and German, but unlike English, the French language is governed by an official regulator - L'Académie française. Headquartered in Paris (shown here), the Académie issues guidance and recommendations on good French, and its occasional spelling reforms are often controversial. Gender and its complications [ edit ]

Here are three examples of regular verbs conjugated in the present tense, which can be used as a model for all other present-tense regular verbs. For the regular conjugations, remove the -er, -ir, or -re ending from the infinitive and add the letters in bold from the table below: la tienne ! (to yours!) works for casual one-on-one scenarios. Tchin tchin ! (clink clink!) has the benefit of being pretty cute and onomatopoeic.

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The Lonely Planet French phrasebook’s 3,500-word dictionary is the perfect compact companion to take along, and will make translation and comprehension a walk in the park. France is notorious for its etiquette rules and, if you’re not aware of them, you could find yourself in a very tight spot. Helping you to separate your tu from your vous, and to spot the correct greeting for any situation, the Lonely Planet guide can be an invaluable tool to use. Saying “hello” and “goodbye” to people in official settings is essential in France, and something that you might not naturally do. Use of courriel, short for courrier électronique (electronic mail), is recommended by the Académie française, but this is all but ignored in France