French uses a seven-day week aligned with the international standard, beginning on Monday. The French names come largely from Latin and preserve references to classical deities and celestial bodies. The following table shows the days in French and English. French English lundi Monday mardi Tuesday mercredi Wednesday jeudi Thursday vendredi Friday samedi Saturday dimanche Sunday…
French has distinct nouns and adjectives for the four seasons. Some forms are used only as nouns, while others can function as adjectives describing seasonal conditions, including wintry, summery, springlike and autumnal. The four seasons: basic nouns These nouns are used without capital letters unless at the start of a sentence. Usage examples Winter as…
French Christmas traditions differ in several important ways from Anglo-Saxon customs. Many celebrations occur on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, food traditions follow established regional patterns, and several symbolic elements remain strongly tied to family gatherings and shared meals. The focus is often on the evening feast, seasonal desserts, and the cultural role of…
The French verb dire requires an indirect object introduced by à when the recipient of the message is expressed. This is not optional. Whether the recipient appears as a noun, a stressed pronoun, or an indirect object pronoun, dire always governs à for the person to whom something is said. Understanding this rule is essential…
French uses many short, spoken fillers and interjections that express reactions, attitudes, hesitation, or emotional responses. They are common in informal conversation and often have no exact English equivalent. Words like ouf, ben, chut, na, and several related sounds. Ouf Meaning Ouf expresses relief, surprise, or amazement. It is informal and common in spoken French….
French uses a distinct set of onomatopoeic forms to represent animal sounds. Many differ significantly from their English equivalents because French phonology shapes how sounds are imagined and expressed. These forms appear in children’s books, everyday conversation, idioms, and descriptive narrative. Several verbs of sound also derive from these onomatopoeias, and both forms often coexist….
Beyond articles, numbers, adjectives, verb agreement, liaison, and the small set of audibly irregular nouns, there are several additional mechanisms that allow a listener to perceive plurality in spoken French. Some are grammatical, others pragmatic, but all are genuinely used by native speakers. Quantifiers and expressions of quantity Many expressions of quantity obligatorily introduce plural…
In standard spoken French, most plural noun endings are silent. The written plural -s or -x is usually not pronounced, which means that many singular and plural forms sound identical. For example, livre and livres are pronounced the same in isolation. As a result, listeners rely on surrounding grammatical markers rather than the noun itself…
Autant, autant de and autant que are common French forms used for comparisons of equality, quantity, and degree. They appear across all registers and are central to expressing “as much,” “as many,” or “as much as.” Autant Autant is an adverb meaning “as much” or “as many.” It usually links two comparable quantities, actions, or…
Tant, tant de and tant que are common French forms expressing quantity, intensity, comparison, and conditions of time. They appear in both speech and writing across all registers. Tant Tant is an adverb meaning “so much,” “so,” or “so many,” depending on context. It often intensifies a verb or adjective. With verbs With adjectives or…