Articles about French
800+ articles on French language topics!
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to be full, after a meal
The safest everyday ways to say “I’m full” in French are J’ai bien mangé, Je suis rassasié(e), and Je n’ai plus faim. You can also say Je suis repu(e), but it sounds stronger and more literary. Do not use Je…
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Vouloir dire vs Signifier
French has two common verbs for “to mean”: vouloir dire and signifier. Both get used every day, but they don’t always work the same way. Vouloir dire is the everyday choice, used in speech and in writing alike. Signifier leans…
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aimer – love vs like
The French verb aimer can mean both “to like” and “to love.” Its meaning depends on the person or thing that follows it, the article used with it, and the wider context. French also has several other ways to express…
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What is it?
The usual French translation of “What is it?” is Qu’est-ce que c’est ? In everyday speech, French speakers often say C’est quoi ? instead. The best choice depends on the setting, the tone, and what “it” means in context. The…
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Irregular verbs for beginners
Here are the 19 most frequently used irregular verbs in French. Since these 19 verbs are irregular, the way they are conjugated doesn’t follow the rules of regular verbs. (Conjugation: using the appropriate spellings of the verb to match I,…
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que + subjunctive or indicative
Many French expressions ending in que are followed by the subjunctive. These include expressions of condition, purpose, doubt, necessity, emotion, concession and events that have not yet happened. Other expressions ending in que take the indicative instead. The word que…
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devoir, avoir besoin de, il faut, il faut que
Devoir, avoir besoin de and il faut all point at some kind of need or duty in French. They are not the same, and mixing them up can change the sense of a sentence. This article lays out what each…
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enfin vs finalement
Both enfin and finalement can mean “finally” or “at last” in English. French speakers use them daily, often without thinking. But they do not always mean the same thing, and swapping one for the other can change the feel of…
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however
“However” does two different jobs in English. It can introduce a contrast, meaning roughly “but” or “nevertheless.” It can also show degree, meaning “no matter how.” French uses separate words for each job, so picking the right one depends on…
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ay sound
French has one clean, closed vowel sound that English speakers usually associate with “ay,” as in the English word “day.” What makes it tricky is that French writes this single sound in several different ways, and in most of these…
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c and g pronunciation
In French, the letters c and g change sound depending on the vowel that follows them. Both letters have a “hard” sound and a “soft” sound, and the choice between the two is decided by whether the next letter is…
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-er pronunciation
Many French words end in the letters “-er,” yet this ending is not pronounced the same way every time. In most cases it sounds like “ay,” as in parler – “to speak.” In a smaller group of words, the final…
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Nous avons bien fait
Nous avons bien fait is a common French phrase used to say that a past action was the right one. It shows up after decisions, choices and actions of all kinds, from small everyday matters to major life choices. This…
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à tout hasard
À tout hasard means “just in case” or “on the off chance”. Word for word, à is “at”, tout is “any” and hasard is “chance”, so the phrase translates literally as “at any chance”. It describes an action taken as…
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à temps vs à l’heure
English speakers learning French often confuse à l’heure and à temps. Both relate to time, but they serve distinct purposes. This article explains their meanings, gives many examples, and lists synonyms. Core meanings À l’heure literally translates as “at the…
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quoi d’autre ?
Quoi d’autre is a short question used constantly in spoken French, meaning “What else?” It appears in shops, in offices, in casual chats and in written French too. This article looks at what the phrase means, why it is built…
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attendre que, attendre de
Attendre means “to wait” or “to wait for”. When it is followed by que and a second verb, that second verb must go into the subjunctive mood, because the event being waited for has not happened yet and is not…
