You will find the French quite formal in their greetings, shaking hands both on meeting and on parting. French people, when they know each other well, greet each other with a kiss on each cheek. Bonjour, madame or bonjour, monsieur are the politest ways to greet someone. Mademoiselle is becoming less frequently used. Salut is more informal than bonjour. If someone offers you something, perhaps an extra serving of food, and you simply reply merci, they will take this to mean ‘no’. You must say oui, merci or you will go hungry!
You don’t need to say complicated things to get what you want. Often simply naming the thing and adding s’il vous plaît will do the trick, even when asking for directions.
the (masculine)
le luh
(feminine)
la la
(plural)
les lay
the museum
le musée luh mew-zay
the station
la gare la gar
the shops
les magasins lay ma-ga-zañ
a/one (masculine)
un uñ
(feminine)
une ewn
a ticket/one stamp
un billet/un timbre uñ bee-yeh/uñ tañbr
a room/one bottle
une chambre/une bouteille ewn shahñbr/ewn boo-tay-yuh
some (masculine)
du dew
(feminine)
de la duh la
(plural)
des day
some wine
du vin dew vañ
some jam
de la confiture duh la koñ-fee-tewr
some chips
des frites day freet
Do you have…?
Est-ce que vous avez…?/Vous avez…? es kuh voo za-vay…?/voo za-vay…?
Do you have a room?
Est-ce que vous avez une chambre? es kuh voo za-vay ewn shahñbr?
Do you have some milk?
Vous avez du lait? voo za-vay dew leh?
I’d like…
Je voudrais… zhuh voo-dreh…
We’d like…
Nous voudrions… noo voo-dree-oñ…
I’d like an ice cream
Je voudrais une glace zhuh voo-dreh ewn glas
We’d like to visit Paris
Nous voudrions visiter Paris noo voo-dree-oñ vee-zee-tay pa-ree
Some more…
Encore du/de la/des… ahñ-kor dew/duh la/day…
Another…
Un/Une autre… uñ/ewn ohtr…
Some more bread
Encore du pain ahñ-kor dew pañ
Some more soup
Encore de la soupe ahñ-kor duh la soop
Some more glasses
D’autres verres dohtr vehr
Another coffee
Un autre café uñ ohtr ka-fay
Another beer
Une autre bière ewn ohtr byehr
How much is it?
C’est combien? say koñ-byañ?
How much is the room?
C’est combien la chambre? say koñ-byañ la shahñbr?
