French for English speakers: a first conversation

Flashcards — 78 words

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Vocabulary reference

The complete table below is the same 78-term list used by this guide's SRS deck and downloads.

Hover or tap a highlighted term to see its English meaning and copy it. With a keyboard, Tab to the first term and use the arrow keys; source status is shown in the popup.

#	French	English
1		Welcome
2		Hello (General greeting)
3		Hello (on phone)
4		How are you?
5		Reply to 'How are you?'
6		Long time no see
7		My name is ...
8		Where are you from?
9		I'm from ...
10		Pleased to meet you
11		Good morning (Morning greeting)
12		Good afternoon (Afternoon greeting)
13		Good evening (Evening greeting)
14		Good night
15		Goodbye (Parting phrases)
16		Good luck!
17		Cheers! Good Health!
18		Have a nice day
19		Bon appetit / Have a nice meal
20		Bon voyage / Have a good journey
21		Do you understand?
22		I understand
23		I don't understand
24		Yes
25		No
26		Maybe
27		I don't know
28		Please say that again
29		Please write it down
30		Do you speak English?
31		Do you speak French?
32		Yes, a little
33		I'm learning French
34		Do you speak a language other than French?
35		Speak to me in French
36		How do you say ... in French?
37		Excuse me
38		I would like ...
39		You kept running.
40		Sami cleans up his room every evening.
41		I wanted to make sure we didn't cause the problem.
42		The letter is for me.
43		We don't want to be the last ones there.
44		Ziri said that about his mother.
45		I didn't expect her to ask me such a question.
46		I can't tell her from her twin sister.
47		They also speak Esperanto.
48		I'm scared.
49		I worked hard last month.
50		It seems I'm the only one here who knows how to speak French.
51		Help us spy on you. Create Facebook accounts.
52		If we combine our efforts, we'll achieve our goal.
53		It was on the news.
54		I just discovered the dark side of Tatoeba.
55		It was an act of courage.
56		That should've been expected.
57		Mary likes to read.
58		He opened the window to let in some fresh air.
59		She hired him.
60		Oleg died right on his birthday.
61		Education is key, but it's not a cure-all.
62		He likes reading a lot.
63		I do not intend to do so.
64		I just saw a shooting star.
65		Could you give me the salt?
66		I'm happy that I am not a man.
67		Would you like to go to the zoo with me?
68		What is your planet like?
69		Raise your hands.
70		Make it smaller.
71		Where were the others?
72		I missed the end of the game; what was the score?
73		This gift basket comes from Kabylie.
74		We're untalented.
75		Say that again.
76		He devoted his evenings to a new hobby; he started to learn German.
77		Tom said he didn't feel like doing that today.
78		She's a plain looking girl.

Today you will introduce yourself, say what you have, and recognise a few classroom objects. Use the short lesson before the larger flashcard deck: knowing ten useful phrases is a better first goal than memorising every row at once.

This is a beginner starter, not a complete A1–C2 course. Fluent review is pending. The examples and dialogue are constructed for practice, and the existing downloadable deck keeps its own source status.

A1.1Introduce yourself and name everyday things

Start with être: to be

The present-tense forms of être are irregular. Match the form to the subject: je suis, tu es, il/elle/on est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. Listen to the linking /z/ in vous êtes in the source audio.¹

Subject	Present form
je	suis
tu	es
il / elle / on	est
nous	sommes
vous	êtes
ils / elles	sont

Je suis ici. Nous sommes ici.

I am here. We are here. Change only the subject and verb, then say both sentences aloud. The form suis does not work after nous.

Use avoir for having—and for age

Avoir has its own present forms: j’ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont. French also uses avoir for age, where English uses “be”: j’ai vingt ans means “I am twenty years old.”²

J’ai un livre. Vous avez un livre.

I have a book. You have a book. Keep the apostrophe in j’ai: do not write je ai.

Learn a noun with its article

Le and la mark masculine and feminine singular nouns; les is plural for both. Before a vowel or silent h, le/la become l’. In les + a vowel, the final s links as /z/. Keep article and noun together when you learn a word.³

French	English
le livre	the book
la table	the table
la chaise	the chair
le sac	the bag
la porte	the door
la fenêtre	the window
l’école	the school
les livres	the books
ici	here
ensemble	together

Read a short exchange

Original practice dialogue. First identify each form of être or avoir. Then cover the English lines and explain what each speaker has.

Lina : Je suis ici. J’ai un livre et un sac.

Lina: I am here. I have a book and a bag.

Marc : Nous sommes ici ensemble. Vous avez les livres ?

Marc: We are here together. Do you have the books?

Lina : Oui, nous avons les livres.

Lina: Yes, we have the books.

Check the subject before the ending

Complete with the present form of the verb named in the hint. The hint fixes the intended verb so you are not asked to guess between several meaningful sentences.

Être and avoir in the present

Practice: subject–verb agreement. Type the missing word — Latin accents are optional.

1.Je Question 1: fill in the blank ici.
Hint: être; subject je
2.Tu Question 2: fill in the blank un sac.
Hint: avoir; subject tu
3.Elle Question 3: fill in the blank ici.
Hint: être; subject elle
4.Nous Question 4: fill in the blank un livre.
Hint: avoir; subject nous
5.Vous Question 5: fill in the blank ici.
Hint: être; subject vous
6.Ils Question 6: fill in the blank les livres.
Hint: avoir; subject ils
7.Nous Question 7: fill in the blank ensemble.
Hint: être; subject nous
8.Il Question 8: fill in the blank un livre.
Hint: avoir; subject il
9.Elles Question 9: fill in the blank ici.
Hint: être; subject elles
10.Vous Question 10: fill in the blank un sac.
Hint: avoir; subject vous

10 questions

Grammar reference: Tex’s French Grammar [G06], [G07]. Sentences are original to LinguaCommons.

Make the next session useful

Say one sentence with je, then change it to nous. Check both forms in the table before repeating the sentence from memory.
Use a few flashcards from the existing deck. Treat each gloss as a learning cue; it does not cover every meaning of the French word.
Return tomorrow for the cards that are due. Replay the source audio for être and avoir, then repeat the short dialogue.

Notes & Bibliography

University of Texas at Austin. Tex’s French Grammar: être. Research register [G06]. [source] ↩
University of Texas at Austin. Tex’s French Grammar: avoir. Research register [G07]. [source] ↩
University of Texas at Austin. Tex’s French Grammar: definite articles. Research register [G08]. [source] ↩

Before you go — cover the meanings and check yourself

The meanings are covered. Say each one to yourself first, then uncover it.

Répète-le.
Il a consacré ses soirées à un nouveau loisir ; il a commencé à apprendre l'allemand.
Tom disait qu'il n'avait pas envie de faire ça aujourd'hui.
C'est une fille à l'air commun.

Covering the answer turns reading into testing, and testing is what moves a word from recognised to available. It needs no app and no setup — a folded sheet of paper over one column does it.

Other methods worth the effort →

Practise the sound system

This language pair has a dedicated pronunciation companion with IPA, contrasts and worked examples.

French pronunciation for English speakersOpen the matching pronunciation guide.

🇫🇷French for English speakers: a first conversation