ways of saying hello

• Bonjour bon-joor Hello, good morning!

• Salut sal-u Hi!/bye
• Ça va? sa-vah How’s it going?
• Comment ça va? como-sa-vah How’s it going?
• Comment vas-tu? como-vah-tu How are you? (informal)
• Comment allez-vous? como-allay-voo How are you? (formal or to group)
• Bon après-midi boh-apray-mee-dee Good afternoon!
• Bonsoir boh-swahr Good evening.
• ways of saying good-bye

• Au revoir ohv-voir Good-bye
• Salut! sah-loo Bye! (informal)
• Bonne nuit bun-nwee Good night
• Bonne journée bun-joor-nay Have a nice day
• Bonne soirée bun-swahr-ay Have a nice evening
• À bientôt! ah-bi-ehn-toh See you soon!
Answers to how are you?

• Ça va sah-vah I’m okay.
• Ça va bien, merci. sah-vah-bi-ehn, mersee I’m well, thanks.
• Ça va mal sah-vah-mahl I’m not doing well.
• Ça va comme ci comme ça com-see-com-sah I’m so-so
• Je vais bien
• And you
• Tu /vous
• Et toi/ et vous
Meeting for the first time

• Bienvenue! bi-ehn-vuh-noo Welcome!
• Ravi de faire votre connaissance! ravee-duh-fair-vo-truh-co-nay-sanse Nice to meet you (formal)
• Enchanté(e)! uhn-shan-tay Nice to meet you!
Nouns that refer to males are always masculine and their female counterparts are always feminine, as shown
.
in Table 1

    
Nouns that give you a hint
In some cases, the gender of a noun can be determined by its ending, as shown in Table 2. Exceptions are
the feminine words page (page of a book) and plage ( beach) that end in ‐ age and the feminine
words eau (water) and peau (skin) that end in ‐ eau.
• Nouns that change gender
• Consider the following nouns that can be either masculine or feminine, depending upon
whom you are referring. Make sure to use the proper article ( le, l', un for masculine) or
( la, l', une for feminine) before the noun.
• artiste (artist)
• camarade (friend)
• collègue (colleague)
• concierge (superintendent)
• élève (student)
• enfant (child)
• malade (patient)
• secrétaire (secretary)
• touriste (tourist)
Some nouns can be easily changed from one gender to another by adding an e to the masculine form
to get the feminine form, as shown in Table 3. Keep in mind that adding an e to a final vowel does
not change the sound of the word. Adding an e to a final consonant, however, necessitates
pronouncing that final consonant sound.
Some masculine noun endings (usually referring to professions) have a corresponding feminine
ending, as indicated in Table 4, that is used when the professional is female. The masculine ‐ an, ‐ien,
and ‐ on endings are nasalized when pronounced, whereas the feminine counterparts are not.
Some nouns have differenct meanings depending upon whether they are used in a
masculine or feminine sense. Consult Table 5 to use these words correctly.
Nouns with gender that must be memorized
Some high‐frequency words are always masculine or feminine, despite the gender of the
person referred to. Don't be tempted to select the article you use based on the gender of
the person about whom you are speaking:

• un agent de police (a police officer)

• un bébé (a baby)
• un chef (a chef, a leader, a head)
• un dentiste (a dentist)
• un docteur (a doctor)
• un écrivain (a writer)
• un ingénieur (an engineer)
• un libraire (a bookstore clerk)
• un mannequin (a model)
• un médecin (a doctor)
• un peintre (a painter)
• un pompier (a fire fighter)
• un professeur (a teacher)
• une connaissance (an acquaintance)
• une personne (a person)
• une star (a star)
• une vedette (a star)
• une victime (a victim)
 Definite THE

A definite article is specific, it defines the number and gender of the noun it corresponds to. In English, the only
definite article is the, whereas in French there are four of them: la, le, l’ and les.

Definite Articles

Gender Singular Plural

Masculine le, l’ les

Feminine la, l’ les

 • Please note, le or la change to l’ before a noun beginning in a vowel or
an h (the h is silent in French).
Examples 

Gender Singular Plural

Masculine le livre les livres

l’homme les hommes

la chaise les chaises

Feminine l’amie les amies
• Important Note
• In the examples above, note that le and la both become l’ when they
come before a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent
h: l’homme, l’université. This is called élision.
• When les is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the normally
silent final s of les is pronounced, making a /z/ sound. This additional
sound linking two words is called liaison.
• Exercice 1 : Definite Articles
• Based on the definite article that appears in front of each noun below, indicate whether the noun
is masculine or feminine, or whether you don’t know.
1.la chaise
2.le professeur
3.l’étudiant
4.le sac à dos
5.les bureaux
6.les amies
7.les devoirs
8.l’affiche
9.la craie
10.le stylo
• Plural  Formation
• As in English, the plural is generally formed by adding an s to the end of the singular form of the noun. Note, however,
that the s is not pronounced. In spoken language, the article is often the only indication that a noun is singular or plural.
• Importan
• Important Notes
• Generally, to form plurals, you can follow these rules:
• Add an s to the end of the word. Example: la chaise/les chaises (the chair/the chairs)
• Nouns ending in s, x, or z do not change in the plural. Example: la souris/les souris
(the mouse/the mice)
• Nouns ending in al, ail, or au in the singular end in aux in the plural.
Example: l’animal/les animaux (the animal/the animals)
• Nouns ending in eu, eau or ou in the singular add x in the plural. Example: le
bijou/les bijoux (the jewel/the jewels)
• Keep in mind that there are exceptions and that not all nouns follow the rules above.
• Exercice  2 : Nouns and Definite Articles
• Rewrite the following nouns using its proper definite article based on the noun’s gender and number. Note that the gender is
specified in the brackets with an (m) for masculine and an (f) for feminine. An asterisk (*) indicates the plural form of the noun.
• Modèle: stylo (m) / le stylo.
1.affiche (f)
2.bureau (m)
3.étudiante (f)
4.stylo (m)
5.professeurs* (m)
6.devoirs* (m)
7.craie (f)
8.chaise (f)
9.sacs à dos* (m)
10.
étudiants* (m)
Indefinite Articles

• The second type of articles in French are indefinite articles. These correspond to the
English a (an) (singular) and some (plural). Just like the definite article, the indefinite
article has different forms for masculine, feminine, and plural.

Indefinite Articles

Gender Singular Plural

Masculine un des

Feminine une des