Bonjour ! Being and greeting

French spelling looks scary because it writes many letters it no longer pronounces. The good news: the rules are very regular. Learn these five and you can read most words correctly.

1. Most final consonants are silent

A consonant at the end of a word is usually not pronounced:

• Paris /paʁi/ (no s)
• petit /pəti/ (no t)
• grand /ɡʁɑ̃/ (no d)
• vous /vu/, nous /nu/ (no s)
• tout /tu/ (no t)

The plural -s is silent too: les stations sounds exactly like la station except for the article.

2. The CaReFuL rule

The four consonants c, r, f, l (think of the English word careful) are often pronounced at the end:

Big exception: infinitives in -er do not pronounce the r: parler /paʁle/, aller /ale/. Same for many nouns in -er: le premier /pʁəmje/.

3. Final -e is silent

A final unaccented -e is not pronounced, but it makes the consonant before it audible:

• petit /pəti/ vs petite /pətit/
• grand /ɡʁɑ̃/ vs grande /ɡʁɑ̃d/

This is how you hear the feminine form. With an accent the e is pronounced: café /kafe/.

4. H is always silent

Unlike German Haus or English house, French h is never breathed: hôtel /otɛl/, homme /ɔm/. Think of it as invisible.

5. Stress on the last syllable

German and English stress a fixed syllable inside the word (In-for-ma-TION in German, in-for-MA-tion in English). French gives all syllables equal weight and simply leans a little on the last pronounced syllable of a word or phrase: in-for-ma-TION, com-mu-ni-ca-TION, je suis à Pa-RIS.

Tip: speak French evenly, like a typewriter, with a small lift at the end of each group of words. Avoid strong German-style stress at the start.

The subject pronouns

Il and elle also mean it, because every French noun is masculine or feminine: La station ? Elle est là. (The station? It is there.)

Ils is used for any group with at least one man: Marc et Julie ? Ils sont à Paris. Only an all-female group gets elles.

être in the present

Like German sein and English to be, être is completely irregular. Learn it by heart today; you will use it every few seconds.

• Je suis de Berlin. (I am from Berlin.)
• Tu es à Paris ? (Are you in Paris?)
• Elle est avec moi. (She is with me.)
• Nous sommes à l'hôtel. (We are at the hotel.)
• Vous êtes Madame Martin ? (Are you Mrs Martin?)
• Ils sont dans le métro. (They are on the metro.)

Notice: es and est sound the same /ɛ/, so in speech only the pronoun tells you who is meant.

C'est: the most useful two words

Ce + est becomes c'est (it is, this is, that is):

• C'est Paris ! (This is Paris!)
• C'est une tradition. (It is a tradition.)

The apostrophe replaces a dropped vowel before another vowel. This is called élision: je + ai = j'ai, ce + est = c'est.

on: like German man, but more

On works exactly like German man: Ici, on dit bonjour. (Hier sagt man Guten Tag.) In everyday speech on also replaces nous: On est en retard ! (We are late!) The verb is always singular, like il: on est, never on sommes.

tu or vous?

The split is the same as German du / Sie:

• tu: friends, family, children, close colleagues who offer it.
• vous: strangers, shop and hotel staff, clients, anyone older or senior. Also the plural for any group (ihr).

When in doubt, say vous. A French person who wants tu will tell you: On se tutoie ? (Shall we say tu?)

Saying no: ne ... pas

The negation wraps around the verb, like a sandwich:

• Je ne suis pas de Paris. (I am not from Paris.)
• Ce n'est pas possible. (That is not possible.)

Ne becomes n' before a vowel. You will study negation in detail later; for now, just recognise the pattern.

Words ending in -tion are almost always the same in French, English and German. You already know hundreds of them. Two things change:

1. Pronunciation: French says /sjɔ̃/ (roughly see-on, with a nasal on), not English shun or German tsion. nation /nasjɔ̃/, information /ɛ̃fɔʁmasjɔ̃/.
2. Gender: all French -tion nouns are feminine: la nation, une information. Same as German die Nation, which makes it easy.

Traps

• After s, the t stays a real /t/: la question /kɛstjɔ̃/, la suggestion /sygʒɛstjɔ̃/.
• Meaning shifts: une proposition is usually a proposal or offer (not mainly a grammar term). Une station is a metro stop or a resort (une station de ski). L'instruction often means education or a judicial investigation (le juge d'instruction).
• Spelling with x: some English -ction words use -xion in French: la connexion (connection), la réflexion (reflection).
• German often uses its own word where French and English share one: satisfaction is Zufriedenheit, protection is Schutz. Think English first for these.