French verb focus: aller, ‘to go’
Aller is a common but irregular French verb. We will look at its use in some of the different tenses here.
Aller is a common but irregular French verb. We will look at its use in some of the different tenses here.
Craindre means to fear, be afraid or be scared of. It is irregular, and you need to remember that the plural forms …
Avoir, meaning ‘to have’, is one of the most common French verbs, and it is irregular in most tenses. Here’s how to use it.
Learn French Welcome to our guide to learning French. Whether you’re living in France or just visiting, there are articles to get you through your time there. If you want to learn French seriously then browse our directory of French…
Quel is an adjective used in questions to mean ‘which’ or ‘that’. It has to agree with the noun that it precedes. This is how you use it.
The French verb boire is an irregular verb that is a little tricky to learn. It usually means to drink, but it can also mean to absorb or soak up.
The French verb envoyer means ‘to send’. Here’s how to use it in the different tenses.
Phrases and vocabulary for the post office in France
The French verb voir is irregular in the present, perfect and future tenses and therefore needs careful study.
This article looks at ‘en’ as a preposition – in other words when it is followed by a noun.
The verb battre means ‘to hit’ or ‘to beat’ (in sport, at a game, or to beat eggs for example). Here’s how to use it in a sentence.
In French, when ‘en’ is used as a pronoun it means ‘some’ or ‘of it’ and can therefore replace a phrase beginning with ‘de’ (or ‘du’, or ‘des’). Here’s how to use it in a sentence.
The French verb mettre is a common but irregular verb meaning ‘to put’. Here’s how to use it in a sentence.
The pronoun ‘y’ is French for ‘there’, so it can replace any phrase that concerns a place. This is how to use it in a sentence.
The French verb dire is irregular, but not very difficult to learn. It is obviously a common verb and therefore important to learn.
The irregular French verb prendre means ‘to take’, including ‘to travel’ on particular forms of transport. It is also used for having meals.
How to use indirect object pronouns
Buying a house in France? Then here’s a glossary of useful phrases to make the process run as smoothly as possible!
The French verb connaître means ‘to know’ in the sense of being acquainted with a person or place. It is an irregular verb mostly used in the present tense.
Pronouns are words that we use to replace nouns, for example it, him, her, us, you them. This is how to use them in French.
The French verb falloir is an unusual verb as it exists in the third person singular only, with ‘il’, meaning it. The general meaning would be ‘it is necessary’, but sometimes we can translate it as ‘we must’. It is an irregular verb.
The preposition ‘à’ can mean ‘to’, ‘at’ or ‘in’ a place, town or country. This is how to use it.
Although the French verb passer is regular, it has many different meanings.
Using the preposition ‘de’: the French word de is a preposition with several meanings: ‘of’, ‘from’, ‘about’, or ‘some’.
Devoir is another irregular verb, and it is unusual because it can mean to owe, or it can mean have to, must, ought to and should.
French language tips: the three tricks you need to remember to form a question.
Savoir is a very useful but irregular verb. It is important to distinguish between savoir and connaître: savoir means to know a fact, or to know how to do …
Vouloir, ‘to want’, is very common verb, and another irregular one. Read on to find out its use in the present, perfect, future and present subjunctive tenses.
The French verb pouvoir means ‘can’, or ‘to be able to’ – another very common verb and yes, you’ve guessed it, it is irregular. Here’s how to use it.
The French verb venir is common but irregular, so needs to be learned thoroughly.
How to get a killer haircut in France!
French glossary: some must-know phrases in the case of an emergency
Être is a very common and, unfortunately, very irregular French verb, that is worth learning thoroughly. Here are its most common uses.
When it comes to proverbs, a word-for-word translation from English to French won’t always work. Here’s how to avoid any embarrassing confusion!
Over the first few weeks of our children’s being thrown into the deep end of French primary schooling, we found some of the following to be important! Our six year old was put into nursery (maternelle), when she had already been to English Reception class, and she spoke not a word for a full eight weeks…
To say sorry in French, it is possible to say pardon, désolé, je regrette, and more, but you might wish to know how to be more emphatic for more specific occasions, such as when hearing really bad news. Here we give you some useful examples which will help you in dozens of everyday situations.
What’s a TIP, or a CDD, or the CPAM? Everyday French is awash with acronyms and abbreviations. Here are some of the more frequently used examples to help you decipher what’s going on!