Notes on pronunciation: -The word je, which means I (and phonetically spelled “zhuh”) is prounced like the S sound in pleasure, followed by a sound close to “uh.”
The letter R is gutteral, which is the hardest part of French. It’s kind of like gargling, but don’t worry if you can’t get it until you hear a native speaker.
The syllables that get emphasis are in CAPITALS
1-Yes – oui -wee
2-No – no -noh
3-Hello – bonjour -bone ZHOOR
This means literally: good day. “bon” is “good” and “jour” is day.
4-Goodbye – au revoire -oh rev WAHR
Literally: until the re-seeing (seeing again). “au” is “until” or “to”. “Voire” is the French verb “to see”, and “revoire” is “to see again”. So what you are really saying is “until we see each other again.”
5-Please – s’il vous plait -seel voo PLAY
Literally: if it pleases you. “si” is “if”. “il” is the French masculine article for “he” or “it”. “vous” means “you”, and “plait” is a form of the verb “to please”. If you say “je vous plais”, that would mean “I please you” (the verb’s ending changes from a “t” to an “s” for the first person form). “Il vous plait” means “it pleases you.” You’ll notice that the word order is different in French (as it is in many languages). You want to just barely pronounce the “l” at the end of “s’il”.
6-Thank you – merci -mare SEE
7-You’re welcome – je vous en prie -zhuh voo ZOHN pree
This is an idiom, which means that the literal translation doesn’t make much sense (at least not to me), so don’t worry about it.
8- I understand – je comprends -zhuh kom PRONN
The French verb “to understand” is “comprendre,” similar to the English word “comprehend.” The first- person version is “comprends.” The second person (you) version is “comprenez.” So, “Do you understand” is “vous comprenez?” which is pronounced “voo com pren AY?
9-I don’t understand – je ne comprends pas -zhuhn com pronn PAH
Properly, you could pronounce the “ne” separately, but in conversation the “ne” is attached to the end of “je” when it is spoken, so that only the “n” part of “ne” is heard and the “e” sound is dropped. The “ne” and “pas” are what we in English would call a double negative – “I don’t understand not.” You need both the “ne” before the verb and the “pas” after the verb to make a sentence negative. The informal slang version of this is simply “Comprends pas.”
10-I’m sorry – je suis desole -zhuh SWEE day zoh LAY
“je suis” means “I am.” “Desole” means, roughly, “sorry” (similar to the English “desolate” which kind of means “sad and alone”.) You can shorten this to “desole,” which is how most French-speakers say it if you bump into them on the street.
11-Excuse me – pardon -pahr DOHN
You can also say “pardonnez moi”, which means, of course, “pardon me”, or you can say “excusez moi”. I’ll bet that you can guess what that means!
12-Left – gauche -ghosh
13-Right – droite -dwah
14-Straight ahead – tout droit -too DWAH
Really, after saying “tout”, you want to just barely pronounce the “t” at the end – like you are just getting ready to say “the” but never start. It’s a weird French thing. And I’ve heard it pronounced where both words are slightly emphasized.
15-Hotel – hotel – oh TELL
16-Restaurant – restaurant – ress taw RAHN
17-Store – magasin -mah gah SAHN (The N at the end is barely pronounced.)
18-Airport – aeroport -air oh POOR
19-Train Station – station de train -sta SYON duh TRENN
The pronunciation of “de” is really halfway between “duh” and “doo,” but if you just say it really fast nobody will notice that you mispronounced it!
20-Taxi – taxi -TAHK see
This is the famous word that is exactly the same in every language on Earth (from what I’ve heard).
21-Police – police -poh LEES
22- Can you help me? – pouvez vous m’aider? -poo vay voo may DAY?
Really, this is “pouvez vous moi aider,” but the “moi” before “aider” is abbreviated and attached to “aider.” “Pouvez” is the second person version of “can” or “to be able”. “Vous” means “you.” So, literally, you are asking “Are able you me to help?” This is the origin of “mayday” calls for help for ships in distress.
23- I would like… – je voudrais -zhuh voo DRAY
As opposed to “je veux,” which means “I want”. It’s a little less demanding and more polite to use “voudrais”.
24- I would like to go… – je voudrais aller -zhuh voo DRAY ah LAY
“Aller” is the French verb for “to go”. Take the “r” off and replace it with a “z” and it becomes the second person form: “you go.” So, to tell someone to go, just say “Allez!”
25- Here – ici -ee SEE
26- There – la bas -lah BAH
27- Do you have…? – avez vous -ah vay VOO
The French verb for “to have” is “avoir.” It is an irregular verb, which means it has a lot of different forms depending on how you are using it. The second person (you) version is “avez.” So literally this means: “have you?”
28- How much? – combien -cohm BYAHN
If you don’t know the numbers, either learn them or use your fingers (and only buy stuff that is 10 Eurodollars or less!)
29- Where is? – ou et -oo ay
“Ou” is the French word for “where”. “Et” means “is.” Pretty simple.
30 – Toilet – toilette -twah LET
So to say “Where is the toilet?” you would say “Ou et la toilette?” “La” is one of the French words for “the” (but I’ll bet you already figured that out!)
This is just a start, but if you can memorize these words and phrases, you’ll be able to get by in France and make yourself basically understood. Sure, most people speak English, especially in the big cities, but they’ll appreciate it if you at least give their language a try and show them that you’re making some effort.
Bon voyage! (that means “have a good trip”…)
