--- title: French — a course of Mova's primary school, with trees and pragmatics description: French for an English-speaking child: silent letters, nasal vowels and the French r, accents, greetings, tu or vous, numbers up to a hundred with soixante-dix and quatre-vingts, colours, days and months, dates and the time. The lessons are in English about French. 40 lessons, 642 sentences with tree --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / French # French French for an English-speaking child: silent letters, nasal vowels and the French r, accents, greetings, tu or vous, numbers up to a hundred with soixante-dix and quatre-vingts, colours, days and months, dates and the time. The lessons are in English about French. The french course of Mova's primary school: 40 lessons, 642 sentences, each sentence with its syntax tree and pragmatics. Licence: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) (Mova corpus 0.4). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/1-silent-letters-why-french-doesnt-say-everything-it-writes/) — Silent letters: why French doesn't say everything it writes — 19 sentences · French writes lots of letters that nobody says out loud, a bit like the silent k in English "knee" and the s… - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/2-funny-french-sounds-nasal-vowels-the-french-r-and-u/) — Funny French sounds: nasal vowels, the French r and u — 19 sentences · French has some sounds English does not have, and learning them is like learning new moves in a game: strang… - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/3-accents-e-e-e-c-and-friends/) — Accents: é, è, ê, ç and friends — 19 sentences · French letters sometimes wear little hats, lines and tails, called accents, and they are part of the spellin… - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/4-hello-and-goodbye-greetings/) — Hello and goodbye: greetings — 18 sentences · In France a greeting is not a nice extra: you say bonjour to the baker, the bus driver and the doctor before… - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/5-tu-or-vous-manners-in-french/) — Tu or vous? Manners in French — 15 sentences · French has two words for "you": tu, the friendly one, and vous, the polite one, and choosing between them is… - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/6-numbers-0-to-20/) — Numbers 0 to 20 — 15 sentences · Counting to twenty in French is like learning a new playground chant: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, and soo… - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/7-numbers-21-to-69/) — Numbers 21 to 69 — 16 sentences · Once you know the tens, French numbers up to 69 are like Lego: take a ten, click on a unit with a hyphen, an… - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/8-numbers-70-to-100-soixante-dix-and-quatre-vingts/) — Numbers 70 to 100: soixante-dix and quatre-vingts — 15 sentences · In France the numbers from 70 to 99 are little sums: 70 is soixante-dix, sixty-ten, and 80 is quatre-vingts,… - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/9-colours/) — Colours — 17 sentences · French colours sit behind the thing they describe, so a red ball is un ballon rouge, "a ball red", like a la… - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/10-days-of-the-week-and-months/) — Days of the week and months — 18 sentences · Most French days are named after the Moon and the planets: lundi is the Moon's day, mardi is Mars's day, mer… - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/11-dates-and-birthdays/) — Dates and birthdays — 15 sentences · A French date is a little recipe: le, then the number, then the month, so the 14th of October is le quatorze… - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/12-telling-the-time/) — Telling the time — 14 sentences · To ask the time in French you say Quelle heure est-il ?, and the answer is Il est trois heures, word for wor… - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/13-weather-and-seasons/) — Weather and seasons — 18 sentences · French talks about the weather with il fait, "it makes": il fait beau (it's nice), il fait chaud (it's hot),… - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/14-my-family/) — My family — 16 sentences · In French the word for "my" changes with the word after it: mon père (my dad), ma mère (my mum), mes parents… - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/15-pets-and-animals/) — Pets and animals — 13 sentences · Every animal word has a gender that belongs to the word, not to the animal: une tortue is always une, even i… - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/16-the-body/) — The body — 15 sentences · The quickest way to learn the body in French is a game: in Jacques a dit, touchez la tête ! means "Simon say… - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/17-clothes/) — Clothes — 16 sentences · Some clothes words are traps for English speakers: une veste is a jacket, not a vest, des baskets are traine… - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/18-food-and-drink/) — Food and drink — 17 sentences · French food words almost never stand alone: you like le pain (bread in general), but at the shop you ask for… - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/19-at-the-cafe-ordering-in-french/) — At the café: ordering in French — 18 sentences · A French café visit has a little script: bonjour when you sit down, je voudrais... s'il vous plaît to order,… - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/20-in-the-classroom/) — In the classroom — 15 sentences · Your pencil case, une trousse, holds the first French words you will use every day: un stylo (a pen), un cra… - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/21-my-house-and-my-home/) — My house and my home — 15 sentences · The word's gender has nothing to do with you: a boy says ma chambre and a girl says ma chambre too, because… - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/22-the-town-and-directions/) — The town and directions — 16 sentences · Getting around a French town needs only a handful of words: tout droit (straight on), à gauche (left), à dro… - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/23-hobbies-and-sport/) — Hobbies and sport — 16 sentences · So you say je joue au football, but je joue du piano, and je fais du vélo - a bit like how English says "pla… - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/24-likes-and-dislikes/) — Likes and dislikes: j'aime, je n'aime pas — 13 sentences · French has a ladder for liking things: j'adore (I love), j'aime (I like), j'aime bien (I quite like), je n'a… - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/25-le-la-un-une-every-word-is-a-boy-or-a-girl/) — Le, la, un, une: every word is a boy or a girl — 17 sentences · Every French noun belongs to one of two groups, masculine (le, un) or feminine (la, une), even tables, cars… - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/26-plurals-les-des-and-silent-s/) — Plurals: les, des and silent s — 14 sentences · You hear the plural in the little word in front instead: le chat sounds "luh SHA", les chats sounds "lay SHA… - [27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/27-adjectives-after-the-noun-and-agreeing/) — Adjectives: after the noun, and agreeing — 16 sentences · A small group of short, everyday ones go in front, and the trick BAGS helps you remember them: Beauty (beau,… - [28](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/28-etre-to-be/) — Être: to be — 15 sentences · Être means "to be", and it is one of the busiest words in French: je suis (I am), tu es (you are), il est an… - [29](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/29-avoir-to-have/) — Avoir: to have — 15 sentences · Avoir means "to have": j'ai (I have), tu as, il a and elle a, on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont and elles… - [30](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/30-questions-and-simple-sentences/) — Questions and simple sentences — 14 sentences · The easiest French question is an ordinary sentence with your voice going up at the end like a little hill:… - [31](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/31-songs-and-rhymes/) — Songs and rhymes — 15 sentences · Songs are a clever way to learn: the tune carries the words into your memory, and many songs secretly teach… - [32](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/32-christmas-epiphany-and-pancake-day-french-style/) — Christmas, Epiphany and pancake day French-style — 17 sentences · Winter in France is full of feasts, and many of them look a little different from Christmas and pancake day… - [33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/33-14-juillet-poisson-d-avril-and-other-french-days/) — 14 juillet, poisson d'avril and other French days — 16 sentences · France's year is dotted with special days, and each one has its own words, food or game. - [34](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/34-france-and-the-french-speaking-world/) — France and the French-speaking world — 15 sentences · French is not only the language of France: it is spoken on every continent, and all the people and places th… - [35](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/35-false-friends/) — False friends — 16 sentences · Many French words look just like English ones and mean the same, like animal or table - but some look friend… - [36](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/36-english-words-that-came-from-french/) — English words that came from French — 15 sentences · You already know thousands of French words without knowing it: menu, restaurant, café, ballet, garage and so… - [37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/37-olympiad-number-word-puzzles/) — Olympiad: number-word puzzles ★★★ — 16 sentences · Big French numbers are little sums in disguise: quatre-vingt-dix-sept is "four twenties, ten and seven", so… - [38](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/38-olympiad-gender-pattern-puzzles/) — Olympiad: gender-pattern puzzles ★★★ — 14 sentences · A French gender puzzle is a detective story: the noun hides its gender, and you must find it from clues - th… - [39](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/39-olympiad-decoding-a-short-french-text/) — Olympiad: decoding a short French text ★★★ — 24 sentences · In a language olympiad you often get a short real text - a postcard, a sign, a menu, a recipe - and must wor… - [40](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/french/40-olympiad-mixed-brain-teasers/) — Olympiad: mixed brain-teasers ★★★ — 15 sentences · This last lesson mixes everything from the whole course - sounds, spelling, numbers, days, time, agreement a… - ← previous: [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) - next →: [Geography](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/) - ↑ back to [the school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/)