Question | Answer |
I’m sorry but I don’t have the time to do it now because I’m very busy. | Je regrette mais je n’ai pas le temps de le faire maintenant parce que je suis très occupé. |
You use XXX after adjectives, nouns and also after some verbs such as ‘dire’, ‘demander’ and ‘décider’ if they are followed by another verb. | 'de |
to decide | décider |
Will you ask him to do it? | Voulez-vous lui demander de le faire? |
Will you tell him to wait for me? | Voulez-vous lui dire de m’attendre? |
Will you ask him to call me later? | Voulez-vous lui demander de m’appeler plus tard? |
In English you need to make a distinction between ‘have to’ (must) and ‘have to drink, eat, etc.’. | For the latter, you use ‘avoir + à’. |
What do you have? | Qu’est-ce que vous avez? |
Do you have…? | Est-ce que vous avez…? |
Do you understand? | Comprenez-vous? |
Is it that you understand? | Est-ce que vous comprenez? |
Is it that you understand me? | Est-ce que vous me comprenez? |
What is it that…? | Qu’est-ce que…? |
What do you have to eat? (What have you got to eat?) | Qu’est-ce que vous avez à manger? |
You have to eat. | Vous devez manger. |
to drink | boire |
What do you have to drink? | Qu’est-ce que vous avez à boire? |
What is there? | Qu’est-ce qu’il y a? |
What is there to drink? | Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à boire? |
What is there to eat? | Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à manger? |
You use XXX after ‘chose’ if it is followed by a verb because it is normally an extension of ‘have’. | ‘à’ |
I have something to tell you. | J’ai quelque chose à vous dire. |
After expressions of quantity you use ... | ‘de’ |
How much time? | Combien de temps? |
too much time | trop de temps |
much time | beaucoup de temps |
I don’t have much time. | Je n’ai pas beaucoup de temps. |
many things | beaucoup de choses |
I’m going to buy many things. | Je vais acheter beaucoup de choses. |
I don’t have too much time. | Je n’ai pas trop de temps. |
I’m not going to buy too many things. | Je ne vais pas acheter trop de choses. |
If an expression of quantity is followed by a verb, you use ... | ‘à’ |
I have much to do. | J’ai beaucoup à faire. |
I have much too much to do. | J’ai beaucoup trop à faire. |
I have nothing to do. | Je n’ai rien à faire. |
nothing doing | rien à faire |
What difference? | Quelle différence? |
What is the difference? | Quelle est la différence? |
between | entre |
between us | entre nous |
between the two / between both | entre les deux |
What is the difference between the two? | Quelle est la différence entre les deux? |
What speciality do you have tonight? | Quelle spécialité avez-vous ce soir? |
What address? | Quelle addresse? |
What is your address? | Quelle est votre addresse? |
telephone number | numéro de téléphone |
What is your telephone number? | Quel est votre numéro de téléphone? |
If you combine nouns in French (telephone + number = telephone number), you need to join them together with ... | ‘de’ |
What is your name? | Quel est votre nom? |
What do you want? | Que voulez-vous? |
What do you want to eat? | Que voulez-vous manger? |
What do you want to do now? | Que voulez-vous faire maintenant? |
What do you want to know? | Que voulez-vous savoir? |
What do you prefer? | Que préférez-vous? |
to think | penser |
What do you think? | Que pensez-vous? |
What do you have? | Qu’avez vous? |
Instead of ‘que?’ you can also use ‘qu’est-ce que?’ for ‘what?’. They are interchangeable. If you use ‘qu’est-ce que?’, you do not invert. | |
What is it that you want? | Qu’est-ce que vous voulez? |
What do you know? | Qu’est-ce que vous savez? |
What do you have for me? | Qu’est-ce que vous avez pour moi? |
What do you want to say? / What do you mean? | Qu’est-ce que vous voulez dire? / Que voulez-vous dire? |
what (in the middle of a sentence) | ce que |
I don’t know what I’m going to do today. | Je ne sais pas ce que je vais faire aujourd’hui. |
Nobody knows what it is. | Personne sait ce que c’est. |
Who knows? | Qui sait? |
I don’t understand what you mean. | Je ne comprends pas ce que vous voulez dire. |
There are only two verbs for which the ending for the first person is ‘x’ not ‘s’: | ‘pouvoir’ and ‘vouloir’. |
I want | je veux |
I want it. | Je le veux. |
I don’t want it. | Je ne le veux pas. |
That’s not what I want. | Ce n’est pas ce que je veux. |
That’s exactly what I want. | C’est exactement ce que je veux. |
But that’s not what I mean. | Mais ce n’est pas ce que je veux dire. |
Sound distinction between ‘veux’ and ‘vais’ | |
I want to do it. | Je veux le faire. |
I’m going to do it. | Je vais le faire. |
I’m going to do it because I want to see it. | Je vais le faire parce que je veux le voir. |
That’s not what I mean. | Ce n’est pas ce que je veux dire. |
I don’t understand what it means. | Je ne comprends pas ce que ça veut dire. |
it means | ça veut dire |
What does it mean? | Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire? |
to explain | expliquer |
Will you explain to me what you mean? | Voulez-vous m’expliquer ce que vous voulez dire? |
I will do it tomorrow. | Je vais le faire demain. |
He will be here in a few days. | Il va être ici dans quelques jours. |
I will arrive tomorrow morning. | Je vais arriver demain matin. |
We will arrive tomorrow morning. | Nous allons arriver demain matin. |
He will leave. | Il partira. |
The ending -rai with any verb means ‘I will’. The ending -ra means ‘he/she/it will’. The ending -rez means ‘you will’. The ending -rons means ‘we will’. | |
I will say. / I will tell. I will wait. | Je dirai. |
You will wait. | J’attendrai. |
We will wait. | Vous attendrez. |
He will wait. | Nous attendrons. |
I will understand. | Il attendra. |
I will not understand it. | Je comprendrai. |
I won’t understand you. | Je ne le comprendrai pas. |
He won’t understand me. | Je ne vous comprendrai pas. |
He will tell you. | Il ne me comprendra pas. |
He won’t tell me. | Il vous dira. |
I will ask you later. | Il ne me dira pas. |
It will start soon. / It is going to start soon. | Ça va commencer bientôt. |
It starts tomorrow. | Ça commence demain. |
next week | la semaine prochaine |
I’m going to see you next week. | Je vais vous voir la semaine prochaine. / Je vous vois la semaine prochaine. |
to lift / to lift up | lever |
I’m lifting it. | Je le lève. |
He’s lifting it. | Il le lève. |
She’s lifting it. | Elle le lève. |
one is starting | on commence |
One is starting now. | On commence maintenant. |
In spoken language ‘on’ is often used for ... | ‘we’ |
One is very comfortable here. | On est très confortable ici. |
one is going / we are going | on va |
One is going to leave. | On va partir. |
One is going to stay here. / We are going to stay here. | On va rester ici. |
Shall we…? | On va…? |
Shall we start? | On va commencer? |
Shall we leave? | On va partir? |
Shall we stay? | On va rester? |
What shall we…? | Qu’est-ce qu’on va…? |
What shall we do? | Qu’est-ce qu’on va faire? |
What shall we eat? | Qu’est-ce qu’on va manger? |
What shall we order? | Qu’est-ce qu’on va commander? |
What shall we drink? | Qu’est-ce qu’on va boire? |
What shall we take? | Qu’est-ce qu’on va prendre? |
When referring to food or drink you do not use the verb ‘avoir’ (to have), you use ... | ‘prendre’ (to take) |
I’m going to have a | Je vais prendre une |
cup of coffee. | tasse de café. |
to have lunch | déjeuner |
the lunch | le déjeuner |
Will you have lunch with me? | Voulez-vous déjeuner avec moi? |
breakfast | le petit déjeuner |
Will you have breakfast with me tomorrow morning? | Voulez-vous prendre le petit déjeuner avec moi demain matin? |
I will do it. | Je le ferai. / Je vais le faire. |
In English ‘will’ expresses the future tense with one exception: ... | ‘will you (please…)?’, which is a polite request and not the future tense. |
Will you come with me? | Voulez-vous venir avec moi? |
Do you want to come with me? | Est-ce que vous voulez venir avec moi? / Voulez-vous venir avec moi? |
Will you wait for me? | Voulez-vous m’attendre? |
Do you want to wait for me? | Voulez-vous m’attendre? / Est-ce que vous voulez m’attendre? |