French Essentials For Dummies (eBook)

Laura K. Lawless, Zoe Erotopoulos (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 2. Auflage
222 Seiten
For Dummies (Verlag)
978-1-394-37320-8 (ISBN)

Infos

Get right to the good stuff with this easy-to-follow guide to French fundamentals

French Essentials For Dummies, 2nd Edition walks you through the core concepts of French so you can apply right away and start communicating effectively. From conjugating verbs to understanding tenses, this easy-to-read guide skips past the fluff and dives deep into the basics you need to improve your French and succeed on a French class exam and more.

This guide helps you figure out the right articles, adjectives, and pronouns you need to use in different situations. Plus, you'll also get expert advice on when to use the past tense, the imperfect, and how to express the future.

Inside:

• Make adjectives agree, understand the different parts of French speech, and select the right preposition
• Correctly ask and answer yes or no questions and participate in simple conversations
• Use important verb distinctions, correctly pronounce French words, and deploy proper grammar

Perfect for everyone taking a French class, undertaking solo French study, or anyone looking for a handy, practical supplement to improve their understanding of the language, French Essentials For Dummies, 2nd Edition is a hands-on reference packed with the tools, tips, and strategies you need to speak French.

Laura K. Lawless is the author of French Workbook For Dummies and a virtual French teacher who creates lessons, quizzes, listening exercises, and games for students around the world at LawlessFrench.com.

Zoe Erotopolous, PhD is the author of French For Dummies and an experienced French language teacher. She currently teaches French at Fairfield University.

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Getting Down to Basics

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using cardinal and ordinal numbers

Expressing dates

Telling time

Reviewing parts of speech

Being able to use cardinal and ordinal numbers and recognizing parts of speech are essential French skills. Knowing these basics will help you perfect your oral and written French.

Using Numbers

Numbers are one of the most basic and useful parts of language. In addition to simple counting, you need cardinal numbers for communicating dates, time, prices, phone numbers, addresses, and so much more. You use ordinal numbers to express the number of a floor or the order of a person in a race or competition. We discuss these numbers here.

Counting with cardinal numbers

Cardinal numbers are for counting, and the low numbers are easy. You may already know them backwards and forwards, but if not, all you need to do is memorize them. The higher numbers get a bit more complicated. Check out the following lists of French numbers, starting with easy ones and moving on to more difficult ones.

Number	French	Number	French

0

zéro

5

cinq

1

un, une

6

six

2

deux

7

sept

3

trois

8

huit

4

quatre

9

neuf

Here are the easier double digits:

Number	French	Number	French

10

dix

40

quarante

11

onze

41

quarante et un quarante-et-un

12

douze

42

quarante-deux

13

treize

43

quarante-trois

14

quatorze

44

quarante-quatre

15

quinze

45

quarante-cinq

16

seize

46

quarante-six

17

dix-sept

47

quarante-sept

18

dix-huit

48

quarante-huit

19

dix-neuf

49

quarante-neuf

20

vingt

50

cinquante

21

vingt et un vingt-et-un

51

cinquante et un cinquante-et-un

22

vingt-deux

52

cinquante-deux

23

vingt-trois

53

cinquante-trois

24

vingt-quatre

54

cinquante-quatre

25

vingt-cinq

55

cinquante-cinq

26

vingt-six

56

cinquante-six

27

vingt-sept

57

cinquante-sept

28

vingt-huit

58

cinquante-huit

29

vingt-neuf

59

cinquante-neuf

30

trente

60

soixante

31

trente et un trente-et-un

61

soixante et un soixante-et-un

32

trente-deux

62

soixante-deux

33

trente-trois

63

soixante-trois

34

trente-quatre

64

soixante-quatre

35

trente-cinq

65

soixante-cinq

36

trente-six

66

soixante-six

37

trente-sept

67

soixante-sept

38

trente-huit

68

soixante-huit

39

trente-neuf

69

soixante-neuf

The conjunction et (and) is used only for the numbers 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, and 71, with or without hyphens. For all other compound numbers through 99, use just a hyphen between the separate words.

Here are the trickier double digits:

Number	French	Number	French

70

soixante-dix

85

quatre-vingt-cinq

71

soixante et onze

86

quatre-vingt-six

72

soixante-douze

87

quatre-vingt-sept

73

soixante-treize

88

quatre-vingt-huit

74

soixante-quatorze

89

quatre-vingt-neuf

75

soixante-quinze

90

quatre-vingt-dix

76

soixante-seize

91

quatre-vingt-onze

77

soixante-dix-sept

92

quatre-vingt-douze

78

soixante-dix-huit

93

quatre-vingt-treize

79

soixante-dix-neuf

94

quatre-vingt-quatorze

80

quatre-vingts

95

quatre-vingt-quinze

81

quatre-vingt-un

96

quatre-vingt-seize

82

quatre-vingt-deux

97

quatre-vingt-dix-sept

83

quatre-vingt-trois

98

quatre-vingt-dix-huit

84

quatre-vingt-quatre

99

quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

And here are the big numbers:

Number	French	Number	French

100

cent

200

deux cents

1.000

mille

2.000

deux mille

1.000.000

un million

2.000.000

deux millions

1.000.000.000

un milliard

2.000.000.000

deux milliards

1.000.000.000.000

un billion

2.000.000.000.000

deux billions

Note the following about cardinal numbers:

• Un becomes...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 3.9.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Schulbuch / Wörterbuch ► Wörterbuch / Fremdsprachen
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Sprachwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: basic french • French basics • French conventions • French definitions • French examples • french for beginners • French Grammar • french language learning • French Pronunciation • French tips • is French easy? • is French hard? • learning french
• ISBN-10: 1-394-37320-1 / 1394373201
• ISBN-13: 978-1-394-37320-8 / 9781394373208