What hour/time is it?
4b Il est quelle heure?
eel ay kell er
5 Il est [nombre] heure(s).
It is [ number] hours.
eelay [nombre] er
Physical and mental health
Reacting to events
Thanking
Complementing
(Dis)agreeing
Invitations
Meetings
Expressing opinions
Pronunciation Index
IPA pronunciation for Standard French
The following pronunciation guide using IPA symbols is for Standard French. Also known as International French and Received Pronunciation (RP) French. Although it is considered snobbish by some, it is generally understood by all French speakers.
IPA chart French vowels
Front
Back
Central
NR
R
NR R
Close
i
y
u
Close-mid e
ĝ
o
?
Open-mid ? ?? ? (??)
? ??
Open
a
(?) ??
These tables based upon Wikipedia:French phonology
IPA chart French consonants
Labio-
Palato-
Labio-
Labio-
Bilabial
Dental1/
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
dental Alveolar alveolar
palatal
velar
Plosive
p b
t d
k g
Nasal
m
n
?
?
Fricative
f v
s z
? ?
?
Approximant
j
?
w
Lateral
l
Slang
Notes on how to use slang
Foreign speakers
It is important to note that, as a foreigner, your use of slang will often be received as cute or funny, depending greatly upon your overall fluency in spoken French. To understand this, think about how it would sound to you if a foreigner?with a strong accent and odd rhythm of speech?came up to you and said
"Dude, what a sketchy-ass hater that bizz-natch was, I totally was just like 'fuck off fo-sheezy'". Therefore, no matter how much slang you use in your native language, limiting your use of slang in French (proportionally to your level of fluency) will also limit how much you are patronised and giggled at by native listeners.
Slang: consistency & style
To use slang efficiently, it is important to maintain a consistency of style. Mixing styles might sound like saying: "Thy face, it is quite finely rawkin'".
Avoid vous unless a plural is necessary.
Avoid subject-verb inversion in questions. Use rather question formations where there is no inversion or 'est-ce que', only the raised tone at the end of the sentence. When doing this with interrogatives ( qui, quand, comment, etc.), place them at the end of the sentence; i.e. "On va bouffer quand?"
Translating 'fuck'
The English-language term 'fuck' is exceptional as it can serve as noun, verb, adjective, exclamation, and others. There is no such equivalent usage of any word in the French language. Therefore the translation of
'fuck' into French depends on the corresponding part of speech.
Examples
noun
"He's a great fuck" = "C'est un bon coup"
"He is such a fuck(er)" = "C'est un pauvre type/enfoiré/enculé/connard/salaud" (insert any insult)
