Free French Lessons

Communication issues

Phrases for when your French deserts you!

If you're planning a jaunt into French-speaking territory, you're bound to encounter communication problems at one point or other. Knowing how to politely say "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're saying" can be pretty useful.

Ten'o'clock, on the dot!

Telling the time in French

If you have any aspirations of being able to catch a train, book an appointment, or keep a dinner date... being able to tell the time (and understand it when it's given to you!) is pretty essential. This lesson covers the major time-telling conventions in French. If you've learned your numbers, then telling the time shouldn't be very difficult for you... just watch out for that 24 hour clock!

French grammar - Possession in nouns

The possessive "de"

There are a number of ways to talk about who owns what, just like there is in English. One way is by adding 's to the end of a noun, such as "Harry's horse". In this lesson we discuss possession in nouns using the French equivalent to our 's — de / des

All about "the"

The definite article

Most of us are familiar with the French word(s) for the long before we ever start learning the language — or at least we have a vague idea that it involves an L. This lesson covers variations of this small but essential word.

Can I have some cake?

The partitive article

You might be considered a glutton if you ate a cake all by yourself, but nobody would consider you overindulgent if you ate some cake all by yourself, right? The partitive article "some" or "any" is used when we're talking about something you can't really count. It's a pretty simple one, and a good one to master if you don't fancy a whole cake turning up on your plate.