1. Bonjour!

“Bonjour” is pronounced [bɔ̃ʒuʁ]. It is the most common way to say “hello”. It is literally translated as “bon” (good) “jour” (day).

This is this the first phrase you must know in French!

2. Ça va ? Ça va.

“ça va” is pronounced [sava].

Say it with a raising voice, and it means “how are you?”.

Say it with a descending voice, and it means “I am fine”, “everything is fine” or “it works for me”. Ça va is so common in France that people sometimes use it to say hello, for instance, at a party.

3. Comment vous appelez-vous? Je m'appelle Claire.

“Je m'appelle Claire” is pronounced [ʒəmapɛl klɛʁ].

It means “My name is Claire”, and it is literally translated as Je (I) m' (myself) appelle (call) Claire (… Claire).

“Comment vous appelez-vous ?” is pronounced [komɑ̃ vu zapəle vu].

It means “What is your name?” (polite form), and it is literally translated as Comment (how) vous (yourself) appelez (call) vous (you) ?

“Enchantée” is pronounced [ɑ̃ʃɑ̃te].

It means “nice to meet you”, and it is literally translated as “(I am) glad” or in spanish, “encantado”.

4. OUI ! NON !

“Oui” is pronounced [wi].

It means “yes”.

“Non” is pronounced [nɔ̃]

It means “no”.

5. Parlez-vous Anglais ?

“Parlez-vous Anglais ?” is pronounced [paʁle vu ɑ̃ɡlɛ].

It means “Do you speak english?”

“Je parle Français, Arabe et Anglais” is pronounced [ʒə paʁl fʁɑ̃sɛ aʁab e ɑ̃ɡlɛ]
It means “I speak French, Arabic and English”.

All illustrations by Léa