Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q: I find it quite difficult to hear and make the difference between ils ont and ils sont. Can you help me?

Answer 

ils ont they have and ils sont they are are quite similar soundwise. To differentiate them, you can slightly exaggerate the “liaison” between the word ils and the verb:
- ils ont is pronounced as if a [zz] was linking them: ils [zz] ont
- ils sont is pronounced as if a [ss] was linking them: ils [ss] ont 

Don’t forget that the context plays an important role as well. If you say: ils ont trois enfants, it is obvious that you’re talking about having three children (and not being three children). So, even if your pronunciation is not perfect, you will still be understood.  

Q:I heard a French speaker say j’habite Paris, but in your course you say j’habite à Paris. Can we say both?

Answer 

You can say both. Some people omit the preposition à after habiter. So you can say j’habite à Paris or j’habite Paris but I would advise you to keep the à, as it is more logical: I live IN Paris.  

The French word for in and to before a town or a city is always à:
Je vais à Paris         I’m going to Paris
Je reste à Paris       I’m staying in Paris
Je suis à Paris         I’m in Paris
J’étudie à Paris       I’m studying in Paris

Q: I’m a bit confused between tu and vous. When can you start using tu with someone?

Answer  

My advice is to wait for the French speaker to call you tu first and then you can reply with tu. This is usually what I do when I talk to French people, if they call me tu, then I call them tu (it is called tutoyer) and if they use vous, I reply with vous (it is called vouvoyer).

You can use tu when you talk to a child or a teenager or, of course, to a friend or family member. 

Q: Are there any rules about liaisons between words? 

Answer 

A liaison consists of adding a sound between two words. This sound is made from the final silent consonant of a word and the initial vowel of the following word:

a) the letters s and x sound like [z]:

  1. les [z] enfants, deux [z] animaux  

b) the letter d sounds like [t]:

  1. un grand [t] animal 

c) the adjectives ending with -on lose their nasal sound and are pronounced as if they were feminine:

  1. un bon↔ami(‘bon’ is pronounced ‘bonne’)

Some liaisons are compulsory:  

a) between an article (and other determiners) and a noun:

  1. les [z] amis, mes [z] enfants, des [z] animaux 

b) between a pronoun and a verb:

  1. ils [z] ont, nous [z] arrivons 

c) between the verb être and the complement:

  1. je suis [z] intelligent, c’est [t] un↔enfant 

d) In the past tense, between avoir/être and the past participle:

  1. je suis [z] allé, ils ont [t] acheté 

e) between an adjective (placed before the noun) and the noun:

  1. un petit↔animal (‘petit’ is pronounced ‘petite’), un grand [t] arbre 

f) between a preposition and un/une:

  1. sous [z] une table, dans [z] une boîte 

g) in some expressions :

  • de temps [z] en temps

Never make a liaison after the word et (and). 

Q: Is there a way to know whether a word is masculine or feminine?

Answer:

Unfortunately, there isn’t and you’ll have to learn the gender of every new word you come across. However:

a) some words are, by definition or by nature, obviously feminine or masculine:
un homme/une femme
le père/la mère
le chien/la chienne
un journaliste/une journaliste…

b) words ending with –tion or –sion for example are feminine:
une télévision
la passion
une action…

Some words can have a different meaning whether they are used as masculine or feminine:

le livre the book and la livre the pound
le tour the tour and  la tour the tower
le vase the vase and  la vase the mud

And finally, note that some words used in the singular form are masculine but become feminine in the plural form (there aren’t many!):
l'amour (love – masculine) but les amours (loves – feminine)
le délice (the delight – masculine) but les délices (the delights – feminine)

But don’t worry too much, you will generally be understood even if you use the wrong gender.

Q: If a word starts with the letter h, do you actually have to pronounce the h?

Answer:

In French, an initial h is always silent. However, we distinguish two sorts of initial h:

a) the silent h which, although written, is completely ignored. Therefore, you treat the word as if it started with the second letter (a vowel):
l’hélicoptère
les hélicoptères (pronounced with a [z] sound between the two words)
j’habite
l’horoscope

b) the aspirate h which, still silent, cannot be ignored. Therefore, any “liaison” you would have made with a preceding word is now impossible and any apostrophe (’) you would have been tempted to use before this word is not allowed:
le haricot (and not l’haricot)
les haricots (pronounced les and then haricots with no [z] sound between the two words)
le héros
la haine…