Basic French Lesson 1: Learn basic French

[wangtianxing1010]

why is that sentence "Je mange DU poisson"? why it's not " Je mange le poisson"? isn't that du=de+le? why we say " Je mange de le poisson" not "Je mange de poisson"?

[jefrench10]

@wangtianxing1010 Je mange le poisson means I eat the fish... je mange du poisson is I eat some fish or I eat fish.

[Raina430]

Tres bien, merci beaucoup

[Lu170697]

i alredy know some french but i will learn more! I m alredy fluent in italian,portugese and russian

[TheRunningComedian]

Merci boucoup :)

[sarabeth1410]

THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE AWESOME :)

[tronjhiem79]

Thanks for the lesson!

[booshitpoo]

I've taken french GCSE and im so worried that i won't be able to learn everything in time! after two years of it so far i barely know much need alot of help with french anybody got any good tips that help learning faster? i.e. writing it down and repeatin somthing along the lines of that ?

[MDesmo170]

Tu parles au francais?

[Venezuelangirl1987]

i want to learn french so badly....

but right now i'm gonna sleep lol

i'll be back tomorrow

[OlmosAwesome1]

Je m'appelle Ryan. Je suis à apprendre le français :D

[Brettore1]

Im fluent in Spanish, Portgues (I live in Brazil), Italian, English and I know a bit of Latin. Cant wait to know French, this way i'll know almost all latin languages =]

[Xiricon]

I'm jealous of this teacher's excellent bilingual skills, even though he makes the lesson effective and fun.

[dmaulition]

I speak 4 languages fluently, English, Irish, Spanish and German and today I took a notion to start studying french, I really regret never having learned it, it's so much more simple than the other languages, and this video is really helpful.

Merci monsieur!

[elizabethumanzor]

this is great!! I just learned a crap load in seven minutes... Well not crap load, but a lot of great stuff!:D A bientôt everyone!:D

[davidenko09]

I speak english and spanish quite well....Now i want to learn french, people say that for the ones who speak spanish is easier to learn french, "we´ll see..""

thank you for the video.!! it was really good!

[sokkie1111]

Is il pronouced eel-ay or eel-l

[HerlockSholmes123]

Sacrebleu!

[kmde666]

French is hard... BUT IT's so awesome! xD

[Theroha]

Languages are always fun; though, they give me a bit of a headache. The only way I can describe it is being conscious of my neurons rearranging themselves and misfiring as they try to process these new signals and get them aligned with the pathways used for English. Anyway, fun video. Looking forward to learning French.

[Heytherequetal]

My native language is Turkish, I'm a fluent speaker of English, I've been learning Spanish, French, German and Norwegian all on my own haha!

[TahtahCutie52]

I have a question.:) If two vowels dont sound right to the the french, why are there two vowels on tu aimes or on elle aime? Please reply I know grammar is very important. And also is it possible to speak this language fluenty even though no one in my family speaks it (only understand it and im the only one who doesnt). I hear everything around you has to be french and I live here in the USA and no one I know speaks french. So I can only learn from lessons like yours...

[jefrench10]

@TahtahCutie52 In the case of the ai of tu aimes, the 2 vowels together make a different sound than the regular french a or i on their own. They are merged together to form a new sound. It 's different than 2 separate words, one ending with a vowel sound and the other starting with a vowel sound. In that case each vowel sound has to be pronounced separately. This forces us to make a pause between the 2. This is why the e of je disappears in J'aime so that we only have one vowel sound left

[xclaimer365]

vous is also the one you would use if you don't know the person very well or are showing respect correct?

[jefrench10]

@xclaimer365 Correct!

[OhMyAlyona]

i love languages.

they're all different...but still the same!

<3

thanks!

[ADCVirgo]

Im fluent in Spanish and English next is Portuguese and French for me :D

[111kamina]

thanks for such a great lesson, it is really working out for me dude! cheers!

[annie10103]

I just learnt more in seven minutes, than I did in two years at school O.O

[ayllasousa]

Great lesson :D gonna keep studying to become fluent in french with the help of this great teacher \0/

Ps: i dont see a difference between the pronounce of "il, ils and elle,elles " could you please explain how can i notice the difference between the pronounciation of this?

[sultanelsalatin]

i speak perfect arabic , spanich and english , now learning french, and soon italian xD!!

[JustGabe]

Fantastic video! you're a great teacher! I will recomend this to some of my friends that want to learn french :)

[melpower2525]

When do we use "Tu" and "Vous" ? Help :/

[1redbully1]

can u teach where to use that ' symbol why u used j'aime not je aime

[MellyBell910]

other french lessons on youtube aren't very helpful but im acutally learning a lot from these lessons. This man is a wonderful teacher :3

[mexifrida]

Great lesson. Only question, when pronouncing "fille", is it more common to emphasize the end and say "fee-yuh" or is it moe like "fee"?

[jefrench10]

@mexifrida You should emphasize "fee" but also make sure you pronounce "yuh". 

[belliouse]

Who else skipped French class in school?

[megatron20000]

Thank you, you're teaching great!

[minhjo24]

sorry, but i cannot see the difference in pronounce between il & ils ; or elle & elles.

please help :)

[jefrench10]

@minhjo24 The s is silent, so there is no difference in the pronunciation.

[Vane222ssa]

@minhjo24 there's no difference il without the ''s'' is singular ( it means he) and ils with the s is plurial (it means they) and it's the same thing for elle or elles (except it's feminine so it means she or they) but the prononciation is the same with or without the s! hope it helps if you have any question you can ask me! :)

[beebzchic77]

im trying to become fluent in french any advice anyone please

[JustGabe]

@beebzchic77 listen to tons of french music, try to sing them (after know how to properly read french of course, which btw, is not an easy task) and read a lot of french articles, magazines, etc. so that you get used to it. Hope that helps, at least it is working for me with German.

[coolbabylol]

Lu Lu ni him

Tu is one person vous is more than one.

[TheSitHamster]

@coolbabylol "Vous" is also used for a single person in a polite form (a superior or someone you don't know)

[Brunillo007]

I am fluent in Spanish and English and now thanks to this teacher i will be in French!

[TheStyx44]

a lot like spanish

[TheSitHamster]

@TheStyx44 yes, we're close to spanish and italian (the roman "heritage")

[Drezero13]

this is great french it is !

[seltzhackerx21]

I'm in Spanish 1 going on to Spanish 2, and then I'm going to study French 1 and French 2. I'm already fluent in Chinese and English! :)

[jefrench10]

@seltzhackerx21 Impressive!

[keaiosity]

@seltzhackerx21 Ditto! :D

[LuluHeeNim]

hello there...can i ask you something..whats the difference between tu-you and vous-you???? wcich one is more comfortable to use?

[jefrench10]

@LuluHeeNim Use "vous" in a formal setting. Use "tu" with your friends and family. Use "vous" when addressing more than 1 person.

[DYLANDISASTERbz]

@jefrench10 vous is plural basically

[Vane222ssa]

@LuluHeeNim tu is for only one person it's singular and vous is for several pers or a group it's the plurial form. we also use vous to be polite like with the adults or old people.

[edohem]

Who is here because of wish to join F. French Legion thumbs UP

[jefrench10]

@edohem You know they will teach you French in the Legion. I hear they are very good teachers... :) Good luck!

[edohem]

@jefrench10 haha .. Thanks

[smarties2001]

Thx!!

[katyasinger]

I have a question, can I say "on mange" and it will mean let's eat? Or will it mean we eat. And do you have to have the pronoun with the verb or do you just say the verb without a pronoun.

[mariusss95]

on isnt we ...we is nous not on

[jefrench10]

@mariusss95 Both on and nous can mean we. In everyday conversations French people use on more than nous. Trust me. I am one of them. :)

[JustGabe]

@mariusss95 My french teacher gave us a "tip" that we should use "on" when we're in a group, like with friends, in other words, with people you're close to or familiar with, while we should use "nous" when you're in a group with people you're not very familiar with.

[bballJR1996]

what is the difference between tu and vous? thank you for the vid btw

[jefrench10]

@bballJR1996 Tu is used when addressing one person. Vous is used when addressing a group of people. Vous is also used in a formal conversation when talking to a person in a position of authority, someone you just met or a business relation.

[pcx34]

why isn't it t'aimes instead of tu aimes if we don't want two vowels together?

[jefrench10]

@pcx34 Actually we do sometimes make the contraction when speaking but never in writing. That is considered very poor grammar. In French we have a saying regarding French grammar rules. It's not really a rule if there is not an exception to the rule. You just found an exception to that rule. :)

[77roccy]

in ils mangent you don't say the e,n or t?

[jefrench10]

@77roccy The n and the t are silent. I pronounce the e lightly. Je mange et ils mangent are pronounced the same way.

[KittyCatCozassy]

Cool

[Kreloar]

Your English accent is almost perfect, only your (and the French) typical tendency to add an "uh" sound to a final consonant (to eata, enda) gives you away. Nice lessons, I'm already quite beyond that basic stuff, having studied French for about 6 years. We're at the moment studying the gérondif (en faisant, en ayant etc.). J'aime beaucoup vos leçons. Je pense qu'ils soient très utiles pour beaucoup de gens apprenant le français. C'est magnifique, il faut vraiment que vous continuiez.

[gluber10]

can i ask you when to use du, une, le, and cette? This is my first time learning french

[bleachfan178]

je aimer tu ,

[navhiza]

thanks so much for upload! this vid so useful for me!! you are great teacher!!! :)

[bmanyoupoop]

i just learned more french than in my 7 years at school

[030Lavender]

hard for me

 :(

[OhMyPirate]

I signed up but it didn't send the link to my email what do I do now?

[jefrench10]

@OhMyPirate Please contact support@jefrench.com

[rohleks]

il and ils also elle and elles pronunciation sound the same or is it?

[jefrench10]

@rohleks yes the s is silent

[alondra2004]

Merci Jef !! I love the way you explain the classes. I am Mexican and living in Canada and I star to learn french with the help of your videos. I didnt have any clue about the lenguage until now. Thanks a lot !!

[cheeelsey]

so there's two ways of saying you? or are they the ones with the specific gender, like how ils stand for the male they, and elles for the female they? and which is which? :)

[jefrench10]

@cheeelsey Tu is used when addressing one person, no matter the gender of that person. Vous is used to address a group of people. It is also used in a formal conversation with one person when you don't know them well enough to use "tu". Please visit our site for more detailed videos on that topic.

[TheViolenceMan]

omg man i'm totally gonna learn this then you french girls'll be in trouble lol

[giorgos1216]

i have a test in about 9 hours so lets do it my friend!

[jimthelizardking]

Great video, but can somebody explain why I can't hear a difference in any of the verb endings, even when they're spelled quite differently?

[jefrench10]

@jimthelizardking That's a good question. There is no short answer to that one. I encourage you to sign up for the weekly lessons on our site to learn the conjugation of French verbs. There are 3 different groups of verbs in French and each one behaves differently. A lot of the consonants at the end of the verbs like the "s" are silent. Same thing with the "ent" with ils and elles, it is pronounced as the French "e".

[97Latta]

At the end it's A' no A....isn't it?? Please don't answers me complicatelly because I'm Italian ,I am not English..tnx

[jefrench10]

@97Latta You are not required to put the accents on capital letters in French. It is optional. Because French typewriters did not allow the accents on capital letters, their use was abandoned. Now with computers, they are again available. So it is optional. I never use them.

[SuperSlayerX]

Notice how things take on an entirely different slant when you say them in a foreign language. How French sounds sexy, how Spanish sounds exotic, and how anything you shout in German sounds either Badass or evil, sometimes both, depending on your tone of voice.

[legueu]

This guy speak very well in french and in english.

[breekwhal]

what's the difference between using "on" and using "nous" ?

[jefrench10]

@breekwhal You can use both. They have the same meaning. On can mean one... like: one should never do this... or it can mean we. In everyday conversations, French people use on more than they use we.

[ichigopeach]

J'aime the French language! Thanks a million! I hope to learn more in the near future ( or just your next video, I should of said.) Thanks!(>_<)

[larskimberlyb]

J'aime this! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us :)

[RyuOkamiOni14]

I've sought to learn French for a while now, and this lesson is EXACTLY what I needed to begin my studies. You are a wonderful teacher! Merci beaucoup for sharing this! :)

[frickouter]

non je ne veux pas nager avec vous........ C'est très bête de moi faire ça sans une prémier date!

[fashionbug9880]

yay Now I know how to say I love you to my friend (not in a relationship way, but because we are such good friends)

[ElviraJackson]

@shyment3

I like your lesson -- J'aime votre leçon. ;)

[TheGirish16]

Thank you very much, to the narrator. This is an excellent video.

[knlvz]

Thanks for sharing :) <3 J' taime French :PPPP

[oceangust]

I love how the first verbs you teach are "to eat" and "to love." lol. How very french! XD

And yeah, for people just using these lessons, both his French and English are flawless which is an extremely rare quality in people teaching this language.

[uGxMaGiiKzZ]

tu veux aller a la plage avec moi cet apres midi?

[Windpillar]

These videos are good Im taking french next year i decided to start two month early I like them keep going so Merci Mersyer

[frickouter]

@Windpillar monsieur ;)

[yayme770]

j'aime du poisson! well not so much...lol

[Madisita]

my french accent is absolutely ridiculous hahaha but good videos!!! i'm gonna come here everyday

[BabyCakes1496]

looks like ill be passing french next year in 9th grade! thanks!

[DiegoSurfCaboVideos]

est très bon déjà, grâce à la française:)

[babygurl2199]

your a gud french teacher

[CraZayTube]

i have a question. On tu aime why didnt u drop the U to t'aime?

[jefrench10]

@CraZayTube It's actually : On te aime >>>>> On t'aime. Le te is contracted to t'. That's because aime starts with a vowel, so we drop the e to avoid two vowel sounds following each other. Te is actually you in English as in "we love you". To say "you love", we use tu... tu aimes. I hope this helps. :)

[CraZayTube]

@jefrench10

u read my question wrong.

i didnt say ON as in the french word.

the question is, with "tu aimes," y dont u change it to "t'aimes"????

is it because it could be "te aimes"

u're saying drop the the double vowel in ur video but u're not dropping the double vowels with the U and A in "tu aimes"

it has two vowels.

thanks for the fast reply, and hey can u do a video on the pronouns "y, en"???

matter fact do all the possible pronouns in french.

that would be amazing.

[jefrench10]

@CraZayTube You can never drop the vowel of "tu". You can do it when speaking French but not when writing it. That would be considered very poor grammar. I know others teach you that way. But that's just wrong. :) For "y" and "en", I have videos on that in our weekly lessons on the site. :)

[shyment3]

j' aime du lesson

is that how to say " i like your lesson"

[MaCxPunk]

@RacbecSkywalker «Vous» is the plurial of «Tu». In english, you = «Tu» and «Vous». But you can also use «Vous» for one person, usually used when you talk to an old person or if you work with the public and you want to be polite. I know, it could be kinda difficult because you're used to only say one word for both situations. Also, there is no difference when you hear «mange» et «mangent». Both have the same pronounciation. The difference is only when you're writting. It depends if it 's plurial

[Sade8855]

Thank you very much for the great teaching method, I hope you post more and more videos to help us learning.

[sexykarito]

I dont undestand the difference in sound between il and ills and ell and elles, can someone help me?

[jefrench10]

@Asianlovejuice I would recommend our weekly lessons.  You can learn more about them on the site.

[jefrench10]

@mermaidstar7 We have other videos on the site that explain the difference between tu and vous.

[cowpacino]

I dropped out of my second year of French in high school because the teacher I had retired and the new one was from cote de ivoire and had an imposable to understand African accent

I like this guy's accent better

[RacbecSkywalker]

i cannot seem to understand the following:

1. the difference between "vous" and "tu"

2. I cannot hear the difference between "mange" and "mangent" (same with "aime , aimes and "aiment"

[jefrench10]

@RacbecSkywalker "mangent" is the plural form as you know.  The "nt" at the end is silent. That's why you cannot hear the difference.

[RacbecSkywalker]

I don't understand they difference between vous and tu.

HELP PLEASE!

[daremoagain69squared]

merci, aussie! I am a beginner and a casual learner. I have a folder on my desktop labeled 'French' where i keep documents and shortcuts to lesson en francaise. I visit it several time a week to practice. This web site was simple and 'accesible' meaning that it is easy to use and understand. Bravo! thank you for this contribution of efforts on your part to introduce the magnifique language of French!

[mclg1000]

I am brazilian and I this video is exactly what i wanted to learn french as I intend to go to Paris next year. Thank you so much for posting this videos.

[Braelynvideos]

After we all learn french we can do other romance languages more easily. We all may think french is complicated with two different ways to say you (tu and vous) but English is the hardest language to learn and people learn it.

[SneakerRock]

I am a Korean and started my basic French class only a few days ago. And this is so great because I can listed to the correct pronunciations. Thank you for posting this lesson as well as other sequels. Merci!

[Marinedu14520]

I'm french and this lessons is very good for the english :)

[graymagnolia]

Very helpful. Thankyou.

[noefernandeznaranjo]

i'm spanish speaker but i think is easier try to learn french in english classes. what do you think about?

[lovinit9920]

thaNKKSS!

[xDhimAgainxD]

J'aime la video :) thanks for the help

[Wikkiter]

I want to learn to speak basic French before I go to France :)

Thank you for posting these videos, I will make good use of them :)

[Roboy30]

I'm French and I commend the teacher because he has a very good accent.

[redcatt98]

your a lot better than my french teacher at school

[ImCaptainJade]

woah j'aime cette vid, je peux le parle un peu, c'est super

[MakeUrMind8]

oo its so so good for me... i dont have french in school and i can learn it on yt... its so so amazing !! please add more vid like this... Im from poland and my language is polish... in school i have only english lesson but its so cool because now i can learn french .. ; >> I think u can understand me, if u dont.. hm... sorry... ; DD im only human :)

[jefrench10]

@MakeUrMind8 I'm only human too and I understand you perfectly. :)

[pixelated111]

How do you manage to do that throat sound that kinda sounds like a spitting sound too?

the one that comes from the back of the throat a little and alot depending on the word

[jefrench10]

@pixelated111 I know that's a difficult sound to make for English speakers. It's the same for French natives with the "th" sound in English. I assume you are speaking about the French rrr sound. It is like scratching your throat but lightly and letting the r's roll up your throat. I hope this helps.

[Gstargeorge]

I can't speak french so I let the funky music do the talking lol jk I have come to this video! :P Very good btw :)

[ivanchica21]

Thanks jefrench10, you explain things very well. French sounds beautiful, flowing and simple when I listen, but when I see spelling and grammar I instantly get a mild headache :)

[czarinahnavarro]

What's the difference between tu and toi?

[jefrench10]

@czarinahnavarro Tu is used when you is the subject of the sentence. Tu penses. You think. It's you, c'est toi... Like we and us in English. Je pense... I think. Tu penses... You think. Il pense... He thinks. Elle pense... She thinks. Nous pensons... We think. Vous pensez... You think (plural). Ils pensent... They think. C'est moi... It's me. C'est toi... It's you. C'est lui... It's him. C'est elle... It's her. C'est nous... It's us. C'est vous... It's you C'est eux... It's them

[triathlonjoe]

i really wanna learn french and arabic before i deploy in 2014. i already have spanish down but that isnt very applicable so hopefully, i can get this down before i start my major.

[ChemicalLil]

thank you i want to learn some french is so beautiful language.

greeting from poland ;) 

[jefrench10]

@ChemicalLil You're welcome. Il n' y a pas de quoi. Bonjour à la Polande.  Hello Poland!

[DVYBTG]

really usefull! but still confused how to spell 'em lol

[nolabush25]

who is the guy narrating? he is a wonderful teacher.

[jefrench10]

@nolabush25 Well thanks. Merci. :) I am Adrien and you can find out a little bit more about me on our site

[BakeBoard]

Je n'aime pas etudier francais, mais j'aime parler francais avec mon camarades de classe, et J'ai un stylo en mon imper.

[cuteXpuffy]

je aime français !!!!

[xW0rstNightmare]

I know French. I try to help people. In French to say "I love You" is "Je t'aime"

[jefrench10]

@parrotbutv2 I believe I did.

[lichodite]

Great videos... Thank you for making them....

[D0wNTh0sED0wNErs]

what is the easiest way of learning to speak french?! any advice. I mean I'm trying to at least have the basic downs in the next few months.

[jefrench10]

@D0wNTh0sED0wNErs You can check out our weekly lesson on our site.

[fsxzone]

salut jefrnch10 comment tapelle tu fsxzone merci for a great lesson

[jefrench10]

@fsxzone Salut fsxzone. Je m'appelle Adrien. Et toi? And you?

[markstar777]

i cant pronounce 'nous aimons'

its a tongue twistwer

[parfumeria33ro]

At 3:33 it's said:

"In french we don't like to have two vowels following each other" -- so JE loses the "e" and the whole thing becomes J'AIME.

:))

Notice the second one goes TU AIMES. Which is... two vowels following each other.

... anyways, I like french, so I'll keep learning.

[jefrench10]

@parfumeria33ro Good point. And we very often say "t'aimes" instead of "tu aimes". But that is not correct and should never been written that way.  So it is an exception to the rule. There are many exceptions in the French language.

[Katey2RockFantage]

learning FSL!

[insomniak08]

Quick question. Why when you say "Je mange du poisson" do you use du instead of un? But when you say "Elle mange une salade" you say une?

[MrsBlinie]

@insomniak08

There's no special rule to explain that, but the article "une" implies a portion of salad. As at Mac Donald's ... you'll ask for "une salade" :) (more often for a cooked salad)

But 'de la' is also right, if you don't want to mistake, always say "de la".

Voilà.

[SaraBoutin]

@insomniak08 because «du» is like «some» and «un» is like the number 1.as in english,it sounds weird to say: I eat one fish,we would say: I eat some fish...because we dont eat all the single fish,we dont eat ONE fish,we eat SOME fish(du).well i hope you get the meaning?

«une salade» is simply a bol with a prepared salad (with vegetables or anything u want) & u do eat all your bol so we say: «elle mange UNE salade» or «elle mange DE LA salade». «du» = masculine & «de la» = feminine for «some»

[Kamfrenchie]

@insomniak08

When you say "Je mange du poisson", it means you're eating fish, butdoesn't indicate how much you eat.

Saying "elle mange une salade" means she's eating 1 salad

[shikantaza1000]

I hear tu and vous used for you. Can you explain the difference? Thank you for the lessons.

[thommacintosh]

@shikantaza1000

tu = when you speak with someone

vous = when you speak with several people

vous is the plural of tu

[SaraBoutin]

@shikantaza1000 tu = for one person you're talking to. and vous = for many persons you're talking to. (singular/plurial or personnal/polite form) =)

[x3stevevazquezx3]

wow im a natural,

[cungbo]

Thank you for doing this.

[Jireh1230]

goooooood

[wdsa8d]

i thought you was tu. vous is also you?

[YumeiroPatissiereTV]

I have a question: "du" is used for objects?