Capitalization
The use of capital letters (les majuscules) is much less common in French than in English. Take a look at this summary of words that are capitalized in English but not in French. Mistakes and Difficulties
French Mistakes and Difficulties
Erreurs, fautes, méprises, difficultés
Improve your French by looking out for and learning how to avoid some common French mistakes.
The use of capital letters (les majuscules) is much less common in French than in English. Take a look at this summary of words that are capitalized in English but not in French. Ce que and Ce qui – Indefinite Relative Pronouns
The indefinite relative pronouns ce que and ce qui both mean "what" or "that," so which one to use depends on grammar, not meaning. Cedilla: ç
The little hook added under the letter c in French is a diacritical mark known as a cedilla, une cédille: ç. The letter c with the hook is called c cédille. Comment faire la bise
Faire la bise is often translated as "cheek kissing" or even "air kissing," when a more accurate - though decidedly less elegant - description is "lightly pressing alternating cheeks together while making optional kissy sounds." Compound Modal Verbs
Compound modal verbs express perfect (in the grammatical sense of "completed") actions. These English constructions consist of a modal verb + have + past participle, while the French equivalent is usually a verb in a perfect tense or mood plus an infinitive. Compound Noun Gender
French compound nouns are made up of two or more words connected by hyphens, and figuring out their gender can be a little tricky. Here are some rules that can help you to determine the gender of compound nouns. Compound Noun Plurals
French compound nouns are made up of two or more words, often connected by hyphens. Making them plural can be a little tricky, but there are two rules that generally apply. Compound Subjects
When the subject of a French verb is nous, vous, ils, or elles, it's obvious which verb conjugation you need, because those plural pronouns are included in verb tables. But it's a bit trickier with compound subjects made up of multiple names, nouns, and/or pronouns. In these cases, you need to take a moment to figure out which plural subject pronoun those items add up to, so that you know what to conjugate for. conjugation lessons • pronouns
Compound Tenses and Moods: Word Order
Compound tenses and moods are verb forms which are conjugated with two parts: a helping / auxiliary verb and a past participle, as in J'ai dansé. The word order can get a little complicated when additional grammatical structures like object pronouns and negation are introduced. negation • pronouns • verbs • word order
Contractions with Proper Nouns
Contractions with de / à plus a definite article are not always required when the article is part of a proper noun, such as a city, title, organization, or surname. Conversational French
The French you learn in school is not at all the same language as what you encounter when speaking to people in real life - there are all kinds of shortcuts, informalities, and other differences that you need to be familiar with in order to carry on a conversation. Check out some resources that focus on how French is actually spoken. C1 - Advanced French • informalities
De vs Du, de la, des
The preposition de can be very difficult for French students, even at advanced levels. Knowing whether to use du, de la, or des rather than just de can be a real challenge! This lesson is a detailed explanation of when to use the preposition de all by itself and when to use the indefinite article, partitive article, or de + definite article (which looks like the partitive - but isn't. Ugh!) Des + Adjective
When the French article des directly precedes an adjective, it is supposed to reduce to de. adjectives • articles • formalities • plurals
Depuis vs Il y a
When talking about something that happened in the past, the correct verb tense isn't always enough - sometimes you need a temporal expression to state just when it happened. The most common French temporal expressions are depuis and il y a, and they are not interchangeable. A2 - Low-Intermediate French • prepositions
Devoir vs Falloir
Devoir and falloir are fairly synonymous, but these two French verbs are not interchangeable. Their meanings are slightly different, and they each have additional meanings, depending on how they're used. 
Practice is the key to improving your French, and just 15 minutes a day on some kind of French activity can make a huge difference. Check out these ideas and draw up your own schedule.
Of the four language skills, many people find that speaking is the most difficult. Here are tips and resources to help you overcome these obstacles in order to practice French as much as you like.
Jouer is a regular -er French verb that can be a bit confusing when it comes time to decide which preposition should follow. Here's everything you need to know.
The French lessons and comprehension exercises on this site are ranked according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which describes six levels of language proficiency.