An/jour/matin/soir vs 
année/journée/matinée/soirée

An vs année, jour vs journée
French has two words for each of the following: year, day, morning, and evening, and they cause no end of difficulties for non-native speakers. Why is it that English can get away with one word for each of these temporal markers when French needs two? The answer lies in how you look at them.

   

Bon – Informal Synonyms

Informal synonyms for bon - French adjectives
Students often ask "how can I sound more French?" and my first recommendation is always to work on vocabulary. In French classes, you tend to learn the most common, basic terms, like bon, which is a typical and very useful adjective that tends to be overused. Read this lesson for some informal ways to say "good," including how to pronounce them.

   

Bon Synonyms

Synonyms for bon - French adjectives
Students often ask "how can I sound more French?" and my first recommendation is always to work on vocabulary. In French classes, you tend to learn the most common, basic terms, like bon, which is a typical and very useful adjective that tends to be overused. Read this lesson to learn some different ways to say "good," including how to pronounce them.

   

Free

Free - French lesson
The English word "free" can be an adjective, adverb, verb, or noun and has a number of different meanings, which can make it difficult to translate into French. Take a look at this lesson on how to say free in French.

   

Habiter vs Vivre

Habiter vs vivreBelieve it or not, life in France is so great that one verb just isn't enough: "to live" may be equivalent to habiter or vivre, depending on what exactly you want to say.

   

No – non, nan, niet…

No in French
No. No way, not me, on the contrary ... let's face it, just because we have to be negative sometimes doesn't mean we can't be creative, too. Here are some of the many ways to say no in French.

   

Overused Verbs

Overused French verbs
If you learned French in a classroom, odds are that you overuse certain French verbs, because you were taught a somewhat generic word but not the sometimes subtle distinctions between it and its synonym. Here are 5 French verbs that are useful but often overused.

   

Rapporter, redonner, rembourser…

To return - French verbsWhy does French have so many different translations for "to return"? Because this English verb has so many different meanings! The trick to knowing which one to use is to learn another way to say "return" in each situation.

   

Savoir vs Connaître (and Ignorer)

Savoir vs connaîtreDo you know how to say "know" in French? There are two verbs with distinct meanings, and just to keep things interesting, there are also two overlapping meanings. Confused? After you read this lesson, you'll know all you need to know.