Vocabulary Lists

United States (of America)

US states in French
Though les États-Unis (d'Amérique) is the proper translation, the French often just say les USA. Likewise, most states keep their names in French, while a few undergo slight Frenchification. And of course, being nouns, they have gender in French.

   

Grammar Lessons

Superlative Adverbs

French superlativesSuperlative adverbs are used to profess absolute superiority or inferiority among two or more things. This superlative lesson will help you be the best at using them.

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Expressions

Mauvais Expressions

French expressions with mauvais
The French word mauvais can be an adjective or noun and is found in many expressions. Learn how to say unhealthy, faulty connection, bad seed, and more with this list of expressions with mauvais.

Grammar Lessons

Depuis vs Il y a

Depuis vs Il y aWhen 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.

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Expressions

Toucher du bois

Je touche du bois
Your French will get just a little better if you read this lesson on the expression toucher du bois, knock on wood.

Vocabulary Lists

Weights and Measures

French weights + measures
Like most of the world, the French use the metric system for weights and measures. Here are the main units as well as a converter so you can find out the Imperial equivalents.

   

   

   

Expressions

À propos de

À propos de
I think you'll find this lesson useful with regard to the French expression à propos de.

Pronunciation Guides

PH

French pronunciationIn both French and English, the letter combination PH is just another way to spell the sound of the letter F.

Grammar Lessons

Unisex Nouns

French unisex nouns
One of the first - and possibly worst - things French students learn is that all nouns have a gender, either masculine or feminine. The good news is more than 100 can be either - though they may tend toward one gender or the other.

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Grammar Lessons

Si Clauses: Third Conditional

French si clausesThe third conditional is an if-then proposition that expresses an impossible situation: if something had happened (the condition), then something else would have happened (the result). The condition is expressed with the past perfect, and the impossible result is indicated with the conditional perfect.

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