French A1
CEFR A1 · Beginner
French A1 is where you meet the sounds and the small words that carry everything: liaison, silent final consonants, and the articles le, la and les that tag every noun with a gender. You learn être and avoir, the present tense of -er verbs, numbers and the time, and when to say tu rather than vous. By the end you can read a café menu, greet people correctly, and say where you live and what you like.
108 words · 3 units · 12 grammar points
What you learn at French A1
Greetings & introductions
Say hello, give your name, ask someone else's, and where they're from.
- Greet at different times of day
- Say goodbye politely
- Introduce yourself by name
- Use 'je m'appelle' and 'je suis'
- Ask informally and formally
- Recognize tu vs vous
- Say where you're from with 'je viens de'
- Ask 'where are you from?' formally and informally
Numbers, days, time
Count, talk about days and months, give the time, and handle numbers in real situations.
- Count 0-20
- Use numbers for age and quantities
- Use numbers up to 100
- Give your age and phone number
- Name the days and months
- Say what day it is
- Ask and give the time
- Use 'il est'
Food & ordering
Order at a café or restaurant, ask for the bill, and talk about basic food and drink.
- Name common drinks
- Order a drink politely
- Name common foods
- Say what you want to eat
- Read a menu
- Ask the waiter for things
- Ask for the bill
- Ask for items by quantity
A1 grammar points
- The verb être (to be)
- Regular -er verbs in the present
- Three ways to ask a question
- Nationalities and the feminine -e
- Telling the time with il est
- Making nouns plural
- Days and dates take le, not "on"
- Saying no: ne … pas around the verb
- Partitive articles: du, de la, des
- Gender: le, la, un and une
- Avoir, and the -ir and -re verbs
- This and that, and asking the price
French A1 vocabulary
The first 40 of 108, in frequency order.
| French | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| le | the (m. sg.) | le livre |
| la | the (f. sg.) | la table |
| les | the (pl.) | les enfants |
| un | a, an (m.) | un livre |
| une | a, an (f.) | une idée |
| des | some (pl.) | des amis |
| je | I | Je suis Marie. |
| tu | you (informal sg.) | Tu parles français? |
| vous | you (formal or pl.) | Comment allez-vous? |
| il | he, it (m.) | Il est mon frère. |
| elle | she, it (f.) | Elle est ma mère. |
| nous | we | Nous habitons à Paris. |
| ils | they (m. or mixed) | Ils sont étudiants. |
| elles | they (f.) | Elles parlent anglais. |
| être | to be | Je veux être médecin. |
| avoir | to have | Il faut avoir de la patience. |
| faire | to do, to make | Je vais faire le dîner. |
| aller | to go | Je dois aller au travail. |
| venir | to come | Tu veux venir avec moi ? |
| voir | to see | Je vais voir un film ce soir. |
| dire | to say, to tell | Je vais te dire la vérité. |
| savoir | to know (a fact) | Je veux savoir la réponse. |
| connaître | to know (a person, place) | Je voudrais connaître ta sœur. |
| vouloir | to want | Vouloir, c'est pouvoir. |
| pouvoir | to be able to, can | Tu vas pouvoir m'aider ? |
| devoir | to have to, must | Je vais devoir partir tôt. |
| donner | to give | Donne-moi ton numéro. |
| prendre | to take | Je prends le bus. |
| parler | to speak | Je parle deux langues. |
| manger | to eat | Nous mangeons à midi. |
| boire | to drink | Je veux boire de l'eau. |
| habiter | to live (somewhere) | J'habite à Marseille. |
| vivre | to live | Vivre est merveilleux. |
| travailler | to work | Je travaille en ville. |
| étudier | to study | J'étudie le français. |
| lire | to read | J'aime lire le journal. |
| écrire | to write | J'écris un mail. |
| acheter | to buy | Je vais acheter du pain. |
| aimer | to like, to love | Tu vas aimer ce film. |
| appeler | to call; to be named | Je m'appelle Anne. |