More or no more? – How to Use Plus in French
Plus de pain ? Plus de fromage ? Plus de gateau ?…” We have witnessed on several occasions our foreign guests get a little confused when, invited to a dinner by a French family, they are asked such questions. “More bread or no more bread? More cheese or no more cheese? More cake or no more cake?… What was the question, exactly?” Very few short French...Read More
Expressing Quantities in French
If you try to translate all the sentences below in French, you might get a bit muddled. Expressing quantity in French is tricky. The French have a specific list of words to communicate either vague or specific quantities. ‒I would like some water please! ‒Right away! Do you wish a bottle or a glass of water? And more wine? ‒No, no more wine, just a few glasses of water for everyone!...Read More
An vs année, jour vs journée, etc. How to Know Which One to Use?
Who has not been confused over the difference between jour vs journée, soir vs soirée and an vs année? The reasons for using one or the other can be complicated, therefore, I would like to give an easy and straight forward explanation. The idea is to avoid thinking too much about it when speaking to a French person. In a nutshell, you should use the shorter version: jour, soir and an...Read More
French essential key expressions, idioms and verbs
To add to our previous lists of expressions published in our Free eMagazine French Accent Magazine where we provided some “do’s” and “don’ts” of typical mistakes that frequently result from making a direct and literal translation from English to French, we have come up with an additional list. These common errors are what differentiate a French native speaker from a...Read More
La Rochelle: A Charming French Port that Seduces the English
When you walk around La Rochelle on the weekend and during the holidays, you are surprised to hear English spoken everywhere, along the port, in the terraces of the restaurants, in the centre of the old town, at the market. Among the 3 million visitors each year, which makes this city the third most visited after Paris, Anglo-Saxons are the most numerous. Why do they love it so much?...Read More
How to Use the French Accent Marks
How to use French accent marks, on which letters, how they affect pronunciation… This is certainly one the mysteries of the French Language that usually puzzles many students who speak a language in which accents do not exist! And yet, they are very important as they definitely change the pronunciation of the words, and can even change their meaning. We also give a few...Read More