Français Intensif - Intensive French Course for Beginners

In this section our subject will be French spelling and pronunciation. At first we’ll learn the French alphabet, then we’ll learn how to pronounce French consonants and vowels. Finally we’ll discuss liaisons, the stress rules and French accents.

In this lecture we’ll learn the French alphabet so that you know how to spell words. Visually it’s very much like the English one, but the names of the letters differ dramatically.

In this lecture we’ll talk about French consonants. Most of them are easy to learn because of their similarities to English ones, but some of them are pronounced in a different way.

And now it’s time to learn the French vowels. These are pronounced in a different way than their English counterparts. The vowel system is much more complicated than in English. Apart from the regular vowels that we know, in French there are also nasal vowels, which are pronounced through your mouth and nose at the same time.

Final consonants in French may be pronounced or silent. In this lecture we’ll see which of them are usually pronounced and which not. We’ll also have a look at some exceptions.

Liaisons are a typical feature of French pronunciation. They occur often when a word ending in a silent consonant is followed by a vowel or silent H. In this lecture we’ll see how to use liaisons and when not to use them at all.

French stress rules are pretty easy. This is the subject of this lecture.

Probably you’ve noticed that some French letters have accents. In this lecture we’ll discuss all the five types of accents.

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this section we’ll get up and running. We’ll do some of this and some of that. Our topics in this section include the basics of articles, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and verbs. We’ll also learn some occupations in French and we’ll learn how to introduce ourselves and other people.

In this lecture we’ll learn how to ask about things. The question we’re about to learn is What is this? – a question most courses usually start with. We’ll see how to introduce things. In this lecture we’ll have a look at the definite and indefinite articles. Fortunately, there are only two genders in French and only two articles in singular and one in plural. We’ll see how to use the articles with nouns.

In this lecture we’ll ask about the appearance of things and people. The question we’re going to use is What’s it like? We’ll also use adjectives to describe things. We’ll learn some common adjectives which we can use to describe color, size, age, quality, etc. We´ll also cover the gender of adjectives.

Now that we can talk about things, it’s time we learned how to talk about people. Introducing people is the subject of this lecture. We’ll also see how to ask: Who is this? Finally, we’ll learn the French counterparts of Mr., Mrs. and Miss.

In this lecture we´ll learn how to introduce ourselves. We´ll also learn some basic expressions used in everyday conversations, like hello, goodbye, please, how are you, etc.

In this lecture we’ll explore the world of French personal pronouns. There are a few more pronouns than in English because there are separate masculine and feminine forms in the third person plural. In this lecture we´ll also see how to conjugate the verb to be. We’ll see how to distinguish between formal and informal forms of pronouns. 

In this lecture we´ll learn how to ask for personal information like someone´s name or occupation. We´ll also learn how to answer such questions. In this lecture we´ll also learn some jobs in French.

Most infinitives in French end in –er. Some of them also end in –re or –ir. In this lecture we´ll see how the predominant conjugation pattern looks and what all the personal forms look like.

In this lecture we’ll learn cardinal numbers. There’s quite a lot of stuff to memorize in this lecture if you have never learned French numbers, but you can come back to this lecture from time to time and revise.

In this lecture we’ll see how most plural forms of nouns are made. It’s pretty easy and quite like in English to some extent. Unlike in English, French adjectives also take plural forms. Fortunately, these forms are practically the same as those of nouns so there is hardly anything new to learn.

In this lecture we’ll see how to ask about quantity and how to say how much of something there is or how many elements there are. We´ll be using words like much, many, a lot of, few and little.

The subject of this lecture are possessive adjectives. These are words like my, your, our, etc. They frequently accompany nouns to determine who something belongs to or part of what something is.

This lecture is about demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, so words like this, that, these and those. 

Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs and other adverbs. In French some adverbs are formed from adjectives, but there are also loads of adverbs which are not derived from adjectives. In this lecture we’ll have a look at some common adverbs.

Throughout the whole of Section 3 we’ve come across lots of new words. Why not practice them a bit again? This way you will remember them better.

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this lecture we´ll have a look at what’s in this section. This section focuses on the verbs to be and to have. We’ll also talk about the expressions there is / there are.

In this lecture we’ll describe location of things and people. We’ll learn how to ask: Where is it? and how to answer that question by means of some common prepositions of place.

Just like with être, let’s learn the full conjugation of the verb avoir. This is the topic of this lecture.

In this lecture we’ll learn how to say there is and there are in French.

In Section 4 there´s been much less new vocabulary than in Section 3. Anyway, let´s go through it again to revise. 

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this section our subject will be the conjugation patterns of French verbs. There are three conjugation patterns and we’ll discuss them all in detail in the lectures that follow. We will also talk about irregular verbs. There are so many of them.

Time for the first conjugation pattern. We already talked about it in Section 3, so let´s just revise. Most infinitives in French end in –er. This conjugation pattern is predominant. In this lecture we’ll see again what all the personal forms look like.

In this lecture we’ll discuss another conjugation pattern. Some verbs end in –ir in their infinitive forms. Let’s see how they are conjugated.

And one more conjugation pattern. Some verbs end in –re in their infinitive forms. Let’s have a look at some examples and see how they are conjugated.

Some French verbs change their spelling in a systematic way. Apart from that they may be regular in all or at least some tenses. In this lecture we´ll talk about verbs that change their spelling but are otherwise regular in the present tense.

Reflexive verbs in English are not very common. In French it´s a totally different story. There are lots of reflexive verbs. In this lecture we´ll see how they are formed and we´ll have a look at some examples.

In this lecture we’ll see how to use the irregular verb to go. This verb is totally irregular, so you have to memorize all the forms. It´s also used in many expressions where it´s not literally translated into English.

In this lecture we´ll have a look at the verb prendre, which basically means to take and some derivative verbs that are conjugated the same way.

In this lecture we´ll learn two irregular verbs that correspond to the English verb to know.

In this lecture we´ll learn just one verb, faire, to do / to make. But besides its basic meaning, this verb is used in lots of other contexts. In this lecture we’ll only touch on the topic.

In this lecture we’ll be talking about a group of –ir verbs that conjugate in a different way than they normally do. Here belong some commonly used verbs.

In this lecture we´ll learn the verb venir, which means to come, and also some other verbs that are inflected the same way.

In this lecture we´ll learn the irregular verb dire, which means to say. We´ll also learn some useful expressions with this verb. 

In this lecture we´ll learn the irregular verb pouvoir which means can or may. We´ll also learn the verb vouloir, which means to want, and the verb devoir, to have to, to owe.

In this lecture we´ll learn the irregular verb mettre. We´ll also learn other verbs that conjugate in a similar way. 

In this lecture we’ll be talking about three groups of irregular verbs. These are verbs whose infinitives end in –cevoir, -uire and –ndre. Let’s discuss them one by one.

In this lecture we´ll learn some more irregular verbs and that will be it for now. It doesn´t mean there are no more irregular verbs, actually there are many more, but we´ll be learning them as need arises in the future lectures.

Throughout the whole of Section 5 we’ve come across lots of new words. Let´s practice them again. This way you will remember them better.

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this section we’ll learn how to ask questions, how to answer questions, how to make negative statements and how to use imperatives.

General questions in French are slightly more complicated than in English. Actually, there are a couple of ways of making them. In this lecture we’ll explore them one by one.

In this lecture we´ll see how to ask specific questions. We´ll recap on the question words we already know and we´ll learn some new ones.

In this lecture we´ll see how to ask about the subject. The question word we use depends on whether the subject is a person or not. To make life a bit more sophisticated, we have three possible forms to choose from. Let’s see how it all works.

In this lecture we´ll see how to ask about the object. The question word we use also depends on whether the subject is a person or not. And again, we have multiple possible forms to choose from.

In this lecture we´ll talk about negative sentences. The most common way of negating a sentence is by means of the word not in English. In French we use the words ne ... pas, with the inflected verb form in the middle. 

In this lecture we’ll be talking about negative questions, the ones with inversion as well as the easier ones without inversion. We’ll also learn how to answer negative questions.

In this lecture we´ll talk about imperatives. Imperatives are used to make commands, give instructions and orders. 

In this lecture we’ll continue our discussion on imperatives. This time we’ll have a look at some common irregular verbs.

In this lecture we will have a look at the imperative forms of reflexive verbs. This is quite easy, all you have to remember is how to use the reflexive pronouns.

In Section 6 we’ve come across some new vocabulary, maybe not as much as in the previous sections. Anyway, let´s practice the new words.

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this section we´ll be talking about direct and indirect objects. We´ll see how nouns and pronouns function in this role. 

Although there is no case system in French like in some other languages (German for example), there are ways to express the meaning of different cases like nominative or objective. In this lecture we’ll see how this is done.

In this lecture we´ll learn how to use personal pronouns as direct objects. We will also have a look at the word order, which differs from that in English. 

In this lecture we´ll learn how to use personal pronouns as indirect objects. Again, we will also have a look at the word order, which differs from that in English.

In this lecture we’ll discuss some of the most common French prepositions. Prepositions tend to be used differently in different languages, which is why there is no one-to-one correspondence between English and French prepositions, but let’s have a look at how they are most typically used.

After prepositions we use the so-called tonic personal pronouns. These are special forms, which are used in a couple of contexts. In this lecture we’ll see how they are used after prepositions.

We already know how to use personal pronouns as direct objects or indirect objects. But what if we need both in one sentence? In this lecture we´ll see how to cope with that.

Personal pronouns stand on their own or are attached to the verbs by hyphens. In this lecture we’ll see how they behave when the verb form is an infinitive or imperative.

In this lecture we´ll talk about reciprocal verbs. These verbs are used for mutual actions where in English we usually use each other.

As usual, let’s practice the new vocabulary we’ve been using in this section.

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this section our subject is the verb. This time we´ll learn some commonly used verbal constructions.

Sometimes it doesn´t matter who does something. What matters is the action itself. In such cases you use constructions like one says, they do or you know in English. In this lecture we’ll see how to make such impersonal constructions in French.

Present Participles, which are the subject of this lecture, are widely used in French. They correspond to the English present participles ending in –ing. We´ll see how to make the regular forms of present participles and learn a few irregular ones.

Infinitives are used in a couple of ways in French. In this lecture we´ll see how they are used after prepositions and as subjects.

Infinitives can be used as objects after some verbs of senses. In this lecture we´ll see how to do it. We´ll also talk about the word order in such sentences according to whether the nominal object is a noun or a pronoun.

In this lecture we´ll talk about a construction that corresponds to the English to be going to and, just like in English, is used to talk about plans and intentions, but also about predictions based on current circumstances.

In this lecture we´ll talk about a construction that is used for immediate past and corresponds to the English past forms with just.

Infinitives in French are often used along with other verbs. Such constructions may follow one of the three basic patterns, each of which will be discussed in this lecture.

We already know present participles. In this lecture we´ll talk about the other type of participle, the past participle, which is used to construct compound tenses. Here we´ll start with regular ones.

A couple of verbs have irregular past participle forms. In this lecture we´ll have a look at them.

In this lecture we´ll have another look at the vocabulary we´ve learned in this section.

In this lecture we’ll recapitulate on the vocabulary we’ve learned in this section.

In Section 9 we’ll be talking about articles, pronouns and prepositions.

Just like in English, we sometimes omit the article. In this lecture we´ll see when it´s typically the case in French.

In both English and French we have definite and indefinite articles. But in French there’s a third type of article, the partitive article. In this lecture we’ll learn how to use it.

Possessive pronouns are used on their own, without a noun. They are used in a bit different way than in English. In French they are always accompanied by the definite article. In this lecture we’ll discuss it in detail.

In this lecture we´ll learn how to say that one thing is the same as another. The French word we´ll be using a lot in this lecture is même and we´ll also have a look at a couple of other uses of this word.

As you know, after prepositions we use the so-called tonic forms of personal pronouns. In this lecture we’ll see how else they are used.

In this lecture we´ll be talking about the pronoun en, which is very frequently used in French. It doesn’t have an exact English counterpart, so we have to render its meaning in another way in English.

In this lecture we´ll be talking about another common pronoun, y. It can be translated as there and is used to replace a location mentioned before.

In this lecture we´ll learn how to describe degree and intensity. We will learn words that can be used to say that something is very big, so big, not very big, quite big, etc.

Relative pronouns are used to introduce clauses that modify nouns. There are a couple of them like which, who, whose, where or when. We will discuss them one by one in this lecture.

In this lecture we’ll discuss three pronouns which are used to make questions. First we’ll talk about qui and quoi used after prepositions and then we’ll move on to the pronoun lequel.

In this lecture we’ll talk about prepositions used with means of transport. Whereas in English we usually use the preposition by or on, in French we use en or à.

In English we mainly use the prepositions to, in and from with geographical names. In French it’s a bit more complicated. We have quite a few prepositions to choose from. In this lecture we’ll see when to use each of them.

It´s been quite a long section but there isn’t much new vocabulary to revise.

In this lecture we’ll summarize what we’ve learned in this section.

In this lecture we’ll summarize briefly what we have covered in this course.

Time to say goodbye. Or rather see you in another course.