In ancient times, the Celts lived in what is now France. In those days, the land was called Gaul (Latin: Gallia). The Romans conquered Gallia and divided it into provinces. Because the Romans spoke Latin, the local people learned Latin and began to speak it. Their own language, Gaulish, tended to be spoken less often, although Breton is a language still spoken today in the part of France called Brittany, that came from the old Celtic language.
French pronunciation, more so than other Romance languages, became radically different from Latin. After the Roman Empire fell and Germanic peoples swarmed the countryside, Vulgar Latin was changing quickly. In medieval France it changed into two dialects or languages: langue d'oc and langue d'oïl. They both mean "language of yes", because oc was the word for "yes" in the south, and oïl meant "yes" in the north. Today, the word for yes in French is oui, pronounced like "we".
In 1635, France established the French Academy in order to standardize the French language. To this day, the academy establishes the rules for Standard French.
Langue d'oc is now called Occitan, and it is still spoken by many people in Southern France.
an and en are pronounced like the "on" in "wrong" outside of Quebec and like the "en" in prominent, though not if there are two n letters or an e directly after it.
au and eau are pronounced like the "o" in "note".
In the endings er and ez, e is pronounced like the "ay" in "say".
eu is pronounced like the "e" in "verse".
Otherwise, e is like the a in "about". However, it is silent if it comes on the end of a word, unless it's a short word.
é is pronounced like the "ay" in "say".
è and ê are pronounced like the "e" in "bed".
Apart from e, the three diacritics don't really affect how other vowels are pronounced.
i and y are pronounced like the "ee" in "tree".
in is pronounced like the "an" in "bank", though not if there are two n letters or an e directly after it.
o is pronounced like in "note".
oi is pronounced like a "w", following by the "a" in "father".
oin is pronounced like the "wan" in "twang".
on is pronounced like the "on" in "long", though not if there are two n letters or an e directly after it.
ou is pronounced like the "oo" in "food".
œ is pronounced like the "e" in "verse" but with more rounded lips.
u is not a sound that exists in English. It is pronounced like saying the "ee" in "feed", but with your lips rounded in the way that you would say the word "food".
un is pronounced like the "un" in "hung", though not if there are two n letters or an e directly after it.
Consonants
Like in English, c is pronounced as a "k" before most letters but as a soft "s" before e, i or y.
ç is pronounced as a soft "s".
ch, sh and sch are pronounced like the "sh" in "shop".
g is pronounced as a hard "g" before most letters. Before e, i or y, it is pronounced like the "s" in "treasure".
gn is pronounced like the "ny" in "canyon".
h is always silent.
j is pronounced like the "s" in "treasure".
l is normally (but not always) pronounced like the "y" in "yes" if it comes after the letter i; otherwise it is pronounced as an "l".
m and n change if they come after a vowel - see above.
qu is pronounced as a "k".
r is pronounced differently to English, being a gargling sound made at the back of your throat.
th is pronounced as a "t", not like in English.
x is pronounced "gz" or "ks".
b, d, f, k, p, ph, s, t, v, w and z are pronounced the same as in English.
If a word ends with a consonant, this will usually not be pronounced unless the next word starts with a vowel. However, if the word is very short or the last consonant is a c, r, l or f, this is still pronounced.
Grammar
French is a language that uses inflections to a moderate extent. Nouns and most pronouns are changed for the way that numbers and counting are fitted into a sentence.
Examples
Spoken French
Here are some examples of French words and sentences:
English
French
Yes (si when used as a reply to non or negative expressions)
Oui
No
Non
Hello (formal)
Bonjour
Goodbye
Au revoir
Hi and goodbye (informal)
Salut
Thank you
Merci
Thank you very much
Merci beaucoup
Sir, mister
Monsieur
Madam, Mrs.
Madame
Man
Homme
Woman
Femme
Girl
Fille
Boy
Garçon
Chicken
Poulet
Wonderful
Formidable
On vacation/holiday
En vacances
Water
Eau
To eat
Manger
Do you speak French?
Parlez-vous français?
I speak French.
Je parle français.
How are you? (formal or more than one person)
Comment allez-vous?
How are you? (informal)
Comment vas-tu?
I love you.
Je t'aime.
Where are the toilets, please?
Où sont les toilettes s'il vous plaît?
What is your name?
Comment t'appelles-tu?
My Name is... (your name)
Je m'appelle... (your name)
I speak English
Je parle l'anglais
Please (Formal)
S'il vous plaît
I need a taxi
J'ai besoin d'un taxi
Many French words are like English words, because English took many words from the Norman language, a dialect of French influenced by Old Norse. This is true even though scholars consider English to be a Germanic language, like German. For example, many English words ending with "tion", "sion", "ible", or "able" came from the French language.
French and English have many cognates, which are words that look and sound similar because they come from the same source. Here are some examples:
