Translate your English phrase by typing the words into the form below and clicking the blue "Translate" button. The French translation will be shown along with an audio recording which you can playback and download. You can also slow-down the playback speed and change the accent to help you hear the words.


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The translator gives you controls to listen to the accent of a French, American, or British man/women. Sometimes its hard to understand an accent so the American and British options are there to help. Once you understand the words with an accent you are familier with it will be easier to learn the words with a French accent.



English to French cardinal numbers

In France and in most other countries which use the metric system, a comma is used to indicate a decimal and a period is used to indicate a thousand or a million, and so on.

Example: you would write 100.000.000,00 (instead of 100,000,000.00).

English French
0 Zero zéro
1 One un (masculine), une (feminine)
2 Two deux
3 Three trois
4 Four quatre
5 Five cinq
6 Six six
7 Seven sept
8 Eight huit
9 Nine neuf
10 Ten dix

English to French ordinal numbers

An ordinal number is written with an elevated e next to the number.

When expressing a date or the name of a monarch the only ordinal number used is 1st (premier or première). After this cardinal numbers are used.

English French
1st, First 1e, premier (masculine), première (feminine)
2nd, Second 2e, deuxième (masculine/feminine), second (masculine), seconde (feminine)
3rd, Third 3e, troisième (masculine/feminine), tiers (masculine), tierce (feminine)
4th, Fourth 4e, quatrième
5th, Fifth 5e, cinquième
6th, Sixth 6e, sixième
7th, Seventh 7e, septième
8th, Eighth 8e, huitième
9th, Ninth 9e, neuvième
10th, Tenth 10e, dixième

French Pronunciation

Rules of stress

French syllables are evenly stressed. However, the last syllable of a word is slightly emphasized.

There are 3 variations of accent marks (diacritical marks) in the French language: The accent aigu is used to open up the sound of a closed e when it is not followed by a final d , f or z (Example: café , 'répétez , vérité ). The accent grave is used on an open e at the end of a syllable or before a final s (Example: mère and très ). To differentiate two homonyms (words spelled alike but which have a different meaning): où (where) and ou (for), à (to, in, at) and a (has), là (there) and la (the). The accent grave is also used on the vowel a in words like deçà (below), déjà (already), delà (of the) and voilà (here). Not in words like cela (it).

The accent circonflexe is used on any of the five vowels to indicate a formerly used vowel or an s has been dropped. Example: bâtir(build), tête (taste), âge (age). To elongate the sound of certain vowels: extrême (extreme), cône (cone). To differentiate two homonyms: dû (past participle of verb devoir ) and du (construction of de + le ); crû (past participle of verb croire ); mûr (ripe) and mur (wall).

French accents - part 2
accents

French accents - part 2

3 minutes 21 seconds
A clear understanding of the circonflexe accent can be obtained by watching French accents part two.

The tréma is placed above the vowels e, i, u to indicate they are pronounced independently of any preceding or following vowel sound: Haïti (Haiti) and Noël (Christmas).

The cédille is used beneath the letter c when preceding the vowels a, o, u to give it an s sound: façade (facade), leçon (lesson) and français (French).

French Nouns

Gender

French nouns are either feminine or masculine; in other words, they observe a gender difference. Of course, nouns that refer to males are usually masculine, and those that refer to females are usually feminine:

French English
le garçon the boy
la jeune fille the girl
le livre the book
la chaise the chair

How Can I Tell if a Noun is Masculine or Feminine?
gender

Ask a French Teacher - How Can I Tell if a Noun is Masculine or Feminine?

3 minutes 21 seconds
How can you tell if a noun is masculine or feminine?
Easy, watch this language lesson from French Pod 101.

While there is no rule that determines why certain things are feminine and some masculine, some endings give a good indication of the gender of a word. The most common masculine noune endings are:

Noune Endings Example
-age le paysage
(the landscape)
-isme le tourisme
(tourism)
-aire l'anniversaire
(birthday)
-ment le changement
(change)
-at le consulat
(the consulate)
-oir le rasoir
(the razor)
-èle le parallèle
(The parallel)
-phone le microphone
(The microphone)
-eur l'agriculteur
(the farmer)
-scope le magnétoscope
(VCR)
-exe le complexe
(the complex)

Days of the week, months, numbers and the letters of the alphabet are masculine.

Names of most trees and bushes are masculine.

Soft drink trade names are masculine: un Coca, un Perrier, un Orangina.

Words borrowed from other languages are generally masculine: le tennis, le parking .

The most common feminine noun endings are:

Noune Endings Example Noune Endings Example
-ade la limonade
(lemonade)
-ise la bêtise
(foolishness)
-aine la laine
(wool)
-sion la conversion
(conversion)
-ance la naissance
(the birth)
-ssion la mission
(the mission)
-ence la différence
(the difference)
-tion la nation
(the nation)
-ère la marière -té la fraternité
(Brotherhood)
-esse la noblesse
(nobility)
-trice la l'actrice
(The actress)
-ette la serviette
(the napkin)
-ude la solitude
(The loneliness)
-euse la danseuse
(the dancer)
-ure la parure
(adornment)
-ie la boulangerie
(the bakery)

Automobile trade names are feminine: une Ford, une Peugeot .

If you want to learn more about French nouns we have lots of French noun video tutorials for you to study and learn.

Plural

Common French Nouns

An -s is added to most singular nouns to form their plural: un livre/des livres (a book/books), une chaise/des chaises (a chair/chairs).

If the noun already ends in -s, -z or -x , the plural form remains the same: un fils/des fils (a son/sons), le nez/les nez (the nose/the noses), la croix/les croix (the cross/the crosses).

Most nouns ending in -al change to -aux : un canal/des canaux (a canal/channels), un cheval/des chevaux (horse/horses). Exceptions to this rule are several words which only add an -s to form their plural: bal (ball), cal (callus), carnaval (carnival), chacal (jackal), festival (festival), régal (treat).

Most nouns ending in -au or -eu form their plural by adding an -x: un cheveu/des cheveux (a strand of hair/hair), un bureau/des bureaux (an office/offices). Exception: un pneu/des pneus (a tire/tires).

Most nouns ending in -ail normally add an -s to form their plural. un sérail/des sérails (A seraglio/Of the seraglios). Exceptions to this rule are nine nouns which change -ail to -aux to form their plural: bail/baux (lease/leases), corail/coraux (coral/corals), émail/émaux (email/emails), soupirail/soupiraux (basement window or vent/basement windows or vents), travail/travaux (job or work/jobs or works), vantail/vantaux (door panel/door panels or leaves).

Most nouns ending in -ou add an -s to form their plural: un trou/des trous (a hole/Holes). Exceptions are the following seven words which add an -x : bijou/bijoux (jewel/jewelry), caillou/cailloux (Pebble/pebbles), chou/choux (cabbage/cabbage), genou/genoux (knee/knees), hibou/hiboux (owl/owls), joujou/joujoux (toy/toys) and pou/poux (louse/lice).

Some nouns have two forms for their plural forms, each form having a different meaning or usage: aïeul/aïeuls/aïeux (grandfather/grandparents/forefathers).

Proper French Nouns

Proper nouns are expressed in their plural if they are:

nouns of nationality or world-renouned names like les Russes (Russians) or les Bonapartes (the Bonapartes).

geographical names pertaining to several countries, mountains, such as les Amériques (Americas) and les Pyrenées (the Pyrenees).

As a rule, last names are not pluralized when they refer to:

the entire family: les Dupont (the Smith's), les Fortier (the Fortier's).

two or more individuals having the same name: les deux Blanchard (the two Blanchard's).

French facts!

Did you know, the name France originated from the latin word Francia (Frankia, country or kingdom of the Franks).

The English love a good roundabout but did you know, more than half of all the roundabouts in the world reside in France. That's enough to drive you round the bend!

Did you know, in 1997 a Frenchman named Philippe Khan invented the camera phone in France.

Did you know, camouflage is a French word. During the first world war, French artists called camofleurs used to paint the vehicles and weapons. It was in 1915 that camouflage was first used by the French army. The first in the world!

English French Grammar

Top tip ... before you can learn French grammar you need to understand English grammar, so you can relate the terms and meanings.