Free French lessons

Online beginner French lessons with audio

Counting in French - 1 to 1,000,000

Counting in French follows a reasonably obvious pattern... right up until you hit number 70. This lesson will have you covered for everything between one and one million, and you'll learn how "ninety" in one French-speaking country doesn't necessarily equal ninety in another!

Question words

Question words are amongst the most important vocabulary you'll learn. Not only will they allow you to extract information from others, but you can hold whole conversations with these words alone! Ask any four year old! This lesson covers: How much/many? When? Where? How? Why? Which? What? Who?

The partitive article "some"

The partitive article "some" or "any" is used a lot more in French than in English. It's a pretty simple one, and a good one to master if you'd prefer to have some cake, rather than the whole thing.

Telling the time in French

If you have any aspirations of being able to catch a train, book an appointment, or keep a dinner date... being able to tell the time (and understand it when it's given to you!) is pretty essential. 

Vocabulary and phrases for time concepts

This lesson illustrates some common time concepts, including how to say "never", "sometimes", "early", "late" — Not to mention the essential phrase, "I eat cheese all the time!"

Phrases for when your French deserts you

If you're planning a jaunt into French-speaking territory, you're bound to encounter communication problems at one point or other. Knowing how to politely say "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're saying" can be pretty useful.

Making things negative

How to turn a positive statement into a negative statement using ne ... pas. This lesson will show you how to say that you do not like cats, or that you do not want to dance.

My, your, his, her...

Possessive adjectives are what let us say that it's his bike, her lint collection, our troublesome dog, or their noisy rooster. French enjoys a few more of these words than we do in English, and there are some interesting rules for how to use them.

Possession in nouns

If all those possessive adjectives in the previous lesson made you sad, you'll enjoy this lesson. It's a lot more straightforward. You'll learn how to talk about things that belong to specific people: E.g., Antoine's shirt, Catherine's skirt, the children's bedroom, etc.

The definite article

Even if you're brand new to studying French, you probably know that the French like to put la and le in front of words, right? These are the French words for "the", otherwise known as the definite article. Here's how you know which one to use!

Talking about the weather

Otherwise known as the best conversation starter, ever. Learn how to say "it's warm", and "it's raining", and you'll always have something to contribute to a conversation!

Days of the week

Simple, but pretty essential. Learn how to say the days of the week in French. And watch out for those capital letters! 

Talking about your family

Vocabulary and phrases to help you talk about your nearest and dearest. Make sure you check out the lesson on possessive adjectives first... they come into play in this lesson too.

Conversation fillers

Every language has an array of "filler" words that help grease the wheels of conversation. These will help you sound more French, and might give you a little more time to come up with the right word!

French idioms and expressions

Every language has its weird expressions, and French is no different. In this lesson you'll learn what it means to lose your goats, put it under your elbow, or to have a 'fat morning'.