Spoken French

Dropping ne

Everyday speech usually drops ne. The negation is carried by pas, jamais, rien and so on. Keep ne in writing and in exams.

• J'ai pas compris.I didn't understand.
• Il est pas là.He's not here.
• On sait jamais.You never know.

Shrinking pronouns

Common pronouns reduce and link to the verb. You'll hear these constantly, so tune your ear to them.

• T'as vu ça ?Did you see that?
• Y a personne.There's nobody.
• Faut que j'y aille.I've got to go.

Dropping the schwa

Unstressed e often vanishes, and it merges words. In small words, this creates clusters. Keep the e when dropping it would leave three consonants hard to say. Careful speakers drop fewer of these.

On for nous

On is the normal spoken form of 'we'. Its verb is singular, while adjectives may agree with the people meant. Nous remains right for formal situations and writing. Pronouns stay: on se voit, on nous a dit.

• On y va ?Shall we go?
• On se voit demain.See you tomorrow.
• Nous, on est contents.We're happy.

Asking questions

Inversion is rare in casual speech. People use statement order with rising pitch, and they put the question word at the end. Est-ce que is neutral. Reductions: qu'est-ce que becomes /kɛskə/, and c'est quoi replaces qu'est-ce que c'est.

Moving words around

Speakers put the topic first or last and repeat it with a pronoun. This is how French adds emphasis without raising the voice.

• Mon frère, il habite à Lyon.My brother lives in Lyon.
• Je l'aime bien, ce film.I really like this film.
• Moi, le café, j'en bois pas.Coffee, I don't drink it.
• C'est pas facile, la vie.Life isn't easy.

Tenses in speech

The passé simple almost never appears: use the passé composé. Futur proche often replaces the simple future. C'est replaces il est with adjectives for general ideas. The imparfait softens requests.

Fillers and connectors

These buy time and link ideas. Use a couple of neutral ones even at exam level, but don't scatter too many.

• Ben, je sais pas, moi.Well, I don't know.
• Du coup, on est restés à la maison.So we stayed at home.
• C'est compliqué, quoi.It's complicated, you know.

Shortened words and informal words

Daily French shortens many nouns, and swaps others for informal words. Recognise these; use them with friends.

Verlan

Slang that flips syllables. Some have become general French. Understand it, but don't try to use it in an exam.

Tu or vous, and how to adapt

Vous is for strangers, older people, customers, and work relations until invited to switch. Tu is for friends, family, children, and between young people. If unsure, use vous: the other person can suggest On peut se tutoyer.

For exams: use standard grammar, keep ne, and use nous or on with care. Clear, natural speech with a few discourse markers scores better than heavy slang.

• On peut se tutoyer ?Shall we use tu?
• Excusez-moi, vous avez l'heure ?Excuse me, do you have the time?