CCJK Knowledgebase French

French

网络 | 2009-12-02 10:59:42.0

French

French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 77 million people as a first language (mother tongue), by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France, where the language originated. The rest live essentially in Canada (particularly Quebec), Belgium, Switzerland, French-speaking Africa, Luxembourg, and Monaco. Most second-language speakers of French live in Francophonic Africa, arguably exceeding the number of native speakers. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the Francophone country with the largest population.

French is a descendant of the Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are national languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Romanian, and minority languages ranging from Catalan and Occitan to Neapolitan and many more. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.

It is an official language in 29 countries, most of which form what is called, in French, La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking nations. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to the European Union, 129 million (26% of the 497,198,740) people in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million (12%) are native speakers and 69 million (14%) claim to speak it either as a second language or as a foreign language, which makes it the third most spoken second language in the Union, after English (2nd rank) and German (1st rank). In addition, prior to the mid 20th century, French served as the preeminent language of diplomacy among European and colonial powers as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe. In addition, many creole languages have been created based on the French language. For example, Mauritian creole is a creole of French spoken on the island of Mauritius.

English	French
Yes	Oui
No	Non
Hello!	Bonjour ! (formal) or Salut ! (informal) or "Âllo"
Good evening!	Bonsoir !
Good night!	Bonne nuit !
Goodbye!	Au revoir !
Have a nice day!	Bonne journée !
Please	S'il vous plaît (formal) or S'il te plaît (informal)
Thank you	Merci
You are welcome	De rien ("it is nothing") or Je vous en prie (formal) or Je t'en prie (informal)
I am sorry	Pardon or Je suis désolé (if male) / Je suis désolée (if female) or Excuse-moi (informal) / Excusez-moi (formal)
What is your name?	Comment vous appelez-vous ? (formal) or Comment t'appelles-tu ? (informal)
For (when used as "because")	Car
Therefore	Donc
How much?	Combien ?
I do not understand.	Je ne comprends pas.
Yes, I understand.	Oui, je comprends.
Help!	Au secours ! (à l'aide !)
Can you help me please ?	Pouvez-vous m'aider s'il vous plaît ? / Pourriez-vous m'aider s'il vous plaît ? (formal) or Peux-tu m'aider s'il te plaît ? / Pourrais-tu m'aider s'il te plaît (informal)
Where are the toilets?	Où sont les toilettes ?
Do you speak English?	Parlez-vous anglais ?
I do not speak French.	Je ne parle pas français.
I do not know.	Je ne sais pas.
I know.	Je sais.
I am thirsty.	J'ai soif. (literally, "I have thirst")
I am hungry.	J'ai faim. (literally, "I have hunger")
How are you? / How are things going? / How is everything?	Comment allez-vous? (formal) or Ça va? / Comment ça va ? (informal)
I am (very) well / Things are going (very) well // Everything is (very) well	Je vais (très) bien (formal) or Ça va (très) bien. / Tout va (très) bien (informal)
I am (very) bad / Things are (very) bad / Everything is (very) bad	Je vais (très) mal (formal) or Ça va (très) mal / Tout va (très) mal (informal)
I am all right/so-so / Everything is all right/so-so	Assez bien or Ça va comme ci, comme ça or simply Ça va.
I am fine.	Je vais bien.

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