Learn how to say “of” in French plus other common words with Rosetta Stone’s award-winning app. Most often you’ll use the word “de.” If the “de” precedes the article “le“, then these two words combine to form the word “du.” That said, any time prepositions are involved in a foreign language, the use of an English expression becomes tricky to replicate word-for-word. In French, any use of “of” may require another preposition, such as “en“. In fact, you may not even need to use a preposition at all.
How you approach learning French depends entirely on your objectives. Many begin their French journey by picking up common words and phrases and attempting to replicate the infamous French accent—polishing how they say au revoir, croissant, baguette, bonjour, etc. Others may be coming back to French after significant exposure to it in school. Whatever your goals are in learning French, you should carefully consider a language-learning program built with your specific goals in mind.
To build towards speaking in French, start your French lessons with the basics of common words and pronunciations. Then you can scale naturally towards a much more complex understanding of the French language. That’s why Rosetta Stone’s French language program has an immersive approach—called Dynamic Immersion®—introducing words alongside both visual and audio cues that help you learn vocab in the context of true-to-life conversations. The bite-sized lessons are grouped into units that highlight common French conversational phrases you will need for everyday interactions, coupled with practical review that helps learners solidify their French language skills.
Speak Confidently
Your approach to learning the French language will depend on your experience with the language and your personal goals for choosing to learn it. Many people are at the beginning of their language learning journey—perhaps having picked up a few common French words and phrases—and want to learn to replicate the famous French accent. These new French language learners may know just a small handful of words, such as baguette, mademoiselle, au revoir, and amour . Other people may have considerably more experience with the language—perhaps from exposure to travel or academic careers. These intermediate learners may want to acquire more French vocabulary and polish their French speaking skills.
One of the most recognizable characteristics of French is its je ne sais quoi— a somewhat indefinable quality that makes the French accent sound quite alluring. But what you may at first consider to be an elusive aspect of the language is actually just the subtle nuance of French pronunciation. Some of the more unique sounds of spoken French can take time to learn, because the sounds are considerably more nasal than English words. And that is exactly why it’s so important that you learn correct French pronunciation . To do that, there’s no better place to start than learning to make the sounds of the letters of the French alphabet.
You can begin to develop your French language skills by first learning how to accurately pronounce very common French words and phrases:
- Bonjour = Hello, Good morning
- Au revoir = Goodbye
- Oui = Yes
- Non = No
- Merci = Thank you
- Merci beaucoup = Thank you very much
- Fille = Girl
- Garçon = Boy
- Femme = Woman
- Homme = Man
- Amour = Love
- Français = French
- S’il vous plaît = Please
- Bonsoir = Good evening
- Bonne Nuit = Good night
- Excusez-moi = Excuse me
- De Rien = You’re welcome (casual, informal way)
- Je vous en prie = You’re welcome (formal)
- Temps = Time
- Jour = Day
And here are more common French phrases to get you started:
- Je suis désolé(e) = I’m sorry
- Comment vous appelez-vous ? = What is your name?
- Parlez-vous anglais ? = Do you speak English?
- Je m’appelle = My name is
- Comment allez-vous? = How are you doing?
- Quelle heure est-il ? = What time is it?
- Pouvez-vous m’aider ? = Can you help me?
- Combien ça coûte ? = How much is this?
- Je t’aime = I love you
Rosetta Stone has decades of experience designing language-learning programs to help students develop the skills to comfortably understand and confidently speak in French. Whether you’re a new learner or an intermediate French speaker, Rosetta Stone lessons can help you improve and advance your skills. Our proven approach to language learning focuses on teaching basic vocabulary and correct pronunciation that you’ll need for real-world, everyday conversations. Coupled together, our language-learning software and award-winning mobile app deliver language lessons that will teach you to understand and be understood in French, anytime and anywhere.
Try Our Award-Winning App
Surround yourself with French whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app .
Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation .
The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.
