Collins Dictionaries - Easy Learning French Conversation

If you want to ask how long someone has been doing something, use Ça fait longtemps que…?( How long have you…? ) followed by the present tense. For more information on the present tense, see here.

A very versatile way of asking someone socially how something is going or has gone is to use Ça se passe bien,…?( How is…? ) or Ça s’est bien passé,…?( How was…? ).

Sometimes you’ll want to ask why a friend or acquaintance did or didn’t do something. You can use Pourquoi…?( Why…? ) and the past tense to ask. For more information on the past tense, see here.

When you’re talking to friends or colleagues you will often need to be able to talk about what you would like to do. To say what you want to do, use je voudrais( I’d like ). voudraiscomes from the verb vouloir.For more information on vouloir,see here.

You can also use je veux( I want ) to talk about what you want to do. If you want to say that you want someone to do something, you use je veux quefollowed by the subjunctive. For more information on the subjunctive, see here.

One easy way of making suggestions to your friends and colleagues is to use on pourrait( we could ) followed by the verb in the infinitive. pourraitcomes from the verb pouvoir.For more information on pouvoir,see here.

Just as in English you can make a suggestion by simply asking Pourquoi ne… pas?( Why don’t…? ). You will notice that French speakers very often omit neto make sentences shorter – this is mainly in spoken French.

You can also make a suggestion using the French phrase Et si…?( How about? ) which is followed by a verb in the imperfect tense. For more information on the imperfect tense, see here.

Use Est-ce que je devrais…?( Should I…? ) followed by the verb in the infinitive to ask if you should do something. devraiscomes from the verb devoir.For more information on devoir,see here.