Collins Dictionaries: Easy Learning French Conversation

Published by Collins

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Westerhill Road

Bishopbriggs

Glasgow G64 2QT

Second Edition 2015

© HarperCollins Publishers 2006, 2015

eBook Edition © May 2015 ISBN 978-0-00-811882-2

Version: 2015-03-30

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data.

MANAGING EDITOR

Janice McNeillie

CONTRIBUTOR

Laurence Larroche

FOR THE PUBLISHER

Gerry Breslin

Hannah Dove

Cover

Title page

Copyright

Introduction

What is it?

Why do you need it?

How is it structured?

How does it work?

Why choose Collins Easy Learning French Conversation?

The Collins Easy Learning range

French pronunciation

Silent letters

French vowels

Vowel combinations

French consonants

Stress

Liaison

Units

Small talk

Comment ça va? – How are things?

Greetings

Introducing people

Talking about yourself

Asking for information

Saying what you want to do

Making suggestions

Expressing opinions

Talking about your plans

Making arrangements

Saying what you have to do

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Getting there

Bon voyage! – Have a good trip!

Talking about your plans

Saying what you have to do

Saying what you want to do

Making suggestions

Asking for information

Asking for things

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Home from home

Dors bien! – Sleep well!

Asking for things

Talking about yourself

Asking for information

Asking for permission

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Expressing opinions

Making suggestions

Asking for suggestions

Saying what you have to do

Talking about your plans

Complaining

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Wining and dining

Bon appétit! – Enjoy your meal!

Making arrangements

Asking for information

Asking for things

Saying what you want to do

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Asking for suggestions

Making suggestions

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Hitting the town

Amusez-vous bien! – Enjoy yourselves!

Making suggestions

Talking about your plans

Asking for information

Asking for things

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Expressing opinions

Asking for permission

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Museums, monuments and much more

Passez une bonne journée! – Have a nice day!

Saying what you want to do

Talking about your plans

Making suggestions

Asking for information

Asking for things

Asking for permission

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Complaining

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Retail therapy

Je peux vous aider? – Can I help you?

Asking for things

Saying what you have to do

Talking about your plans

Expressing opinions

Asking for information

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Making suggestions

Asking for permission

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Service with a smile

Service irréprochable! – Excellent service!

Greetings

Talking about yourself

Saying what you have to do

Saying what you want to do

Asking for information

Asking for things

Asking for suggestions

Making suggestions

Making arrangements

Talking about your plans

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Ouch!

Rétablis-toi vite! – Get well soon!

Describing the problem

Saying what happened

Asking for information

Asking for things

Saying what you want to do

Making suggestions

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Help!

Ne vous en faites pas! – Don’t worry!

Describing the problem

Saying what happened

Describing people and things

Asking for information

Asking for things

Saying what you want to do

Saying what you have to do

Making suggestions

Talking about your plans

Listen out for

Lifestyle Tips

Getting in touch

Qui est à l’appareil? – Who’s calling, please?

Making a telephone call

When the person you’re calling answers

Saying why you’re calling

Giving information

Answering the telephone

Ending a telephone call

Listen out for

Writing emails and letters

Texting

Social media

Lifestyle Tips

Time, numbers, date

Trois, deux, un… Partez! – Three, two, one… Go!

Les nombres – Numbers

L’heure – The time

Listen out for

La durée – Saying how long

Les saisons – The seasons

Les mois de l’année – The months of the year

Les dates – Dates

Les jours de la semaine – The days of the week

L’alphabet – The alphabet

Listen out for

Interesting days and dates

In summary…

Bon, résumons… – So, to sum up…

Apologizing

Asking for and giving explanations

Asking for information

Asking for permission

Asking for things

Complaining

Describing people and things

Explaining a problem

Expressing opinions

Making suggestions

Saying what’s happened

Saying what you have to do

Saying what you like, dislike, prefer

Saying what you want to do

Talking about your plans

One-stop phrase shop

Je vous demande pardon? – I beg your pardon?