The essential guide to French reflexive verbs

A reflexive verb is a verb that’s preceded by a reflexive pronoun. These verbs show that someone or something is doing something to/by themself. For instance, Je me réveille means “I wake up.” As you can see, in English we don’t usually use reflexive verbs, although you could say “I wake myself up” for clarification or …

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Good or bad: What does “terrible” mean in French?

The French word terrible means something is bad – but it can also mean something is really good! Let’s take a look at the tricky French usage of terrible. Does terrible mean bad or good in French? If you look up terrible in a French dictionary or a site like Wiktionniare, most of the definitions will show that terrible means, …

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6 ways to say “Good evening” in French

Bonsoir is the most common way to say “Good evening” in French. Although Bonjour is a French greeting you can use at any time, the French have a fondness for being specific. That’s why you’ll usually hear people greet each other with Bonsoir instead, in the evening and night. But Bonsoir isn’t the only way to say “Good evening” in …

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The beginner’s guide to French ordinal numbers | With audio pronunciation

Ordinal numbers are numbers used to show the order of something – for instance, first, second, two hundredth, etc.  To make a regular, or cardinal, French number an ordinal number, most of the time you’ll add the suffix -ième to it. But there are a few exceptions, notably the number un, which becomes premier or première, depending …

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Everything you need to know about the French cedilla

A cedilla (cédille in French) is a small hook that goes beneath a letter. In some languages, a cedilla can be used with several letters, but in French, the cedilla is only used with the letter “c”. In French, when a cedilla is beneath the letter “c”, this indicates that the sound is soft, like an …

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What does “Merde” mean exactly? (it’s not just “shit”)

Merde means “shit” or “crap” in French. It can also mean “Break a leg” (the traditional way theater actors wish each other luck before a performance). If you’re not a fan of swear words, you may be wondering why we’re devoting an entire article to this one. When you learn a language, you should ideally know …

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