Everyday French Phrases

There are some French phrases that you will hear literally every day or even multiple times a day and even use yourself. If you are studying French, or plan to visit France, its important that you learn and practice five often-used French phrases. Ah Bon Ah Bon  literally means oh good, though  it  commonly translates into English as: Oh yes?Really?Is that so?I see. Ah bon  is used primarily as a soft interjection, even when its a question  where a  speaker is indicating interest and maybe a little surprise. The examples list the French sentence on the left with the English translation on the right.     Speaker 1:  Jai vu un film intà ©ressant hier.  I saw an interesting movie yesterday.  Ã‚  Speaker 2: Ah  bon?  Ã‚  Oh, yes? Or in this example: Speaker 1: Je pars aux États-Unis la semaine prochaine.   Im going to the United States next week.  Speaker 2: Ah bon? Really? Ça va Ça  va  literally means it goes. Used in casual conversation,  it can be both a question and a reply, but its an informal expression. You probably wouldnt want to ask your boss or a stranger this question unless the setting was casual. One of the most common uses of  Ãƒ §a  va  is  as a greeting  or to ask how someone is doing, as in: Salut, Guy, à §a va?   Hi, Guy, hows it going?Comment à §a va?   Hows it going? The expression  can also be an exclamation: Oh! Ça va!   Hey, thats enough! Cest-à  -dire Use cest-à  -dire when you want to say I mean or that is. Its a way to clarify what youre trying to explain, as in: Il faut à ©crire ton nom là  , cest-à  -dire, ici.   You need to write your name there, I mean, here.Il faut que tu commences à   y mettre du tien ici.   You need to start pulling your weight around here. Il Faut In French, its often necessary to say its necessary. For that purpose, use il faut, which is the conjugated form of  falloir,  an  irregular French verb.  Falloir  means to be necessary or to need. It is  impersonal, meaning that it has only one grammatical person: the third person singular. It may be followed by the subjunctive, an infinitive, or a noun. You can use  il faut  as follows:   Ã‚  Il faut partir.  Ã‚  Its necessary to leave.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il faut que nous partions.   We have to leave.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il faut de largent pour faire à §a.   You need money to do that. Note that this last example literally translates to, Its necessary to have money. But, the sentence translates into normal English as You need money to do that, or You have to have money for that. Il Y A Whenever youd say there is or there are in English, you would use  il y a in French.  It is most commonly followed by an  indefinite article   noun, a  number   noun, or an  indefinite pronoun, as in: Il y a des enfants là  -bas.   There are some kids over there.Jai vu le film il y a trois semaines.   I saw the movie three weeks ago.Il y a 2 ans que nous sommes partis.   We left two years ago.