Introducing Yourself

French Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 2 · Introducing Yourself

🙋 Introducing Yourself — Se présenter

Say who you are, ask someone's name, say "nice to meet you", introduce a friend or colleague, and spell a name out loud. You'll also meet the two most important French verbs, être ("to be") and s'appeler ("to be called"), and the little words for I, you, he, she and we.

💬 Six Short Conversations — Conversations

Read each one aloud, using the pronunciation line. Remember: a spoken French sentence flows together, so don't pause between words, and let the last syllable of each word be the gentle emphasis (the capitals).

① A Formal Introduction — Je m'appelle …

A: Bonjour, je m'appelle Sophie Lambert. bõ-ZHOOR, zhuh mah-PEL soh-FEE lã-BAIR Hello, my name is Sophie Lambert.

B: Bonjour, Madame. Je m'appelle Paul Moreau. Enchanté. bõ-ZHOOR, mah-DAHM. zhuh mah-PEL pohl moh-ROH. ã-shã-TAY Hello, madam. My name is Paul Moreau. Pleased to meet you.

A: Enchantée, Monsieur Moreau. ã-shã-TAY, muh-SYUH moh-ROH Pleased to meet you, Mr Moreau.

B: Appelez-moi Paul, s'il vous plaît. ah-play-MWAH pohl, seel voo PLAY Please call me Paul.

② Among Friends — Tu t'appelles comment ?

A: Salut ! Tu t'appelles comment ? sah-LÜ! tü tah-PEL ko-MÃ Hi! What's your name?

B: Moi, c'est Camille. Et toi ? mwah, say kah-MEE. ay TWAH I'm Camille. And you?

A: Moi, c'est Julien. Enchanté ! mwah, say zhü-LYẼ. ã-shã-TAY I'm Julien. Nice to meet you!

B: Enchantée ! ã-shã-TAY Nice to meet you!

③ Asking a Stranger — Comment vous appelez-vous ?

A: Excusez-moi, Monsieur. Comment vous appelez-vous ? ek-skü-zay-MWAH, muh-SYUH. ko-mã voo-zah-play-VOO Excuse me, sir. What is your name?

B: Je m'appelle Thomas Girard. Et vous ? zhuh mah-PEL toh-MAH zhee-RAHR. ay VOO My name is Thomas Girard. And you?

A: Nathalie Roux. Enchantée. nah-tah-LEE ROO. ã-shã-TAY Nathalie Roux. Pleased to meet you.

④ Introducing a Friend — Voici mon ami

A: Camille, voici mon ami, Julien. kah-MEE, vwah-SEE mõ-nah-MEE, zhü-LYẼ Camille, this is my friend, Julien.

B: Salut, Julien ! Moi, c'est Camille. sah-LÜ, zhü-LYẼ! mwah, say kah-MEE Hi, Julien! I'm Camille.

C: Salut, Camille ! Enchanté. sah-LÜ, kah-MEE! ã-shã-TAY Hi, Camille! Nice to meet you.

⑤ First Name & Surname — Comment ça s'écrit ?

A: Comment ça s'écrit, votre nom ? ko-mã sah say-KREE, VOH-truh NÕ How is your surname spelled?

B: Dubois : D-U-B-O-I-S. dü-BWAH: day – ü – bay – oh – ee – ess Dubois: D-U-B-O-I-S.

A: Merci. Et votre prénom ? mair-SEE. ay VOH-truh pray-NÕ Thank you. And your first name?

B: Léa : L-É-A. lay-AH: ell – ay – ah Léa: L-É-A.

⑥ Introducing a Colleague (formal) — Je vous présente …

A: Madame Roux, je vous présente Monsieur Girard. mah-DAHM ROO, zhuh voo pray-ZÃT muh-SYUH zhee-RAHR Mrs Roux, let me introduce Mr Girard.

B: Enchantée, Monsieur Girard. Bienvenue ! ã-shã-TAY, muh-SYUH zhee-RAHR. byẽ-vuh-NÜ Pleased to meet you, Mr Girard. Welcome!

C: Enchanté, Madame Roux. Merci. ã-shã-TAY, mah-DAHM ROO. mair-SEE Pleased to meet you, Mrs Roux. Thank you.

🗝️ Key Phrases at a Glance — Phrases clés

Situation	Formal	Informal
My name is…	Je m'appelle … / Je suis …	Je m'appelle … / Moi, c'est …
What's your name?	Comment vous appelez-vous ?	Tu t'appelles comment ? / Comment tu t'appelles ?
Nice to meet you	Enchanté(e)	Enchanté(e)
This is…	Je vous présente … / Voici …	Voici … / C'est …
How is it spelled?	Comment ça s'écrit ?	Comment ça s'écrit ?

French	Pronunciation	English
Je m'appelle Anna.	zhuh mah-PEL ah-NAH	My name is Anna.
Je suis Anna.	zhuh SWEE ah-NAH	I am Anna.
Moi, c'est Anna.	mwah, say ah-NAH	I'm Anna. (informal)
Voici mon ami Paul.	vwah-SEE mõ-nah-MEE pohl	This is my friend Paul.
Voici mon amie Léa.	vwah-SEE mõ-nah-MEE lay-AH	This is my (female) friend Léa.

"Enchanté" or "Enchantée"? The word for "pleased to meet you" is spelled differently depending on who is speaking: a man writes enchanté, a woman writes enchantée. They sound exactly the same ("ã-shã-TAY"), so you only need to remember the spelling when you write. The same happens with ami / amie (male / female friend): the extra e is silent.

🔤 The French Alphabet — L'alphabet

You need the letter names to spell your name, an email address or a street. Practise saying your own name letter by letter.

Letter	Say it	Letter	Say it	Letter	Say it	Letter	Say it
A	ah	H	ahsh	O	oh	V	vay
B	bay	I	ee	P	pay	W	doo-bluh-VAY
C	say	J	zhee	Q	kü	X	eeks
D	day	K	kah	R	air	Y	ee-GREK
E	uh	L	ell	S	ess	Z	zed
F	eff	M	emm	T	tay
G	zhay	N	enn	U	ü

When spelling, you may also hear	Say it	Meaning
é · è · ê	ay a-ksã-tay-GÜ · ay a-ksã-GRAHV · ay a-ksã sir-kõ-FLEKS	e with an acute · grave · circumflex accent
ç	say say-DEE-yuh	c with a cedilla
un tiret	ẽ tee-RAY	a hyphen (e.g. Jean-Pierre)
deux « m »	duh EMM	double m

🔎 Two Little Words for "You" and "I" — Les pronoms sujets

Before the two key verbs, here are the words that say who is doing the action. You'll see them in every chapter.

French	Say it	English	Note
je (j')	zhuh	I	not capitalised, except at the start of a sentence; j' before a vowel
tu	tü	you (one person, informal)	friends, family, children
il / elle	eel / el	he / she	also "it", for masculine / feminine things
on	õ	one, we, people	very common in speech for "we"
nous	noo	we	a little more formal than on
vous	voo	you (formal, or more than one person)	strangers, respect, groups
ils / elles	eel / el	they (masculine or mixed / feminine)	a mixed group is always ils

🔧 Two Verbs You Just Used — Deux verbes

Verbs change their form for each person. These two are irregular, so learn the shapes as they are. Être ("to be") is the most important verb in French. S'appeler ("to be called", literally "to call oneself") is a reflexive verb: the little word me / te / se goes in front of the verb.

Who	être (to be)	Say it	s'appeler (to be called)	Say it
je	je suis	zhuh SWEE	je m'appelle	zhuh mah-PEL
tu	tu es	tü AY	tu t'appelles	tü tah-PEL
il / elle / on	il / elle / on est	eel / el / õ-NAY	il / elle / on s'appelle	eel sah-PEL
nous	nous sommes	noo SOM	nous nous appelons	noo noo-zah-play-LÕ
vous	vous êtes	voo-ZET	vous vous appelez	voo voo-zah-play-LAY
ils / elles	ils / elles sont	eel SÕ	ils / elles s'appellent	eel sah-PEL

"Je m'appelle", "Je suis" or "Moi, c'est"? All three are natural. Je m'appelle Anna is the standard way to give your name (literally "I call myself Anna"). Je suis Anna ("I am Anna") is equally correct and a little shorter. Moi, c'est Anna ("As for me, it's Anna") is a relaxed, informal way, perfect among friends. Notice the doubled ll in je m'appelle, tu t'appelles, il s'appelle, and the single l in nous appelons, vous appelez: it's a spelling quirk of this verb.

Joining Words Together — Elision and Liaison French likes words to flow into each other, and that explains two things you've already seen. Elision: a short word ending in e (or a) drops it before a vowel sound and joins on with an apostrophe: je + appelle → j'appelle (and me + appelle → m'appelle), ce + est → c'est, le + ami → l'ami. Liaison: a silent final consonant is sometimes pronounced when the next word starts with a vowel: mon ami is "mõ-nah-MEE", vous êtes is "voo-ZET", vous appelez is "voo-zah-play-LAY". You'll notice both better with every chapter, so just follow the pronunciation lines for now.

📖 Vocabulary — Vocabulaire

20 key words and phrases from this chapter. Nouns are shown with their gender (m. masculine, f. feminine) and the little word before them, which you should learn together with the noun.

#	French	Say it	English	Type	Note
1	je m'appelle	zhuh mah-PEL	my name is	phrase	from s'appeler
2	s'appeler	sah-play-LAY	to be called	verb	reflexive; ll in je / tu / il forms
3	être	AY-truh	to be	verb	je suis, tu es, il est
4	présenter	pray-zã-TAY	to introduce	verb	je vous présente
5	épeler	ay-puh-LAY	to spell	verb	Pouvez-vous épeler ?
6	enchanté / enchantée	ã-shã-TAY	pleased to meet you	adj	m. / f.; same sound
7	comment	ko-MÃ	how	word	Comment ça s'écrit ?
8	c'est	say	it is, this is	phrase	ce + est; "Moi, c'est …"
9	voici	vwah-SEE	here is, this is	word	for pointing out a person or thing
10	moi	mwah	me, I (emphatic)	word	"Moi, c'est Léa."
11	toi	twah	you (emphatic, informal)	word	"Et toi ?"
12	aussi	oh-SEE	also, too	adv	"Moi aussi."
13	le nom	nõ	name; surname	noun, m.	le nom de famille = surname
14	le prénom	pray-NÕ	first name	noun, m.	"Votre prénom ?"
15	un ami / une amie	ẽ-nah-MEE / ün-ah-MEE	friend (m. / f.)	noun	mon ami / mon amie
16	un collègue / une collègue	ẽ ko-LEG / ün ko-LEG	colleague (m. / f.)	noun	same word; only the article changes
17	la lettre	LET-truh	letter (of the alphabet)	noun, f.	also means a letter you post
18	mon / ma	mõ / mah	my (m. / f.)	word	mon ami, ma collègue
19	bienvenue	byẽ-vuh-NÜ	welcome	phrase	to greet a newcomer
20	Comment ça s'écrit ?	ko-mã sah say-KREE	How is that spelled?	phrase	s'écrire = to be written

Real French Tip — Names, First Names and "Mon Copain" In France you'll often be on first-name terms quickly at work, especially in younger or more casual companies, but vous and Monsieur / Madame stay the default until someone invites you to use first names and tu. Be careful with two words: un ami is simply a friend, but mon copain / ma copine and mon petit ami / ma petite amie often mean "my boyfriend / my girlfriend". If you mean a friend, ami(e) is the safe word.

Quick Grammar Note — Why "Madame" and "Monsieur" Come First When you address someone by title and surname, the order is simply Madame Dubois, Monsieur Moreau, as in English. On its own, Madame / Monsieur without a name is a polite way to speak to a stranger (Excusez-moi, Madame). Both are capitalised when you write them as a form of address.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Exercices

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. You meet a business contact for the first time. Greet them, give your name, and say you're pleased to meet them.

Show answer

Bonjour, Madame / Monsieur. Je m'appelle … Enchanté(e). (A man writes enchanté, a woman enchantée.)

2. You meet a new friend at a party. Ask their name informally.

Show answer

Tu t'appelles comment ? (or: Comment tu t'appelles ?) And you can add: Moi, c'est …

3. Politely ask an older stranger for their name.

Show answer

Excusez-moi, Monsieur / Madame. Comment vous appelez-vous ? (Use vous.)

4. Introduce your friend Julien to your colleague Madame Roux.

Show answer

Madame Roux, voici mon ami, Julien. (Or formally: Je vous présente mon ami Julien.)

5. Spell the surname "Lambert" in French letter names.

Show answer

L-A-M-B-E-R-T: ell – ah – emm – bay – uh – air – tay.

6. Say "I am Anna" in two different ways.

Show answer

Je m'appelle Anna. / Je suis Anna. (Informally also: Moi, c'est Anna.)

Coming Up in Chapter 3 You can now introduce yourself and others. Next up: numbers, age and contact details: counting, saying how old you are, and giving your phone number and email address.