I am sure you have already noticed that, in French, we don’t write the same way we speak.
This is due to all the silent letters in French words.
Let’s see what these letters are.

At the beginning or inside a word

The letter H

We never pronounce the letter H in French, except when it’s associated with c, then it transforms in the sound “ch”.
However, we have two kinds of H: the “strong H” and the “soft H”. The soft H accepts a “liaison”, the strong one doesn’t (I’ll write an article very soon on that subject).
Neither of them is pronounced.

The letter U

Don’t pronounce it after G or Q :
Un quartier [kartie]
Une guerre [Ger]

And also, be careful: OU is a special sound different from U.

The letter N

Don’t pronounce it when it’s associated with another letter to create a nasal sound:
EN/AN/IN/ON/OM etc.
( > Watch my video about nasal sounds in French.)

The letter I

Don’t pronounce it after O because OI is pronounced WA.

At the end of a word

The letter E

Don’t pronounce it at the end of a word except if there is an accent on top of it: é
(Watch my video about that subject if you want more details about the pronunciation of E)

The letter S

We use it a lot at the end of the words to indicate the plural. Don’t pronounce it.

Also, some words end with S but are not plural. You still don’t pronounce the final S.
Examples: autrefois, un avis, un bras, une brebis, un colis, un corps, un dos, un héros, jamais, un jus, un mois, un poids, un refus, le repos, une souris, un tapis, le temps, volontiers, etc.
( formerly, an opinion, an arm, a sheep, a parcel, a body, a back, a hero, never, a juice, a month, a weight, a refusal, rest, a mouse, a carpet, time, willingly)

And finally, don’t pronounce it at the end of the verbs:
For example: tu parles, nous parlons, je parlais, je parlerais.
(you speak, we speak, I spoke, I would spoke.)

The letter X

Don’t pronounce it at the end.
It’s quite frequent, we can find it:

• At the end of these nouns: un choix, une croix, un époux, le houx, une noix, la paix, une perdrix, un prix, une toux, une voix.
  (a choice, a cross, a husband, a holly, a walnut, peace, a partridge, a prize, a cough, a voice.)
• At the end of some plural : des choux, des bijoux, des cailloux, des genoux, des poux, des joujoux, des hiboux.
  (cabbages, jewels, pebbles, knees, lice, toys, owls.)
• At the end of many adjectives : délicieux, joyeux, heureux, merveilleux, doux, jaloux, roux etc.
  (delicious, happy, happy, wonderful, soft, jealous, red hair etc.)
• At the end of some verbs: je peux, tu peux, je veux, tu veux
  (I can, you can, I want, you want).

The letter T

It’s most of the time mute at the end of a verb:

• Examples 1 (before a vowel): un achat, le climat, un chat, un habit, un lit, un récit, étroit, un toit, un bruit, un enduit, minuit, un capot, un escargot, un matelot, un robot, souvent, un point, un bout, etc
  (a purchase, the climate, a cat, a coat, a bed, a story, narrow, a roof, a noise, a coating, midnight, a hood, a snail, a sailor, a robot, often, a point, one end)
• Examples 2 (before an R) : l’art, un départ, un concert, un désert, un dessert, un confort, un effort, un port, un tort, court etc.
  (art, a departure, a concert, a desert, a dessert, a comfort, an effort, a port, a wrongdoing, short etc.)
• Examples 3 (we don’t pronounce the C and the T): aspect, respect, irrespect, suspect.
  (appearance, respect, disrespect, suspect)
• Examples 4 (at the end of the verbs) : il finit, il finissait, il finirait, ils finiraient etc.
  (he finishes, I finished, he would finish, they would finish)

The letter D

We find it at the end of some words :

• -aud : chaud, un crapaud, costaud, etc.
  (hot, a toad, beefy)
• -and: un allemand, un gland, grand, un goéland, un gourmand, normand, etc.
  (a German, an acorn, a big, a gull, a gourmand, a Norman, etc.)
• -ard: un brassard, un boulevard, un brouillard, un canard, un dossard, un hasard, un homard, un léopard, un retard, etc.
  (an armband, a boulevard, a fog, a duck, a bib, a chance, a lobster, a leopard, a delay, etc.)
• -ond : un bond, un fond, un plafond, etc.
  (a leap, a bottom, a ceiling, etc .)
• -ord : un accord, un bord, le nord, un record, etc.
  (an agreement, an edge, the north, a record)
• -ourd : lourd, sourd.
  (heavy: heavy, deaf.)

The letter G

We don’t pronounce it at the end.

For example: un bourg, un faubourg, un coing, un étang, un hareng, long, un poing, sang,
(A small village, a suburb, a quince, a pond, a herring, long, a fist, blood).

Except in words ending with ING, then we pronounce it like in English:
Le shopping, le jogging, le footing, le dressing, le planning, le dancing, le crowdfunding, le zapping, le shooting, le rafting etc.
> We like words ending with ING, we find them very cool ?

The letter P

We don’t pronounce it at the end.

For example: prompt, sept, beaucoup, un champ, un coup, un drap, un galop, un loup, un sirop, trop.
(prompt, seven, many, a field, a blow, a sheet, a gallop, a wolf, a syrup, too.)

Neither at the end of some verbs: il interrompt, il corrompt, il rompt.
(he interrupts, he corrupts, he breaks.)

Voilà! I know that’s a lot ?

French is a very nostalgic and conservative language in the sense that it has kept, throughout its history, many letters that were no longer used.

In the French language, there are 2 future tenses: the « futur proche » and the « futur simple ».

Paradoxically, the futur proche is simpler (easier to build) than the futur simple, that’s why we use it more.

THE  » FUTUR PROCHE « 

It is supposed to be used for something close in time: tomorrow, next week etc. but if you listen to French people speaking, you will notice that they use it also to express actions further in time.

Je vais visiter le musée demain
(I am going to visit the museum tomrrow.)

Je vais prendre ma retraite dans trois ans.
(I am going to retire in 3 years.)

How do we build this future? It is quite easy :

We conjugate the verb ALLER in the present + we add the INFINITIVE of the verb after.

Je vais PARTIR.
Tu vas RESTER.
Il va SE PROMENER.
Elle va SE COUCHER.
On va REGARDER la télé.
Nous allons REGARDER la télé.
Vous aller ECOUTER la radio.
Ils vont PRENDRE un rendez-vous.
Elles vont ALLER danser.

Quite easy isn’t it? Now let’s compare with the  » futur simple »

THE  » FUTUR SIMPLE « 

In grammar, « simple » doesn’t mean « easy », it means that there is only one part (one word) in the verb.
We’ve seen that there are 2 parts in the futur proche (the verb aller + the infinitive of the verb), for the futur simple you have only 1 part, but it’s more difficult to conjugate.

What you do is that you take the infinitive of the verb you want to conjugate, for example, PARTIR, and you add the endings of the futur.
Let’s have a look at it closer. (I’ll write the infinitive in capital letters, but it’s just a way to make you understand quicker.)

Je PARTIRai
Tu PARTIRas
Il PARTIRa
Elle PARTIRa
On PARTIRa
Nous PARTIRons
Vous PARTIRez
Ils PARTIRont
Elles PARTIRont

So, you will say that it’s not very complicated. That’s right, but there are some subtleties I need to explain to you.

First, when you have an infinitive ending with -e- you need to take off this -e-. For example, there is an -e- at the end of the verb VENDRE (to sell), so you conjugate it that way :

Je VENDRai
Tu VENDRas
Il VENDRa
Nous VENDRons
Vous VENDRez
Ils VENDRont

Then you have irregular verbs you need to learn :

I gave you the first person (sometimes third when first is never used) as an example, you keep the same root for the other persons.

Here are some examples with the futur simple :

Quand il aura 60 ans, il prendra sa retraite.
(When he is 60, he will retire.)
Quand je serai en vacances, je te rendrai visite.
(When I am on holiday, I will visit you)

You’ve noticed that we use the future after « quand », contrary to the English.

Some other examples :
En 2100, il y aura des voitures volantes.
(In 2100, there will be flying cars.)
Dans cinq ans,nous irons en Espagne.
(In five years, we will go to Spain.)

Voilà! I hope you understand these 2 futures now.
If you still have questions, ask them in the comments below.

You can also watch my video about the futur proche by clicking here

A bientôt!

You noticed that in French we have two pronouns that we use in a very similar way: « on » and « nous »

NOUS :

« Nous » comes from the Latin nōs. It replaces « je » + one or more other people. We translate it as « we » in english.

ON :

Before becoming a personal pronoun, « on » was a common name. « On » was first spelled « om », then « hom » and came from the Latin « homo » same as the word  »homme » (man). Originally, then,  »on » meant « man » in general. But with time it turned into a pronoun and lost this meaning.
Still, that’s the reason why we conjugate « on » in the singular even if today the meaning is plural!

Today, it can refer to:

• an indeterminate subject unknown to the speaker and is equivalent to « someone ». For example, when a person inside a room says (not knowing who it is) :

« On sonne à la porte. » 
« Someone is ringing at the door. »

• a whole group of people, in the sense of « people ». For example:

« En France, on célèbre la Fête Nationale le 14 juillet. »
« In France, we celebrate the National Day on July 14th. »

• a general truth value, for example in proverbs:

« On n’est jamais aussi bien servi que par soi-même »
 » We are never as well served as by ourselves. »

• in the familiar register, it is very often used for the first person of the plural (in the sense of « nous »).
For example, someone with a group might say:

« Nous mangeons au restaurant ce soir.« 
« We eat at the restaurant tonight. »

In daily French, « on » has already replaced the subject « nous ». According to L. R. Waugh, in his corpus of conversational metropolitan French, « on » is used in 99% of cases, and « nous » only in 1% of cases!

So, in conclusion, when you speak, it is better to use  »on » to sound more natural, except in a very formal situation; then you can use  »nous », such as when you make an official speech, but it is quite rare.

In writing it is used more often, especially in formal letters addressed to the administration.

Voilà, I hope you understand better why we have this strange situation in French!

Today, in the French language, there are various attempts to create feminine forms for the professions and they are not always unanimous.

in Quebec, Switzerland and Belgium, the feminine has long been generalized to all functions. In France, the resistance was greater but a consensus was found, more or less. Here is the list of occupations that posed the most problems and the solutions that have been found:

1. Chef (Boss or Chef)

The common point of these professions refractory to gender variation is their elitist and valued status. They are linked to management positions or intellectual occupations. However, the word cheffe as the feminine of chef has been used more often over the pas few years (so it’s quite recent), especially when it translates  » boss  ». However, when it comes to the culinary field, the use of the feminine is still quite rare in my opinion.

2. Manager (Manager)

It is a widely used word in French, and has no feminine. In Quebec, this function name, borrowed from English, is often translated into French as  »le Gérant / la Gérante ou le /la Gestionnaire ». In France you would say une manager. The absence of feminine form for this profession could be explained by its English origin, but on the other hand, the important social status and the leading position with which this post is associated could also have something to do with it.

3. Maire (Mayor)

Most of the nouns ending in -e in the masculine form have the same feminine form. They are called epicenes: le/la juge. The determinants and adjectives that accompany them are written in the feminine: une juge italienne, la maire adjointe. However, for some high-ranking professions such as the mayor, the male form has been used for a long time as the only form: we would have said  » Madame le maire  ». Today, we generally use  » la maire » in France and  » la mairesse » in Switzerland and Canada. In Belgium,  » la bourgmestre » is used.

4. Gouverneur (Governor)

One of the rules of the feminine is that when we have a masculine ending with -eur the feminine ends with – euse [for nouns that have a verbal base] For example, the verb COIFFER > the profession is un coiffeur/une coiffeuse. However, it has been noticed that the suffix -eure has become very productive, and is now more frequently used to create the new words for femine professions, but only for intellectual functions with responsibility like gouverneure, superviseure, while we keep the suffix –euse to manual or less  »prestigious » professions: serveuse, camionneuse, vendeuse, coiffeuse etc.

5. Professeur (Teacher, Professor)

Same for teacher. It was (some time ago ?) a prestigious profession that had no feminine. Today, if we want to feminize it, we use « teacher » and not  » professeure  » so as not to change our habits and not to « shock sensitive ears », because the pronunciation is the same.

6. Employeur (Employer)

For the same reason, the feminine  » employeure  » is used more often, even if  » employeuse  » exists in the dictionary!

7. Assureur (Insurer)

Personally, I have never heard anything other than the masculine for this profession. For example, I would say  » mon assureur est madame x  ». So, I imagine that if we had to definitely put it in the feminine, we would use  » assureure  » so as not to change the pronunciation.

8. Docteur (Doctor)

Another rule of the feminine is that when we have a masculine ending with -teur, the feminine ends with par – trice. But, the doctor having long been a man, the feminine who should have been  » doctrice  » has never been used. Today, the French-speaking countries have made different choices:  » docteure  » in France,  » doctoresse  » in Switzerland. Note that for the French, the forms  » -esse  » for professions seems old or even ridiculous (except maitresse d’école : school teacher) while they are very well accepted in Switzerland. All this being a matter of habit of course.

9. Auteur (Author)

For the same reasons, the female author should have been  » une autrice  ». And when it was necessary to feminize the word recently, many were in favor of autrice. However, it seems to me that, as the habit was used to speak with the masculine, the term  » auteure  » was preferred, probably because it did not change the pronunciation … nor the habits.

10. Ecrivain (Writer)

The form « écrivaine » is recent and seems to become the norm for the female writer.

11. Ingénieur (Engineer)

Sometimes the pronunciation of the regular feminine is not ideal, it is complicated to use it for some reasons of double meaning. Thus,  » ingénieuse  » is the feminine of the adjective  » ingénieux  » which means ingenious, clever, inventive. That’s why, to avoid any confusion with this word, the feminine  » ingénieure  » is used.

12. Pompier (Firefighter)

I have always heard that word in the masculine or sometimes with the expression  » femme-pompier » which means  »woman firefighter ». This sounds ridiculous, but apparently not as much as the word  » pompière  » that should be the regular feminine form but that no one seems to want to use. Why? I have not found a logical reason for it and I think it is probably a very objective criterion as:  » that doesn’t sound nice  ».

13. Médecin (Doctor)

For the doctor, the dictionaries do not attest any feminine form, although the French feminization guide suggests « médecine ». The problem is that the term « médecine » means medicine and refers to the science, which explains the refusal to use it. So, the most common method of feminization is the agreement of the feminine article: le médecin / la médecin.

Same for « un marin« (a sailor), we do not say « une marine » because this word means navy.

That’s it, my list is finished. However, I have one last question: Does the opposite problem exist? Are there professions that are only female? We can say that it is very rare. I found one:

Sage-femme (Midwife)

As this profession became more and more successful among men, it was necessary to find a male equivalent. The word  » sage-homme  » has been proposed but seems ridiculous (because it means wise-man) so we have, for the moment, kept the feminine word for men also. Thus, we say a  » un homme sage-femme » (a midwife man)!

Voilà, so we see that the linguistic feminization of some professions has not always been simple and can still evolve because it is the users who has the right to life or death on a word.

We can summarize all this by saying that the intellectual and prestigious professions had more difficulty to find their feminine and that very often we used for the feminine version a written form which did not change the pronunciation and which is thus … identical to the masculine one when we speak!
All that for this

And you, do you have these kinds of problems in your language?

Read in french on that subject  here