French for holiday home owners
For anyone with a house in Provence, Brittany or on the Atlantic coast: keys and property managers, tradespeople for a leak or a broken water heater, pool and garden, new neighbours, bin collection and the mairie (town hall). Every phrase comes with pronunciation and uses the polite vous form.
Pronunciation in six rules
French is not pronounced the way it is written, but it follows fixed rules. With these six you can read street names and bills correctly.
Silent endings
Many letters at the end of a word are not pronounced: Paris = “pa-REE”, ils parlent = “eel PARL”. A final e is usually silent too.
Nasal vowels
an and en sound like a nasal “ah” (written “an~”), on like a nasal “oh” (“on~”), in and ain like a nasal “eh” (“eh~”): pain, bread = “peh~”. The n itself is not pronounced.
Two vowels, one sound
ou is oo, oi is wa, au and eau are oh, eu is roughly the u in fur, ai is eh: voisin, neighbour = “vwa-ZEH~”.
u, é and è
For u, say ee with your lips rounded as for oo (tu = “tew”). é is like the ay in day, without the glide; è and ê are like the e in bed.
ch, gn and j
ch is “sh”, gn is the ny in canyon (Bretagne). j, and g before e and i, sound like the s in measure.
Stress and linking
Stress falls lightly on the last syllable. If a word ends in a consonant and the next begins with a vowel, they are joined: vous avez = “voo-za-VAY”.
In the pronunciation below, the stressed syllable is in CAPITALS, syllables are joined with “-”, words are separated by spaces and “·” separates two sentences. A tilde marks a nasal vowel: “an~”, “on~”, “eh~”. ew is the French u, uh the short e in le and the eu in monsieur, ay as in day without the glide, zh the s in measure, sh as in ship, y as in yes. The French r is made at the back of the throat.
Greetings and being polite
- Bonjour, madame. / Bonjour, monsieur.bon~-ZHOOR ma-DAM · bon~-ZHOOR muh-SYUHHello. (Adding madame or monsieur sounds much more polite.)
- Bonsoir !bon~-SWARGood evening
- Merci beaucoup.mehr-SEE boh-KOOThank you very much.
- Excusez-moi.ek-skew-zay-MWAExcuse me.
- Je ne comprends pas. Vous pouvez parler plus lentement ?zhuh nuh kon~-PRAN~ PA · voo poo-VAY par-LAY plew lan~t-MAN~I don't understand. Could you speak more slowly?
- Vous parlez anglais ?voo par-LAY an~-GLEHDo you speak English?
Keys and property manager
- Nous sommes les nouveaux propriétaires de la maison.noo SOM lay noo-VOH pro-pree-yay-TEHR duh la meh-ZON~We are the new owners of the house.
- Pourriez-vous garder une clé pour nous ?poo-ryay-VOO gar-DAY ewn KLAY poor NOOCould you keep a key for us?
- Pourriez-vous aérer la maison avant notre arrivée ?poo-ryay-VOO a-ay-RAY la meh-ZON~ a-VAN~ notr a-ree-VAYCould you air the house before we arrive?
- Nous arrivons samedi et nous repartons fin août.noo-za-ree-VON~ sam-DEE ay noo ruh-par-TON~ feh~ OOTWe arrive on Saturday and leave again at the end of August.
Tradespeople
- Il y a une fuite d'eau dans la salle de bains.eel-YA ewn fweet DOH dan~ la sal duh BEH~There's a water leak in the bathroom.
- Le chauffe-eau ne marche plus.luh shohf-OH nuh marsh PLEWThe water heater has stopped working.
- Il n'y a plus de courant.eel NYA plew duh koo-RAN~The power is off.
- C'est urgent.seh-tewr-ZHAN~It's urgent.
- Pourriez-vous me faire un devis ?poo-ryay-VOO muh fehr eh~ duh-VEECould you give me a quote?
- Quand pouvez-vous passer ?kan~ poo-vay-VOO pa-SAYWhen can you come round?
Pool and garden
- Pourriez-vous entretenir la piscine pendant notre absence ?poo-ryay-VOO an~-truh-tuh-NEER la pee-SEEN pan~-DAN~ notr ap-SAN~SCould you look after the pool while we're away?
- Il faudrait tailler la haie.eel foh-DREH ta-YAY la EHThe hedge needs cutting.
- Il faut débroussailler le terrain avant l'été.eel foh day-broo-sa-YAY luh teh-REH~ a-VAN~ lay-TAYThe land needs clearing of scrub before the summer.
- Combien vous dois-je ?kon~-BYEH~ voo DWAZHHow much do I owe you?
Neighbours
- Bonjour, nous sommes vos nouveaux voisins.bon~-ZHOOR noo SOM voh noo-VOH vwa-ZEH~Hello, we're your new neighbours.
- Si vous voyez quelque chose d'anormal, vous pouvez m'appeler ?see voo vwa-YAY kel-kuh SHOHZ da-nor-MAL · voo poo-VAY ma-PLAYIf you notice anything unusual, could you give me a call?
- Venez prendre l'apéritif ce soir !vuh-NAY pran~dr la-pay-ree-TEEF suh SWARCome round for drinks this evening.
Mairie and daily life
- Quel jour passe le camion poubelle ?kel ZHOOR pas luh ka-MYON~ poo-BELWhich day are the bins collected?
- Où se trouve la déchetterie ?oo suh TROOV la day-sheh-TREEWhere is the tip (recycling centre)?
- Faut-il une autorisation pour construire un abri de jardin ?foh-TEEL ewn oh-toh-ree-za-SYON~ poor kon~-STRWEER eh~-na-BREE duh zhar-DEH~Do I need permission to build a garden shed?
- Une baguette bien cuite, s'il vous plaît.ewn ba-GET byeh~ KWEET · seel voo PLEHA well-baked baguette, please.
Doctor and pharmacy
- J'ai besoin d'un médecin.zhay buh-ZWEH~ deh~ mayd-SEH~I need a doctor.
- Où est la pharmacie de garde ?oo eh la far-ma-SEE duh GARDWhere is the duty pharmacy?
- J'ai mal au dos.zhay mal oh DOHI have backache.
Emergency number throughout France: 112. Ambulance (SAMU): 15, fire brigade: 18. On short stays, bring your GHIC (or an EHIC that is still valid) and travel insurance.
Good to know
“Bonjour” first
In France every conversation starts with Bonjour, madame or Bonjour, monsieur, in the bakery and on the phone too. Going straight to your question comes across as rude.
Clearing scrub is compulsory
In areas at risk of wildfires, such as Provence, owners must regularly clear the scrub around the house, the débroussaillement. The mairie knows the rules in your commune.
Taxes on a second home
A holiday home is subject every year to the taxe foncière and the taxe d'habitation for second homes. They apply to British owners just the same. The bills arrive in the autumn.
Closed at lunchtime
Many shops, tradespeople and offices take a break between 12 and 2 pm. Call or book appointments in the morning or late afternoon.
A course for exactly your house
A phrasebook can only guess what you're planning. In LingoTrip you tell it: a house in the Luberon, a pool that is losing water, a roofer coming in the autumn. LingoTrip builds a course around exactly those conversations, with audio, speech recognition and spaced review until you leave.
Coming soon to the App Store and Google PlayFAQ
Can I get by with English?
With tradespeople, the mairie and older neighbours in the countryside, usually not. A few French phrases can make the difference between someone coming round or not.
Do I say “vous” or “tu”?
With tradespeople, neighbours and officials always vous, the polite form, until the other person suggests tu. All phrases on this page use the vous form.
How long will it take to learn these phrases?
One to three weeks at a few minutes a day is enough for the phrases on this page. A course that practises exactly your next conversations is the quickest way.
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