Everyday French: friends and plans

Making plans, chatting, inviting and apologising: the French you use with friends, neighbours and family.

32 sentences · 3 dialogues · 18 words

Why this field

Among friends French sounds different from the textbook: shorter, more relaxed, with on instead of nous and often without the ne of the negative. If you recognise that, you will follow conversations at the table much better.

Friendships grow out of small things — a plan, an invitation, asking how someone is. These sentences are short and come up every day, which makes them especially worth learning.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

A1I can greet friends, ask how they are and say goodbye.
A1I can accept a suggestion or turn it down kindly.
A2I can make plans, move them and let people know when I am running late.
B1I can talk about things we did together and ask for help.
B2I can bring up a misunderstanding and apologise.

Core vocabulary

18 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

saluthello, byeA1
ça vafine, how are thingsA1
d’accordall rightA1
à bientôtsee you soonA1
désolésorryA1
avec plaisirgladlyA1
l’invitationthe invitationA2
inviterto inviteA2
le temps librethe free timeA2
se dépêcherto hurryA2
décalerto shiftA2
prévenirto let somebody knowA2
le meilleur amithe best friendB1
compter surto rely onB1
donner un coup de mainto lend a handB1
perdre le contactto lose touchB1
bien s’entendreto get on wellB1
se fâcher avecto fall out withB1

Practise as flashcards Card box Mixed round

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

Making plans

You suggest a picnic on Sunday to a friend.

Sophie
Salut Ben ! Ça te dit de faire un pique-nique dimanche ?Hi Ben! Do you fancy a picnic on Sunday?
Ben
Bonne idée ! Où ça ?Good idea! Where?
Sophie
Au parc, près de la rivière. Vers midi ?In the park, by the river. Around twelve?
Ben
Midi, c’est un peu tôt pour moi. On dit treize heures ?Twelve is a bit early for me. Shall we say one o’clock?
Sophie
D’accord. J’apporte une salade et des boissons.OK. I’ll bring a salad and some drinks.
Ben
Super, moi je prends le dessert. À dimanche !Great, I’ll do dessert. See you on Sunday!

Dinner at a friend’s

A friend has invited you round for dinner.

Host
Entre, entre ! Tu as trouvé facilement ?Come in, come in! Did you find it all right?
Guest
Oui, sans problème. Tiens, j’ai apporté un dessert.Yes, no problem. Here, I’ve brought a dessert.
Host
Oh, merci, c’est gentil ! Tu veux boire quelque chose ?Oh, thank you, that’s kind! Would you like something to drink?
Guest
Un verre d’eau, s’il te plaît. Je peux t’aider ?A glass of water, please. Can I help you?
Host
Non, non, assieds-toi. On mange dans dix minutes.No, no, sit down. We’re eating in ten minutes.

Bumping into an old friend

You run into an old school friend by chance.

Clara
Max ? Ça alors ! Ça fait au moins cinq ans !Max? Well, I never! It’s been at least five years!
Max
Clara ! Je n’en reviens pas. Qu’est-ce que tu fais ici ?Clara! I can’t believe it. What are you doing here?
Clara
Je travaille dans le quartier depuis l’année dernière. Et toi ?I’ve been working round here since last year. And you?
Max
Je suis là pour le week-end. On s’est perdus de vue, c’est dommage.I’m here for the weekend. We lost touch, it’s a shame.
Clara
Oui ! Donne-moi ton numéro, on prend un café demain ?Yes! Give me your number, shall we have a coffee tomorrow?
Max
Avec plaisir. Je t’envoie un message ce soir.I’d love to. I’ll text you tonight.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

Salut, ça va ?Hi, how are you?
A1casual
Ça va bien, et toi ?Fine, thanks, and you?
A1casual
Tu es libre demain soir ?Are you free tomorrow evening?
A1casual
D’accord, à demain !OK, see you tomorrow!
A1casual
Désolé, je ne peux pas ce soir.Sorry, I can’t make it tonight.
A1neutral
Avec plaisir !I’d love to!
A1neutral
Je suis fatigué, je reste à la maison.I’m tired, I’m staying in.
A1neutral
À bientôt !See you soon!
A1neutral
Ça te dit d’aller boire un café ?Do you fancy going for a coffee?
A2casual
Je suis en retard, je serai là dans dix minutes.I’m running late, I’ll be there in ten minutes.
A2neutral
On peut décaler à jeudi ?Can we move it to Thursday?
A2casual
Merci pour l’invitation, je viendrai avec plaisir.Thanks for the invitation, I’d love to come.
A2neutral
Je t’appelle ce soir pour te dire si je peux venir.I’ll ring you tonight and let you know if I can come.
A2casual
Qu’est-ce que tu fais pendant ton temps libre ?What do you do in your free time?
A2casual
Je sais pas, on verra.Dunno, we’ll see.
A2casual In speech the ne is dropped; in writing it stays.
In everyday life, rather: Je ne sais pas, on verra.
Préviens-moi quand tu arrives.Let me know when you get there.
A2casual
Dépêche-toi, ça commence !Hurry up, it’s starting!
A2casual
Ça fait longtemps ! Qu’est-ce que tu deviens ?It’s been ages! What have you been up to?
B1casual
On s’entend vraiment bien, elle et moi.We get on really well, she and I.
B1casual
Tu peux compter sur moi.You can count on me.
B1neutral
Tu peux me donner un coup de main pour le déménagement ?Can you give me a hand with the move?
B1casual
C’est mon meilleur ami depuis l’école.He’s been my best friend since school.
B1neutral
On a perdu le contact après le lycée.We lost touch after secondary school.
B1casual
Donne-moi de tes nouvelles !Keep in touch!
B1casual
Je me suis fâché avec mon voisin à cause du bruit.I fell out with my neighbour over the noise.
B1neutral
Ça me ferait plaisir que tu viennes.I’d be really pleased if you came.
B1neutral ça me ferait plaisir que is followed by the subjonctif.
Je suis désolée de ne pas t’avoir répondu plus tôt.Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner.
B1neutral
Ça m’a fait du bien de parler avec toi.It did me good to talk to you.
B1neutral
Je ne voulais pas te vexer, je me suis mal exprimé.I didn’t mean to upset you, I put it badly.
B2neutral
On s’est un peu perdus de vue, mais on se retrouve chaque été.We’ve drifted apart a bit, but we see each other every summer.
B2neutral
Si j’avais su que tu étais en ville, je t’aurais appelé.If I’d known you were in town, I’d have called you.
B2neutral
Il faut qu’on se voie avant que tu repartes.We must meet up before you leave again.
B2casual

What matters here

Among friends the ne of the negative is almost always dropped: Je sais pas. In writing it stays.
Friends often greet each other with la bise, kisses on the cheek; how many depends on the region. If in doubt, wait and see what the other person does.
If you are invited to dinner, you don’t arrive on the dot but a little later, and you bring something small — wine, flowers or a dessert.
Ça te dit ? means “Do you fancy it?” and is the most casual way to suggest something.

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in French, then open it to compare.

Hi, how are you?
Salut, ça va ?
Do you fancy going for a coffee?
Ça te dit d’aller boire un café ?
Hurry up, it’s starting!
Dépêche-toi, ça commence !
I fell out with my neighbour over the noise.
Je me suis fâché avec mon voisin à cause du bruit.

Keep learning

The grammar behind it

Word lists that go with it

Reading texts

Reading texts on this topic (18)

Practise

More fields

French for travelling33 sentences · 19 words French for food and cooking32 sentences · 20 words French for work31 sentences · 18 words French for studying and exchanges30 sentences · 17 words French on the ground: housing, bank and paperwork31 sentences · 19 words French for culture: film, books and music31 sentences · 18 words

Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.