Basic home actions and choices | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: A beginner practices six useful English phrases about basic home actions and choices..

EN → FR / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Basic home actions and choices to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

S'il te plaît, ouvre la porte.

seel tuh PLAY, OOVR luh PORT. Please open the door.
B

S'il te plaît, ferme la fenêtre.

seel tuh PLAY, FAIRM luh fuh-NETR. Please close the window.
A

S'il te plaît, allume-le.

seel tuh PLAY, ah-LOOM luh. Please turn it on.
B

S'il te plaît, éteins-le.

seel tuh PLAY, ay-TAN luh. Please turn it off.
A

S'il te plaît, donne-moi ça.

seel tuh PLAY, DON-mwah SAH. Please give me this.
B

Je vais prendre ça.

zhuh vay PRAHN-druh SAH. I will take this.

Word by Word

S'il te plaît S'il te plaît means “please” in these requests. The expression is made of S'il, te meaning “you” in the informal singular, and plaît, the form used here for “pleases.” Use S'il te plaît before a request to one person you address informally, as in S'il te plaît, ouvre la porte.
ouvre ouvre tells one person to open something. It is the command form related to the citation form ouvrir. Use ouvre followed by the thing to be opened, as in ouvre la porte; it is useful for a simple request at home.
la la means “the” before porte in la porte. Here it is the definite article used with the feminine singular noun porte. Reuse la before a specific noun, as in la porte, when referring to a particular thing.
porte porte means “door” in la porte. The phrase la porte refers to a specific door, such as the one someone is being asked to open. Use porte with la when talking about a door in a simple home instruction.
ferme ferme tells one person to close something. It is the command form related to the citation form fermer. Use ferme followed by the thing to be closed, as in ferme la fenêtre, for a simple request at home.
fenêtre fenêtre means “window” in la fenêtre. The article la and the noun together identify a specific window. Use la fenêtre when giving or understanding a home instruction about a window.
allume-le allume-le means “turn it on” in this request. The form allume gives the command to turn something on, and -le refers to the thing being turned on. Use allume-le when asking one person informally to switch on an understood device or object.
éteins-le éteins-le means “turn it off” in this request. The form éteins gives the command to turn something off, and -le refers to the thing being turned off. It is useful when asking one person informally to switch off an understood device or object; it contrasts directly with allume-le in the dialogue.
donne-moi donne-moi means “give me” in this request. The form donne gives the command to give something, and -moi identifies the person receiving it: “me.” Use donne-moi followed by or together with the requested item, as in donne-moi ça, when asking one person informally for something.
ça ça refers to “this” item in donne-moi ça and prendre ça. In the dialogue, it points to the item being requested or taken rather than naming the item. Use ça after a verb when the item is clear from the situation, as in donne-moi ça.
Je Je means “I” and is the subject of Je vais prendre ça. It identifies the speaker as the person who will take the item. Use Je before a verb when stating what you are doing or planning to do.
vais vais helps express “will” or “am going to” in Je vais prendre ça. It is the form related to the citation form aller and is followed here by the infinitive prendre. Reuse the pattern Je vais + infinitive to state an action you plan to do, such as Je vais prendre ça.
prendre prendre means “take” in Je vais prendre ça. It stays in the infinitive form after vais, and ça supplies the item being taken. Use Je vais prendre + an object when saying that you will take something.

Grammar Points

Impératif : verbe sans sujet

Ouvre la porte, s'il te plaît.

OOVR luh PORT, seel tuh PLAY.

Open the door, please.

French commands usually omit the subject pronoun: ouvre means “open!”

Impératif + pronom objet : donne-moi + nom ou pronom

Donne-moi ça.

DON-mwah SAH.

Give me that.

In a command, the object pronoun follows the verb with a hyphen: donne-moi.

French Vocabulary

aller verb
ah-LAY to go vais

Je vais prendre ça.

allumer verb
ah-loo-MAY to turn on allume

S'il te plaît, allume-le.

ça pron
SAH this; that
donne-moi phrase
DON-mwah give me

S'il te plaît, donne-moi ça.

donner verb
doh-NAY to give donne

S'il te plaît, donne-moi ça.

éteindre verb
ay-TANDR to turn off éteins

S'il te plaît, éteins-le.

fenêtre noun
fuh-NETR window

S'il te plaît, ferme la fenêtre.

fermer verb
fair-MAY to close ferme

S'il te plaît, ferme la fenêtre.

je pron
zhuh I

Je vais prendre ça.

ouvrir verb
oo-VREER to open ouvre

S'il te plaît, ouvre la porte.

porte noun
PORT door

S'il te plaît, ouvre la porte.

s'il te plaît phrase
seel tuh PLAY please

S'il te plaît, ouvre la porte.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Please open the door.

Show AnswerS'il te plaît, ouvre la porte.

Please close the window.

Show AnswerS'il te plaît, ferme la fenêtre.

Please turn it on.

Show AnswerS'il te plaît, allume-le.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to open

Show Answerouvre

to turn off

Show Answeréteins

door

Show Answerporte

window

Show Answerfenêtre