Basic routines and family | Learn French in English

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

EN → FR / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Basic routines and family to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Je vais me coucher.

zhuh veh muh koo-SHAY I am going to bed.
B

Je me réveille tôt.

zhuh muh ruh-VAY toh I wake up early.
A

Je vais au travail.

zhuh veh oh trah-VY I go to work.
B

Je vais à l'école.

zhuh veh ah lay-KOHL I go to school.
A

Je suis avec ma famille.

zhuh swee ah-VEK mah fah-MEE-y I am with my family.
B

C'est mon ami.

seh mohn ah-MEE This is my friend.

Word by Word

Je Je means “I” in each sentence here. It identifies the speaker as the person doing or experiencing the action, as in Je vais me coucher. A reusable pattern is Je + verb for a simple statement about yourself.
vais In Je vais me coucher and Je vais au travail, vais means “go” or “am going.” It is the form of aller used with je; in Je vais me coucher, it helps express going to bed. A reusable pattern is Je vais + destination or Je vais + infinitive.
me In Je vais me coucher, me refers back to the speaker and is part of the expression “go to bed.” It appears before coucher in this sentence. A reusable pattern is subject + me + verb when the action refers back to the speaker.
coucher In Je vais me coucher, coucher contributes the action of going to bed. The form coucher is used after vais in this expression. A common reusable pattern is Je vais me coucher when saying that you are going to bed.
réveille In Je me réveille tôt, réveille means “wake up.” It is the verb form used with je together with me; the citation form is réveiller. The sentence is useful when telling someone about your morning routine.
tôt In Je me réveille tôt, tôt means “early” and tells when the speaker wakes up. It comes after the expression Je me réveille in this sentence. A reusable pattern is Je + routine action + tôt.
au In Je vais au travail, au means “to work” in the phrase “go to work.” It is the form used before travail in this dialogue. A reusable pattern is Je vais au + destination.
travail In Je vais au travail, travail means “work” and names the speaker’s destination. It follows au in the expression for going to work. This sentence is useful when describing a regular trip to work.
à In Je vais à l'école, à marks the destination and means “to.” It is followed here by l'école. A reusable pattern is Je vais à + destination.
l'école In Je vais à l'école, l'école means “school” and is the destination. The exact form includes the article l' before école. This expression is useful when saying that you are going to school.
suis In Je suis avec ma famille, suis means “am” and describes the speaker’s situation. It is the form of être used with je. A reusable pattern is Je suis avec + person or group when saying who is with you.
avec In Je suis avec ma famille, avec means “with” and introduces the people accompanying the speaker. It comes before ma famille. A reusable pattern is être avec + person or group.
ma In ma famille, ma means “my” and shows that the family belongs to or is associated with the speaker. It comes directly before famille here. A reusable pattern is ma + noun when referring to a feminine singular noun.
famille In Je suis avec ma famille, famille means “family.” It names the group that is with the speaker and follows ma. This expression is useful when telling someone that you are spending time with your family.
C'est C'est means “This is” in C'est mon ami and identifies the person being mentioned. It is used to introduce or identify someone or something. A reusable pattern is C'est + noun phrase when presenting or identifying a person or thing.
mon In mon ami, mon means “my” and shows that the friend is associated with the speaker. It comes before ami in this expression. A reusable pattern is mon + noun when referring to a masculine singular noun.
ami In C'est mon ami, ami means “friend” and identifies the person being introduced. It follows mon in the phrase mon ami. This sentence is useful when introducing a friend to someone.

Grammar Points

aller + infinitif

vais me coucher

veh muh koo-SHAY

I am going to bed

French uses a conjugated form of aller followed by an infinitive to express a near-future action.

me + verbe pronominal

me réveille tôt

muh ruh-VAY toh

I wake up early

With a reflexive verb, me comes before the conjugated verb and refers back to the subject.

French Vocabulary

aller verb
ah-LAY to go vais

Je vais me coucher.

ami noun
ah-MEE friend

C'est mon ami.

avec prep
ah-VEK with

Je suis avec ma famille.

ce pron
suh this C'

C'est mon ami.

école noun
ay-KOHL school

Je vais à l'école.

être verb
EH-truh to be suis

Je suis avec ma famille.

famille noun
fah-MEE-y family

Je suis avec ma famille.

mon det
mohn my

C'est mon ami.

se coucher verb
suh koo-SHAY to go to bed me coucher

Je vais me coucher.

se réveiller verb
suh ruh-vay-YAY to wake up me réveille

Je me réveille tôt.

tôt adv
toh early

Je me réveille tôt.

travail noun
trah-VY work

Je vais au travail.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I am going to bed.

Show AnswerJe vais me coucher.

I wake up early.

Show AnswerJe me réveille tôt.

I go to work.

Show AnswerJe vais au travail.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to go

Show Answervais

school

Show Answerécole

work

Show Answertravail

to be

Show Answersuis