First lesson and the teacher | Learn French in English

About This Lesson

Use First lesson and the teacher to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Enchanté.

ahn-shahn-TAY Nice to meet you.

C'est votre premier cours ici ?

seh votr pruh-MYAY koor ee-SEE Is this your first lesson here?

Je suis venu ici avant.

zhuh swee vuh-NU ee-SEE ah-VAHN I came here before.

Je suis ici depuis un moment.

zhuh swee ee-SEE duh-PWEE uhn moh-MAHN I have been here for a while.

Comment est le professeur ?

koh-MAHN eh luh proh-feh-SUR What is the teacher like?

Le professeur est très gentil.

luh proh-feh-SUR eh treh zhahn-TEE The teacher is very kind.

Word by Word

Enchanté Enchanté is a polite expression meaning “Nice to meet you” after meeting someone. It is useful when introducing yourself to someone for the first time.

C'est C'est means “this is” or “it is” and is used here to ask whether something is the other person’s first lesson. It commonly comes before a noun or description when identifying or describing something.

votre Votre means “your” when addressing one person formally or more than one person; here it refers to the other person’s first lesson. It comes before the noun phrase votre premier cours when asking about ownership or association.

premier Premier means “first” and describes cours as the first lesson in the question. Use it before a noun when identifying the first item in a sequence, such as a first lesson.

cours Cours means “lesson” or “class” in this context. It refers to the learning event described as first in premier cours, and it is useful when talking about attending or having a class.

ici Ici means “here” and locates the lesson at the place where the speakers are. In C'est votre premier cours ici ?, it comes at the end to add the location; use ici when referring to the place where an event is happening.

Je Je means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person who came here before. It is used at the start of a clause before the verb when speaking about yourself.

suis Suis is the form of être used with Je, and in Je suis venu ici avant it works with venu to express that the speaker came. It can also follow Je when describing yourself or stating your situation.

venu Venu is the past-participle form related to venir, used with suis in Je suis venu ici avant to say that the speaker came here. The same être plus venu pattern can be used when telling someone that you came to a place.

avant Avant means “before” or “earlier.” In Je suis venu ici avant, it shows that the visit happened at an earlier time; use it when referring to something that happened previously.

depuis Depuis introduces a duration that continues up to the present; in depuis un moment, it gives the meaning “for a while.” It is reusable before a duration or starting-point expression when describing an ongoing situation.

un Un means “a” or “one,” and in un moment it introduces one unspecified short period. Use un before a singular masculine noun.

moment Moment means “moment” or “short period”; in un moment, the phrase means “a while.” It follows depuis to express how long the speaker has been here.

Comment Comment means “how” and starts Comment est le professeur ? Here it asks about the teacher’s qualities, so the whole question means “What is the teacher like?” Use the pattern Comment est plus a person or thing to ask for a description.

est Est means “is” and links le professeur with the description being requested in Comment est le professeur ? Use est before an adjective or noun when describing or identifying a singular subject.

le Le is the definite article meaning “the”; in le professeur, it refers to the teacher as a specific person in the class. Use le before a singular masculine noun when referring to a particular person or thing.

professeur Professeur means “teacher.” In le professeur, it names the person who teaches the class, who is later described as kind; use it when talking about a teacher in a lesson or school setting.

très Très means “very” and intensifies gentil in très gentil. It normally comes before an adjective to make the description stronger.

gentil Gentil means “kind” and describes the professor’s positive personal quality. Here it follows très in très gentil; use it when describing someone as kind after a form of être.

Grammar Points

depuis + durée

depuis un moment

duh-PWEE uhn moh-MAHN

for a while

Use depuis with a time expression to show that something has continued for a period of time.

très + adjectif

très gentil

treh zhahn-TEE

very kind

Très comes before an adjective to intensify its meaning.

French Vocabulary

avant adv

ah-VAHN before

Je suis venu ici avant.

comment adv

koh-MAHN how; what ... like

Comment est le professeur ?

cours noun

koor lesson

C'est votre premier cours ici ?

depuis prep

duh-PWEE for; since

Je suis ici depuis un moment.

Enchanté phrase

ahn-shahn-TAY Nice to meet you

Enchanté.

gentil adj

zhahn-TEE kind

Le professeur est très gentil.

ici adv

ee-SEE here

C'est votre premier cours ici ?

premier adj

pruh-MYAY first

C'est votre premier cours ici ?

professeur noun

proh-feh-SUR teacher

Comment est le professeur ?

très adv

treh very

Le professeur est très gentil.

un moment phrase

uhn moh-MAHN a while

Je suis ici depuis un moment.

venu verb

vuh-NU came

Je suis venu ici avant.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Is this your first lesson here?

Show Answer

C'est votre premier cours ici ?

I came here before.

Show Answer

Je suis venu ici avant.

I have been here for a while.

Show Answer

Je suis ici depuis un moment.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

first

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premier

came

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venu

before

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avant

for; since

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depuis