Se présenter (Introducing yourself)
Primary 5 · French
Se présenter (Introducing yourself)
Lesson 3 of 3
15 min
Let's begin
At the market in Nyabugogo a woman counts avocados into a basket: one, two, three… In French she would be saying un, deux, trois.
And when a visitor asks how old you are, French will not let you say I am eleven. It makes you say I have eleven years.
Counting and ages both need the same verb — avoir, to have. Today you get the verb and the numbers together.
Mugisha wants to say I have a football. For that he needs avoir. Here is the whole verb.
| French | Say it like | English |
|---|---|---|
| j'ai | zhay | I have |
| tu as | tü AH | you have |
| il a | eel AH | he has |
| elle a | el AH | she has |
| nous avons | noo za-VON | we have |
| vous avez | voo za-VAY | you have |
| ils ont | eel ZON | they have |
| elles ont | el ZON | they have |
Two warnings before you go on.
First: je + ai is never written « je ai ». The e is pushed out and you write j'ai. Every time.
Second, listen very carefully. Ils sont (they are) is said eel SON. Ils ont (they have) is said eel ZON, with a buzzing z in front. « Ils sont contents » = they are happy. « Ils ont un ballon » = they have a ball. That little z is the only clue your friend will hear, so make it buzz.
| Number | French | Say it like | Number | French | Say it like |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | un | uh | 11 | onze | onz |
| 2 | deux | duh | 12 | douze | dooz |
| 3 | trois | twah | 13 | treize | trez |
| 4 | quatre | KAT-ruh | 14 | quatorze | ka-TORZ |
| 5 | cinq | sank | 15 | quinze | kanz |
| 6 | six | seess | 16 | seize | sez |
| 7 | sept | set | 17 | dix-sept | dee-SET |
| 8 | huit | weet | 18 | dix-huit | dee-ZWEET |
| 9 | neuf | nuhf | 19 | dix-neuf | deez-NUHF |
| 10 | dix | deess | 20 | vingt | van |
Look at 17, 18 and 19. French stops inventing new words there and simply does the sum: dix-sept is 10 + 7, dix-huit is 10 + 8, dix-neuf is 10 + 9. Free maths.
Learn four more words and you can reach sixty.
Everything in between is simply the tens word plus the units word, joined by a hyphen:
There is one exception, and it is easy to spot. When the units word is un (1), the hyphen disappears and the little word et (and) walks in:
Uwase's big brother is 24. She wants to say He is 24 years old in French. Step by step:
« Il a vingt-quatre ans. »
If she had written « Il est vingt-quatre ans », a French speaker would hear something very strange — he IS twenty-four years, as though he were a number. Age is something you have.
Avoir is also how you say what you have.
One small point: the number 1 changes shape with the noun. It is un frère (one brother) but une sœur (one sister). Only the number 1 does this. Two, three, four and all the rest never change.
Tip
Age lives in the AVOIR box
English: I am eleven. — French: J'ai onze ans.
Check two things every single time you give an age:
1. Did I use a form of avoir (j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons…)?
2. Did I keep the word ans at the end?
Miss either one and the sentence breaks. Keep both and you are right.
Work each one out before you read the answer.
Write 16 and 26 in French.
Answer: 16 = seize — it has its very own word. 26 = vingt-six, because 26 is 20 + 6, joined with a hyphen.
Fill the gap: « Nous ___ deux chèvres. »
Answer: avons. Nous always takes avons: « Nous avons deux chèvres. »
Keza is 12 years old. Write her sentence in French.
Answer: « J'ai douze ans. » Avoir, not être — and never drop ans.
Write 41 in French. Careful with this one!
Answer: quarante et un. The units word is 1, so there is no hyphen — the word et comes in instead.
Find the mistake: « Elle est treize ans. »
Answer: age needs avoir. Elle takes the form a, so the sentence is « Elle a treize ans. »
What you learned today
Quick check
Match each number to its French word.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
