The French verb parler means "to speak."
You can use parler to say which language you or someone else speaks:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je parle français. | I speak French. |
| Sofia parle anglais. | Sofia speaks English. |
Like être, the form of parler changes depending on the subject.
Learn the forms of parler
You already know the French subject pronouns. Each one is used with a particular form of parler:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| je parle | I speak |
| tu parles | you speak |
| il parle | he speaks |
| elle parle | she speaks |
| nous parlons | we speak |
| vous parlez | you (plural) speak |
| ils parlent | they speak |
| elles parlent | they speak |
Talk about different languages
Français and anglais are two languages you can use with parler. Here are a few more common languages:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| français | French |
| anglais | English |
| espagnol | Spanish |
| allemand | German |
| italien | Italian |
| arabe | Arabic |
In French, the names of languages are normally written with a lowercase letter.
Build sentences with parler
You can now combine the forms of parler with the languages you have learned:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je parle français. | I speak French. |
| Tu parles espagnol. | You speak Spanish. |
| Paul parle français. | Paul speaks French. |
| Sofia parle anglais. | Sofia speaks English. |
| Nous parlons allemand. | We speak German. |
| Omar parle arabe. | Omar speaks Arabic. |
| Omar et Julie parlent français. | Omar and Julie speak French. |
These sentences follow the same pattern:
subject + form of parler + language
Say which languages you speak
You can use et (and) to say that you or someone else speaks more than one language:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je parle français et anglais. | I speak French and English. |
| Sofia parle anglais et espagnol. | Sofia speaks English and Spanish. |
| Paul parle français et italien. | Paul speaks French and Italian. |
| Omar parle français et arabe. | Omar speaks French and Arabic. |
| Nous parlons français et allemand. | We speak French and German. |
This lets you give more information without changing the basic sentence pattern.
Listening and reading
Listen as Julie talks about the languages she and the other people speak. Try to understand as much as you can before revealing the French text.
Listen again while reading the French.
Show the French transcription
Je suis Julie. Je suis française et je parle français et anglais.
Paul est français. Il parle français et italien. Sofia est anglaise. Elle parle anglais et espagnol.
Omar est canadien. Il parle français et arabe.
Paul, Omar et moi, nous parlons français.
Compare the English version with what you understood from the French.
Show the English translation
I am Julie. I am French and I speak French and English.
Paul is French. He speaks French and Italian. Sofia is English. She speaks English and Spanish.
Omar is Canadian. He speaks French and Arabic. Paul and I speak French.
Put it together
You can now use parler to say which languages you and other people speak.
You also know several common language names that you can use to build your own sentences.