You can now greet people in French — fantastic start! In this lesson you'll learn how to introduce yourself and ask for someone's name. This is one of the first things you do in any real conversation, so mastering it early will boost your confidence enormously. You'll also meet your first reflexive verb, 's'appeler', and the subject pronouns je, tu, il, and elle. Let's get started!
Learning tips
- The verb 's'appeler' is reflexive — it literally means 'to call oneself'. So 'je m'appelle' = 'I call myself'. French uses reflexive constructions far more than English does, so getting comfortable with them early pays off.
- Enchanté (male speaker) and enchantée (female speaker) are the formal/warm way to say 'nice to meet you'. They're spelled differently but pronounced identically — /ɑ̃.ʃɑ̃.te/. The gender of the speaker determines which form to use.
- In French, subject pronouns are never dropped the way they can be in Spanish or Italian. You always say 'je m'appelle', never just 'm'appelle'.
- When reading French, the apostrophe in 'je m'appelle' signals elision — the 'e' of 'me' drops because the next word starts with a vowel sound. This is a core spelling pattern you'll see constantly.
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bonjour | good morning / hello |
| bonsoir | good evening |
| bonne nuit | good night |
| salut | hi / bye (informal) |
| au revoir | goodbye |
| ça va | how are you? / I'm fine |
| bien | well / good |
| mal | badly / not well |
| merci | thank you |
| oui | yes |
Dialog
The dialog shows a first introduction between Camille and Lucas. Pay close attention to 'comment tu t'appelles ?' — this is the standard informal way to ask someone's name, and it uses the reflexive verb. Notice that when asking about a third person ('il s'appelle comment ?'), French often puts 'comment' at the end — a very common informal word order. In line fr-FR_t_124, Camille asks 'Tu es Lucas ?' (Are you Lucas?) and Lucas confirms — a simple use of the verb être (to be) that previews Lesson 1.3.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| je m'appelle | /ʒə ma.pɛl/ | my name is (I call myself) | First-person singular reflexive form of s'appeler. The apostrophe shows elision: me → m' before a vowel. |
| tu t'appelles | /ty ta.pɛl/ | your name is (you call yourself) | Second-person informal form. Used when speaking to one person you know well. |
| il s'appelle | /il sa.pɛl/ | his name is (he calls himself) | Third-person masculine singular. The 's' elides to 's'' before a vowel: il s'appelle. |
| elle s'appelle | /ɛl sa.pɛl/ | her name is (she calls herself) | Third-person feminine singular. Identical structure to il s'appelle, just with elle. |
| enchanté | /ɑ̃.ʃɑ̃.te/ | nice to meet you (said by a male speaker) | The masculine form — used when a man is speaking. Sounds identical to enchantée. |
| enchantée | /ɑ̃.ʃɑ̃.te/ | nice to meet you (said by a female speaker) | The feminine form — used when a woman is speaking. The extra 'e' is silent in speech. |
| je | /ʒə/ | I | The most common first-person pronoun. Always written lowercase except at the start of a sentence. |
| tu | /ty/ | you (informal / singular) | Used with one person you know well — friends, family, peers, children. |
| il | /il/ | he | Third-person masculine singular. Also used for masculine nouns ('il est là' — it's there, referring to a masculine object). |
| elle | /ɛl/ | she | Third-person feminine singular. Also used for feminine nouns. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| le nom | /lə nɔ̃/ | ||
| le prénom | /lə pʁe.nɔ̃/ | ||
| moi | /mwa/ | ||
| toi | /twa/ | ||
| aussi | /o.si/ | ||
| voilà | /vwa.la/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| comment tu t'appelles ? | what's your name? |
| enchanté de faire votre connaissance | delighted to make your acquaintance (very formal) |
Grammar: Subject pronouns and s'appeler in present tense
| Pronom | s'appeler |
|---|---|
| je | je m'appelle |
| tu | tu t'appelles |
| il | il s'appelle |
| elle | elle s'appelle |
| nous | nous nous appelons |
| vous | vous vous appelez |
| ils | ils s'appellent |
| elles | elles s'appellent |
This lesson introduces subject pronouns and the verb 's'appeler' (to be named / to call oneself). In French, subject pronouns are required — you can never drop them the way you can in Spanish or Italian. The table below shows all conjugations of s'appeler in the present tense:
| Pronoun | s'appeler |
|---|---|
| je | je m'appelle |
| tu | tu t'appelles |
| il | il s'appelle |
| elle | elle s'appelle |
| nous | nous nous appelons |
| vous | vous vous appelez |
| ils | ils s'appellent |
| elles | elles s'appellent |
For now focus on the first four rows — that's everything you need for this lesson. Notice that 'je', 'tu', 'il', and 'elle' forms are all pronounced the same (/a.pɛl/), even though 'tu t'appelles' has an extra 's' in writing. French has a lot of silent letters! Also note the gender agreement on 'enchanté/enchantée' — the word matches the gender of the speaker, not the person being greeted. A man always says 'enchanté'; a woman always says 'enchantée'.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the correct French word or phrase.
- Bonjour ! Je Camille.(the reflexive form of s'appeler — first person)
- Comment tu ?(the reflexive form of s'appeler — second person informal)
- , Lucas ! (said by a woman)(the 'nice to meet you' form used by a woman)
- Il Pierre.(the reflexive form of s'appeler — third person masculine)
- s'appelle Marie.(the feminine subject pronoun — she)
Grammar Application
Apply the rules of s'appeler and subject pronouns to complete each item.
- Complète avec le pronom : m'appelle Lucas.(which subject pronoun goes with m'appelle?)
- Complète : Comment t'appelles ?(which subject pronoun goes with t'appelles?)
- Masculin ou féminin ? Enchanté____ (une femme parle)(enchanté or enchantée? — a woman is speaking, add the correct ending)
- Conjugue : Elle (s'appeler) Sophie.(conjugate s'appeler for elle)
- Conjugue : Ils (s'appeler) comment ?(conjugate s'appeler for ils — the plural form)
Translate into French
Translate each English sentence into French using the s'appeler forms you've learned.
- My name is Lucas.
- What's your name?
- Her name is Camille.
- Nice to meet you! My name is Pierre.
- What's his name?
Build Your Own Sentence
Write a short self-introduction in French, then ask your partner their name and introduce a third person. Aim for 2–3 sentences.
Takeaway
The reflexive verb 's'appeler' is your key to introductions — always include the reflexive pronoun (m', t', s') and remember that 'enchanté/enchantée' matches the gender of the speaker, not the listener.