Module 5 of 10
Your age, your number, your address
The three details every form and every desk will ask you for.
Age in French is something you have, not something you are: j'ai dix-neuf ans, literally I have nineteen years. And ans is not optional — j'ai dix-neuf on its own means nothing. You only need three forms of avoir for now: j'ai, tu as, vous avez, with il a and elle a for other people. The whole verb arrives in the next course; take these five and move on.
French phone numbers are said in pairs — zéro six, quarante-deux, dix-huit, and so on — which is why module four mattered. When someone reads a number at you at speed, write the pairs down as you hear them rather than trying to hold ten digits in your head. And keep Vous pouvez répéter, plus lentement ? within reach. Asking for a repeat is not a failure of your French; pretending you caught a number you did not is how people end up at the wrong address.
Played by your device’s own French voice. It is a synthetic voice, not a recording of a teacher — close enough to learn the shape of a word, not close enough to copy exactly.
- J'ai dix-neuf ansI am nineteen — French says I have nineteen years
- Tu as quel âge ?How old are you? — to someone your own age
- Vous avez quel âge ?How old are you? — the polite form
- Elle a vingt-cinq ansShe is twenty-five
- Mon numéro de téléphoneMy phone number
- C'est le zéro six…It's oh-six… — how a French mobile number starts
- J'habite à LyonI live in Lyon
- Vous pouvez répéter, plus lentement ?Can you repeat that, more slowly?
You have your age in French, and ans is never dropped. Numbers come in pairs — write them as pairs, and ask for the repeat.