By the end of this lesson you'll be able to name the shops, buildings and transport stops in a town, and say what there is and what there isn't.
Your town
First, some words for a town itself.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la ville | lah VEEL | the town, the city |
| le quartier | luh kar-TYAY | the neighbourhood |
| la rue | lah REW | the street |
| la place | lah PLAHSS | the square |
Shops
Learn each of these with its article, because you'll need the gender to say where you're going.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le magasin | luh mah-gah-ZAN | the shop |
| le supermarché | luh sew-pehr-mar-SHAY | the supermarket |
| le marché | luh mar-SHAY | the market |
| la boulangerie | lah boo-lahn-zhuh-REE | the bakery |
| la boucherie | lah boosh-REE | the butcher's |
| la pharmacie | lah far-mah-SEE | the chemist's, the pharmacy |
| la librairie | lah lee-breh-REE | the bookshop |
You know how to go to places from the lesson on à and de with articles. It works the same way here: the article decides what happens.
Je vais à la pharmacie.
I'm going to the chemist's.
On va au marché ?
Shall we go to the market?
Buildings
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la banque | lah BAHNK | the bank |
| la poste | lah POST | the post office |
| la mairie | lah meh-REE | the town hall |
| la bibliothèque | lah bee-blee-oh-TEK | the library |
| l'église | lay-GLEEZ | the churchFeminine: une église. |
| l'hôpital | loh-pee-TAHL | the hospitalMasculine: un hôpital. |
La poste is usually a building with a yellow sign. La mairie is the town hall, which in France is one of the most important buildings in any town or village, and it's where weddings take place.
La mairie est ici.
The town hall is here.
Getting around
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la gare | lah GAR | the train station |
| le métro | luh may-TROH | the underground, the metro |
| la station de métro | lah stah-SYOHN duh may-TROH | the metro station |
| l'arrêt de bus | lah-REH duh BEWSS | the bus stopMasculine: un arrêt de bus. |
| le parking | luh par-KEENG | the car park |
Notice that French has different words for different kinds of station. La gare is for trains. La station is for the metro, and l'arrêt is a stop for buses or trams.
Voici l'arrêt de bus.
Here's the bus stop.
What there is and what there isn't
To say what you can find in a place, you need il y a. To say something's missing, use the negative you learned in the lesson on negation.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| il y a | eel-YAH | there is, there are |
| il n'y a pas de | eel nyah pah DUH | there isn't a, there aren't any |
| ici | ee-SEE | here |
Il y a never changes, whether what follows is singular or plural. After it, use un, une or des.
After the negative, those three all change to de, or d' before a vowel or silent h.
Il y a une librairie et une boucherie.
There's a bookshop and a butcher's.
Il y a des magasins ici.
There are some shops here.
Il n'y a pas d'hôpital ici.
There's no hospital here.
Il n'y a pas de gare à Sarlat.
There's no train station in Sarlat.
To ask if something's there, make it a question, as you've done before: Il y a une banque ici ? or Est-ce qu'il y a une banque ici ?
Putting it together
Here's someone describing a small town to a friend. Notice how il y a and il n'y a pas de take turns.
- Il y a un supermarché ? (Is there a supermarket?)
- Oui, et il y a une boulangerie et une pharmacie. (Yes, and there's a bakery and a chemist's.)
- Il y a une gare ? (Is there a station?)
- Non, il n'y a pas de gare, mais il y a un arrêt de bus. (No, there's no station, but there's a bus stop.)
For practice, try describing your own town or neighbourhood in the same way. Start with three things there are, and finish with one that there isn't. You can use the same pattern for any place you know: your street, your school or the place where you work.
What's next
Next, the lesson on prepositions of place shows you how to say where all these places are, next to or in front of one another. Then the lesson on asking for directions teaches you how to find your way there.