How To Introduce Yourself In French: All The Questions & Answers You Need To Know

how-to-introduce-yourself-in-french

Learning how to introduce yourself in French is essential.

As a French coach, I know that you probably want to make French friends to practice your speaking skills.

Every first-time conversation will start with introductions. It’s the easiest way for people to share basic information about themselves.

So this article is here to help you learn the important questions to ask to get to know people and how to answer them.

Let’s get started!

How to greet someone?

When you meet someone, it’s important to greet them before engaging in any conversation.

Start with Bonjour (Good morning/Good afternoon) or Bonsoir (Good evening) in formal situations and with people you don’t know well.

In informal situations or with your friends, a simple Salut (Hello) will be enough.

Then, follow up with “It’s nice to meet you” if you’re meeting this person for the first time.

You can use Enchanté(e) (Nice to meet you).

If you want to be even more formal, go with Enchanté(e) de faire votre connaissance. It’s just a fancier way of saying “It’s nice to meet you”.

Now that the greetings are out of the way, let’s get to the introductions!

What’s your name?

When you want to know someone’s name, you can ask:

  • Comment vous appelez-vous ? – formal
  • Comment tu t’appelles ? – informal
  • Tu t’appelles comment ? – casual
  • C’est quoi ton prénom ? – super casual

To answer this question, you have a few options (replace Joanna with your actual name):

  • Je m’appelle Joanna (I am called Joanna) – formal/informal
  • Je suis Joanna (I am Joanna) – formal/informal
  • Joanna (you can simple state your name) – formal/informal
  • Moi, c’est Joanna (Me, I’m Joanna) – casual

Once you’ve answered the question, make sure to return it if the other person hasn’t given you their name.

To do that, ask “And you?” at the end of your sentence:

  • Et vous ? – formal
  • Et toi ? – informal

This trick also works to return all the following questions.

What’s your age?

When you want to know someone’s age, you can ask:

  • Quel âge avez-vous ? (How old are you?) – formal
  • Quel âge as-tu ? (How old are you?) – informal

To answer this question, these two options work in any situation (replace “30” with your actual age):

  • J’ai 30 ans (I am 30 years old)
  • 30 ans (30 years old)

Did you notice that in French we use the verb avoir (to have) when talking about age, instead of the verb être (to be)? 

It’s like asking “How many years do you have?” and responding with “I have 30 years”.

Make sure to remember that so you don’t say Je suis 30 ans, which would be incorrect.

By the way, it’s sometimes considered impolite to ask for someone’s age, especially if they are older than you or if it’s a man asking a woman. So tread carefully.

Where are you from?

When you want to know where someone comes from, you can ask:

  • D’où venez-vous ? – formal
  • D’où viens-tu ? – informal
  • Tu viens d’où ? – casual

To answer this question, you can respond with:

  • Je viens de … (I am from …) and state your country or city
  • Je suis … (I am …) and state your nationality

Stating your nationality instead of your country/city is a clever way to let the other person know where you’re from.

Here’s a list with some examples.

Country
(in English)
Country
(in French)
Nationality
(in French)
Australial’Australieaustralien (m), australienne (f)
Brazille Brésilbrésilien (m), brésilienne (f)
Canadale Canadacanadien (m), canadienne (f)
Chinala Chinechinois (m), chinoise (f)
Germanyl’Allemagneallemand (m), allemande (f)
Greecela Grècegrec (m), grecque (f)
Indial’Indeindien (m), indienne (f)
Italyl’Italieitalien (m), italienne (f)
Japanle Japonjaponais (m), japonaise (f)
Mexicole Mexiquemexicain (m), mexicaine (f)
Portugalle Portugalportugais (m), portugaise (f)
Russiala Russierusse
South Africal’Afrique du Sudsud-africain (m), sud-africaine (f)
South Koreala Corée du Sudsud-coréen (m), sud-coréenne (f)
Spainl’Espagneespagnol (m), espagnole (f)
Turkeyla Turquieturc (m), turque (f)
United Kingdomle Royaume-Unibritannique
United Statesles États-Unisaméricain (m), américaine (f)

Where do you live?

If you want to know where someone lives, you can ask:

  • Où habitez-vous ? – formal
  • Où habites-tu ? – informal
  • Tu habites où ? – casual

To answer this question, simply say J’habite à … (I live in …) and state the name of the city you live in.

If your city isn’t well-known, you can even add près de … (near …) at the end of your sentence and state the name of the closest well-known city near yours.

For example, J’habite à Clamart, près de Paris (I live in Clamart, near Paris).

What language do you speak?

When you want to know what language someone speak, you can ask:

  • Quelle langue parlez-vous ? – formal
  • Quelle langue parles-tu ? – informal
  • Tu parles quoi comme langue ? – casual

To answer this question, you can say Je parle … (I speak …) and state the language you speak.

If you speak several languages, you can state them all and add et (and) just before the last language.

For example, Je parle anglais, italien, portugais et russe (I speak English, Italian, Portuguese and Russian).

Since, you’re studying French, you can also say:

  • J’apprends le français (I’m learning French)
  • J’étudie le français (I’m studying French)

Want to specify for how long you’ve been learning French? Add depuis … (for …) and state for how long you’ve been learning the language.

For example, J’apprends le français depuis 2 ans (I’ve been learning French for 2 years).

What’s your job?

When you want to know someone’s job, you can ask:

  • Quel est votre métier ? (What’s your job?) – formal
  • Vous faites quoi dans la vie ? (What do you do in your life?) – formal but casual
  • Tu fais quoi dans la vie ? (What do you do in your life?) – informal and casual

The last two questions aren’t just specific to jobs. For example, you could answer that you love to draw. But more often than not, people will respond by giving you their occupation.

To answer this question, simply say Je suis … (I am a …) and state your job.

Note that in this context, you shouldn’t add un or une (a) before the job in French, contrary to English.

Let’s take the “I’m a teacher” example:

  • Incorrect: Je suis un professeur.
  • Correct: Je suis professeur.

Here’s a list with some common jobs/occupations.

lawyeravocat (m), avocate (f)
doctormédecin
nurseinfirmier (m), infirmière f)
engineeringénieur (m), ingénieure (f)
firefighterpompier
cashiercaissier (m), caissière (f)
waiter, waitresseserveur (m), serveuse (f)
studentétudiant (m), étudiante (f)
photographerphotographe
veterinarianvétérinaire
journalist, reporterjournaliste
accountantcomptable

What are your hobbies?

When you want to know someone’s hobbies, you can ask:

  • Qu’est-ce que vous aimez faire ? (What do you like to do?) – formal
  • Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire ? (What do you like to do?) – informal
  • Qu’est ce que tu aimes dans la vie ? (What do you like in life?) – informal
  • Tu fais quoi pendant ton temps libre ? (What do you do in your spare time?) – informal
  • C’est quoi tes loisirs ? (What are your hobbies?) – casual

To answer this question, you can say:

  • J’aime … (I love …) and state what you love in the form of a noun or a verb.
  • J’adore … (I like …) and state what you like in the form of a noun or a verb.

For example:

  • J’aime lire et voyager (I love to read and travel)
  • J’adore la musique (I like music)

Talking about hobbies is a great way to keep the conversation going because it’s usually what you’re most excited to talk about.

Here’s a list of popular hobbies.

Hobby
(in English)
Hobby
(in French)
Verb in French
related to the hobby
photographyla photographiefaire des photos (to take pictures)
readingla lecturelire (to read)
musicla musiqueécouter de la musique (to listen to music)
cookingla cuisinecuisiner, faire la cuisine (to cook)
video gamesles jeux vidéosjouer aux jeux vidéos (to play video games)
sportle sportfaire du sport (to workout)
travelingles voyagesvoyager (to travel)
gardeningle jardinagejardiner (to garden)
dancingla dansedanser (to dance)
paintingla peinturepeindre (to paint)

Note that not all hobbies have both a noun and a verb associated with it. For example, if you love watching movies, there’s no noun to describe this activity. Instead, you’ll have to use a verb to describe the action. In this case, it would be J’aime regarder des films.

How to say goodbye?

You did it! You managed to introduce yourself to someone new and got to know them a little better.

Now, it’s time to wrap up the conversation nicely.

If it was your first time meeting this person, tell them it was a pleasure to talk to them:

  • C’était un plaisir de faire votre connaissance (It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance) – formal
  • C’était un plaisir de vous rencontrer (It was a pleasure to meet you) – formal
  • C’était un plaisir de faire ta connaissance (It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance) – informal
  • C’était un plaisir de te rencontrer (It was a pleasure to meet you) – informal
  • C’était super de faire ta connaissance (It was great to get to know you) – casual

If the other person says it first, you can answer with:

  • Tout le plaisir était pour moi (The pleasure was all mine) – formal
  • De même (Likewise) – formal
  • Moi aussi (Me too) – informal
  • Pareil (Same) – casual

To say goodbye, simply use Au revoir (Goodbye). It’s suited to both formal and informal situations. And it’s the best way to say goodbye to someone you just met.

The bottom line

Now, you know exactly how to introduce yourself in French!

You’ll take part in plenty of French introductions when you make new friends to get to know them.

So write a list of short sentences about yourself using the examples in this article.

And memorize these sentences because they will come in handy next time you meet someone.

Practice by introducing yourself in the comment section!

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Nwabueze Ada
Nwabueze Ada
4 months ago

i really enjoyed it