Complete beginners · A0

French for complete beginners: start at zero

No French at all? Good: that's where SparkAI starts. Try the first lesson right here, with audio, in about three minutes.

Continue the course free Test your level first

1. Say hello

Press the speaker to hear each one, then say it out loud.

Bonjour Hello, good morning (all day, to anyone)The j sounds like the s in 'pleasure'.
Bonsoir Good evening
Salut Hi, bye (to friends)The t at the end is silent.
Merci Thank you
S'il vous plaît Please (polite)
Au revoir Goodbye

2. Introduce yourself

Je m'appelle Sam. My name is Sam.
Enchanté. / Enchantée. Pleased to meet you. (add -e if you're a woman; it sounds the same)
Ça va ? – Ça va bien, merci. How are you? – Fine, thanks.
Je suis anglais. / Je suis anglaise. I'm English. (m / f)
J'habite à Londres. I live in London.

Tu or vous? French has two words for “you”: tu for friends, family and children, and vous for strangers, older people and anyone at work. When in doubt, use vous: that's why it's s'il vous plaît.

3. Check yourself

You meet your new manager at 9 a.m. You say…
How do you say “My name is Sam”?
Someone says “Merci !”. You answer…
“Ça va ?” means…

You don't need to know any of this yet

Pronunciation

You can play every example in a natural French voice, record yourself and get feedback, and the sounds English speakers find hard (the French r, u, the nasal vowels) have their own practice.

Être and avoir

They're among the very first lessons: “to be” and “to have”, explained in plain English with tables and audio, then practised until they're automatic.

Gender

Every noun comes with its article (le livre, la table), so masculine and feminine become a habit. A lesson shows the endings that give gender away.

Accents

An on-screen accent bar makes é, è, ç and the others one tap away. If only an accent is wrong, your answer still counts, with a note, until you're ready for strict marking.

Sentence structure

Basic French sentences follow the same order as English: je mange une pomme, “I eat an apple”. The lessons point out where French differs, one step at a time.

Your first ten lessons

Subject pronouns: Who is doing the action
Tu vs vous: Choosing the right 'you'
Être (to be): Je suis, tu es, il est…
Avoir (to have): J'ai, tu as, il a…
Aller (to go): Je vais, tu vas, il va…
Faire (to do, to make): Je fais, tu fais, il fait…
Reflexive verb s'appeler: Je m'appelle… – saying your name
Contractions: Je → j' before a vowel sound
Definite articles: 'The' agrees with the noun
Indefinite articles: 'A', 'an', and 'some'

See the whole A0 course, or read stories written for beginners once you know a few hundred words.

Questions

Can I learn French from zero for free?

Yes. SparkAI starts at A0, from your very first words, and the whole course is free during the beta, with no ads and no account needed to start.

What's the first thing to learn in French?

Greetings and introducing yourself, then être and avoir, the articles (le, la, un, une) and the most common words. Try the first mini-lesson on this page.

How long until I can have a simple conversation?

Basic exchanges come within weeks. Comfortable everyday conversation (A2) takes roughly 180 hours of study, according to the Alliance Française's estimates.

Do I need to know grammar terms?

No. Everything is explained in plain English, and the terms come in gradually, with examples.

Start free, right now

A complete French course from A0 to C2, free during the beta. No account, no payment details, no ads.

Continue the course free