A1Unit 7 of the A1 course · « Pays et nationalités »

Countries and nationalities in French

In French even countries have a gender: la France, le Canada, les États-Unis. That gender decides whether you say en, au or aux, and the nationality adjective changes for men and women too.

By the end of this unit you can: say where people are from and what languages they speak, spell your name and fill in a form.

Start the lessons free 35 words and phrases

What this unit covers

1Les pays: Name French-speaking countries with the right article.
2Les nationalités: Say someone's nationality, for a man or a woman.
3Tu viens d'où ?: Say where people live and come from, with en, au, aux and à.
4Les langues et l'alphabet: Say which languages you speak and spell your name.
5La fiche d'inscription: Give your details and fill in a form at a front desk.

Grammar and usage, explained

Countries have a gender too

Like every noun, a country is masculine or feminine. Most countries ending in -e are feminine. Most others are masculine. A few are plural, so they take les.

la France, la Suisse, la Côte d'Ivoirefeminine
le Canada, le Sénégal, le Marocmasculine
les États-Unis, les Pays-Basplural (the United States, the Netherlands)

One pattern, many nationalities

You already know français / française and brésilien / brésilienne. Most nationalities work the same way: add -e for a woman. Watch the endings: -ien doubles its n (-ienne), and a word that already ends in -e doesn't change at all.

Il est canadien. Elle est canadienne.He's Canadian. She's Canadian.
Il est marocain. Elle est marocaine.He's Moroccan. She's Moroccan.
Il est suisse. Elle est suisse.He's Swiss. She's Swiss.

In or to: en, au, aux or à

French uses one little word for both « in » and « to » a place. The country chooses it: en for a feminine country, au for a masculine one, aux for a plural one. Cities simply take à.

J'habite en Suisse.I live in Switzerland.
Je vais au Sénégal.I'm going to Senegal.
Ils habitent aux États-Unis.They live in the United States.
Elle travaille à Abidjan.She works in Abidjan.

Coming from: de, du, des

Venir de follows the same logic. Use de for a feminine country or a city (d' before a vowel), du for a masculine country and des for a plural one.

Elle vient de Belgique.She comes from Belgium.
Il vient d'Abidjan.He comes from Abidjan.
Je viens du Sénégal.I come from Senegal.
Tu viens des États-Unis ?Do you come from the United States?

A language looks like a nationality

The name of a language is usually the masculine nationality: français, anglais, italien. Languages are masculine and take no capital letter. After parler, you can drop the article: je parle arabe.

Au Maroc, on parle arabe et français.In Morocco, people speak Arabic and French.
En Suisse, on parle français, allemand, italien et romanche.In Switzerland, people speak French, German, Italian and Romansh.

Spelling out loud

You'll spell your name on the phone and at every front desk. Most letters sound close to English, but watch these: E sounds like « euh », I like « ee », G like « jé » and J like « ji ». W is « double vé ». For a doubled letter, say double: Ellen is E, double L, E, N.

A, B, C, D, E, F, Gah, bé, cé, dé, euh, èf, jé
e accent aigu, comme dans caféé: e with an acute accent, as in café
c cédille, comme dans françaisç: c with a cedilla, as in français

Scene: a cooking class in Montréal

You're signing up for a Saturday cooking class at a community centre in Montréal. The receptionist fills in the form with you.

Vocabulary: 35 words and phrases

Tap 🔊 to hear each one, recorded by a native-sounding French voice.

Les pays

Listen	French	English
	pays(masculine)	countrySame spelling in the plural: un pays, des pays.
	la France	FranceMost countries ending in -e are feminine: la France, la Belgique, la Suisse.
	la Belgique	BelgiumFrench, Dutch and German are all spoken in Belgium.
	la Suisse	SwitzerlandIts French-speaking cities include Genève and Lausanne.
	le Canada	CanadaIn the province of Quebec, French is the main language: au Québec.
	le Sénégal	SenegalIts capital is Dakar.
	la Côte d'Ivoire	Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)The country asks for its name to stay in French, even in English. Its biggest city is Abidjan.
	le Maroc	MoroccoArabic, Amazigh (Berber) and French are all heard in Morocco.
	le Brésil	BrazilIt doesn't end in -e, so it's masculine: au Brésil, du Brésil.
	les États-Unis	the United StatesA plural country, so les. Link the s: « lé-z-états-unis ».

Les nationalités

Listen	French	English
	nationalité(feminine)Quelle est votre nationalité ? (What is your nationality?)	nationality
	belge	Belgian (m / f)Already ends in -e, so it doesn't change: il est belge, elle est belge.
	suisse	Swiss (m / f)Same word for a man and a woman: il est suisse, elle est suisse.
	canadien / canadienne	Canadian (m / f)-ien becomes -ienne, and now you hear the n.
	sénégalais / sénégalaise	Senegalese (m / f)Like français: the s is silent in the masculine and sounds like z in the feminine.
	ivoirien / ivoirienne	Ivorian (m / f)
	marocain / marocaine	Moroccan (m / f)-ain is a nasal sound. In -aine you hear the n: « ma-ro-kèn ».
	italien / italienne	Italian (m / f)
	américain / américaine	American (m / f)

Tu viens d'où ?

Listen	French	English
	en France	in France / to FranceEn before a feminine country: en Belgique, en Suisse, en Côte d'Ivoire.
	au Canada	in Canada / to CanadaAu (à + le) before a masculine country: au Sénégal, au Maroc, au Brésil.
	aux États-Unis	in / to the United StatesAux before a plural country. Link the x: « o-z-états-unis ».
	à Dakar	in Dakar / to DakarCities just take à, with no article: à Abidjan, à Genève, à Montréal.
	tu viens d'où ?	where are you from?Formal: Vous venez d'où ? or D'où venez-vous ?
	il vient / elle vientElle vient de Genève. (She comes from Geneva.)	he comes / she comes

Les langues et l'alphabet

Listen	French	English
	langue(feminine)Tu parles quelles langues ? (Which languages do you speak?)	languageAlso means tongue.
	l'arabe	ArabicLanguages are masculine and take no capital letter: le français, l'arabe.
	l'allemand	GermanGermany is l'Allemagne.
	le wolof	WolofThe most widely spoken language in Senegal, alongside French.
	le créole	CreoleIn Martinique, people speak créole martiniquais alongside French.
	ça s'écrit comment ?	how do you spell that?Literally « how does that write itself? ». You'll hear it at every front desk.
	vous pouvez épeler ?	can you spell it?Informal: Tu peux épeler ?

La fiche d'inscription

Listen	French	English
	nom(masculine)	surname / nameOn a form, nom is your family name. Your first name is your prénom.
	prénom(masculine)Mon prénom, c'est Aminata. (My first name is Aminata.)	first name
	adresse(feminine)	addressOne d and two s in French: a-d-r-e-s-s-e.

Example sentences

La Belgique et la Suisse sont près de la France.Belgium and Switzerland are near France.
Mon père est marocain et ma mère est belge.My father is Moroccan and my mother is Belgian.
Je viens du Sénégal et j'habite au Canada.I come from Senegal and I live in Canada.
Je parle français, créole et un peu d'anglais.I speak French, Creole and a little English.
Je m'appelle Aminata Diallo. Diallo, ça s'écrit D, I, double L, O.My name is Aminata Diallo. Diallo is spelt D, I, double L, O.

Practise it, don't just read it

This unit is part of French Ultimate's A1 course: 5 short lessons with an animated video each, speaking and listening practice, a reading and an end-of-unit test.

Start the lessons free