Putting It All Together
From individual words to flowing stories
Ready for your first story!
This final page brings everything together. You'll learn the connecting words that string sentences together, common story expressions, and the most essential words that appear in almost every French story.
After this page, you'll have all the tools to confidently read your first French story. Remember: you don't need to understand every word - focus on the main plot and enjoy the adventure!
Connecting Words
The glue between sentences
These small words make the difference between isolated sentences and a flowing story. They show relationships between events and ideas.
Basic connecting words
Indicating sequence & time
Contrast & nuance
Reason & consequence
Adding & listing
Story Expressions
Typical phrases in stories
These expressions appear constantly in French stories. They help set the mood and describe events.
Starting the story
Emotions & reactions
Weather & atmosphere
Movement & action
Story transitions
Descriptive phrases
Your First Story Toolkit
The 100 most essential words
These words form the backbone of every French story. If you know these, you'll understand the main plot of most simple texts.
Top 50 most frequent words
These 50 words make up about 50% of any French text:
| Rang | Woorden |
|---|---|
| 1-10 | le/la/les, de, un/une, être, et, à, il, avoir, ne, je |
| 11-20 | son/sa, que, se, qui, ce, dans, du, elle, au, pour |
| 21-30 | pas, plus, pouvoir, par, je, avec, tout, faire, mais, aller |
| 31-40 | dire, lui, nous, comme, ou, si, leur, y, deux, même |
| 41-50 | prendre, autre, venir, après, vouloir, voir, bon, où, bien, sans |
Essential story words
| Categorie | Belangrijke woorden |
|---|---|
| People | homme, femme, garçon, fille, enfant, personne, gens, ami, famille, nom |
| Places | maison, rue, ville, pays, monde, place, terre, mer, montagne, jardin |
| Time | temps, jour, an, heure, matin, soir, nuit, moment, fois, vie |
| Actions | aller, venir, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, penser, croire, voir, dire |
| Things | chose, main, œil, partie, eau, porte, voix, mot, livre, histoire |
| Qualities | bon, nouveau, premier, dernier, petit, grand, jeune, vieux, beau, vrai |
False friends - WATCH OUT!
These words look like Dutch/English but mean something different:
Quick reference for reading
- • Focus on verbs: They tell what's happening
- • Watch for signal words: mais, cependant, alors show important turns
- • Recognize time markers: après, avant, pendant help understand sequence
- • Skip unknown adjectives: They're often not crucial for the story
- • Use context: Guess meanings from the situation
- • Look for cognates: Words that look like Dutch/English
- • Watch for repetition: Important words come back often
- • Read through: Don't stop at every unknown word
- • Remember liaisons: Words connect in speech: les‿amis
- • Note silent letters: Many endings aren't pronounced
Key pronunciation reminders
Practice story - Test yourself!
Try to understand this short story with everything you've learned:
Het Verhaal:
Il était une fois un garçon qui s'appelait Pierre.
→ Once upon a time there was a boy named Pierre.
Pierre habitait dans une petite maison près de la mer.
→ Pierre lived in a small house near the sea.
Chaque matin, il allait sur la plage pour voir le soleil.
→ Every morning, he went to the beach to see the sun.
Un jour, pendant qu'il marchait, il a trouvé quelque chose dans le sable.
→ One day, while he was walking, he found something in the sand.
C'était une bouteille avec un message dedans!
→ It was a bottle with a message inside!
Pierre était très curieux.
→ Pierre was very curious.
Il a ouvert la bouteille et a lu:
→ He opened the bottle and read:
"Celui qui trouve ce message trouvera aussi un trésor."
→ "Whoever finds this message will also find a treasure."
"Cherchez sous la grande pierre près du vieux chêne."
→ "Look under the big stone near the old oak tree."
Pierre connaissait cet endroit!
→ Pierre knew this place!
C'était dans le jardin de sa grand-mère.
→ It was in his grandmother's garden.
Il a couru tout de suite chez elle.
→ He ran immediately to her place.
Grand-mère a souri et a dit:
→ Grandmother smiled and said:
"Ah, enfin! J'ai mis ce message il y a des années, quand j'étais jeune."
→ "Ah, finally! I put that message years ago, when I was young."
Ensemble, ils ont creusé sous la pierre.
→ Together, they dug under the stone.
Et qu'est-ce qu'ils ont trouvé?
→ And what did they find?
Une boîte pleine de photos de famille!
→ A box full of family photos!
Le vrai trésor n'était pas de l'or, mais les souvenirs précieux de leur famille.
→ The real treasure wasn't gold, but the precious memories of their family.
Pierre était heureux.
→ Pierre was happy.
Il avait découvert que les vrais trésors sont ceux qu'on partage.
→ He had discovered that real treasures are those we share.
Hulp vocabulaire:
introduction/french.completion.title
introduction/french.completion.message
introduction/french.completion.note