elle parle français
The phrase for "she speaks french" in French is elle parle français.
This phrase is used to state that a female person has the ability to communicate in the French language. You may occasionally see the variation Elle parle le français couramment to mean "she speaks French fluently."
What does it mean word for word?
The word elle means "she" and parle means "speaks".
Which one should you use?
In English, the name of a language is always capitalized, but in French, the language name français is not capitalized unless it is being used as a noun to refer to a person (for example, un Français).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In a regional context, you might say Elle parle le français québécois to mean "She speaks Quebec French".
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb parle is the third-person singular conjugation of parler (to speak).
Did you know?
- While elle parle français describes the ability, a French speaker might say elle a le mot juste to describe someone who always finds the exact right word.
- The term français is actually an evolution of the word 'Frank'. It stems from the Germanic tribe known as the Franks, meaning the language is literally 'the language of the Franks'.
- French possesses a distinct word, langue maternelle, to specify that a language is spoken as a native tongue rather than learned.
Examples in context
- Elle parle français.She speaks French.This sentence is a simple statement of the phrase.Tatoeba #3646504 by Cronos87, translation #7909308 by shekitten
- Ma femme est allemande et elle parle français couramment.My wife is German and she speaks French fluently.This sentence is useful for showing how to say she speaks French fluently using elle parle français.Tatoeba #13902591 by Ioan_Cristian, translation #13902590 by Ioan_Cristian
- Elle parle français depuis des années.She has been speaking French for years.
- Elle parlera français demain.She will speak French tomorrow.
- Elle parle français assez bien.She speaks French quite well.
- Elle parle français avec facilité.She speaks French with ease.
- Elle s'exprime en français.She expresses herself in French.
- Elle parle français avec sa voisine.She speaks French with her neighbor.
Example conversation
Hugo and Emma are discussing a new colleague at work.
- HugoEst-ce que la nouvelle collègue est française ?Is the new colleague French?
- EmmaNon, mais elle parle français très bien.No, but she speaks French very well.
- HugoC'est utile pour nos réunions.That is useful for our meetings.
- EmmaOui, elle parle français et anglais.Yes, she speaks French and English.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries elle, français, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
