CEFR A1 in French: what you can do

A1 is the first rung of the CEFR ladder. At this level you can handle the very basics: greeting people, introducing yourself, asking for simple things and understanding short, slow sentences about familiar topics. It is not fluent, but it is real French you can use on a trip.

What you can do

• Introduce yourself and others, and ask and answer simple questions about where you live, who you know and what you have.
• Use everyday expressions to meet immediate needs, such as ordering a drink or asking for the price.
• Understand slow, clear speech, if the other person repeats or rephrases.
• Fill in a simple form with your name, address and nationality, and write a short postcard.

A quick self-check

You are probably at A1 if you can do most of these:

• Say hello, goodbye, please and thank you without thinking.
• Say your name, age, nationality and where you live.
• Count to 20 and tell the time on the hour.
• Order a coffee and a croissant in a café.
• Ask Où est la gare ? and recognise à gauche, à droite, tout droit.

Typical grammar at A1

Gender and articles

Every noun is masculine or feminine, and the article shows it: le livre, la table, un garçon, une fille. Learn each noun with its article. The partitive (du pain, de la soupe) comes slightly later; see articles and the partitive.

The present tense of key verbs

At this level the present tense of être, avoir, aller, faire and regular -er verbs covers most of what you need.

Questions and negation

The easiest question is a statement with rising intonation: Tu parles français ? You can add est-ce que: Est-ce que tu parles français ? To say no, wrap the verb in ne ... pas: Je ne parle pas allemand. In speech, the ne is often dropped: Je parle pas allemand.

Tu and vous

French has two words for "you". As a beginner, vous is the safe choice with anyone you do not know. See tu vs vous.

The near future

The simplest way to talk about the future is aller plus the infinitive: Je vais manger. Nous allons partir demain.

Vocabulary themes

• Greetings and polite phrases
• Numbers, days, months and colours
• Family, jobs and nationalities
• Food, drink and the café
• Places in town, and transport

What you may find hard

• Silent letters. Most final consonants are not pronounced. The spelling and the sound are far apart, so listening matters as much as reading. Start with French pronunciation.
• Gender. There is no perfect rule, so learn nouns with their articles from day one.
• Numbers. Everything is regular up to 69. After that, French counts in twenties: 70 is soixante-dix, 80 is quatre-vingts.

The DELF A1 exam

The DELF A1 is the first official French diploma, issued by the French Ministry of Education. It tests listening, reading, writing and speaking at a basic level, and it does not expire.

How to practise at this level

Short, frequent practice beats long sessions. Try three things: a phrase page such as introducing yourself, a ten-minute dictation, and one translation exercise a day. Then move up to A2.