Coffee Break French

One of the main things learners seem to be finding difficult is the idea of making conversation with people. It’s easy enough to order a coffee, or book into a hotel, and saying the words and phrases…

In this 30th episode of Coffee Break French, Mark and Anna look at one activity which learners traditionally find difficult in a foreign language: using the telephone. Please note that lesson 30 of S…

This week’s Coffee Break French deals with hiring a car in a French-speaking area. Like our last episode, this lesson focuses on using the language we’ve been working on recently in a practical conte…

It’s time to put the language we’ve been learning into practice and return to some transactional situations, this time equipped with a thorough understanding of how the language works. In this week’s…

In this week's lesson we’re building on the verbal constructions we’ve been learning over the past few weeks and introducing the phrase après avoir fait quelque chose. This lesson also explains what …

In this lesson we’re covering two constructions which will help to increase your range of expression: venir de faire quelque chose (to have just done something) and avant de faire quelque chose (befo…

In this lesson you’ll solve the mystery of qui or que. Please note that lesson 25 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 65 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season a…

In this lesson you’ll find out exactly why Prince Philip changes his wig frequently… or at least when the imperfect tense is used in French! Please note that lesson 24 of Season 2 was originally know…

In this lesson we take a further look at the imperfect tense, this time looking at the formation of -re and -ir verbs. We also consider some verbs with slightly different patterns and the only verb w…

In this week’s lesson we look at another tense used to talk about the past: the imperfect tense. We learn how to construct it and look at one of the situations in which the imperfect is used. Please …

In this week’s lesson we look at two tiny pronouns which can cause some confusion for French learners: y and en. Please note that lesson 21 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 61 of Coffee Bre…

In this lesson, we check whether Anna has done her homework by taking a look at her diary entry using avoir verbs, être verbs and reflexive verbs. In doing so, we review everything we have covered in…

This week we look at demonstrative adjectives: different ways of saying "this", "these", "that" and "those". We will also have the chance to practise the perfect tense. Please note that lesson 19 of …

In this week's lesson, we take our knowledge of the perfect tense a stage further by looking at reflexive verbs. Please note that lesson 18 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 58 of Coffee Bre…

In this lesson, we look at the other verbs that take être as their auxiliary verb in the perfect tense and we consider a way to remember them. Please note that lesson 17 of Season 2 was originally kn…

In this week’s lesson we look at two verbs which take être as their auxiliary verb in the perfect tense, instead of avoir. Please note that lesson 16 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 56 of …

In this week's lesson, we take a look at some verbs which have irregular past participles and are therefore irregular in the perfect tense. Please note that lesson 15 of Season 2 was originally known…

In this week’s lesson we continue looking at the perfect tense, this time using regular -re and -ir verbs. We also think about the different uses of the perfect tense. Please note that lesson 14 of S…

In this lesson, we introduce the perfect tense of regular -er verbs. Please note that lesson 13 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 53 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of…

In this week's lesson, we take a look at the negative form of the immediate future tense. We also look at the different ways to say 'some' in French, also known as the partitive article. Please note …