How to introduce yourself in French

Whether you are on a study trip or on a vacation, you always meet new people. It is always fun to have a conversation. So you want to know how to introduce yourself in French? Perfect! We have divided this lesson in four parts and added a dialogue example at the end to make this learning process easier. 

How to say "what's your name" in French?

Let's start with a short introduction. In French you start introducing yourself with a "Hello" = "Salut". The greeting is followed by some questions about your name. A few useful sentences for this case can be found in the table below.

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MARINE C.

Clarisse J.

Alberto R.

Florence C.

Alessandra F.

Cornelia A.

Paola F.

Stanislav Z.

Audrey B.

Andrea A.

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"Where are you coming" from ?

Usually in the second phase of a conversation, one is curious about where do you come from, in French it's formed with verbs "venir" or "être". 

Attention!

Pay attention to use second person singular in an informal speech for ex. "D'où viens-tu?". In an formal speech you need to use second person plural, for ex. "D'où venez-vous?". Also don't foget to make the verbe "être" agree with the subject.

"How old are you" in French?

For asking how old somebody is, in French is used the verb "avoir", but you need to distinguish formal and informal form. Literally you say "J'ai 23 ans." To know how to use it correctly in a conversation check the dialogue at the end of the lesson.

How to say "what is your job" in French?

To ask what somebody does for a living, usually we say "What do you do for a living?" (Que faites-vous dans la vie?) or "What is your profession?" (Quel métier faites-vous?). Here you have a list for the most common professions.

The structure is: subject + conjugated form of "être" + profession

Examples

She is a doctor. = Elle est médecin.

He is a engineer. = Il est ingénieur.

She is a waitress. = Elle est serveuse.

Attention!

Notice that there is no indefinite article "un/e", like it's used in English.

Dialogue example          

French  

Marc: Salut, comment tu t'appelles?

Julien: Salut, je m'appelle Julien, enchanté. Je suis Français.

Marc: Quel âge as-tu?

Julien: J'ai 28 ans et je suis étudiant.

Marc: Enfin je rencontre un autre Français en Espagne.

English

Marc: Hi, what is your name?

Julien: Hi, my name is Julien, nice to meet you. I am from France.

Marc: How old are you?

Julien: I am 28 years old and I am a student.

Marc: I am finally meeting another French guy in Spain.

For the end let's summarize this lesson with a few exercises.