5 French Fluency Shortcuts: Spoken Grammar

• Cutting vowels in pronouns (“je” = I ; “tu” = singular you)

a) Je = I.

“Je” already becomes “J’” before a vowel in correct and formal French.
Je + avoir faim (= to be hungry) = J’ai faim. = I’m hungry.

J’apprends = I’m learning
J’écoute = I’m listening
J’insiste = I insist
J’oublie = I forget
J’utilise = I’m using [something]

In informal French, we extend this rule to les consonnes (= consonants) as well. Here are some correct French sentences and then their colloquial pronunciation:
Je pars de chez moi. → J’pars de chez moi. = I’m leaving home right now.
Je te rappelle demain. → J’te rappelle demain. = I’ll call you back tomorrow.
Je lis un livre. = J’lis un livre. = I’m reading a book.
Je reprends le français. → J’reprends l’français. = I’m taking up French again. (Notice that le also often becomes l’ in informal French pronunciation.)

Le truc en plus:
It might be too difficult to cut the “e” in “Je” when we already cut another vowel right after. The “e” in “re-” often gets cut in informal pronunciation. And saying something like “J’r’prends” is a mouthful, even for native French people! So we have to make a choice. Here, we would say J’reprends or Je r’prends interchangeably.

Special case : Je + “s–” = “Ch–”
Some verbs that start with “s” get a particular pronunciation in fast-spoken French. Most notably, Savoir (= to know) and Être (= to be) with :
Je sais → “J’sais” → “Chais” (= “I know”)
Je suis → “J’suis” → “Chuis” (= “I am”)
“Chuis là !” = I’m here / Here I am.

b) Tu (= singular friendly ‘you’)

“Tu” becomes “T’” before a vowel in fast, informal pronunciation.
Tu aimes les fleurs. → T’aimes les fleurs. = You like flowers.
Tu oublies tout le temps tes clés. → T’oublies tout le temps tes clés. = You always forget your keys.
Tu imagines ? → T’imagines ? = Can you imagine?
Tu es sûr ? → T’es sûr ? = Are you sure?
Tu as le temps ? → T’as l’temps ? = Do you have time?
“T’es” (Tu es = you are) and “T’as” (Tu as = you have) are ubiquitous in everyday spoken French.

• No inversion in questions

a) Yes / No questions : verb & subject

In formal French, to ask a yes/no question, we use l’inversion, between subject and verb, just like English:
Tu es sûre. = You’re sure. / Es-tu sûre ? = Are you sure?

Another correct (less formal) structure is using “Est-ce que” (literally “Is it that… ?”) without the inversion:
Est-ce que tu es sûre ? = Are you sure?

Click here to learn more:

• Grammar 101: How to ask a Yes/No questions – Comme une Française
• Asking Questions in French: “Est-ce que ?” vs “Qu’est-ce que ?” –Comme une Française
• Understand Fast Spoken French: Question or statement? – Comme une Française

In informal French, we do not use the inversion of subject and verb in a question. We simply add an interrogation point at the end of a statement.
Tu es sûre. / Tu es sûre ? = Are you sure?
And with the rule we’ve seen before: T’es sûre ? = Are you sure?
Tu es là. = You’re there. / T’es là ? = Are you there?
Ils ont bien mangé. → Ils ont bien mangé ? = Did they eat well?

b) Interrogative pronouns

In formal and correct French, we also use interrogative pronouns at the beginning of questions, with the inversion, such as:
Où est-elle ? = Where is she?
Quand es-tu arrivée à Paris ? = When did you arrive in Paris?
Comment vas-tu ? = How are you doing?
Pourquoi apprends-tu le français ? = Why are you learning French?
Combien de personnes sont là ? = How many people are here?
Combien coûte cette robe ? = How much does this dress cost?
Qui est ton auteur préféré ? = Who’s your favorite author?

In informal French, we often place the interrogative pronoun at the end of the question.
Où est-elle ? → Elle est où ?
Quand es-tu arrivée (à Paris) ? → Tu es arrivée quand (à Paris) ?

You can specifically practice these few very common informal questions:
Où es-tu ? → T’es où ? = Where are you?
Qui est-ce ? → C’est qui ? = Who is it?
Qui es-tu ? → T’es qui ? = Who are you?
Qu’est-ce que c’est ? → C’est quoi ? = What is it?
Que fais-tu ? → Tu fais quoi ? = What are you doing?

There’s one exception. It’s the interrogative pronoun “que”. “Que” means “what” as a subject, like “what is it?”. However, it becomes “quoi” at the end of a sentence (it becomes a grammatical object).

Click here to learn more:

• Quoi in French: What It Means and How to Use It

• Drop the “ne”

In formal or correct French, a negation is constructed with “ne… pas”:
Tu ne sais pas où sont tes clés. = You don’t know where your keys are.
Elle n’oublie pas ses clés. = She doesn’t forget her keys.
Je ne sais pas. = I don’t know.

But in everyday spoken French, we drop the “ne” almost automatically since “pas” already means the negation:
Je ne sais pas. → Je sais pas. (→ Chais pas.)
Elle oublie pas ses clés.

Le truc en plus: The same thing applies to other negations than “pas”, such as:
Je ne l’ai jamais vu. → Je l’ai jamais vu. = I never saw it / him.
Il ne mange rien. → Il mange rien. = He doesn’t eat anything.
Il n’y a personne ici. → Ya personne ici. = Nobody’s here.

Click here to learn more:

• Spoken French Rules – Drop the “ne”
• Memorize This Fast Spoken French Rule: Drop the “ne”

Practice these few informal questions:
Auras-tu le temps de dîner avant le spectacle ? = Will you have time to have a dinner before a show? (Tu auras le temps de dîner avant le spectacle ? T’auras le temps de dîner avant le spectacle?)
N’ont-ils pas pris leurs clés ? = Didn’t they take their keys? (Ils n’ont pas pris leurs clés ? / Ils ont pas pris leurs clés ?)