How to Write In French in 7 Easy Steps

Have you learned the French alphabet?

Was it a piece of cake or do you find it rather challenging?

French uses the Latin alphabet, which makes it easy to learn all the letters.

But learning the French letters isn't just that. Since French pronunciation and writing are out of the ordinary, any French learner needs to learn objectively how to write in French.

At first, learning to write in French may seem hard but it is actually quite easy.

With these 7 steps, you will learn how to write in French in no time.

After this post, you will easily know how to write anything you hear from your French tutors.

And now let's dive in.

7 Easy Steps of How to Write in French

We usually learn the French alphabet with some catchy French songs, improve our French pronunciation with French tongue twisters but how do we learn and improve our writing skills in French?

That's what we are going to find out.

The Basics: Pay Attention to Silent Letters

French is one of the languages where you can find silent letters a lot.

In pronunciation those letters you can't hear but in writing, they are very important. Many of them can even change the meaning if they are omitted.

In French, there are three types of silent letters:

• E muet / Elision

• H muet and aspiré

• Final consonants

The basic rule is that the final consonant of the word isn't pronounced.

However, like any other rule, here are some exceptions. The letters B, C, F, K, L, Q, and R are usually pronounced at the end of a word.

The other consonants are usually pronounced except some letters which are found in French borrowed words.

Interestingly, the words 'plus' and 'tout' have their own spelling rules.

Gender And Number Forms and Writing

In French, we differentiate between two genders, masculine and feminine and we have singular and plural.

Depending on the sentence and also the whole context, you have to pay attention to writing whether it is about masculine or feminine forms.

You also have to pay attention to plural forms. For the words in plural, the letter -s is usually added. That letter, however, isn't pronounced but it is essential to be written so that you can know that it is about the plural. The whole context also depends on it.

So, just like you pay attention when you use articles, pronouns, or adjectives, you have to be careful when you are writing them down.

The Importance of Sentence Structure

English and French don’t only have similar vocabulary but also similar sentence structures. Both languages use a subject-verb-object structure as well as the flexibility to change the structure if needed, so this should be an easy part of writing in French.

• Demain je vais travailler.- Tomorrow, I’m going to work.  

• Je vais travailler demain.- I’m going to work tomorrow.  

Questions are also similar in English and French.

If you want to ask a question, you can use a question word, just a line in English.

In French, however, you have one more possibility and that is replacing the order of the words in a question and using a hyphen, like in the following example.

• Parlez-vous anglais ?- Do you speak English?  

Try With Nominalization

Nominalization is using non-noun words as nouns and making words more dominant.

Thanks to this method, your sentences will be better and you will understand how the writing works because you will see it in practice.

Let’s take a look at the following example:

• La glace est froide.

• La glace, c’est froid.

The first sentence is the usual one, and the other is used with nominalization.

The meaning of both sentences is the same, ‘The ice cream is cold.’

If you want to continue practicing your writing skills, here are some great examples that can help you with this technique.

Use Conjunctions Wisely

One of the easiest ways to connect words in a sentence is with conjunctions.

Conjunctions are words that connect words among themselves in a sentence, making it sound logical and grammatically correct.

Commonly used conjunctions in French are:

• Car- Since, because

• Donc- So, therefore

• Et- and

• Mais- But

• Ni- Neither

• Or- Yet, well

• Ou- Or

Conjunctions not only help you sound like a native but also help you to improve your writing skills.

Here are some extra exercises for using conjunctions in sentences.

Conclusion Words

Along with the introduction, conclusion words can help you go with the flow, especially if you are writing an essay in French.

The following conclusion words are the most commonly used in French.

• Deuxièmement- Secondly

• Enfin- Finally

• Ensuite- Then

• Finalement- Finally

• Pour conclure- To conclude

• Premièrement- Firstly

• Tout d’abord- Firstly

You can use them to start or finish a new paragraph, conclude the topic, or express your thoughts and opinions.

Besides being useful, they show others your level of proficiency.

Keep in Mind Essay Structure

No matter if you are a beginner and you are practicing to write properly or you’ve achieved an advanced level of proficiency and you are preparing a specific essay, it is essential to be familiar with basic essay structure.

• Introduction

Introducing your audience to an essay in the introduction part determines the whole essay.

• Thesis

In the thesis part, you have to present and give details about the topic. Here, you write everything you know and support about the given topic.

• Antithesis

The antithesis is the part of the essay where you conflict and show the opposites of the thesis, in an objective way. Here, you don’t have to agree or disagree with the topic. You only have to show the pros and cons of the topic.

• Conclusion

In other words, this is the synthesis part of the essay., where you summarize the thoughts, opinions, and information and show why you agree or disagree with them.

Final Thoughts

So, what do you think?

Is learning to write in French hard?

Sure it isn’t the simplest thing you can find in learning the language but with these 7 steps, you will learn to write correctly and improve your writing skills.

And when your writing skills are impressive, your other language skills are also on a high level so, with the help of French tutors, you can easily move toward the desired proficiency level called fluency.