Word lookup: numbers, people, animals, colours, weather

One to ten

These are the forms said standing alone. Beside another word the last consonant can wake up or go quiet.

A final number-consonant changes with what follows: deux amisduh-za-mee“two friends” wakes the silent x, deux chiensduh shya(n)“two dogs” keeps it silent. The sixties are ordinary; from seventy French does arithmetic out loud: soixante-dixswah-sah(n)t-dees“70” is sixty-ten and quatre-vingtskat-ruh-va(n)“80” is four-twenties. Forget that until a book hands you one.

Words for people and family

Each word is listed with le or la in front, so you learn the masculine or feminine label with the word.

With people the label follows the person: un amiu(n)-na-mee is a male friend, une amieew-na-mee a female one — and the extra e changes nothing you can hear. French will not write ma amie, because two vowels may not bump, so it borrows the masculine word and writes mon amiemoh(n)-na-mee. The word is still feminine.

The animals a fable uses

Story animals, each with its little word in front. The masculine or feminine label belongs to the word rather than to the animal.

Only one of these is feminine: la souris, and a mouse is la souris whether it is male or female. Two oddities: le hibouluh ee-boo never shrinks to l'hibou, and le chevalluh shuh-vahl turns into les chevauxlay shuh-voh in the plural. It is the same word underneath.

Colours, in both shapes

A colour changes shape to match the thing it describes, which is why there are two columns here.

Half of these sound identical in both shapes; the others differ by the consonant the silent e wakes up. In brunebrewn the vowel also leaves the nose and becomes the French u.

Sky, weather and places

The sky, the weather and the places a story sets its scene in.

Days and months

Look one up when a story gives a day or a date.

No capital letters on days or months. Every day ends in -didee except Sunday, and the week starts on Monday.

Times of day, and the hour

The hour is always spelled out with heures — “three hours” — and the number glues onto it: deux heuresduh-zuhr, six heuressee-zuhr.

More describing words, and where they sit

The last column tells you whether the word goes in front of the thing it describes or behind it.

Two of these change shape in front of a vowel, because vieux homme is unsayable and French will not stand for it: le vieil hommeluh vyay-yom“the old man” and un bel oiseauu(n) bel wah-zoh“a beautiful bird”.