# I speak a little French



## lyndy

Moderator note:
Threads merged.
(Second question removed
three years after posting.)

Could someone please tell me if any of these sentences are correct?  
I am trying to say "I speak a little French" [...]

Je parle un peu français.  (Je parle français un peu?)

[...]

Merci

Lyndy


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## cyb

it's correct, but you can add *le.*
'Je parle un peu *le* français'

and remove 'très' in the second sentence


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## denis-a-paris

Hi lyndy,

I'm pretty sure it's: "Je parle un peu _de_ français." (I speak a bit of French.)

Also:
 "Je parle un petit peu de français." (I speak a little bit of French.)
 "Je ne parle pas beaucoup de français." (I don't speak much French.)

Usually at this point, depending on your pronunciation, whoever you are talking to will switch to English 

-denis


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## denis-a-paris

cyb-

Quel est meilleur "de français" ou "le français" ?

-denis


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## cyb

well, it's correct too, but *le *instead *de *sounds better in french.


edit: No, *de* is not correct ... sorry


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## Danse Macabre

L'expression est "Parler français" (ou anglais,allemand,espagnol,etc).

Même si "je parle le français" semble correct, on lui préfèrera "je parle français".

Pour les traductions, je pencherais pour :
"Je parle un peu français"
"Je ne parle pas très bien français".


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## cyb

par ex: 
- Vous parlez le français ? (ici on peut enlever *le *sans problème)
- Vous comprenez le francais ? (ici non)

je dis plus facilement; je ne parle pas bien l'espagnol. Après j'ai peut-être tort


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## kkll70

Allo, I'm new to french and would like to know how to say "I Speak a Little French" in french 

Merci


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## Cath.S.

Hi kkll70, 
what's your take on that sentence? Give it to us and we'll tell you if it's good. 
And, welcome to the forum!


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## kkll70

Well i would say

"Je parler un peu français"

Is that correct?


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## cherine

Almost correct 
Je parle peu le français
or
Je ne parle pas bien le français (I don't speak French well)


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## kkll70

Hehe well thanks a lot both of you, also thank you for being kind  really appreciate it.


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## cherine

You're welcome 
And welcome to the forum


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## Magic Rock

denis-a-paris said:


> Hi lyndy,
> 
> I'm pretty sure it's: "Je parle un peu _de_ français." (I speak a bit of French.)
> 
> Also:
> "Je parle un petit peu de français." (I speak a little bit of French.)
> "Je ne parle pas beaucoup de français." (I don't speak much French.)
> 
> Usually at this point, depending on your pronunciation, whoever you are talking to will switch to English
> 
> -denis



yes I agree I think that is correct.

Magic Rock


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## lyndy

Merci everyone.  

Unfortunately I now speak even less french because I have been neglecting my studies.   

This new reply has now reminded me that I should get back to it. 

Thanks again.  I am sure I will be posting lots more questions ...

Lyndy


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## bjoleniacz

kkll70 said:


> Allo, I'm new to french and would like to know how to say "I Speak a Little French" in french
> 
> Merci





kkll70 said:


> Well i would say
> 
> "Je parler un peu français"
> 
> Is that correct?





cherine said:


> Almost correct
> Je parle peu le français
> or
> Je ne parle pas bien le français (I don't speak French well)




I am not a native speaker, but I think "Je parle peu le français" means "I don't speak much French" instead of "I speak a little French."  As in,
-"René, ici en Amérique tu parles français avec tes amis?"
-"En fait non, je parle peu le français."


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## helenezen

For me :
"Je parle un peu le francais" means I have some basic  knowledge in French . Is that what you mean ?


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## bjoleniacz

helenezen said:


> For me :
> "Je parle un peu le francais" means I have some basic  knowledge in French . Is that what you mean ?



No- cherine, the moderator, posted that "Je parle peu le français" means "I know a little French," but I don't think that's right.  It says her first language is Arabic...so I am asking the question.


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## helenezen

For me as a French native :
_je parle peu le français_ means my knowledge  in French is very very little so that I barely understand French
whereas 
_Je parle un peu le français_ means as I said before in another post, I have some basic knowledge in French and I can understand and speak more or less. In other words, the one who speaks _un peu le français _manages himself or herself better than the one who speaks _peu le français.

_hope it helps! Any comments or corrections are welcome!


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## helenezen

bjoleniacz said:


> I am not a native speaker, but I think "Je parle peu le français" means "I don't speak much French" instead of "I speak a little French." As in,
> -"René, ici en Amérique tu parles français avec tes amis?"
> -"En fait non, je parle peu le français."



As a native French, in this context, René would say :
- En fait, non, je parle très peu en français.

hope it helps!


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## bjoleniacz

helenezen said:


> For me as a French native :
> _je parle peu le français_ means my knowledge  in French is very very little so that I barely understand French
> whereas
> _Je parle un peu le français_ means as I said before in another post, I have some basic knowledge in French and I can understand and speak more or less. In other words, the one who speaks _un peu le français _manages himself or herself better than the one who speaks _peu le français.
> 
> _hope it helps! Any comments or corrections are welcome!



Voilà comme moi aussi j'ai pensé.  Merci, helenezen pour l'éclarissement. 



helenezen said:


> As a native French, in this context, René would say :
> - En fait, non, je parle très peu en français.
> 
> hope it helps!



Oui, merci pour l'aide!


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## buddyknavery

I have to say I'm frustrated by this particular phrase, it seems like it should be a simple translation but there are conflicting answers throughout the web:

french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/essentialfrench.htm - Laura K. Lawless suggests it is, "Je parle un peu de français."

howdoyousay.net - a (supposedly) human translation on this site suggests the same thing.

And yet this thread would suggest it's wrong to say "de français."  I'm going to need this phrase for an extended trip to France, I'd really like to have confidence that I'm using the accurate version of it!


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## bjoleniacz

buddyknavery said:


> I have to say I'm frustrated by this particular phrase, it seems like it should be a simple translation but there are conflicting answers throughout the web:
> 
> french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/essentialfrench.htm - Laura K. Lawless suggests it is, "Je parle un peu de français."
> 
> howdoyousay.net - a (supposedly) human translation on this site suggests the same thing.
> 
> And yet this thread would suggest it's wrong to say "de français."  I'm going to need this phrase for an extended trip to France, I'd really like to have confidence that I'm using the accurate version of it!



Don't worry.  Both are right.

"I speak English a little bit" = "Je parle un peu le français."  Remember that French uses the definite article where English does not.  "French" = "le français"  (delete "le" in your mental translation.)  "Je parle le français" = "I speak french."  (the only confusing thing is, the verb "parler" deletes the "le" on languages which come DIRECTLY after it.  "Je parle bien le chinois" -> "Je parle le chinois" -> "Je parle chinois.")
Besides using "le" and "la" more often than in English, the word order is often different when using adverbs, like time words, quality words, "more," "less," etc. While English often puts these words at the end of the sentence, French would rather put short, one or two syllable adverbs directly after the verb. "Je parle bien le français"  "Je parle mal le français" "Je parle souvent le français."  In other words, the sentence "Je parle un peu le français" is the correct way of saying,
"Je parle le français un peu."  Take "un peu" from this sentence, place it directly after the verb, before "le français," and voilà.

On the other hand, the sentence "I speak a little bit OF French," would be "Je parle un peu DE français."  The set phrase "un peu de" (Remember Christopher Walken in the Fatboy Slim song "a little bit of this, a little bit of that!  a little bit of this, a little bit of that....") also deletes the article, much like "beaucoup de."


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## buddyknavery

Many thanks, bjoleniacz, that was very helpful and you've set my mind at ease. I think I need to relax a little... just trying to make sure I don't butcher this beautiful language!


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## bjoleniacz

You'll do fine.   Educated French people do speak some English, and uneducated, rude, snobby people who make fun of foreigners are the same in every country.  Most people will be happy that you took the time to learn something before you came.  Those that aren't, wouldn't be worth your time even if you were born in France.

Expect doors to open to your sensitivity, appreciation, and respect for the culture.


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## egz03

Any advice on adding "just"? Can you say "Je parle seul un petit peu le français"? Saying it incorrectly probably gets the point across just as well, but I'd rather do it right.


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## Miellle

You could also say "*Je ne parle pas beaucoup français*". That means you don't have a lot of vocabulary and you're not able to have a conversation.
And for me, adding "_*de*_" or "*le*" is really weird. But may be it is because I don't hear it often in the South :/
So "*Je parle un peu français"* is perfect (in my opinion) 
And for your sentence egz, I think this could be correct : "_*Je parle seulement un peu français*_". Which means that someone wants to have a conversation with you and you tell him you can not handle it


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## egz03

Excellent, merci Miellle!


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## Miellle

egz03 said:


> Excellent, merci Miellle!



Avec plaisir


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## yuechu

Miellle said:


> And for me, adding "_*de*_" or "*le*" is really weird. But may be it is because I don't hear it often in the South :/


Would any French people from the north of France (such as Paris) share if they feel the same way?

Merci d'avance !


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## ffred

"de" definitely sounds weird (even if it's understandable...), _Je parle un peu de français_ would sound a bit like _I speak a piece of French_... like _je mange un peu de pain_...

"le" is perfectly fine to my ears. If you want to say that you're speaking a little French (you're learning), it sounds more like "speak the French language" (parler le français), as opposed to the simpler "speak French" (parler français), but still, it's perfectly fine to me.

However, "Parler un peu le français" would be the standard way to say that you speak French from time to time (as in post #16), irrespective of your level in French...

_Je ne parle pas beaucoup français_ (see post #27) would be understood as _I don't speak French a lot_ (=often), rather than _I speak a little French (I'm learning)_, in my understanding at least.


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## yuechu

Thanks, ffred! 😃


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