Asking about someones family: Asking about someone's kids and their ages

💬 French asks age with avoir "to have": literally "they have what age?". Swap in Il a quel âge ? "How old is he?" or Elle a quel âge ? "How old is she?".

💬 In fils the l is silent and the s is spoken: (fees). It's easy to confuse with fille (fee-y), which means daughter.

💬 The t of huit links into ans: (wee-tahn). You can't drop ans the way English drops "years old".

💬 Age uses a "has", not "is": literally "my son has eight years". Saying est huit is a classic learner slip.

💬 Ma goes with female words like fille, mon with male words like fils.

💬 The q of cinq is spoken and links into ans: (san-kahn).

💬 À can mean both "to" and "at", so à l'école covers going to school and being at school.

🇫🇷 Asking about the local school is a natural follow-up between parents and often leads to spotting each other at drop-off.

💬 L' is la shortened before a vowel and always attaches to the next word. It can't stand alone.

💬 Du is de + le merged, meaning "of the". You'll see it in la boulangerie du quartier "the local bakery".

🇫🇷 Most French children go to the public school assigned to their neighbourhood, so parents nearby often share the same school.

💬 The doubled vous isn't a mistake: the first one adds emphasis, like "And you, do you…". It works with other words too: Et toi, tu as des enfants ?.

💬 The s of trois links into ans: (trwah-zahn).

💬 Beau "beautiful" turns into bel before a vowel sound, so it's un bel âge but un beau garçon "a handsome boy".

🇫🇷 A warm, standard compliment when someone mentions their child's age. It works for almost any age.

💬 Y means "there" and goes before aller, so this is literally "I must there go".

🇫🇷 Starting with Bon signals you're wrapping up the chat. It's a polite, natural way to leave.

🇫🇷 French people say this when parting during the day, to shopkeepers and neighbours alike. In the evening, switch to Bonne soirée ! "Have a nice evening!".

💬 Vous aussi returns any good wish. With a friend you'd say toi aussi.