Basic dates: Discussing birthdays

💬 Le shrinks to l' before a word starting with a vowel, so l'anniversaire is said as one word. L' never stands alone.

💬 French dates use the plain number with le, not "14th": le 14 mars, le 25 décembre "December 25th." The only exception is the first, which is le premier "the first."

💬 Months take no capital letter in French: juillet, mars, janvier "January."

💬 Starting with Moi, then c'est... is the everyday way to say "as for me" or "mine is." You can reuse it: Moi, c'est Paul "I'm Paul."

💬 Seasons use en "in" for summer, autumn and winter: en été, en hiver "in winter." Spring is the odd one out: au printemps "in spring."

💬 French uses "have" for age, not "be": avoir trente ans is literally "to have thirty years." Saying je suis trente is a classic beginner slip.

💬 Always keep ans after the number when giving an age. A bare J'ai trente. sounds unfinished to French ears.

💬 Je vais plus a verb is the easy way to talk about the near future, just like "I'm going to." Swap the verb: Je vais fêter "I'm going to celebrate."

💬 Ça se fête is literally "that celebrates itself," a common way to say something deserves celebrating. Same pattern: Ça se mange "That's edible."

🇫🇷 Round-number birthdays like 30, 40 and 50 are a big deal in France. Friends often expect a party, so this line is a gentle nudge to throw one.

💬 French uses faire "to do/make" for having a party: faire une fête. The noun fête means both "party" and "celebration."

💬 Au is à + le fused into one word, and it's required here. À le parc is never said; compare à la plage "at the beach," where no merging happens.

🇫🇷 Summer birthday picnics in a public park are very common in France, especially in cities where flats are small. Guests usually bring a bottle or a dish to share.

💬 Spoken French often makes a question just by raising your voice at the end, with no change in word order. Tu viens. is "You're coming"; Tu viens ? asks it.

🇫🇷 This is a warm, slightly polite way to accept an invitation, natural with friends and acquaintances alike.

💬 Thanks for something uses merci pour: merci pour le cadeau "thanks for the gift."

💬 De rien literally means "of nothing," as in "it was nothing."

💬 The little word y means "there," and French keeps it even when no place is named. Dropping it to je dois aller sounds incomplete.

💬 Bon at the start of a sentence doesn't mean "good" here. It's a filler like "well" or "right," signalling you're wrapping up.

💬 Plus here is said with its final s sounded, so À plus is said (ah ploos). It's short for à plus tard "see you later."

🇫🇷 Casual and friendly, for friends and colleagues your age. In texts you'll often see it written A+.