Basic directions: Asking for directions
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Key Phrases
C'est loin d'ici ?
Is it far from here?
Tournez à gauche au feu
Turn left at the traffic light
Je vous en prie.
You're welcome.
Skills You'll Learn
Asking for directions politely
Demander son chemin poliment
Understanding and giving directions
Comprendre et donner des directions
Using polite expressions to thank someone and say goodbye
Utiliser des formules de politesse pour remercier et se dire au revoir
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you're walking down a street in a French town. You want to ask a woman for directions to the train station.
Bonjour madame, excusez-moi.
Hello, ma'am, excuse me.
Bonjour monsieur. Oui ?
Hello, sir. Yes?
Je cherche la gare. C'est loin d'ici ?
I'm looking for the train station. Is it far from here?
Non, c'est à dix minutes à pied.
No, it's a ten-minute walk.
D'accord. C'est par où ?
Okay. Which way is it?
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
Excusez-moi.
eks-kew-zey mwah
Excuse me.
🇫🇷 Say Bonjour "Hello" first, then Excusez-moi. Jumping straight to your question with a stranger comes across as rude in France.
See breakdown →La gare
lah gahr
The station
Je cherche la gare.
zhuh shersh lah gahr
I'm looking for the train station.
💬 Je cherche already means "I'm looking for", so there's no extra word for "for". Swap in any place, as in Je cherche la pharmacie "I'm looking for the pharmacy".
See breakdown →C'est loin d'ici ?
suh eh lwan d ee-see
Is it far from here?
💬 This is worded exactly like a statement. Only your rising voice at the end turns it into a question, which is the everyday way to ask things in spoken French.
See breakdown →C'est à dix minutes
suh eh ah dees mee-nyt
It's ten minutes away
💬 Before a consonant, dix drops its final sound, so dix minutes sounds like (dee mee-noot). Before a vowel it becomes (deez), as in dix heures "ten o'clock".
See breakdown →À pied
ah pyay
On foot
💬 Walking uses à, but vehicles usually take en: en voiture "by car", en bus "by bus".
See breakdown →Non, c'est à dix minutes à pied.
noh suh eh ah dees mee-nyt ah pyay
No, it's a ten-minute walk.
D'accord.
dee ah-kor
Okay.
C'est par où ?
suh eh par oo
Which way is it?
💬 The accent matters here. où means "where", while ou without the accent means "or".
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