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How to Say ‘I like’ in French

zhay em

[zhay em]

💬 Usage Tip: Je shrinks to j' before a vowel sound and joins the next word, so you get j'aime. You never say je aime.

Phrase Breakdown

[zhay]

Pronoun used by the speaker to refer to himself or herself.

Example

J'aime les bonbons.

I like candies.

aime

[em]

From 'aimer'; with 'bien' after it, it softens to 'really like' rather than 'love'.

Example

J'aime bien ce café.

I really like this café.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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