Self-introduction at work: Asking a colleague how things work in the office

💬 French asks a question with poser "to put", not demander. Te goes before the verb. With someone you call vous, say vous poser.

💬 The s in vas is sounded here and runs into y: (vah-zee).

💬 Vas-y is for someone you call tu. With vous, say Allez-y.

💬 Marcher literally means "to walk", but it's the everyday verb for things working. Ça ne marche pas means "it doesn't work".

💬 French needs no word for "in" here: le matin alone means "in the morning". The same goes for le soir "in the evening".

💬 Il faut plus a thing means "you need". Plus a verb, it means "you have to": Il faut signer "You have to sign".

💬 Au is à and le merged. You never say à le.

💬 In France le déjeuner is lunch. Breakfast is le petit-déjeuner.

💬 In casual speech the question word can simply go at the end: On se retrouve où ? "Where shall we meet?"

🇫🇷 Lunch is a real social moment in French offices. Asking this often gets you invited along, and eating at your desk alone can come across as standoffish.

🇫🇷 Larger French companies often have a subsidised staff canteen. Otherwise employees usually get meal vouchers, tickets restaurant, to use in nearby cafés.

🇫🇷 French floors start counting above the ground floor, so deuxième étage is two flights up. That's what Americans would call the third floor.

🇫🇷 At work and on schedules, French people use the 24-hour clock out loud, so expect quatorze heures rather than "two in the afternoon".

💬 De ... à ... is the pattern for "from ... to ...": de neuf heures à dix-huit heures "from 9 am to 6 pm".

💬 À links an object to what it's for: une tasse à café "a coffee cup". Compare une tasse de café "a cup of coffee".

💬 Il y a means both "there is" and "there are", and it never changes: Il y a deux machines ?

💬 Bureau means both "office" and "desk", so context tells you which.

💬 Before le, de merges into du: à côté du bureau "next to the office".

💬 Gentil means kind or nice, not gentle. The final l is silent: (zhahn-tee).

💬 Use journée rather than jour when wishing someone a good day, because it means the day as you live through it. The same goes for Bonne soirée "Have a good evening".