Is French Hard to Learn? Hint: You May Already Have a Head Start

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Learning a new language can feel overwhelming. You’re probably wondering, “Is French hard to learn?” The good news is, if you’re reading this in English, you’ve already got a great head start—French is ranked by the Foreign Service Institute as one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. There are countless similarities between English and French, making it a great option for your next language-learning journey.

Of course, you may encounter some challenging aspects when learning French, as with any language. Pronunciation and grammar top that list. But, with the right tools and motivation, you’ll be speaking French in no time!

Challenging aspects of learning French

So, is French a hard language to learn? The answer is both yes and no. Whether you want to say I love you in French or learn some French phrases for travel, there’s no doubt French is a beautiful language that can take you all over the world. 

That being said, a few elements are more difficult than others when learning French and French grammar rules.

French pronunciation

Especially for those who know other Romance languages like Spanish, French pronunciation can be hard at first. The good news is, you can learn rules to help you as you go. Below are common letter combinations and common short words in French, along with their pronunciations.

While this is only a small sample, it’s good to know that anytime you see these letter combinations, they’ll always have the same pronunciation no matter their place in the word. 

Although some sounds in French don’t exist in English, Rosetta Stone can help you master all aspects of French pronunciation with its TruAccent speech recognition engine!

French gender rules

A key difference in French is the existence of gendered nouns. Every person, place, and thing is masculine or feminine. Some are more obvious than others, like l’homme (the man; masculine) and la femme (the woman; feminine). Not so obvious are words like le train (the train; masculine) or la moustache (the mustache; feminine). It takes time and effort to learn French gender rules, but it’s a key component to learning French.

French adjective agreement

Once you’ve mastered French gender rules, you can put that to use when making adjectives agree with their subjects. A few instances exist in English (think beautiful vs. handsome), but overall this is something new to learn in French. Examples include:

• Le stylo (m) est vert. = The pen is green.
• La pelouse (f) est verte. = The lawn is green.
• Les livres (m) sont verts. = The books are green.
• Les voitures (f) sont vertes. = The cars are green.

The masculine (m) words require different adjective forms than the feminine (f) words, as well as a difference between singular and plural. French adjectives often follow this pattern, although exceptions and irregular forms do exist.

French negation

To make a sentence negative, or “negate,” it’s a bit more complicated in French than English. The word “not” is simply used after a conjugated verb in English. In French you’ll put ne/pas around the conjugated verb (or n’/pas if the verb starts with a vowel):

• Nous ne sommes pas français. = We are not French.
• Je n’aime pas les chats. = I don’t like cats.

In the second sentence, notice that in English you need a “do” in front of the negation, whereas this doesn’t exist in French.

In addition to ne/pas, there are other similar negation structures in French:

The structure ne/que also follows the same pattern, but translates to “only” (not a negative).

Forming questions in French

There are three main ways to ask questions in French. You can use tag questions or inflection for yes or no questions. Otherwise, use “est-ce que” or inversion for all other questions.

• Tu as vu le film, n’est-ce pas ? = You saw the movie, right? (didn’t you?)
• Est-ce que tu as vu le film ? = Did you see the movie?
• As-tu vu le film ? = Did you see the movie?

Of course, this is a very brief overview—there is nuance in knowing how to ask questions in French, depending on formality and verb tense. 

Easy French language learning

Fortunately, for English speakers, numerous similarities exist between French and English. There are hundreds of cognate words, and sentence structure is very similar in English and French. And although French has a lot of verb tenses and moods, many follow similar patterns to make learning them easy!

Cognates in English and French

A cognate is a word that looks and sounds the same and has the same meaning in two languages. Cognates help you guess the meaning of unfamiliar words as you read or listen in French.

Did you know that because of the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the English language actually has many words in common with French? And although linguists are still arguing, there are thought to be more core words in English that come from French and Latin than from any other language. Below are some examples of cognates in French and English:

Not all of these are perfect cognates, but as English speakers we’re able to decipher the meaning of the French cognates. A few false cognates (words that look the same but do not have the same meaning) can make things tricky, so be careful!

French sentence structure

Both English and French follow the general sentence structure of subject/object/verb:

• Je mange une pomme. = I eat an apple.
• Il dessine le bâteau. = He draws the boat.

Commands are often similarly structured in French and English:

• Donne-moi le pain. = Give me the bread.
• Appelle-moi ce soir. = Call me tonight.

You’ll notice some differences as you progress in your French learning, but overall French sentence structure is easy for English learners to decipher and produce.

French verb conjugations and French present tense

French has 21 tenses and moods, but most are similar to what we use in English, including the past, present and future tense. Even better, there’s only one present tense in French, whereas in English we have three:

• Nous marchons au café. = We are walking to the café.
• Nous marchons au café. = We walk to the café.
• Nous marchons au café. = We do walk to the café.

Although French does have irregular verbs, many fall into similar groups and conjugate the same way across tenses. French verb conjugation is not as daunting as it might seem!

Knowing which verb tense to use as well as how to conjugate the verb you’re using does take time and practice. Rosetta Stone’s research-backed method helps you learn more quickly and authentically without flashcards or memorization.

5 tips for learning French

Whatever your goals for learning French, you can accelerate your learning in a variety of ways.

1. Watch a movie or TV show

A very simple way to improve your French comprehension is by watching a TV show or movie in French to reinforce your language learning. There are limitless options available on streaming services and online.

2. Listen to a podcast

If you’re driving or out for a walk, put on a French podcast! Whether you want to focus on French grammar, listen to the news, or dive into a niche topic, there’s something for everyone!

3. Read the news in French

To improve your French reading skills, start your day with some news in French. You can find French news options from across the globe.

4. Put on a playlist at work or while making dinner

Whatever your favorite music platform, find a French playlist to have in the background! See what words you can understand while listening, and search for a couple of new ones to expand your vocabulary.

5. Make learning French a group effort

Get your friends and family involved with your French goals. Having someone hold you accountable for your learning never hurts, and everything is more fun with a friend. Practice your conversation skills together—you can even add a book or some French cuisine.

Is French Hard to Learn? Make learning easy with Rosetta Stone

While learning any language takes time and practice, the answer to “Is French hard to learn?” is that learning French is comparatively easy to most other languages. You’ll need to hone in on things like pronunciation, gender rules, and adjective agreement. But, knowing English is a great start to recognizing cognates and sentence structure!

If you’re ready to join over 321 million French speakers across the globe, Rosetta Stone can help you become more confident in your French abilities. The Dynamic Immersion method and bite-sized lessons make learning French fun and easy. And download the Rosetta Stone app to take learning French with you anywhere you go.