Listen to the following text. Pay particular attention to the sounds oi as in:

savoir

and the sound oin as in:

loin

*y means there. We will deal with it in more detail later, but keep it in mind. You have seen y in il y a.

...en quatre points
The lesson in four points 

1) Pouvoir et vouloir

Pouvoir and vouloir are two verbs that are very similar. It's important not to confuse them. Learn them together in order to benefit from the similarities and also in order to get the differences clear.

First, some help to distinguish the meanings.

  pouvoir 
 to be able 

Remember the p like the p in power, a word with the same origins as pouvoir. 

vouloir
to want 

Remember the v like the v in voluntary, a word with the same origins as vouloir.                                             

Here are the conjugations of the two verbs:

pouvoir et vouloir

pouvoir to be able vouloir to want  je peux, tu peux, il peut I can, you can, he can nous pouvons, vous pouvez we can, you can ils peuvent they can je veux, tu veux, il veut I want, you want, he wants nous voulons, vous voulez we want, you want ils veulent they want

You don't need a preposition after these verbs - they are followed directly with an infinitive:

      Je veux demander un renseignement.
I want to ask for some information.

Je peux demander un renseignement.
I can ask for some information.

Elle veut aller dans le centre en bus.
She wants to go to the centre by bus.

  Elle peut aller dans le centre en bus.
She can go to the centre by bus.

2) Le verbe «savoir» - to know

Savoir is another verb which is followed directly by a second verb in the infinitive, for example in the expression: 

savoir faire
to know how to 

Here is the conjugation of savoir:

Je sais où est l'arrêt de bus.
I know where the bus stop is.
Tu sais parler français?
Do you know how to speak French?
Il sait comment aller dans le centre.
He knows how to go into the centre.
Elle ne sait pas lire.
She doesn't know how to read.
Nous savons bien faire la cuisine.
We know how to cook well. 
Vous savez où est la cathédrale?
Do you know where the cathedral is?
Ils savent parler arabe.
They know how to speak Arabic.
Est-ce qu'elles savent compter?
Do they know how to count?

3) Learning to count

The verb 'to count' is compter:

Je compte bien.
I count well. 
Tu comptes vite.
You count quickly.
Il compte mal.
He counts badly.
Elle compte en français.
She counts in French.
Nous comptons les jours avant les vacances.
We are counting the days before the holidays.
( = we can't wait until the holidays )
Vous comptez les invités.
You count the guests.
Ils comptent la recette du jour.
They count the day's receipts.
Elles comptent très lentement.
They count very slowly.

The number 'one' has two forms. The masculine:

un
one
un jour 
one day 

and the feminine:

une
one
une heure
one hour

The rest of the numbers are the same whether they refer to masculine or feminine objects. Here are the first twenty:

 

4) Les adverbes terminés en -ment
Adverbs ending in -ment

Malheureusement

is the adverb meaning 'unfortunately'. We're going to look closely now at its structure in order to learn how to form adverbs.

Heureux

is the masculine form of the adjective meaning 'fortunate' or 'happy'. It's the same in the singular and the plural:

  Tu es un homme heureux.
You are a fortunate man.
Mes amis sont très heureux.
My friends are very happy.

The opposite of heureux is malheureux: 

  Tu es malheureux.
You are unhappy.
Ils sont très malheureux.
They are very unhappy.

But to construct an adverb, we generally use the feminine form of the adjective for the root. The feminine of heureux is heureuse and the feminine of malheureux is malheureuse: 

Ma fille n'est pas très heureuse.
My daughter is not very fortunate.
  Elle est même malheureuse.
She is even unfortunate.

Adverbs more often than not end in: 

  -ment 

It's the French equivalent of the English ending -ly. So

heureusement et malheureusement 
fortunately and unfortunately

are the adverbs that correspond to the adjectives heureux and malheureux. 

Il y a des bus pour aller dans le centre, heureusement. J'ai le temps et je marche tranquillement. Le 3 arrive justement.
There are some buses to go into the centre, fortunately. I have the time and I walk calmly. As it happens, the number 3 arrives.

or 

Malheureusement, le centre est loin d'ici.
Unfortunately the centre is far from here.

Here are some other adverbs formed in the same way:

  Maintenant cliquez ici pour les exercices