In Grade 11 you sorted French into three registers and learned when to say tu or vous. That is the map. This lesson is about driving: hearing a register in a stranger's sentence before you have understood every word, and switching registers on purpose. A francophone listener notices register instantly, the way you notice when a friend suddenly talks to you like a bank manager. J'ai paumé mon boulot and J'ai perdu mon emploi report the same fact (I lost my job), but the first one comes from a friend at a party and the second from a candidate in an interview. Register is not only a question of vocabulary. It runs through the grammar: whether ne survives, whether you say on or nous, how you ask a question, whether you write ça or cela. At university and at work you will be judged on whether you can hold the formal register for a whole page, and in conversation on whether you can relax out of it. Both are skills, and neither register is "better" French.
Vocabulary in three layers
| Familier | Courant | Soutenu or administratif | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| une bagnole (France), un char (Québec) | une voiture, une auto | une automobile, un véhicule | a car |
| le boulot (France), la job (Québec) | le travail | un emploi, un poste | work, a job |
| bouffer | manger | se restaurer, prendre un repas | to eat |
| piger | comprendre | saisir | to understand, to get it |
| crever (offensive about a person) | mourir, il est mort | décéder, il est décédé; il nous a quittés | to die, he died |
| crécher (France) | habiter, vivre | résider, être domicilié(e) à | to live (somewhere) |
| mon mec (France), mon chum (Québec) | mon copain, mon mari | mon époux, mon conjoint | my boyfriend, my husband, my spouse |
| le fric | l'argent | les fonds | money, funds |
Register lives in the grammar
| Marker | Familier | Courant | Soutenu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Negation | Je sais pas. (ne dropped) | Je ne sais pas. | Je l'ignore. / Je ne saurais le dire. |
| We | On part demain. | On part demain. / Nous partons demain. | Nous partirons demain. |
| Yes/no question | Tu viens? (rising tone); Québec: Tu viens-tu? | Est-ce que tu viens? | Viens-tu? / Venez-vous? |
| Question word | C'est quoi, ton nom? / Tu fais quoi? | Qu'est-ce que tu fais? | Quel est votre nom? / Que faites-vous? |
| Demonstrative | Ça | ça in speech, cela in writing | cela |
| There is | Y'a un problème. | Il y a un problème. | Il existe une difficulté. |
| Linking | pis, genre, du coup (France) | puis, ensuite, donc | par la suite, par conséquent |
| After craindre, avant que | (absent) | avant qu'il parte | avant qu'il ne parte (the ne explétif, which is not a negation) |
Greetings, introductions and closings
| Moment | Familier | Courant | Soutenu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meeting someone | Salut! Tu t'appelles comment? (Hi! What's your name?) | Bonjour, je m'appelle Inès. Et vous? (Hello, my name is Inès. And you?) | Bonjour, Madame. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance. (Hello, Madam. Delighted to make your acquaintance.) |
| Welcoming | Entre, fais comme chez toi! (Come in, make yourself at home!) | Bienvenue! (Welcome!) | Soyez le bienvenu. / Soyez la bienvenue. (Be welcome; agrees with the person) |
| Opening an email | Coucou Léa! / Allô Léa! (Québec) | Bonjour Madame Côté, | Madame, (alone on its line, followed by a comma) |
| Closing an email or letter | À plus! / Bisous! (France) | Bonne journée! / Cordialement, | Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, mes salutations distinguées. |
| Taking leave in person | Ciao! À tantôt! (Québec: see you later) | Au revoir, bonne fin de journée! | Au plaisir de vous revoir. (I look forward to seeing you again.) |
Conversation cues
- Et alors? → So what? / And then what happened? Tone decides: a flat Et alors? can sound defiant, a curious one invites the story.
- Donc → so, therefore. Courant in speech and writing; in speech it also restarts a story: Donc, j'arrive au bureau… (So I get to the office…).
- Puis → then. In familiar Québec speech it is often pronounced and written pis: Pis là, il me dit… (And then he says to me…).
- Bien sûr → of course. Courant everywhere; Évidemment and Effectivement are a step more formal.
- Du coup → so, as a result. Very frequent in familiar French in France; heard less often in Québec, where fait que (often faque) plays the same role in familiar speech.
- Genre → like (as a filler: C'était genre trop drôle). Familier everywhere; leave it out of any graded writing.
One story, two audiences
- Karim, to a friend: Salut! Tsé quoi? J'ai perdu ma job au resto. Le boss a fermé, pis y'a pu rien. → Hi! Guess what? I lost my job at the restaurant. The boss closed it, and now there's nothing left.
- Karim, to a hiring manager: Bonjour, Madame. Mon emploi précédent a pris fin lorsque le restaurant a fermé ses portes. Je suis donc disponible immédiatement. → Hello, Madam. My previous job ended when the restaurant closed its doors. I am therefore available immediately.
Compare the markers. Familiar: Salut, the contracted Tsé (tu sais), the familiar Québec ma job and le boss, the shortened resto, the Québec pis, and y'a pu (il n'y a plus) with no ne, no il, and plus pronounced pu as it often is in familiar Québec speech. Formal: Bonjour, Madame, the neutral emploi, a full subject in every clause, the conjunction lorsque (a step above quand) and the connector donc placed after the verb, which sounds more written than donc at the start. Notice also what changes in meaning: the formal version frames the event (the job ended; it was not Karim's fault) instead of just reporting it. Choosing a register is also choosing how you present yourself.