How to Say Now in French

If you’d like to say “now” in French, you’d usually say “maintenant.” However, there are other phrases that would be more appropriate for specific contexts, such as “à présent” (now/presently) or “c’est le moment” (now [is the time]). There are also other phrases we have in English that contain now, and yet have a totally different phrasing in French. For instance, “now and then” in French would be “de temps en temps.”

Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion® methodology teaches you the language, not just the words. What makes it so effective is that we prepare you to use your new language in your everyday life. So it’s not just about the features, but what you’re able to do because of them. That way, you’ll be ready to handle any situation with ease and confidence.

As a new learner, you may be tempted to wade into memorizing long lists of vocabulary words. But this is not an effective approach. Instead, you should focus first on learning just a few of the most commonly used phrases and French pronunciation. After all, the goal of learning a new language is not vocabulary acquisition. Rather, it’s to achieve a level of comfort and confidence needed to have conversations in French.

You can develop your French language skills and build your confidence by first learning some of these basic French words and phrases:

• Bonjour = Hello, Good morning
• Au revoir = Goodbye
• Oui = Yes
• Non = No
• Merci = Thank you
• Merci beaucoup = Thank you very much
• Fille = Girl
• Garçon = Boy
• Femme = Woman
• Homme = Man
• Amour = Love
• Français = French
• S’il vous plaît = Please
• Bonsoir = Good evening
• Bonne Nuit = Good night
• Excusez-moi = Excuse me
• De Rien = You’re welcome (casual, informal way)
• Je vous en prie = You’re welcome (formal)
• Temps = Time
• Jour = Day

And here are more common French phrases:

• Je suis désolé(e) = I’m sorry
• Comment vous appelez-vous ? = What is your name?
• Parlez-vous anglais ? = Do you speak English?
• Je m’appelle = My name is
• Comment allez-vous ? = How are you doing?
• Quelle heure est-il ? = What time is it?
• Pouvez-vous m’aider ? = Can you help me?
• Combien ça coûte ? = How much is this?
• Je t’aime = I love you

Acquiring proper French pronunciation depends on getting immediate feedback so you can make corrections. Rosetta Stone helps you dial in your pronunciation with our patented TruAccent™ speech-recognition engine—which instantly compares your voice to native and non-native speakers, so you get real-time feedback for the most accurate pronunciation.

It can be a valuable tool in helping you learn to understand and speak in French.

After you are comfortable with the building blocks of French, you can move on to learning the longer phrases that make up the backbone of everyday conversations. Rosetta Stone’s brief and bite-sized, 10-minute lessons are built to help you do just that. The language lessons will guide you towards speaking French with comfort and confidence.

Surround yourself with French whenever, wherever with the Rosetta Stone app .

Download a unit and knock it out on the train or a flight. Select a 5-10 minute lesson and sneak it in while you wait in line or for your ride to show up. And explore dynamic features, like Seek and Speak, where you can point at an object in the real world and get a translation .

The best part? You don’t have to choose between app or desktop. Both come with your subscription and sync, so you can switch between devices seamlessly.