Introducing Yourself and Asking Someone's Name

Context:

In lesson 1, we have learned to recognize and follow a few simple instructions in French. In this second lesson, we will deal essentially with names. You will learn several different ways to ask someone’s name.

Goals:

In this lesson, you will learn the following:

how to introduce yourself

how to ask somebody’s name (formal and casual manners)

Chapter 1 –> Lesson 2:

Level of difficulty: Easy

Step 1

Listen several times to this audio segment, then when you’re ready, repeat the same sentence, but (of course) make sure to substitute your name for mine.

“Bonjour, je m’appelle Herman. Et vous, comment vous appelez-vous?”
“Good morning, my name is Herman. And you, what is your name?“

Notice that the vous in comment vous appelez-vous? is used for groups and non-intimates. So what it means is that you are being formal and polite or we are talking to a group of people. When you want to be casual, (for example, with family, friends, etc), you use tu instead. The new sentence thus becomes:
“Bonjour, je m’appelle Herman. Et toi, comment t’appelles-tu?”

(Do not worry about the toi in the sentence. All you need to know for now is that it means “you“)

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Step 2

Now, how about asking “What is his/her name?” and answering “His/her name is…”

	Comment s’appelle-t-il? Il s’appelle Michael Jordan.
	Comment s’appelle-t-elle? Elle s’appelle Audrey Tautou.
	Now, a little task for you… Look at this third picture on the left. Umm…do you know who this is? Well, ask about the name of the person you see in this photo and answer the question yourself following the 2 examples I provided right above. .

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Step 3

Yet another way to ask about someone’s name…

	“Qui est-ce?” “Who is it?” “C’est Zidane.” “It is Zidane”
	Now, what if you aren’t sure about somebody’s identity/name, isn’t it obvious to ask: “Is it…(name)?” In French, “Is it…(name)?” is simply “Est-ce que c’est…(name)?”

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What You Should Remember From This Lesson

When asking somebody’s name or when giving your own name, these are the patterns you should use:

Q: –Comment vous appelez-vous?     What’s your name?
A: –Je m’appelle François Dupont.     My name is François Dupont.

Q: –Comment t’appelles-tu?     What’s your name?
A: –Je m’appelle Sylvie.     My name is Sylvie.

Q: –Comment s’appelle-t-il?     What’s his name?
A: –Il s’appelle Claude. &nsp;   His name is Claude.

Q: –Comment s’appelle-t-elle?     What’s her name?
A: –Elle s’appelle Marie.     Her name is Mary.

Q: –Qui est-ce?     Who is that?
A: –C’est Marc.     It’s Mark.

Now, would you like to do the exercise that accompanies this lesson?