List 10 - Travel and transport
Languages.Org.Au Home → French → French Language → Travel and transportThis guide deals both with modes of transport (les moyens de transport) and phrases to do with using transport.
Transport types
Some common modes of transport are listed below. Places in town, including railway station, are also in Lesson 6 ("In Town").
| l'auto / la voiture | car |
| l'autobus | bus |
| l'avion | plane |
| le bateau | boat |
| le car | coach (not car!) |
| le métro | the Paris underground railway system |
| la moto | motorbike |
| le vélo | bike / bicycle |
| le taxi | the taxi |
| le train | train |
| le TGV (Train à grande vitesse) | VFT (very fast train) |
| les transports en commun | public transport |
Phrases to use with transport
These phrases are listed alphabetically by the first keyword in each phrase. Remember that when discussing transport in French, the 24-hour clock is used. See French Lesson 4 for more information on talking about the time in French.
| aller en voiture, en autobus | to go by car, by bus |
| aller à/en vélo | to go by bicycle, motorbike |
| un aller-retour | a return ticket |
| arriver | to arrive |
| attention au départ! | (railway:) attention, the train is now leaving |
| vous changez à Nantes | you change in Nantes |
| la correspondance | connection |
| en première, en seconde | in first class, in second class |
| fumeur / non-fumeur | smoking / non-smoking |
| le guichet | ticket-office |
| l'horaire | the (train etc) timetable or schedule |
| monter dans la voiture, l'autobus etc | to get in the car, bus etc |
| partir | to leave |
| est-ce que cette place est libre? | is this seat free (unoccupied)? |
| prendre l'autobus, le train, l'avion | to take the bus, train, plane |
| le quai numéro vingt / quel quai? | platform 20 / which platform? |
| quand est-ce que le train part pour Paris? | when does the train leave for Paris? |
| la SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français) | the French national railways |
| un ticket de métro | a metro ticket |
| je voudrais un billet simple pour Paris, s'il vous plaît | I'd like a single ticket for Paris, please |
| je voudrais réserver une place dans le TGV pour Paris | I'd like to reserve a seat on the VFT (train) to Paris |
Simulation / role-play
If you are familiar with the ten lists of French vocabulary and phrases and have study partners or class partners, try this simulation exercise. There are four connected roles in the scenario below.ROLE A:
You are a traveller who has been staying in a small town near Nantes. You want to leave tomorrow, Thursday, and travel to Paris. You would like to leave in the morning, and arrive in Paris in good time to find a hotel, but you don't want to be a bother to your host family by leaving too early either. You would like travel by the TGV, so you want to reserve a seat. You don't like being surrounded by smokers when travelling. If possible, you would like your own copy of the timetable of Paris trains, for reference. You phone your host, who is still at work, to consult about your plans, and to find out how to get to the ticket office. You have traveller's cheques and about 100F in cash. In talking with your host, you also ask whether you could help out by doing some shopping while in town.
ROLE B:
You are the host of an Australian visitor, who is leaving by train for Paris tomorrow, Thursday. Because the visitor is unfamiliar with Paris, you think it would be wise to leave reasonably early, allowing time to make the necessary transport connections and find a hotel on arriving in Paris. You don't have any timetable information, but you know the ticket office is at the railway station in Vallet, and that to get there, you go out of your house, turn left, go to the end of the street, turn right, go straight ahead, continue about 200 metres, and go across the town square. The station is opposite the post office. It happens that you are in a bit of an embarrassing spot this afternoon, because you have run out of a few things at home, and you have an unexpected meeting this afternoon that will prevent you going to the grocer's after work. You had planned to buy a kilo of tomatoes, 3 kilos of potatoes and 500g of cherries. You also left a letter on the bed in your bedroom this morning that needs to be posted.
ROLE C:
You are the employee at the railway ticket office of a small town near Nantes. This morning, you have run out of copies of the timetables for trains to Nantes and to Paris, except for the one mounted behind glass in your office, which is not visible to the public when they come to your "guichet". Currently, tickets to Nantes cost 20F, and no reservation is necessary. Departures for Nantes are at 07:00, 08:00, 10:00 and 12:00 and each train arrives in Nantes twenty minutes later. The TGV leaves from Nantes at 05:30, 06:30, 06:34, 07:00, 07:30, 08:00, 8:30, 9:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00 and 17:30 for Paris (there are later trains, but your customer won't ask about these), and takes two hours to two and a quarter hours to Paris. Tickets are 297F including obligatory TGV seat reservation. Travellers can pay by cash, credit card or traveller's cheques.
ROLE D:
You are the grocer in a small town near Nantes. Your assistant is sick today and you haven't had time to price the new supplies that arrived this morning. Some of today's prices are:
| cherries | 50F per kilo |
| potatoes | 15F per kilo |
| tomatoes | 25F per kilo |