Learn French: J'ai un téléphone.

J'ai un téléphone.

I have a phone.

Breakdown of J'ai un téléphone.

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Questions & Answers about J'ai un téléphone.

Why is it written as j'ai instead of je ai?

In French, when the word je (I) comes right before a word starting with a vowel (like ai), the e is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes the words easier to say together quickly. So, je ai becomes j'ai.

What is the word ai exactly?

Ai is the "I" form of the verb avoir, which means "to have". By itself, ai means "have", but it is always attached to j' to make j'ai (I have).

Why do we use un instead of une?

In French, all nouns have a gender (masculine or feminine). The word téléphone is a masculine noun. Because of this, we must use the masculine word for "a", which is un. If the object were feminine, we would use une.

What do the little lines over the "e" in téléphone do?

Those are called acute accents (or accents aigus). They tell you how to pronounce the letter e. Instead of a soft "uh" sound, the é makes a sound similar to the "ay" in the English word "play".