Learn French: Excuse-moi ! Je cherche mon téléphone.

Excuse-moi ! Je cherche mon téléphone.

Sorry! I am looking for my phone.

Breakdown of Excuse-moi ! Je cherche mon téléphone.

excuse me, sorry (informal)

Questions & Answers about Excuse-moi ! Je cherche mon téléphone.

Why is it Excuse-moi and not Excusez-moi?

Excuse-moi is the informal way to say "excuse me" or "sorry," used when speaking to a friend, a family member, or someone you address with tu. If you were talking to a stranger, a boss, or multiple people, you would use the formal or plural version: Excusez-moi.

Why is there no word for "for" after cherche?

In English, we say "looking for," but the French verb chercher already means "to look for" all by itself. Adding a word like pour (for) after it is a common mistake for English speakers. In French, you just put the object directly after the verb!

The translation says "I am looking", but isn't je cherche just "I look"?

French doesn't have a separate "am doing" or "is doing" tense like English does. The simple present tense je cherche translates to both "I look for" and "I am looking for" depending on the context of the conversation.

If I am a woman speaking, should I say ma téléphone instead of mon téléphone?

No, you still say mon. In French, possessive words like mon (my) match the gender of the object being owned, not the person who owns it. Because téléphone is a masculine word, it is always mon téléphone, regardless of your own gender.