How to talk about work and study in French

Level B1

How to talk about work and study in French

In this lesson, you'll talk about your experience at work and in study, and say what your next plan is. The central idea is this: *j'ai appris à* tells how you gained a skill, *je sais* says you have it today, *j'ai réussi à* shows a hard result you achieved, and *je peux* is kept for what is possible in the situation. At the end, you'll build a short presentation with three concrete achievements.

Placing your experience in time

To talk about experience, you need to say when things happened, and these markers help. *Depuis* with the present says the situation is still going on: « Je travaille à la réception d'un hôtel depuis deux ans. » English uses *have been working* here, but French keeps the present. In these sentences, *pendant* measures a finished period and *il y a* points to a moment in the past, like *ago*; both come with the passé composé. For what comes next, use the future, as in *je travaillerai*, or *je vais* + infinitive.

The words of your experience

*Apprendre* (to learn), *savoir* (to know) and *réussir* (to succeed, to manage) are the verbs you'll use in this lesson, and *pouvoir* (can) is the verb we'll compare with *savoir*. *Une formation* is a training course, and *accueillir* means to welcome someone, such as a customer who arrives.

A job interview

Inès is talking to a recruiter, and they call each other *vous*; the lines marked formal are the ones with *vous* or *votre*. The recruiter's questions are only there for you to recognize, not to produce. Notice how Inès answers: past with *j'ai appris à* and *j'ai réussi à*, present with *je sais*, plan with *je vais*. In « je sais l'utiliser », *l'* stands for the software and comes before the infinitive, where English puts *it* after.

Telling what you learned: j'ai appris à

To tell how you gained a skill, use *j'ai appris à* + infinitive: « J'ai appris à utiliser ce logiciel en une semaine. » Here *à* does the job of *to* in *learned to use*. With another person, the auxiliary changes: *tu as appris à*, *vous avez appris à*. With a direct object such as *l'anglais*, there is no such *à*: « J'ai appris l'anglais à l'école. » The *à* in that sentence belongs to *à l'école*.

J'ai appris à infinitif.

Saying what you know how to do: je sais + infinitive

For a skill you have today, use *savoir* + infinitive, with no *à*: « Aujourd'hui, je sais accueillir un client en anglais. » English says *know how to*, but French has no word for *how* here. The forms are *je sais, tu sais, elle sait, vous savez*, and the negative wraps the conjugated verb: « Je ne sais pas encore faire une présentation en anglais. » With no infinitive after it, *savoir* is about information, as in *Je ne sais pas* (I don't know).

Je sais infinitif.

Showing a result: j'ai réussi à

*Réussir à* + infinitive says you reached a result that took effort: « Nous avons réussi à finir le projet avant la fin du mois. » Its closest English match is *manage to*; *succeed in doing* means the same, but French keeps the infinitive. In the negative, you tried and didn't get there: « Je n'ai pas réussi à résoudre ce problème. » With a direct object such as *mon examen*, there is no *à*: « J'ai réussi mon examen de français. » means *I passed my French exam*.

J'ai réussi à infinitif.

Savoir or pouvoir: having the skill or having the chance

English *can* covers two ideas that French usually separates. *Savoir* + infinitive says you have a learned skill; *pouvoir* + infinitive says something is possible in this situation, because of the time, your health, your strength or a permission. That's why both fit in one sentence: « Je sais conduire, mais ce soir, je ne peux pas : j'ai mal à la tête. » Both of these are *I can't swim* in English, but « Je ne sais pas nager. » means you never learned, and « Je ne peux pas nager aujourd'hui : j'ai mal au dos. » means you can, just not today.

*Pouvoir* also gives permission (« Vous pouvez utiliser ce bureau. ») and talks about strength, which isn't something you learn (« Je peux porter ce carton : il n'est pas lourd. »). For languages, the usual choice is simply *je parle*: « Je parle anglais et un peu japonais. »

Your turn: three achievements and a plan

Karim, who studies and works, presents three concrete achievements: a skill he learned, one he has today and a hard result; then he gives his plan. Swap the changing parts for your own facts: *J'ai appris à…*, *Aujourd'hui, je sais…*, *J'ai réussi à…* and *L'année prochaine, je…*. Choose things that really happened, with a course, a customer or a date.

J'ai appris à compétence. Aujourd'hui, je sais action. J'ai réussi à résultat. L'année prochaine, je projet.

Summary

*J'ai appris à* + infinitive tells how you gained a skill. *Je sais* + infinitive, with no *à*, says what you know how to do today, and *j'ai réussi à* + infinitive shows a hard result. *Je peux* is kept for what is possible in the situation: « Je sais conduire, mais ce soir, je ne peux pas. » For the next step, use *je vais* + infinitive or the future.

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