Imagine telling a friend what you do every day — when you wake up, eat, go to work or school. In this lesson, you’ll learn the French essentials to talk about your daily routine, step by step. We’ll cover key verbs (including easy reflexive ones), time expressions, and little connecting words to make smooth sentences. Practice is woven in, so try the exercises as you go!

Morning to night: core routine words

Here are the most common words and phrases you’ll use every day. Keep them simple and natural.

• le matin (in the morning), à midi (at noon), l’après-midi (in the afternoon), le soir (in the evening)
• d’abord (first), ensuite (then), puis (then/next), enfin (finally)
• se réveiller (to wake up), se lever (to get up), se laver (to wash), se brosser les dents (to brush teeth)
• prendre le petit-déjeuner (to have breakfast), aller au travail / à l’école (to go to work / to school)
• déjeuner (to have lunch), rentrer (to come home), dîner (to have dinner), se coucher (to go to bed)

Try building short chains: “D’abord, je me lève. Ensuite, je prends le petit-déjeuner. Puis, je vais à l’école.”

Note: “petit-déjeuner” literally mixes “petit” (small) + “déjeuner” (lunch/meal) — it’s breakfast in French. Pronounced with a hyphen but written as one item.

Examples you can reuse:

• Je me lève à sept heures.
• Ensuite, je prends le petit-déjeuner.
• Puis, je vais au travail / à l’école.
• Le soir, je dîne et je me couche.

Je me réveille sept heures.

Time talk: simple patterns

To say when you do something, use “à” + clock time.

• à six heures (at six o’clock)
• à sept heures et demie (at seven thirty)
• vers huit heures (around eight)

Connect steps with d’abord, ensuite, puis, enfin. Keep sentences short:

• D’abord, je me lève.
• Ensuite, je me lave.
• Puis, je vais à l’école.
• Enfin, je me couche.

Tu une douche.

Mini-conversation: put the lines in order

Practice a short exchange about routine times. Read all lines, then reorder them to make a natural conversation.

Cultural note: a typical French day

Breakfast (le petit-déjeuner) is often light: coffee or tea, bread or a croissant, maybe jam. Lunch (le déjeuner) can be longer, especially on weekends; many schools and workplaces have a midday break. People often commute by métro, bus, or walking in cities. Dinner (le dîner) is in the evening, and families may eat together. Try simple times like “à midi” for lunch and “vers huit heures” for dinner.

Je lave mes dents. → Je me brosse les dents. For body parts, French uses a reflexive verb and a definite article (les dents), not a possessive (mes).

Try a quick check

Test your understanding with a short quiz. Read the explanations to learn from each choice.

Wrap-up practice

Make a 4-sentence routine using d’abord / ensuite / puis / enfin and one reflexive verb:

• D’abord, ___ (je me réveille) à sept heures.
• Ensuite, ___ (je prends le petit-déjeuner).
• Puis, ___ (je vais au travail / à l’école).
• Enfin, ___ (je me couche) vers dix heures.

Keep practicing with real times from your day. A1 French works best with short, clear sentences. You’ve got this — petit à petit, ta routine en français va devenir naturelle !