être - To be

Let's start at the beginning:

• Je suis anglais
  I'm English

But if you are a woman :

• Je suis anglaise
  I'm English

That's right, French has feminine and masculine formas for a whole host of words which are simply unisex in English. They also have lots of different ways of saying where you are from:

• Il est américain
  He is American
• Elle est américaine
  She is American

We can also use a different verb:

• Il vient des États-Unis
  He comes from the United States
• Elle vient des États-Unis
  She comes from the United States

Or. even:

• il est originaire des États-Unis
• elle est originaire des États-Unis

Let's look at how French forms negatives:

• Je ne suis pas française
  I'm not French
• Il n'est pas Suisse
  He's not Swiss
• Elle n'est pas Suisse
  She's not Swiss

 

avoir - Have

Let's hope you don't need to use this French phrase:

• J'ai tellement de problèmes
  I have so many problems

A typical situation for many:

• Je n'ai pas d'argent
  I don't have any money

And more examples:

• J'ai mal à la tête
  I have a headache
• J'ai un problème
  I have a problem
• Il a une très belle petite amie
  He has a beautiful girlfriend
• Elle a un petit ami
  She has a boyfriend.

Now, in negative:

• Je n'ai pas mal à la tête 
  I don't have a headache
• Je n'ai aucun problème
  I don't have a problem
• Elle n'a pas de petit ami
  She doesn't have a boyfriend

Here's a reminder of how we form the negatives:

Remember that we don't always translate literally from one language to another. In the example below the two languages use different verbs:

• Ce n'est pas un problème pour moi.
  I don't have a problem with that.

dire - Say

Think of how many times a day you tell a friend of colleague what somebody else has said.

• Elle dit des choses tellement absurdes!
  She says such stupid things!
• Ils disent des choses tellement étranges!
  They say such strange things!

Some questions now:

• Qu'est ce qu'ils ont dit?
  What did they say?
• Qu'est ce que tu as dit?
  What did you say?
• Qui a dit cela / ça?
  Who said that?

For the following questions, we have two different forms, both equally correct:

• Pourquoi as-tu dit cela?
  Why did you say that?
• Pourquoi tu as dit ça?
  Why did you say that?

• Quand as-tu dit cela?
  When did you say that?
• Quand tu as dit ça?
  When did you say that?

• À qui as-tu dit ça?
  Who did you say that to?

• À qui tu as dit ça?
  Who did you say that to?

For loads more useful French questions, take a look at this lesson. 

aller - Go

Let's look first at a couple of questions:

• Où veux-tu aller?
  Where do you want to go?
• Quand veux-tu y aller?
  When do you want to go?

And now the imperative:

• Allons-y!
  Let's go!
• Ne pars pas!
  Don't go!

Some more examples:

• Allons manger quelque chose.
  We are going to have something to eat.
• Allons dans un bar.
  We are going to a bar.
• Elle va à l'université en autobus / en bus.
  She goes to university by bus.
• Il va travailler en train.
  He goes to work by train.

Faire - Make / Do

Another extremely common French verb:

• Elle a fait beaucoup de bruit.
  She made a lot of noise.
• Fais l'amour et pas la guerre.
  Make love not war.

Remember that the verb faire isn't used in as many situations as the English equivalent:

• Je n'ai pas commis d'erreur.
  I didn't make a mistake.
• J'ai préparé une tarte.
  I'll make a cake.
• Je n'ai pas fait de gâteau! / tarte. 
  I didn't make a cake!
• Il prépare une tasse de thé?
  Will he make a cup of tea? 
• Peux-tu me préparer une tasse de café?
  Can you make me a cup of tea?
• J'ai commis une erreur.
  I made a mistake.
• Il a commis beaucoup d´erreurs dans sa vie.
  He's made a lot of mistakes in his life.
• Je ne commets pas d'erreur.
  I don't make mistakes.

pouvoir - Can

Let's start with a couple of very useful questions:

• Peut tu m'aider? / Tu peux m´aider?
  Can you help me?
• Je peux t'aider?
  Can I help you?

Now on to phrases:

• Je peux le faire.
  I can do it.
• Je ne peux pas le faire.
  I can't do it.
• Je ne peux pas y croire.
  I can't believe it!
• Je ne peux pas le faire.
  I can't do it.
• Il ne peut pas parler français.
  He can't speak French.

We could also form that last sentence with different verbs:

• Il ne parle pas anglais
  He doesn't speak English.
• il ne sait pas parler anglais.
  He doesn't know how to speak English.

Some other stuff here