How to ask for directions in French
Asking the way in French takes one polite sentence. Following the answer — fast, joined-up, full of lefts and rights — is the part worth practising.
The scene
- Who you talk to
- A local passer-by stopped on the street. An AI character, speaking French.
- Your goal
- Say where you're trying to get to, follow the directions, and check you've understood them.
- How it opens
- “Bonjour, excusez-moi, je peux vous aider ? Vous avez l'air un peu perdu.”
Phrases to have ready
- Excusez-moi, vous pouvez m'aider ?Excuse me, can you help me?
- Je cherche la gare.I'm looking for the station.
- C'est loin d'ici ?Is it far from here?
- Donc, je vais tout droit et je tourne à gauche, c'est ça ?So I go straight and turn left, is that right?
What can go wrong
So no two conversations are the same, the character may bring in one of these, unprompted, once things are under way. This is exactly how the scene describes them to the character:
- The street the learner names has two branches with almost the same name; ask which one they mean.
- The direct route is closed for roadworks, so you have to explain a short detour.
- You are not actually sure of the last part of the way, and say so honestly.
- A bus goes by and you have to raise your voice or repeat part of what you said.
Open with a greeting, then the question
Even when stopping a stranger, French starts with a greeting: “Bonjour, excusez-moi…” or “Pardon, madame…”. Launching straight into “où est la gare ?” is understood but sounds abrupt. Strangers are vous, whatever their age.
In this scene the passer-by approaches you — “Bonjour, excusez-moi, je peux vous aider ? Vous avez l’air un peu perdu” — so your first job is to accept the help and say where you’re going: “Oui, merci, je cherche la gare” or “pour aller à la cathédrale, s’il vous plaît ?”.
The vocabulary of the answer
Directions in French lean on a small, fixed set of expressions: tout droit (straight on — careful, not “à droite”, which means right), à gauche / à droite (left / right), prenez la première à droite (take the first right), au bout de la rue (at the end of the street), au carrefour (at the junction), au feu (at the traffic lights), traversez (cross) and en face de (opposite).
The tout droit / à droite pair is the classic learner trap: the sounds are close, and the meanings are opposite in practice. Distances are usually given in time — “c’est à dix minutes à pied” — or by landmarks such as the pharmacy, the church or the métro entrance.
In Paris and other big cities, many directions run through the métro: “prenez la ligne 4, direction Porte de Clignancourt, et descendez à Châtelet”. Lines are named by number and by their final stop, so listen for “direction” followed by a place name — it tells you which platform, not where you are going.
Make sure you got it
Repeat the route back and finish with “c’est ça ?”: “Donc, je vais tout droit et je tourne à gauche au feu, c’est ça ?”. It turns a monologue into a conversation and gets you a second, slower pass through the directions.
Real directions change mid-sentence, and in this scene they can: roadworks (des travaux) and a detour (une déviation), two streets with confusingly similar names, a noisy bus that means you ask “pardon, vous pouvez répéter ?”, or a helper who admits they are not sure of the last part. “Merci beaucoup, bonne journée” closes the exchange however it went.