Use en train, en bus and en voiture for common transport, but à vélo and à pied. Timetables use twenty-four-hour readings: neuf heures douze, dix-sept heures quarante. A return ticket is un aller-retour.

Our and our (plural)

Use notre with one singular noun: notre plan, notre carte, notre train. Use nos with plural nouns: nos billets, nos pommes.

Like mon/ma/mes and votre/vos, these words agree with the thing owned, not with the owner. So notre maison is singular because maison is singular, and nos amis is plural because amis is plural.

French often uses these words in everyday talk about shared things: notre café, notre ville, nos places. They are very frequent and worth learning early.

At this level, the most useful contrast is simple: one thing = notre; more than one thing = nos.

• Voilà notre plan B.Here is our plan B.

• Où sont nos billets ?Where are our tickets?

• Le lac, c'est notre idée pour dimanche.The lake is our idea for Sunday.

• Voici nos pommes de terre et notre fromage.Here are our potatoes and our cheese.

• Karim et Hélène aiment leur magasin.Karim and Hélène like their shop.

• Lukas, où est notre carte ?Lukas, where is our map?

• Lena, ce sont nos places dans le train ?Lena, are these our seats in the train?

• Zoé a sa carte, et nous avons notre carte.Zoé has her map, and we have our map.