This lesson is brought to you by the letter Z. Why the letter Z? Because few French nouns contain the letter Z. On the other hand, most verbs do, which is a handy thing to know when playing French Scrabble, as the letter Z is a high-scoring letter. 

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Almost all verbs in the second-person plural vous (you) end in -ez, as in vous savez (you know). What’s more, this is the case in pretty much all moods and tenses.

In the present tense:

Et toujours, vous savez, la langue est toujours liée à la culture.

And always, you know, a language is always tied to its culture.

Caption 42, Allons en France Pourquoi apprendre le français?

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In the imperfect tense: 

Le saviez-vous?

Did you know?

Caption 1, Le saviez-vous? L'art culinaire français

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In the future tense:

Maintenant vous saurez que à chaque fois que vous entendez un verbe qui se termine par le son "é", c'est un verbe du premier groupe

Now you will know that each time you hear a verb that ends with the sound "é," it's a first-group verb

Captions 42-45, Le saviez-vous? Les verbes du 1er groupe

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In the conditional mood:

Sauriez-vous jouer au Scrabble en français?

Could you play French Scrabble?

While most verbs conjugated with vous (you) end in -ez, there are not as many nouns ending in Z. But a few of them are very commonly used, such as chez (at/to the home of), le riz (rice), le nez (nose), le raz-de-marée (tidal wave), and le rez-de-chaussée (ground floor):

Bienvenue chez moi

Welcome to my home

Caption 7, Stromae Bienvenue chez moi

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Elles mangent du riz.

They  are eating rice.

Caption 28, Farid et Hiziya Boire et manger

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ce Milanais qui vous peignait une courgette en guise de nez

this Milanese man who painted you a zucchini as a nose

Captions 23-24, d'Art d'Art "Les quatre saisons" - Arcimboldo

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Mieux encore, les racines des palétuviers amortissent les effets des raz-de-marée et des fameux tsunamis.

Better still, the mangrove roots absorb the impact of tidal waves and notorious tsunamis.

Captions 19-20, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 9. Les écosystèmes - Part 7

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J'habite au rez-de-chaussée, donc je n'ai pas besoin de monter les escaliers.

I live on the ground floor, so I don't need to go up the stairs.

Caption 6, Joanna Son appartement

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As you can hear in the examples above, Z at the end of a word is almost always silent in French. So then why do we pronounce the Z in gaz (gas), for example? That’s because it's usually pronounced in words of foreign origin:

Factures: téléphone, gaz, électricité.

Bills: telephone, gas, electricity.

Caption 30, Extr@ Ep. 1 - L'arrivée de Sam - Part 1

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Le français a une bande passante qui fait mille, deux mille hertz

French has a bandwidth that measures one thousand, two thousand hertz

Caption 34, Lionel Langue sous hypnose

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When Z comes at the beginning or in the middle of a word, it is always sounded just as it is in English. Here are a couple of interjections starting with Z:

Allez, zou!

Come on, let's go!

Caption 111, Claire et Philippe La campagne

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Je pourrais dire "zut" aussi.

I could also say "zut" [darn].

Caption 8, Le saviez-vous? Les expressions inspirées de la musique - Part 2

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You'll also find the letter Z in certain numerals, such as quinze (fifteen), seize (sixteen), and zéro (zero): 

Et voilà, me voilà parée pour,  sortir par, moins zéro, moins quinze degrés.

And there we have it, here I am dressed to go out in below zero, negative fifteen degrees.

Caption 14, Fanny parle des saisons S'habiller en hiver

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Now that you’ve zipped through this lesson, we trust that you will apply this newfound knowledge with le zeste (zest) and le zèle (zeal)!

The latest episode of Le Jour où tout a basculé begins with a homeless man asking pedestrians for une petite pièce, which is not "a little piece," but rather "a small coin" or "some small change":

Monsieur, s'il vous plaît, une petite pièce, un petit ticket restaurant.

Sir, please, a small coin, a small restaurant voucher.

Caption 30, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion - Part 1

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Vous n'auriez pas une petite pièce?

You wouldn't have some small change?

Caption 35, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mon père s'oppose à ma passion - Part 1

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Une pièce is short for une pièce de monnaie, "a piece of change." Monnaie is where we get the English word "money" (l'argent in French), but it actually means "change" or "currency":

Nous allons récupérer de la monnaie.

We're going to retrieve some change.

Caption 50, Lionel - Voyage en train - Part 1

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Une pièce can also be short for une pièce de théâtre ("a theater piece"), that is, "a play":

En général, on prenait la pièce d'un auteur connu.

We usually picked a play from a well-known author.

Caption 33, Flora - et le théâtre

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And its meanings don't stop there. Une pièce is also "a room," which you might think of as a "piece" of a building:

Mais venez avec moi, dans l'autre pièce.

But come with me into the other room.

Caption 25, Il était une fois - Notre Terre - 9. Les écosystèmes - Part 7

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Sometimes, une pièce is just a plain old "piece," whether referring to a piece or part of something else:

Ce puzzle a cinq cents pièces. 
This puzzle has five hundred pieces.

J'ai besoin d'une pièce détachée pour mon vélo. 
I need a spare part for my bike. 

Or referring to an item or object, such as a piece of art or an article of clothing:

Ici, chaque pièce "d'art de la table" est unique.

Here, every piece of "table art" is unique.

Caption 9, Canal 32 - Mesnil-Saint-Loup : moines artisans

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Alors que c'est un ciré de création en pièce unique, quoi.

Although it's a unique piece, a designer raincoat, you know.

Caption 27, Lyon - La Croix-Rousse - Part 2

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

You might also see pièce used as an adverb, generally when referencing the price of something. In this case it means "each" or, in a more direct translation, "apiece": 

Les livres d'occasion coûtent un euro pièce. 
The used books cost one euro each [or: apiece]. 

For even more pieces of information about the word pièce, see this extensive Larousse entry.