Introduction to Studying French

8/8/2019 Introduction to Studying French

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Introduction to StudyingFrench

Contents:

Lesson 1: Introducing yourself

Lesson 2: Basic Grammar

Lesson 3: Travelling

Lesson 4: Verbs

Lesson 5: Recreation

Lesson 6: Past Tense

Lesson 7: Family

Lesson 8: School

Lesson 9: Food and Drink

Lesson 10: Shopping

Lesson 11: The House


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Lesson 12: The Body

Lesson 1: Introducing yourself

Example Dialog 1

Two good friendsMarie and Jeanare meeting:

Marie: Salut Jean. a va ?Jean: a va bien, merci. Et toi, a va ?Marie: Pas mal.

Jean: Quoi de neuf ?Marie: Pas grand-chose.Marie: Au revoir Jean.

Jean: Au revoir, demain.

Vocabulary 1

bonjour, salut hello (formal), hi (informal)

a va ? how are you?a va bien I'm doing well

merci thank you

et toi ? et vous ? and you? (informal) and you? (formal)

pas mal not bad

quoi de neuf ? what's new with you?

pas grand-chose not much

au revoir bye

demain see you tomorrow

Example Dialog 2

Two personsMonsieur Bernard and Monsieur Lambertare meeting for the first time:

Monsieur Bernard: Bonjour. Comment vous appelez-vous ?


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Monsieur Lambert: Je m'appelle Jean-Paul Lambert. Et vous ?Monsieur Bernard: Moi, je suis Marc Bernard. Enchant.Monsieur Lambert: Enchant.

Vocabulary 2

bonjour hello; good daycomment vous appelez-vous ? what is your name? (formal)

e m'appelle my name is

vous you (formal)

moi me

e suis I am

enchant(e) enchanted; nice to meet you

Notes

Technically, "vous" is a plural form of "you". English doesn't have a singular andplural/formal version of "you" (although "thou" used to be the singular version in the daysof Shakespeare). In colloquial English, this would be the equivalent of "y'all" (in someAmerican English dialects) or "you guys". However, in formal occasions, "vous" is used as asingular "you".


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Lesson 2: Basic Grammar

Grammar: Gender of Nouns

In French, all nouns are masculine or feminine.

Most nouns that express entities with gender (people and animals) use both a feminine

form and a masculine form (e.g., acteur (m.), actrice (f.)).

The nouns that express entities without gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) haveonly one form. This form can be masculine or feminine.

There are some nouns that express entities with gender for which there is only one form,which is used regardless of the actual gender of the entity (e.g., personne (always f.),professeur (always m.)).

Examples:

Masculine

le cheval the horse

le chien the dog

le l ivre the book

le bruit the noise

Some endings that are usually used with masculine nouns are:

-

agele fromage

the

cheese

-rle the


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professeur teacher

-t le chat the cat

Feminine

la colombe the dove

la chemise the shirt

la maison the house

la libert liberty

Some endings that are usually used with feminine nouns are:

-iela

boulangeriethe bakery

-ion la nation the nation

-

ite/-it

la fraternit brotherhood

Grammar: Definite and Indefinite Articles

The Definite Article

In English, the definite article is always the.

In French, the definite article is different, depending on whether the noun is feminine,masculine, singular, or plural, as well as whether the noun begins with a vowel (a, e,i, o, u, or silent h).

singular feminine la la fillethe


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daughter

masculine le le fils the son

singular, starting with a

vowel sound l lenfant the child

plural les

les

filles

the

daughters

les fils the sons

The Indefinite Article

In English, the indefinite articles are "a" and "an" (both singular, there being no pluralindefinite articleyou'd say "articles", not "an articles").

In French, there are different forms for feminine, masculine, singular, and plural indefinitearticles.

singular

feminine une une fille a daughter

masculine un un fils a son

plural des

des filles daughters

des fils sons

Grammar: Subject pronouns

French has six different types of pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural.

1stsingularje I


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person plural nous we

2nd

person

singular tu you

plural vous you

3rd

person

singularil, elle,

onhe, she, one

pluralils,

elles

they (masculine), they

(feminine)

When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, vous must be used. Whenreferring to a single person, vous or tu may be used; vous is used to show respect

(e.g., to a teacher) or formality (e.g., between businessmen), while tu is used informally(e.g., between friends).

When using the 3rd person plural and referring to a group of both males and females, themale form is used.

In everyday language, on is used, instead of nous, to express we; the verb is alwaysused in the 3rd person singular. For example, (colloqial) On se rencontre au cinma septheures. (cf. (formal) Nous nous rencontrons au cinma sept heures.)

Grammar: The verb tre

tre can be translated to to be. Here, we will look at the conjugations in thepresentindicative. There is one conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns.(For allconjugations shown in this book, the il conjugation is the same as the elleconjugation, and the ils conjugation is the same as the elles conjugation.)

tre

1st person

singular (je) suis

plural (nous) sommes

2nd person

singular (tu) es

plural (vous) tes

3rd person

singular (il/elle/on) est

plural (ils/elles) sont


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Examples

Je suis avocat. I am (a) lawyer.

Tu es la banque. You are at the bank.

Il est beau. He is handsome.


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Lesson 3: Travelling

Vocabulary: Nationalities

In general, nationalities work just like regular adjectives: they have to match the noun ofthe sentence in terms of gender and singular/plural. In French, the nationalities are notcapitalized.

Here is a list of nationalities:

Masculine Feminine English

allemand allemande German

amricain amricaine American

anglais anglaise English

australien

australienne

Australian

belge belge Belgian

canadien canadienne Canadian

chinois chinoise Chinese

coren corenne Korean

espagnol espagnole Spanish

franais franaise French

indien indienne Indian

italien italienne Italian


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japonais japonaise Japanese

mauricien mauricienne Mauritian

nerlandais nerlandaise Dutch

portugais portugaise Portuguese

sudois sudoise Swedish

suisse suisse Swiss

Vocabulary: Traveling

il y a there is, there are

laroport airport

lautobus bus

lavion aircraft, airplane

les bagages baggage

le billet ticket (for train, airplane)

le mtro subway, underground

la poste post office

le taxi taxi

le ticket ticket (for bus, mtro)

le train train

la valise suitcase


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la voiture car

Vocabulary: Colors

Masculine Feminine English

blanc blanche white

gris grise gray

noir noire black

rouge rouge red

orange orange orange

jaune jaune yellow

vert verte green

bleu bleue blue

violet violette violet

marron marronbrown (everything

but hair)

brun brune brown (hair)

rose rose pink

Vocabulary: Numbers 0100

0 zro 10 dix 20 vingt 30 trente

1 un(e) 11 onze 21 vingt et un(e) 31 trente et un(e)

2 deux 12 douze 22 vingt-deux 32 trente-deux

3 trois 13 treize 23 vingt-trois 40 quarante

4 quatre 14 quatorze 24 vingt-quatre 50 cinquante


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5 cinq 15 quinze 25 vingt-cinq 60 soixante

6 six 16 seize 26 vingt-six 70 soixante-dix

7 sept 17 dix-sept 27 vingt-sept 71 soixante et onze

8 huit 18 dix-huit 28 vingt-huit 72 soixante-douze

9 neuf 19 dix-neuf 29 vingt-neuf 73 soixante-treize

80 quatre-vingts

BUT: quatre-vingt un

90 quatre-vingt-dix

91 quatre-vingt-onze

92 quatre-vingt-douze

93 quatre-vingt-treize

100 cent(s)

Listen:Numbers from 0 to 9 (ogg)

Belgian and Swiss French use septante in place of soixante-dix, which makes septanteet un(e), etc., and nonante in place of quatre-vingt-dix, which makes nonante etun(e), etc.

Vocabulary: Time

In French, il est is used to express the time; though it would literally translate as he is,it is actually, in this case, equivalent to it is. Unlike in English, it is always important touse heures (hours) when referring to the time. In English, it is OK to say, Its nine,but this wouldnt make sense in French.

Quelle heure est-il ? What time is it?

Il est une heure. It is one oclock.

Il est trois heures. It is three oclock.

Il est dix heures. It is ten oclock.

Il est midi. It is noon.

Il est minuit. It is midnight.

Il est quatre heures cinq. It is five past four.

Il est quatre heures et quart. It is a quarter past four.

Il est quatre heures quinze. It is four fifteen.

Il est quatre heures et demie. It is half past four.
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Il est quatre heures trente. It is four thirty.

Il est quatre heures quarante. It is four forty.

Vocabulary: Days

Quel jour sommes-nous aujourdhui ? What day is it?

Nous sommes... It is...

lundi Monday

mardi Tuesday

mercredi Wednesday

jeudi Thursday

vendredi Friday

samedi Saturday

dimanche Sunday

hier yesterday

aujourdhui today

demain tomorrow

Notes:

Quel jour est-il ?is equivalent to Quel jour sommes-nous ?.Quel jour est-il ?can be answered withIl est... .Nous sommes... andIl est... are, of course, not used with hier, aujourdhui,or demain.


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Lesson 4: Verbs

Grammar- Regular Verbs

French has three different types of regular verbs: -er, -ir, and -re verbs. To conjugate, dropthe -er, -ir, or -re to find the "stem" or "root". Add endings to the root based on the subjectand tense, as demonstrated below for the present tense. Conjugations forjouer(toplay), finir(to finish), and attendre (to wait) are shown as examples.

-er verbs

je -e joue

tu -es joues

il -e joue

nous -ons jouons

vous -ez jouez

ils -ent jouent

-ir verbs

je -is finis

tu -is finis

il -i fini

nous -issons finissons

vous -issez finissez

ils -issent finissent

-re verbs

je (j') -s attends

tu -s attends

il - attend

nous -ons attendons

vous -ez attendez

ils -ent attendent

Note: In all conjugations,je changes toj' when followed by a vowel. Example: J'attends.Also, as a rule of thumb: "h" is considered a vowel; as in "J'habite...".


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Grammar- Faire The verb faire is translated to to do or to make. It is irregularly conjugated (it does notcount as a regular -re verb) as follows:

faire

je fais

tu fais

il fait

nous faisons

vous faites

ils font

The third person form offaire (il fait) can also be used to describe weather conditions asfollows (This form is called impersonal form):

Il fait beau. The weather is nice.

Il fait mauvais. The weather is bad.

Il fait chaud. It is hot.

Il fait froid. It is cold.

Il fait frais. It is cool.

Il fait humide. It is wet.

Il fait sec. It is dry.

Grammar - Avoir

The verb avoirtranslates to to have. It is not a regular -ir verb; it is irregularly conjugated.

avoir

j' ai

tu as

il a

nous avons

vous avez

ils ont


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Lesson 5: Recreation

Example Dialog

Here is a short dialog about people planning/doing leisure activities. Besides the newvocabulary you should also have a look at how the verbs are conjugated depending on thesubject of the sentence.

Jean-Paul : Qu'est-ce que vous faites ?Marc et Paul : Nous jouons au tennis.Marie : Je finis mes devoirs.Michel : J'attends mon ami.Pierre : Je vais au parc.

Christophe : Je viens du stade.

Vocabulary for Dialog

Qu'est-ce que vous faites ? What are you doing?

faire to do

jouer to play

finir to finish

(mes) devoirs (my) homework

attendre to wait (for)

(mon) ami(e) (my) friend

aller to go

le parc park

venir to come

le stade stadium

Grammar - and De The preposition can indicate a destination, a location, a characteristic, measurement, apoint in time, purpose, and several other things which will be covered later.

When le follows , the and le combine into au. Similarly, and les combine into aux.

The preposition de can indicate an origin, contents, possession, cause, manner, and severalother things which will be covered later.

When le follows de, the de and le combine into du. Similarly, de and les combine into des.


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Grammar - A ller The verb alleris translated to to go. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as aregular -er verb) as follows:

aller

je vais

tu vas

il va

nous allons

vous allez

ils vont

Alleris used with the preposition . Example:Je vais au stade .

Grammar - Venir

The verb veniris translated to to come. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as aregular -ir verb) as follows:

venir

je viens

tu viens

il vient

nous venons

vous venez

ils viennent

When it means to come from , veniris used with the preposition de. Example: Nous venonsdu stade.

You can also use venirwith a verb to state that you have recently accomplished an action.Example: Je viens de finir mes devoirs (I just now finished my homework).

Vocabulary - Placesla bibliothque library (caution: a librairie is a bookshop)

le parc park

la piscine swimming pool

la plage beach

le restaurant restaurant

la salle de concert concert hall


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le stade stadium

le thtre theater

Grammar - Jouer

The verbjoueris a regular -er verb meaning to play. It can be used to refer to both sportsand instruments.

When referring to sports, usejouer , but when referring to instruments, usejouer de...

As always,jouermust be conjugated rather than left in the infinitive.

jouer ()

au baseball baseball

au basket basketball

au foot soccer

au football amricain American football

au golf golf

au tennis tennis

au volley volleyball

aux cartes cards

aux dames checkers/ draughts

aux checs chess

jouer (de)

de la clarinette clarinet

du piano piano

de la batterie drums (singular in French)

du violon violin

de la guitare guitar


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Lesson 6: Past Tense

Grammar - Past Tense

Pass compos,pass simple, imparfaitandplus-que-parfaitare the four most commonpast tenses in French, thoughpass simpleis used in writing only.

Pass compos

It is a compound tense--it has two parts. The first is the auxiliary verb, the second isthepast participle. Every verb has one past participle that does not change (there are someexceptions, as one will learn later).

There are two auxiliary verbs: avoirand tre. One must only conjugate the proper auxiliary,and then merely add on the past participle.

To find the past participle, the stem of the infinitive must be determined. To do so, drop the-er, -ir, -oir or -re, as usual. Then, add an ending as shown in the following table:

Example Verb Remove Ending Add Ending Example P. Part

ouer -er - ou

finir -ir -i fini

vouloir -oir -u voulu

attendre -re -u attendu

However, the verbs avoir, tre, and faire have irregular past participles.

verb P. Part.

avoir eu

tre t

faire fait

Most verbs form thepass compos with avoir, however there are a small number of verbsthat are always conjugated with tre. The most common are:

verb example

aller Je suis all au cinma.

venir Il est venu chez nous.

arriver Le train est arriv.

partir Elle est partie travailler.

rester Je suis rest la maison.


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retourner Il est retourn au restaurant.

tomber Je suis tomb dans la piscine.

natre Je suis n en octobre.

mourir Il est mort en 1917.

passer Il est pass devant la maison.monter Je suis mont au sommet.

descendre Il est descendu du train.

sortir Je suis sorti avec des amies.

entrer Je suis entr dans ma chambre.

rentre Il est rentr tt de l'cole.[edit]

Pass simple

Unlike English, there is a literary past tense, used when writing formally. This past tense isnamed thepass simple. It is relatively simple to predict when to use this tense; for everyoccurrence of thepass compos in conversational French, one simply uses thepass

simple in literary French.

To conjugate in this tense, one finds the stem and appends the following, as according tothe table:

Subject Add Ending Conjugated Verb

Je -ai dansai

Tu -as dansas

Il / Elle / On -a dansa

Nous -mes dansmes

Vous -tes danstes

Ils / Elles -rent dansrent[edit]

Imparfait

In order to congugate the imperfect,

take the 1st person plural of the verb you want to conjugate:

jouer (to play)

singular plural
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1st person je joue nous jouons

2nd person tu joues vous jouez

3rd person il joue ils jouent

Remove the -ons ending to find the stem, and add these endings:

subject endingjouer (nous jouons) finir (nous finissons) attendre (nous attendons)

je -ais jouais finissais attendais

tu -ais jouais finissais attendais

il/elle/on -ait jouait finissait attendait

nous -ions jouions finissions attendions

vous -iez jouiez finissiez attendiez

ils/elles/ -aient jouaient finissaient attendaient

[edit]

Plus-que-parfait

Theplus-que-parfaitis used when there are two occurrences in the past and one wants tosymbolise that one occurrence happened before the other. In English, this is used in aphrase like "I had given him the toy before he went to sleep." In this example, there are

two past tenses, but they occur at different times. The plus-que-parfaitcan be used toindicate the occurrence of one before the other.

In French, theplus-que-parfaitis formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb inthe imparfaitand adding the past participle. So to conjugateje mange (I eat) in theplus-que-parfait, one finds the appropriate auxiliary verb (avoir), conjugates it (avais) and findsthe past participle ofmanger(mang). So, the conjugation ofJe mange in theplus-que-

parfaitbecomesj'avais mang or, in English,I had eaten.

[edit]


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Examples

J'ai parl franais. I spoke French (on one particular occasion).

Je parlais franais.I spoke French (during a period of time, and I don't speak French anymore).

Nous avons russil'examen.

We passed the test.

Il a t mon ami. He was my friend (and he is not my friend any more)

Il tait mon ami lorsque... He was my friend when . . .

Ils ont fait leurs devoirs. They did their homework.

Il est venu. He came (and I don't need to say when)

Il vint le lendemain. He came the day after.

Il venait tous les jours. He came/used to come every day.

Il tait dj venu. He had already come.[edit]Grammar - Object Pronouns

[edit]

Direct Objects

While the subject of a sentence initiates an action (the verb), the direct object is the onethat is affected by the action. A direct object pronoun is used to refer to the direct object ofa previous sentence:

Pierre mange du pain. Pierre eats some bread.Pierre le mange. Pierre eats it.

The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:

me/ m' me

te/ t' you

le/ l' he, it

la/ l' she, it

nous usvous you

les them

Notes:

The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.


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The direct object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.[edit]

Indirect Objects

An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom...?or From whom...?.It is called indirect because it occurs usually together with a direct object which is affecteddirectly by the action:

L'homme donne du pain Pierre. The man gives some bread to Pierre.

Il lui donne du pain. He gives bread to him.

The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:

me/ m' me

te/ t' yoului he, she, it

nous us

vous you

leur them

Notes:

The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.The direct object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.

The bread is given by the man (direct). Pierregets the given apple (indirect).
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Lesson 7: Family

Vocabulary - The Family

les parents parents

le pre father

la mre mother

le frre brother

la soeur sister

les enfants children

le fils son

la fille daughter

les grand-parents grandparents

le grand-pre grandfather

la grand-mre grandmother

les petits-enfants grandchildren

le petit-fils grandson

la petite-fille granddaughter

l'oncle uncle

la tante aunt

le neveu nephew

la nice niece

le cousin cousin (m)

la cousine cousin (f)

le mari husband

la femme wife


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Lesson 8: School

Grammar - Negation

In order to say that one did notdo something, the ne ... pas construction must be used.The ne is placed before the verb, while thepas is placed after.

Examples

Il est avocat. He is [a] lawyer.

Il n'est pas avocat. He is not [a] lawyer.

Nous faisons nos devoirs. We do our homework.

Nous ne faisons pas nos devoirs. We do not do our homework.

Je joue du piano. I play the piano.

Je ne joue pas du piano. I do not play the piano.

Vous vendez votre voiture. You sell your car.

Vous ne vendez pas votre voiture. You do not sell your car.

When negating with the indefinite article (un, une), the indefinite article changes to de.

Examples

Il a une pomme. He has an apple.Il n'a pas de pomme. He does not have an apple.

Nous lisons un livre. We read a book.

Nous ne lisons pas de livre. We do not read a book.

Je mange une cerise. I eat a cherry.

Je ne mange pas de cerise. I do not eat a cherry.

When negating in thepass compos, the ne ... pas (in this case, n'... pas) are placedaround the auxilary avoir.

Vocabulary - School

le professeur teacher

l'tudiant student (m)

l'tudiante student (f)

le stylo pen


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le crayon pencil

la calculatrice calculator

le pupitre desk

le tableau chalkboard

la craie chalk

le livre book

le cahier notebook

le papier paper

la feuille de papier sheet of paper

l'cole (f) school

le collge high school (grades 6-9)

le lyce high school (grades 10-12)

l'universit (f) university

la bibliothque library

l'examen (m) test

les devoirs homework

la classe class

intelligent intelligent

stupide stupid

Note:The wordprofesseuris considered masculine at all times, even if the teacher isfemale.


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Lesson 9: Food and Drink

General

la cuisine kitchen

la salle manger dining room

le restaurant restaurant

avoir faim to be hungry

avoir soif to be thirsty

manger to eat

boire to drink

prendre to take

vouloir to want

le repas the meal

le petit-djeuner breakfast

le djeuner lunch

le dner dinner

Belgian French has an of by one behaviour with meals : breakfast is called djeuner, lunch

is called dnerand dinner issouper.Fruits and Vegetables

les fruits fruits

la banane banana

la cerise cherry

le citron lemon

la fraise strawberry

l'orange (f) orange

la pomme apple

le raisin grape

les lgumes vegetables

la carotte carrot

les pinards spinach


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l'oignon (m) onion

les petits pois peas

la pomme de terre potato

la tomate tomato

Meat and Seafood

la viande meat

l'agneau lamb

la dinde turkey

le jambon ham

le porc pork

le poulet chicken

le boeuf beef

le saucisson sausage

le poisson fish

les anchois anchovies

le saumon salmon

Dairy Products

les produits laitiers dairy products

le beurre butter

le fromage cheese

le lait milk

le yaourt/le yoghurt yogurt

Drinks

les boissons drinks

la bire beer

le caf coffee

le chocolat chaud hot chocolate

la limonade lemonade

l'eau (f) water

le jus juice

le jus d'orange orange juice

le jus de pomme apple juice

le jus de raisin grape juice

le th tea


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le vin wine

Desserts

le dessert dessert

le bonbon candy

le chocolat chocolate

le gteau cake

la glace ice cream

la mousse mousse

la tarte pie

Other Foods

la confiture jam

les frites French fries

la mayonnaise mayonnaise

la moutarde mustard

le pain bread

le poivre pepper

le riz rice

le sel salt

le sucre sugar

Silverware, Etc.

l'assiette (f) plate

le bol bowl

le couteau knife

la cuillre spoon

la fourchette fork

la serviette napkin

la tasse cup

le verre glass

Grammar - Manger

The verb mangeris translated to to eat. It is a regular -er verb that isstem changing. Stemchanging verbs have slight changes in the stem, but use endings employed in conjugatingother regular verbs.

For mangerand all other regular -ger verbs, the stem change is adding an e after theg. Thisonly applies in the nous form. In this case, the change is made to preserve thesoftg pronunciation rather than the hard g that would be present if the e were not


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included.

manger

je mange

tu manges

il mange

nous mangeons

vous mangez

ils mangent

Grammar - Bo ire

The verb boire is translated to to drink. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as aregular -re verb) as follows:

boire

je bois

tu bois

il boit

nous buvons

vous buvez

ils boivent

The irregular past participle for boire is bu.

Grammar - Vouloir

The verb vouloiris translated to to want. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as aregular -ir verb) as follows:

vouloir

je veux

tu veux

il veut

nous voulons

vous voulez

ils veulent

Grammar - Partitive Article

The partitive article de indicates, among other things, the wordsome. As learntearlier, de and le contract (combine) into du, as deand les contract into des. Also, insteadofdu or de la, de l'is used in front of vowels.


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When speaking about food, the partitive article is used at some times while the definitearticle (le, la, les) is used at other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet anotherset of situations.

When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:

J'aime la glace. I like ice cream.

Nous prfrons le steak. We prefer steak.

Vous aimez les frites You like French fries.

When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use ofeach article.

Def. Art.Specific and whole

items.J'ai mang la tarte.

I ate the (whole)

pie.

Ind. Art. A known quantity.J'ai mang une

tarte.I ate a pie.

Part.Art.

An unknown quantity. J'ai mang de latarte.

I ate some pie.

In the negative construction, certain rules apply. As one has learnt in a previouslesson, un or une changes to de (meaning, in this context, any) in a negative construction.Similarly, du, de la, or des change to de in negative constructions.

Nous avons mang une tarte. We ate a pie.

Nous n'avons pas mang de

tarte.

We did not eat a pie/ We did not eat any

pie.

Nous avons mang de la tarte. We ate some pie.

Nous n'avons pas mang detarte.

We did not eat some pie/ We did not eat anypie.


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Lesson 9: Shopping

Vocabulary - Shopping

faire les courses do the shopping

acheter to buy

vendre to sell

payer to pay

le magasin shop; store

la boucherie butcher's shop

la boulangerie bakery

la charcuterie pork shopl'picerie grocery

le march outdoor market

la ptisserie pastry shop

la pharmacie pharmacy

Grammar - Acheter

The verb achetertranslates to to buy. It is a regular -er verb, but, like manger, it is stemchanging. Unlike manger, the stem change applies to all forms exceptnous and vous. Thestem change, which applies in all verbs with an e in the second-to-last syllable, involvesadding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem, as shown in the following table:

acheter

j' achte

tu achtes

il achte

nous achetons

vous achetez

ils achtent

Grammar - Payer

The verbpayertranslates to to pay. It is a regular -er verb, but, it is also stem changing.Like acheter, the stem change applies to all forms exceptnous and vous. The stem change,which applies in all verbs ending in -yer, involves changing the yto an i, as shown in thefollowing table:

payer


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je paie

tu paies

il paie

nous payons

vous payez

ils paient

Grammar - Vendre

The verb vendre is a regular -re verb:

vendre

je vends

tu vends

il vend

nous vendons

vous vendez

ils vendent

Practise Conversations

Let's practise some of these words and verbs in some everyday shopping talk:

1. la boulangerie (At the bakery)

Bernard (le boulanger) : Bonjour madame

Camille (la cliente) : Bonjour monsieur

Bernard : Qu'est-ce que vous voulez ?

Camille :Je voudrais acheter une baguette, s'il vous plat

Bernard : C'est tout ?

Camille : Non, je voudrais deux croissants aussi

Bernard : Trs bien - a fait deux euros, s'il vous plat

Camille : Merci beaucoup

Useful vocabulary here:

"Qu'est-ce que vous voulez ?" - What would you like?

"Je voudrais..." - I would like . . .


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"C'est tout ?" - Is that all?

"a fait deux euros" - That'll be two euros

Remember your verb - acheter (to buy).

2.Au march (At the market)

Marie (la marchande) : Bonjour monsieur

Clment (le client) : Bonjour madame

Clment : Qu'est-ce que vous avez vendre ?

Marie :J'ai un grand choix de fruits et lgumes

Clment : Trs bien. Est-ce que vous avez des cerises ?

Marie : Oui... elles cotent deux euros le kilo

Clment : Bon, je voudrais trois kilos, s'il vous plat

Marie : Trs bien, monsieur. Alors, pour trois kilos il faut payer six euros, s'il vous plat.

Useful vocabulary here:

"Qu'est-ce que vous avez... ?" - What do you have?

"Un grand choix" - A large range

"Des cerises" - Some cherries

"Elles cotent deux euros le kilo" - They (feminine) cost two euros per kilo

"Il faut" - One must/You need to

Remember your verbs - vendre (to sell) and payer (to pay).


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Lesson 11: The House

Vocabulary pertaining to the household: French English

La maison House/Home

La pice Room

Le plafond Ceiling

Le sol Ground

La cave Basement

Le grenier Attic

La cuisine KitchenLa salle manger Dining room

La salle de bain Bathroom

La chambre coucher Bedroom

Les toilettes (f) (no singular) Water-closet

La porte Door

La fentre Window

Le toit Roof

Le mur Wall

L'escalier (m) Stair

L'tage (m) Level

Le rideau Curtain

La chaise Chair

La table Table

L'armoire (f) Cupboard

Le lit Bed

Le tapis Carpet


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Lesson 11: The Body

Here is the vocabulary to speak about body parts : French English

La tte Head

Le corps Body

Le bras Arm

La jambe Leg

La poitrine Chest

Le ventre Belly

L'paule (f) ShoulderLe coude Elbow

Le poignet Wrist

La main Hand

Le doigt Finger

Le genou Knee

Le pied Foot

L'orteil (m) Toe

L'oeil (m) (pl. les yeux) Eye

La bouche Mouth

La dent Tooth

Le nez Nose

L'oreille (f) Ear

Le cou Neck

La langue Tongue

Les cheveux Hair

L'ongle (m) Nail

Le poumon LungL'estomac (m) Stomach

Le coeur Heart

Le foie Liver

L'instestin (m) Intestine

L'os (m) Bone


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Le crne Skull

Le muscle Muscle

Le cerveau Brain

La rate Spleen

And here is the vocabulary for body positions :

French English

Debout Standing

Assis Seating

Couch Laying down

genoux Kneeling

Accroupi Squatted

Introduction to Studying French

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