BLP os FRENCH a a BEGINNER’S LANGUAGE COURSEhugo in3 tate _FRENCH Ronald Overy and Jacqueline LesLONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH, MELBOURNE, AND DELHI This edition first published in Great Britain in 2003 by Dorling Kindersley Limited, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL. First published in Great Britain by Hugo's Language Books Limited, 1987 Copyright © 1987, 1997, 2003 Dorling Kindersley Limited ‘A Penguin Company 6810975 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. ACIP catalogue record is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 40530 100 7 Hugo French In Three Months is also available in ‘pack with three CDs, ISBN 0 7513 6991 8 ‘Written by Ronald Overy FILL. Formerly Senior Lecturer at ‘The Language Centre, South Bank Polytechnic, London. and Jacqueline Lecanuet L. &s L., PG Dip. Ling. Formerly Principal Lecturer in French at ‘The School of International Business and Languages, South Bank University, London Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Product LTD ‘see our complete catalogue at www.dk.com Preface ‘Hugo French in Three Months has been written by two lecturers whose combined experience in teaching French ranges from beginners to post-graduate level. Both authors taught at the South Bank Polytechnic, now the South Bank University, where Jacqueline Lecanuet was Principal Lecturer in French. She is a graduate of Caen, and Lille Universities and holds a post-graduate diploma in linguistics. This edition is dedicated to the memory of her husband Ronald Overy, an inspired teacher and author of textbooks in French, Spanish and Russian, who died five years ago. The book begins with an explanation of French pronunciation, as far as this is possible in print. If you hhave bought this book together with accompanying CDs, these will enable you swiltly to pick up the distinctive sounds of the French language. If not, referring to our system of ‘imitated pronunciation’ will aso help you learn to pronounce French accurately and understand it when spoken, Ithas always been a principle of the Hugo method to teach only what is really essential. We assume that the student wants to learn French from a practical angle: the lessons contain those rules of grammar that will be ‘of most use in this respect. Constructions are clearly explained, and the order in which everything is presented takes into consideration the need for rapid progress. Each week’s work includes a large number of exercises and the vocabulary introduced is both practical and up-to-date. Often, in addition to testing a grammatical point, an exercise will include a specific vocabulary, for ‘example: Exercise 45 deals with relative pronouns and the hotel, Exercise 67 with the subjunctive and space travel. The conversations offer examples of everyday French and frequently contain a touch of humour, ‘The course finishes with a short selection of reading passages illustrating both literary and journalistic styles, all with an English translation. It is important to remember, however, that idiomatic language cannot PREFACEbe translated literally without the occasional appearance ‘of some rather stilted phrases. Ideally, you should spend about an hour a day on your work, although there is no hard and fast rule on this. Do as much as you feel capable of doing: if you have no special aptitude for language-learning, there is no point in forcing yourself beyond your daily capacity to assimilate new material, tis much better to learn a little at a time, and to learn that thoroughly. Before beginning a new section, always spend ten minutes revising what you learnt the day before. Then. read each rule or numbered section carefully and re-read, it to ensure that you have fully understood the grammar, also listening to the CD 10 pick up the pronunciation of sample sentences and new vocabulary. If you find you ‘are making too many mistakes in the exercises, go back over the section before attempting the same questions again, After you have listened to the Conversations, read them aloud and see how closely you can imitate the voices on the recording. When the course is completed, you should have a very good understanding of the language ~ more than sufficient for general holiday or business purposes, and ‘enough to lead quickly into an examination syllabus if this is your eventual aim, Remember that it fs important to continue expanding your vocabulary through reading or through watching French films, and best of all, through visiting the country. We hope you will enjoy Hugo French in Three Months, and we wish you suecess with your studies. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Contents Pronunciation z Week 1 B Aticles: the, a, an, some Gender of nouns Plural of nouns Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, etc ‘Addressing people ‘Avot’ (10 have’) The negative Vocabulary, exercises & ‘conversation Week 2___24 ue (10 be) Adjectives Regular ves ending in-er Asking questions Numbers Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Week 3 35 Regular verbs ending ina Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those Useful expressions using ‘avoir’ More negatives: never, nothing, none, ete Asking when, where, how, ete The imperative: giving orders Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Week 4__as The perfect tense Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, hes, ete The expression ‘c'est (itis) Time More numbers Seasons, months, dates, days of the week Position of adjectives Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Selt-assessment test 1 Week 5 __67 Regular verbs ending in xe Irregular verbs ending in Adverbs: saying how things are ono ‘The pronoun ‘it Object pronouns: me, you, im, her to him. to her. eto Vocabulary, exercises & convorsation Week 6 ___s3 Prepositions in, to rom, ete ily a! (there isla’) Comparisons: more, less Superiatives: most, feast Batter, best, worse, worst Taking about the weather Verbs forming the past with ‘ate Useful expression: je voudras' Using the expression ‘i out Vocabulary, exoreises & conwersation Week 7 103 Quantity: much, many, few, enough, etc Talking about the future Can, must, want, know Countries More numbers Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Week 8 0 The imperfect (used to do’, “was doing’) CONTENTSRelative pronouns: whe, whom, which, that The conditional (what we would doit.) More about pronouns ‘The verbs ‘savoir’ & ‘connate’ Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Seltassessment test 2 Week 9 ____a38 Demonstrative pronouns: this ‘one, that one, these, those Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, hers, eto More question forms Mote adverbs Position of adverbs Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Week 10 _1s3 Reflexive verbs (se lver) Verbs preceded by prepositions “ransation of to! before an infintve C1der of pronouns (he gave i tome) Useful pronouns: ‘ey ‘on Vocabulary, exercises & conversation Week 11__170 Conjunctions: but, becouse, while, when, ete Numbers over 100 The passive The present participle ‘saying’ doing, ‘studying More on the imperative Imperative with pronouns “The plupertect (he had gone’) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Depuis' since’) “Venir de’ (to have just.) Vocabulary, exercises & corwersation Week 12__1ss The many uses of aie The past historic Verbs with or without Prepositions Speling changes in verbs The subjunctive Vocabulary, exeroses & Conversation Seltessessment test 3 2 Les Misorables Papa, ordinateur et moi Leretour du rane Key to exercises 218 i 234 English-French French-English Index ___ass Pronunciation French is a very pleasant sounding language, but it can present English speakers with one or two problems from the point of view of pronunciation. Hugo's method of imitated pronunciation is sufficiently accurate for you to make yourself understood. Naturally, however, the best way to acquire perfect pronunciation is to practise with the CDs produced to accompany the course. These allow you to hear the words and phrases as you follow them in the book Although French spelling may appear complicated, it stil remains a better guide to how words are actually spoken than English spelling is You should read through the following rules and advice on French pronunciation, but there is no need to learn the rules by heart; just refer back to them at frequent intervals and you will soon become familiar with them, STRESS Unlike English, all syllables in French words are distinctly sound- ed and evenly stressed, with a little more emphasis being given to the last syllable. Contrast the stress in the word ‘important’ which appears in both languages: English: im-POR-tant French: ang-portahng PRONUNCIATION OF VOWELS a is pronounced tke ‘atin English ta the) is also pronounced tke ‘att Ba ahere) 4 is pronounced le ‘ah’ but longer ane (donkey) € inthe middle of a syllable is mer (sea) pronounced like ai in “fat” e at the end of a syllable is Ie (the) pronounced like er in ‘her’ PRONUNCIATIONe is silnt at the end of aword _tasse (cup) é is pronounced like ‘ay’ €t€ (summer) e is pronounced like ai in “air” pre (ather) é is also pronounced like ai in ‘air’ t@te (head) iy are pronounced like ce in ‘meet’ sk (skiing), y (here) © is pronounced lke 0 in ‘not’ paste (post office) & is pronounced like ‘oh? hotel uu this sound does not exist in vat (seen) English; say ‘oo! with rounded lps oi is pronounced ike ‘wah roi (king) ou is pronounced liko ‘oo roue (whee!) ai, ei are pronounced lke ein ‘let’ laine (wool), reine (queen) au, eau are pronounced like ‘oh’ au (to the), ‘eau (water) eu, oeu are pronounced like er in ‘her’ neuf (nine), soeur (sister) PRONUNCIATION OF CONSONANTS. French consonants are generally pronounced as in English, but, Note the following: © before @ or i sounds like s ceci (this) © elsewhere sounds like k car (coach) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. ‘ sounds like 5 ‘ga Ithat) ch sounds tke ‘sh chateau (castle) 8 before e or i sounds lke s in général (general) ‘measure’ 8 elsewhere sounds lke gin ‘go! gare (station) hissilent hotel j sounds lke s in ‘measure’ ie) qu.q sound like k qui (who) : is pronounced at the back of the rie (to laugh) throat; itis the sound we make when garaling s at the beginning of a word. salle (room) sounds like s s between two vowels sounds rose (rose) like z IMPORTANT With the exception of c,f, |, and r, consonants are rot usually pronounced when they form the last letter of a ‘word: passepor(t), Pari(s) BUT hotel, professeur. NASAL SOUNDS These sounds are very characteristic of the French language, but we have nasal sounds in English too: compare: ‘sing’, ‘sang, ‘sung’, ‘song’ - remembering that the standard pronunciation gives very litle value to the g. French has four vvery similar nasal sounds, which we show as ng in the ‘imitatated pronunciation’ (see page 12): nom (name), non (no) ‘om, on pronounce like ong in ‘song’ PRONUNCIATION10 lum‘, un pronounce like ung in ‘sung’ un (one), brun (brown) ‘am, an, pronounce like ‘ahny’ champ (field), em, en an (year) temps (time), en (in) , pronounce like any in‘sang’ simple (easy), aim, vin (wine), ain, ein faim (hunger), bain (bath), plein (full) fen pronounce like ‘ee-ang’ bien (well) *Some French speakers make no distinction between these two sounds and pronounce them both like ang in ‘sang’ VARIATIONS, er at the end of a word of two syllables or more sounds like ‘ay’ Parler (to speak) @ at the end of a word sounds —_nez (nose) like ‘ay’ ail atthe end of a word sounds like travail (work) ‘ah'ea! cil, eille sound lke ‘a'ee! soleil (sun), bouteille (bottle) il Usually sounds like ‘ee'y’ billet (ticket) gn sounds like niin ‘onion’ signal (signal) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS LIAISON The French like their language to flow smoothly. For this reason, if a word beginning with a vowel or a silent h follows ‘@ word ending in a consonant, this consonant is linked to the beginning of the second word: nous avons (noo zah-vong), we have tun petit enfant (ung p'tee tahrg-falny), a small child When carried over in this way: Sx sound lke z: deux ans (der zahng), two years a sounds like t: un grand arbre (um gral tahbr), a tall tree. f sounds like v: neuf heures (ner verr), nine hours. ACCENTS: There are three main accents in French: the acute (é), found on the letter e; the grave (@), found on a, e and u; the circumflex {@, found on any vowel, There is also the cedilla (g), found only underneath the letter c. ‘The function of the accents is: 1 to modify the sound of a letter. The unaccented e sounds like er in ‘her, the € acute sounds like ay in ‘say’ and the & grave sounds like ai in “fair. ‘The ¢ which would be hard before an a or 0 (as in ‘car’ is softened to sound like s in ‘sit’ when it has a cedilla added (gargon, ‘boy') 2 to distinguish between words having the same spelling but a different meaning. For example, la (the), la (there); ou (or), it (where); sur (on), sr (sure) You will find that in French accents are usually not printed when they appear above a capital letter. PRONUNCIATION uwWeek — ‘THE IMITATED PRONUNCIATION = how to say ‘the’ ‘a’, and ‘some’ Pronounce all syllables as if they formed pert of an English ® how to recognise whether a noun is masculine or ‘word, giving equal stress to each syllable, but note the following: feminine, and which article to use with each gender ® formation of the plural rng (italics) must never be pronounced; these letters ® how to say ‘I’ ‘you’, ‘he’ ‘she, ‘it, ‘we; ‘they’ merely indicate that the preceding vowel has = simple greetings and forms of address ‘ nasal sound. ® the present tense of ‘avoir, ‘to have" = formation of the negative er (italics) do not pronounce the r; this syllable sounds Tike er in ‘her HEB ARTICLES: THE, A, AN, SOME ah sounds likes in ‘measure’ In French all nouns have @ gender ~ they are eitver a 1 equivalent in English; round your lips and masculine or feminine. Articles change depending on say ee. the gender of the noun that follows, and whether i is singular or plural ° sounds like 0 in ‘not “The is expressed by: oh sounds like 0 in ‘note’ le (masculine singular) le passeport the passport Ia (feminine singular) Ia legon the lesson THE FRENCH ALPHABET V’ (before a vowel or h) Vimprimante the printer This isthe same as in English, but K and W are nat much used VhOtel the hotel You should know how to pronounce the letters in case you es (mm. & £. plural) les passeports the passports have, for example, to spel out your name to a French receptionist H/A-LE-Y sounded as ‘ahsh ah el er ee-grek’ will make sense to *Note that a few words beginning with f take le, la her, the English version would not, ‘® or ‘an’ are expressed by A (ah) ahsh) © (oh) vay) B (bey) 1 (ee) (pay) W (doobhvay) tun (masculine singular) un ehéquier a cheque book € (say) J tahee) Q Iki) (eeks) tune (feminine singular) une lettre a letter D (doy) -K tkah) Rai) ¥ (ee-grek) Ele) Lie) $ (ess) Z (red) “Some' or ‘any’ are expressed by. F (ef) = Mem —T tay) G (chy) Nien) UG) du (masculine singular) du vin some wir de la (feminine singular) de la bigre some beer de I (before a vowel or h) de Falcool some alcohol des (in. & f. plural) des legons some lessons Note: du and des are both contractions: de +le=du; de + les = des. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. WEEK 1“4 ‘Sometimes ‘some’ and'any’ are omitted in English, but they must always be expressed in French: we have wine nous avons du vin IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (1) ler pahs-porr; lah ler-song: lahl-kol; loh-tel: lay pahs-porr; ung shek-yay; tin let dit vary der lah bee-aire; der lanl-kol; day ler-song: noo zah-vorg dit van. WHAM GENDER OF NOUNS Unfortunately, there are few rules that can help to determine the gender of French nouns. The best rule of al is to learn each roun and its gender together. Generally speaking, -e and -ion are feminine endings, although there are exceptions. Nouns denoting male persons are generally masculine and those which refer to female persons are usually feminine: le monsieur gentleman Je journal newspaper le parfum perfume le chateau castle Teneveu nephew le prix price Vautobus (m.) bus la dame lady Ia valise suitcase la station station le journaliste male journalist la journaliste female journalist FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Occasionally only one gender exists and this has to be sed irrespective of the sex of the person: le professeur (teacher) is always masculine la personne (person) is always feminine IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (2) ‘mers-yer; zhoor-nahl; pahr-fung; shab-toh; ner-ver, pree: ob-toh-biis; dahm; vah-lee7; stahs-yong; zhoor-nah-leest: pro-fess-err; pairr-sonn IM PLURAL OF NOUNS The plural is formed: 1 By adding s: valise (s 2 By adding x to words ending in au or eu: chateau (castle) becomes chateaux neveu (nephew) becomes neveux 3. By changing the ending al to aux: Journal (newspaper) becomes journaux Words ending in s and x do not change: autobus (bus or buses): prix (price or prices). IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (2A) vah-leez; shah-toh ob-toh-bis; pree. ner-ver; zhoor-nahk; 7hoor-nob; WEEK 1 616 Exercise 1 Translate the following: 1 the passport the hotel the suitcase a station allesson 2 3 4 5 6 a cheque book 7 a person 8 the journalists 9 the prices 10 some beer 11 some wine 12 some letters 13 01 14 01 je newspapers we buses MEIN SUBJECT PRONOUNS: |, YOU, SHE, HE, ETC singuler plural (21 nous we tu you (familiar) vous you (familiar) vous you (formal) vous you (formal) il he, it (my ils they (m,) elle she, it (f) elles they (f) Note: je becomes j before a vowel or h. ADDRESSING PEOPLE English, on occasions, can be a very straightforward language. Whether we are addressing a dog, our husband or wife, or our boss, we use the same word two words for ‘you’ ~ tu and vous ~ and to use them incorrectly would be a very serious mistake FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS, 'you'. In French, it's not quite so simple because we have The French use tu when talking to animals, children, very close friends and relatives. Note, however, that although you use tu to one child, you would address more than one child as vous. Teenagers use tu to each other even on the first meeting. In all other cases we use the more formal vous. Unless we indicate otherwise (by putting in brackets the word “familiar’) we would like you to use vous in all the exercises in this book. Note also that what has been said about tu and vous also applies to te (you), Lon (your, votre (your), ee: You are no doubt already vaguely familiar with the words Monsieur, Madame, and Mademoiselle; they mean Mr, Mrs, and Miss and are placed, as in English, before @ sumame: ‘Monsieur Dupont, Madame Duval, Mademoiselle Martin. The French also use these words a great deal in formal conversation, without a name following: Good morning, good afternoon (to a man). Bonjour, Monsieur. Bonsoir, Madame. Good evening (10 a woman), Au revoir, Mademoiselle. Goodbye (to a young, woman). Monsieur, Madame, and Mademoiselle also have a plural form: Messieurs, Mesdames, Mesdemoiselles There is no French equivalent of ‘Ms, but these days Madame is increasingly used to address all women, married or otherwise, to avoid any hint of sexism. WEEK 1 718 IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (3, 3) cl; neo; voo; vo; eel; el mers-yer ddi-pong; mah-dahm dii-vahl; mahd-mwah-zel mahr-tary; bong-zhoor, mers-yer; bong-swali, mah-dahm; ort-vwahrt, mahd-mwah-zel; mays-yer; may-dahm; mayd-mwah-7el. avoir’ (TO HAVE) This is one of the most important French verbs and it should be learnt thoroughly. Present tense yai Thave twas you have (f ila, ellea he has, she has nous avons we have vous avez you have (formal, sing. and all pl.) ils ont, elles ont they (m.) have, they (1.) have study these words Ie livre book Vappareil-photo (m.) camera lecb cD la carte ‘map, card la clé key la voiture taDininsb ams at h la radio radio | oui yes non ino: Samii et andsisie IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (4) ah-vwahr; zhay; tii ah; eel ah; el ah; noo zah-vong; voo zah-vay: eel zong; el zon; leevt; al-pab-ray'ee fo-toh, say-day; kabrt; klay: vwah-tir; rad-yoh; wee; nong: ay. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Exercise 2_ ‘Answer the questions as follows: Pierre a du vin? Does Pierre have any wine? Oui, ila du vin. Yes, he has some wine. 1 Nicole a un journal? Sophie et Pierre ont une voiture? Vous avez une radio? 2 3 4 Vous avez une carte? 5 Nous avons une clé? 6 Yai un CD? WER THE NEGATIVE ‘Not’ is expressed by ne placed before the verb and pas after; ne becomes n’ before a vowel or h: je nal pas Thave not tu n’as pas you have not (familiar sing.) iln’a pas hhe has not she has not we have not elle na pas nous nfavons pas vous nvavez pas ils n’ont pas elles n’ont pas you have not (form. sing. and pl.) they (m.) have not they (L) have not After a negative un, une, du, de la, de I’, and des change to de (d” before a vowel or h). aide la bidre. Ihave some beer. Je wai pas de biere. Ihave no beer IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (5) zher nay pak; el nah pah; el nah pah; noo nah-vong pah; vo nah-vay pab; el nong pah; ti nah pah; zhay der lah bee zher nay pah der bee-airt. ong pabs WEEK 1 1920 Exercise 3 ‘Answer the questions as follows: Vous avez une voiture? Do you have a car? Non, je n’ai pas de voiture. No, | don’t have a car. 1 Vous aver une valise? 2 Vous aver un passeport? 3 Nous avons du vin? 4 Nous avons un livre? 5 Paula des CD? 6 Anne-Marie a une radio? 7 Jai des journaux? & Elles ont un appareil-photo? Exercise 4 Translate: 1 Thave a car. Ido not have any keys. We have a suitcase. She has some alcohol, He does not have a newspaper. ‘They (m,) have some books. They (1.) do not have any maps, You do not have a cheque. Do you have a camera? 10 Do you have any GDs? 11 Do you have any books? 12 Do you have a radio? FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. week1 | 21CONN ENS eM 22 | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS24 Week how to say ‘lam ‘you are’ , etc ~ the present tense of ‘eve ‘some common adjectives, and how they agree in ‘number and gender with the noun to which they are attached the present tense of regular verbs ending in ‘er’ a variety of ways to frame a question numbers 0-15 (HG ETRE’ ("TO BE’) This is another very important verb and should be learned thoroughly. je suis Tam tues you are (familiar sing.) test he is elle est she is vous étes you are ils sont they are (m.) elles sont they are (f.) IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (6) zher swee; ti ay; eel ay; el ay; noo som; voo zet; ee! sony; el sony. Study these professions: Te médecin| doctor Ie banquier banker le pilote pilot le professeur teacher Yavocat (m.) lawyer Vavocate (f.) lawyer Ie/la journaliste journalist lefla secrétaire Vastronaute (m. orf) astronaut FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS NOTE: When talking about their professions, the French omit the ‘a’ and say ‘Iam doctor’, ‘Lam pilor’, etc: Je suis médecin, je suis pilote. IMITATED PRONUNCIATION med-sang; bahngk-yay; pee-lot; pro-fess-err ah-vo-kah ah-vo-kaht; zhoor-nab-leest; ser-kray-tairr; ah-stro-nohit Exercise 5. Translate: 1 Lama doctor. He is a pilot She is a journalist. We are bankers. You (m.) are a lawyer. They (f.) are teachers. They (m.) are astronauts. Noasen ADJECTIVES French adjectives have both a masculine and a feminine form, singular and plural. The feminine is normally formed by adding e (those already ending in e do not change’). In the plural we usually add s: Hest intelligent, He is intelligent Elle est intelligente. She is intelligent Je suis grand. 1 (m.) am tall Je suis grande. 1 ({.) am tal. Ils sont petits. They (m,) are small. Elles sont petites. ‘They (1) are small WEEK 2 2526 NOTE: The addition of the e results in the preceding consonant being pronounced, Adjectives ending in x change the x to se in the feminine: dangereux (dangerous) becomes dangereuse. IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (7) ang-tel-ee-zhahng: ang-tel-ee-zhab P'tee; p'teet; dahnyg-zhe srahig; grahngd: I sr dahng-zher-rerz XEUWAGNA rich stupide stupid Pauvre poor poli polite facile easy impoli impolite difficile difficult —heureux happy intéressant interesting malheureux unhappy ennuyeux boring —_bon, bonne (f.) good intelligent intelligent mauvais bad Additional ules for forming the feminine of adjectives: Final f changes to ve: attentif, attentive (F) ~ attentive Final er changes to ére: premier, premidre (f.)~ first Final et changes to @te: seeret, seeréte (f) ~ secret IMITATED PRONUNCIATION reesh; pohvr; fah-seel; dee-fee-seel; ang-tay-ress-ahng;, alnig-nwvee-yer, ang-tel-ee-zhahing stii-peed; po-lee: ang-po-lee; er-ter; mahl-er-rer; bong; bonn; moh-vay: ah-tahug-teef; ah-taling-teev: prerm-yay: prerm-yairr; serkray; serkret. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Exercise 6 Give the opposite of: 1 Le banquier est riche. 2 La seerétaire est intelligente 3. Les médecins sont heureux. 4 Les journaux sont intéressants, 5 Le vin est bon. 6 Le livre est facile. 7 Lavocate est polie. 8 La bire est mauvaise WEREREGULAR VERBS ENDING IN -ER The infinitive (the basic form) of most French verbs ends préparer to prepare habiter wo live travailler to work parler to speak Pratiquer to practise regarder to watch écouter to listen (to) We form the present tense by removing the -er from the infinitive and adding je © nous -ons tu es vous -ez Welle -e _ils/elles -ent je parle I speak tu parles you speak (fam.) il parle he speaks elle parle she speaks WEEK 2 2728 nous parlons vous parlez ils parlent elles parlent we speak you speak they speak (1m.) they speak (L) The French je parle, il parle, etc translates all three forms of the English present tense, ie. | speak, | do speak, | am speaking IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (8) pray-pah-ray; ah-bee-tay; trah-vahee-yay; pahr-lay: prah-tee-kay; rer-gaht-day; ay-koo-tay; zher pahtl: ti pahr’; ee! pahrl; el pahrl; noo pabr-long: ‘yoo pahr-lay; eel pahrl; el pahtl VOCABULA a in, at voyager to travel (nous voyageons; see section 81 for details of spelling changes.) le sport sport la langue language Ia télévision television la radio radio Venquéte (f.) survey deux two IMITATED PRONUNCIATION ‘ah; vwah-yah-zhay; spor lahngg; tay-lay-vee-zee~ ‘ong; rahd-yoh; alnng-ket; der. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS ___Exercise 7 Complete these sentences: 1 Nous (live) a Versailles. Elle (works) a Nice, I (travels). Je (speak) deux langues. Elles (practise) Ils (watch) la télévision, n sport Vous (listen to) la radio. Nous (prepare) une IE ASKING Questions In French you can ask a question: 4. by using a rising intonation ~ contrast Vous parlez frangais. You speak French. (statement) Vous parler frangais? Do you speak French? (question) 2 by using est-ce que (est-ce qu’ before a vowel or hi: Est-ce que nous travaillons? Are we working? Est-ce qu’elle écoute la radio? Is she listening to the radio? 3 by putting the pronoun after the verb: Voyagez-vous beaucoup? Do you travel a great deal? In this case, ifthe third person singular of the verb ends ina vowel, a tis inserted between it and the pronoun’ Fume-t-il?- Does he smoke? Note: 1 and 2 are less formal than 3 and are used more in the spoken language. WEEK 2 2930 Exercise 8 WSUS téléphoner to telephone réserver to reserve ‘exporter to export importer to import voter to vote inviter a diner to invite to dinner ly a there is, there are Yhétel (m.) hotel le directeur director Yordinateur (m.) computer le président the President la chambre bedroom, la voiture car dans in de of en France in France, to France IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (9) frahng-say; ess-ker; boh-koo; ftim-teel; tay-lay-fo-1 ray-zalir-vay; eks-porrlay; arg-port-lay: vo-tay; ang-vee-tay ah dee-nay; eel yah; oh-tel; dee-rek-terr; orr-dee-nah-terr; pray-7ee-daluyg: shahigbr; vwal-t dahng: der; alg fralygs. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS: Using estce que, ask your friend whether he/she 1 is telephoning the hotel, (say to the hotel) 2 is reserving a room. 3 is inviting the director to dinner. Using a rising intonation, ask about Nicole 4 Is she intelligent? 5 Is she interesting? 6 Is she tall? Using the inverted form, ask about Peter 7 Does he export computers to France? 8 Does he import cars? 9 Does he vote for the President? Here are the numbers 0-15 0 2ér0 8 huit oun 9 neuf 2 deux 10 dix 3 trois 11 onze 4 quatre 12 douze 5 cing DB treize 6 six 14 quatorze 7 sept 15 quinze IMITATED PRONUNCIATION zay-oh; Un; der, trwah; Kahtr; sangk; sees; sets weet, nerf; dees; ongz; dooz; trez; kah-torrz; kangz. WEEK 2 332 Exercise 9 Complete the following, writing the answers in words: a7+2= e 1045 = b 8-6 f 14-2 e3x4 9 2x7 d 243 ho2+1= s on pour for ‘beaucoup fa great deal seulement only souvent often jamais never plusieurs several anglais English te jogging jogging Vagence (f.) agency | la publicité advertising Ja question question les affaires (f.) business faire 10 do, to make IMITATED PRONUNCIATION slim poor; boh-koo; seriemaling soo-vahing; za-may;pliz-yerr; ahng-slay; zhog-ing; ah-zhabygs; pi-blee-see-tay; kest-yong:al-fairr; fair. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS, OMG nch radio reporter is preparing a survey on the ‘He's interviewing passers-by in the street. Pardon Madame, vous étes Francaise? Oui, je suis Francaise. Je prépare une enquéte sur les Francais. ¥ai sept questions. Oui. isTE Vous habitez a Paris? Non, j‘habite a Versailles. Vous travaillez a Paris? ‘Oui, je travaille pour une agence de publicité. Est-ce que vous voyagez beaucoup? - Oui, je voyage pour affaires. Est-ce que vous parlez plusieurs langues? Deux seulement, francais et anglais. STE Pratiquez-vous un sport? ‘Oui, je fais du jogging. IsTe Regardez-vous la télévision? Oui, souvent. ives denoting nationality do not take a capital letter n hotel francais, ‘ie parle anglais’, but on the other hand. Frangais’, the French. week 2 | 3334 TRANSLATION FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. verbs ending in ‘ir’ and their present tense strative adjectives: this, that, these, those Useful expressions using ‘avoir’ about negative forms | using question words: where?, when?, how?, ete ‘the imperative in its simplest form The infinitive of a large number of French verbs ends in-ir: finir to finish garantir to guarantee choisir 10 choose grossir to put on weight maigrir to lose weight remplir to fill réussir 10 succeed We form the present tense by removing the -ir from the infinitive and adding: je sis nous —_-Issons. tw. sis vous -issez iWelle -it —_ilsielles_-issent je finis finish tu finis ‘you finish ilfinit he finishes elle finit, she finishes nous finissons we finish vous finissez you finish ils finissent (m.) they finish elles finissent (f.) they finish NOTE: The singular familiar form tu finis should be used only to close friends, children, and animals. WEEK 3 3536 VOCABULA le rapport report Te magnétoscope _video recorder Te gateau cake Ie verre sass Voceasion (f.) ‘opportunity saisit to seize IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (11) fee-neerr, gah-rahng-teerr: shwah-zeerr; groh-seerr; may-gieerr; rahng-p fee-ne¢; fee-nee-song; fee-nee-say: fee-neess: rah-port: man-yay-to-skop; gah-toh; vairr; o-kahz-yong: ray-ti-seerr, fee-nee; fee-nee ___ Exercise 10 _ Translate’ 1 Lam finishing the report ‘We guarantee the video recorder. She chooses a cake. He is putting on weight ‘They (L.) are losing weight. They (m,) are filling the glasses. We seize the opportunity. Noasen DEMONSTRATIVES: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE. Both ‘this’ and ‘that’ are expressed by: ce(m.sing.) ce trai this/that train cette {f.sing) cette voiture this/that car ce becomes cet before a vowel or h: cet hélicoptére Both “hese’ and ‘those’ are expressed by: FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS ces (m.&f. pl) cesavions —_these/those planes Ifa distinction needs to be made between ‘this’ and ‘that’ or ‘these’ and ‘those’, we can add -ei (short for ict “nere') and -Ia (‘there’) to the noun: ce train-ci this train ce train-Ia that train | Teguichet ticket office | Vascenseur (m.) hit eee compartment 5 ticket la gare railway station. _ dlaplace seat rapide fast important important - fermé closed | cher, chere (f.) expensive plein full _ réservé reserved occupé ‘occupied -valable_ valid IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (12) ser trang; set ay-lee-kop-tairr; set vwah-tiir; say zah- yong; gee-shay; ah-sahng-sert; kortg-pahr-tee-mahng; bee-yay; galt; plahs; rah-peed; any-por-tahng; fairt-may shaitr; plang; ray-zairt-vay; o-kii-pay; vah-lahbl WEEK 3 3738 Exercise 11 Exercise 12 Translate: 1. This train is fast This railway station is important This ticket office is closed. ‘That car is expensive. ‘That lift is full. ‘These seats are reserved. ‘These compartments are occupied. evousen ‘Those tickets are valid [HEM USEFUL EXPRESSIONS USING ‘AVOIR’ In French there are a number of expressions with avoir to have’ which would be expressed in English with the verb ‘to be" avoir faim to be hungry to be thirsty to be warm 10 be cold to be right to be wrong avoir tort avoir is also used in connection with age: IMITATED PRONUNCIATION FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Ha douze ans. He is twelve. (lit. “He has twelve years.) ah-vwahr fang; swaht; shoh; frwah; ray-zong, torr; abg, Give the opposite of 1 Ma raison. 2 Elle a chaud. 3 Is ont tort, 4 Biles ont froid. [EEN MORE NEGATIVES: NEVER, NOTHING, ETC We have already seen that ‘not’ is expressed by putting ne (n’) before the verb and pas after: Je ne travaille pas. 1 do not work. I n’écoute pas. He is not listening. Here are some more negatives and model sentences: ne... jamais never ne...rien nothing ne... personne no-one ne...plus no longer, no more Ine travaille jamais. He never works Elle n’exporte rien. She exports nothing, Ils n‘invitent personne. They invite no-one. Je ne fume plus. Ino longer smoke. NOTE Rien and personne can also begin a sentence: nest cher. Nothing is expensive Personne ne fume ici. No one smokes here, Alter a negative un, une, du, de la, de I’, des change to de a’ Je mange de la salade. | eat salad. Je ne mange jamais de salade. I never eat salad, WEEK 3 39,40 EEG la platine laser CD player Ie fromage cheese Vhomme daffaires businessman la glace ice cream la diététicienne dietician ‘manger toeat rencontrer to meet en in, by IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (14) her, zhah-may; ree-ang; pairt-sonn; pli; plah-teen lab- zairr; fro-mahzh; om dah-fairr, glahs; dyay-tay-tees-yen; mahng-zhay; rahng-kon-tray. Exercise 13 . Answer the questions using ‘not’, as follows: Vous voyagez en voiture? Do you travel by car? Non, je ne voyage pas en voiture. No, | don't travel by car 1. Vous travaillez? 2 Vous écouter? 3. Vous aver faim? Now answer using ‘never’ 4 Est-ce q 5 Est-ce que vous téléphonez? 6 Est-ce que vous avez froid? ¢ vous choisissez du fromage? Now answer using ‘nothing’: 7 Mange-t-il une glace? 8 Prépai le un rapport? 9. Exporte-t-il des platines laser? FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Now answer using ‘no-one’ 10. Nous invitons des hommes d’alfaires? 1 Nous choisissons Paul? 12. Nous rencontrons la diététicienne? Now answer using ‘no longer’ 13. Est-ce qu’ils ont une voiture? 14 Est-ce qu’elles habitent a Paris? 15. Est-ce qu’elles travaillent? (EER ASKING: WHERE, WHEN, HOW, ETC You will need to know how to ask questions in French: ou? where? ii est-ce que vous habitez? Where do you live? quand? when? Quand écoutez-vous la radio? When do you listen to the radio? comment? ‘Comment allez-vous? How are you? (literally: How do you go2) qui? who? whom? Qui parle francais? Who speaks French? Qui est-ce qu’elle invite? Whom is she inviting? pourquoi? why? Pourquoi téléphone-t-elle? Why is she telephoning? Note the reply to pourquoi is parce que ‘because’ quel (m.), quelle (f.) quels (m. pl.), quelles (f. pl.) which (what)? WEEK 3 41Quelle chambre réservons-nous? Which room are we reserving? combien? how much? how many? Combien coate ce CD? How much does this Combien de fromage désirez-vous? How much cheese do you want? Combien de trains y a-t-il? How many trains are there? cost? Note: combien takes de (d’) when followed by a noun. que (qu’ before a vowel) or qu’est-ce que what? ‘Que mangez-vous? or Qu’est-ce que vous mangez? What are you eating? Note the word order in the above two questions, Pee Ie film film, le soir evening Veuro(m.) euro allemand German espagnol Spanish bien well ‘merci thank you. chercher to look for IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (15) (00; kahng; ko-mahng; ko-mahny tah-lay vo: ket kwab: pahe-sker: kel; kong-bee-ang; koot; deesk; day- ‘2ee-r1y vo; yalh-teel; ker; kess-ker; mahng-zhay; feelm; swab; iirroh; abl-mahny; ess-pan-yol; bee-ang: maire see; shairr-shay FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Exercise 14 Below are ten replies. What were the questions? The important words are printed in italics. 1 Je travaille a Paris 2 Je regarde le film ce soir 3 Bien, merci 4 Pierre téléphone. 5 Ils cherchent Nicole. 6 Parce que j'ai faim. 7 Je parle espagnol et allemand. 8 J'ai quatre CD. 9 Ce journal cote srois euros. 10 J'exporte des magnétoscopes. ‘THE IMPERATIVE: GIVING ORDERS On oceasions you will need to ask or tell people to do things. Simply omit the vous, tu or nous from the present tense ‘Téléphonez. ‘Telephone. Choisissez. Choose. Invitons Paul. Let's invite Paul Ne téléphonez pas. Don't telephon Ninvitons pas Paul. Let's not invite Paul NOTE the final s of -er verbs is dropped in the familiar singular imperative: Choisis. Choose, Finis. Finish, ‘Téléphone. Telephon You may wish to add s'il vous plait or s‘l te plait (fam, sing.), meaning ‘please’, to the imperative. WEEK 3 a3ae ae NOTE: acheter has a grave accent in the singular and third person plural, which affects pronunciation. See section 81 Jachete nous achetons, tuachétes vous achetez iVelle achéte _ ils/elles achétent IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (16) bah-gahzh; may-tod; troh; mong-tay: ahsh-tay; zhah-shet; ti ah-shet; eel ah-shet; el ah-shet; eel zalvshet; el zah-shet; noo zahsh-tong; voo zahsh-tay. Exercise 15. Tell your friend ... 1... t0 reserve two rooms, . to look for Frangois. .. to seize the opportunity. .. to choose the Hugo method. .. to take up the luggage. +. Not to eat too much. not to put on weight. not to smoke. @vausen ‘And now make some suggestions 9 Let’s speak French, 10 Let's listen to the radio. 11 Let's finish the report FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS weeks | 4546 diététicienne HOMME O’AFFAIRES DIETETICIENNE HOMME D'AFFAIRES DIETE"TCIENNE DIETENCIENNE HOMME D’AFFAInES DIETENICIENNE HOMME D'AFFAIRES DIeTENICIENNE HOMME D'AFFAIRES DIETENCIENNE HOMME D/AFFAIRES COMM Un dialogue entre un homme d'affaires et une Bonjour, Madame. Bonjour, Monsieur. Un petit instant, sill vous plait, je finis ce rapport. Bon. Comment allez-vous? Je pense que je grossis. Ah? Vous ne réussissez pas & maigrir? Pourquoi pas? ai toujours faim. J’ai toujours solf. Qu’est-ce que je dois faire? Faites votre gymnastique régulirement. Saisissez chaque ‘occasion pour manger de la salade. Et qu’est-ce que je ne dois pas faire? Ne choisissez jamais de gateaux. Ne choisissez jamais de glaces. Ne choisissez jamais de fromage. Tres bien. Et pour le vin? Ne remplissez jamais votre verre complétement. ‘Vous garantissez ce régime, Madame? ‘Oui. Une chose est certaine: si vous grossissez, vous raccourcissez votre vie. Oui, Madame, vous avez raison. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS A dialogue between a businessman and a dietician BUSINESSMAN DIETICIAN BUSINESSMAN DIEICIAN BUSINESSMAN, DienicAN BUSINESSMAN, DIETICIAN BUSINESSMAN DIETICAN, BUSINESSMAN, DIETICAN, BUSINESSMAN, Good morning (Madam). Good morning (Sir). One moment, please, Il just finish [literally 1 finish’) this report. Good. How are you? think I'm putting on weight. Oh? You're not managing to lose weight [literally ‘slim’]? Why not? Ym always hungry. I'm always thirsty. What should I do? Do your exercises regularly. Eat salad whenever you can. [Literally ‘Seize every ‘opportunity to eat salad.’] ‘And what shouldn't I do? Never choose cakes. Never choose ice ‘cream. Never choose cheese. Fine. And what about wine? Never fill your glass completely. Do you vouch for this diet (Madam)? ‘Yes, One thing’s certain: if you put on ‘weight, you shorten your life. Yes (Madam). You're right. WEEK 3 47Week the perfect tense (enabling you to talk about the past), in both its affirmative and negative forms possessive adjectives ('my’, ‘your’ ‘his’ etc) the expression ‘c‘est’ (‘it is') expressing the time an important irregular verb, ‘partir’ (‘to leave’) ‘more numbers seasons, months, dates, and days of the week the position of adjectives (before/after the noun) (EE THE PERFECT TENSE a The French perfect tense transiates all three forms of the English past: ‘I have spoken’, ‘I did speak’, or "I spoke’ ‘As in English, the perfect is usually (although not always) formed with avoir (to have) and @ past participle, eg. jai parlé. To foi the past participle in French we: change the -er of the infinitive into ~& ‘change the -ir of the infinitive into Verbs ending in -er Verbs ending in -ir fai parle jai fink tu as preparé twas garanti ila habité ila choisi elle a travaillé elle a grossi nousavons regardé nous avons maigri vousavex écouté vous aver saisi ils ont voyagé ils ont raccourci elles ont téléphoné elles ont rempli Je document document Vitalie ¢f) la Manche aly . q Channel FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (17) pahr-lay: pray-pah-ray; ab-bee-tay; et, fee-nee: gah-rahing-tee; shwah-zee: etc,lo-k-mahvy; ee-tah-lee: mahngsh; kop-yay; day-pahy-say; pah-say;trah-vairr-say. Exercise 16 Translate: 1 Thave lived in France. 2 Ihave worked in laly. 3 have reserved the rooms. 4 She listened to the radio. 5 She watched the television. 6 She prepared the report 7 He has put on we 8 He has chosen the cheese 9 He has finished the book. 40 We copied the document. 1 We bought the car. 12 We telephoned 18. You guaranteed the CD player. 14 You seized the opportunity. 18 You invited the President 16 They (m.) have lost weight. 17 They (.) have spent 15 euros 18 They (1) have crossed the Channel. WEEK 4 4950 (BEM THE PERFECT TENSE: NEGATIVE ‘You will also wish to say what you have not done: je Wai pas copié tu n’as pas traversé I n’a pas passé elle n’a pas acheté hous navons pas invité vous navez pas garanti ils n’ont pas rempli elles n’ont pas fini Note the position of pas every time. ,_— Exercise 17__ Answer the questions as follows: Avez-vous travaillé en Italie? Have you worked in Htaly? Non, je n’ai pas travaillé en talie, No, I haven't worked in Hay, 1. Aver-vous révervé la chambre? 2. Aver-vous écouté le CD? 3. A-til regardé le Im? A-telle préparé le document? Est. € que nous avons fini? Est-ce qu’ils ont choisi? Nos Est-ce qu’elles ont mangé? FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. IEEIIPOSSESSIVES: MY, YOURS, HIS, HERS, ETC Itis important to be able to establish ownership: masing. fsing. om. &f. pl. my mon ma mes your (fam.) ton ta tes hisiher/its son sa ses our notre notre nos. your votre votre vos thei leur leur leurs Note that these aujectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the possessor mafemme my wile son mari her husband sachambre his or her bedroom ses clés his or her keys, However, note also that if the following noun begins with a vowel, the French use mon, ton, son instead of ma, ta, sa, even if the noun is feminine mon amie my friend ton agence your agency son enquéte his/her survey This sounds more pleasant to the French ear BUL le vol flight Vhoraire (m.) timetable a ceinture de sécurité seat belt la place seat attacher to fasten, to attach premier, premitre (f.) first WEEK 4 5152 IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (19) jong; maky; may; tony; tah; tay; son nob; votr; voh; lerr; fam; mah-r sang-tir der say-kii-ree- prerm-yay; pretm-yaitr sah; say; now : vol: o-rairt; Exercise 18 Translate’ 1 Your first fight Fasten your seat belt Whe Here is her passport Here is his seat e are our tickets? Their suiteases are in the plane Where are my newspapers? IMITATED PRONUNCIATION say; mwahng; po-seebl; ang-po-seebl; mahn-yee-feek; ah-fre toh; tar, Exercise 19 Give the opposite of: C’est intéressant, est bon. est possible est magnifique. 1 2 3 4 Crest facile, 5 6 Cest tard, THE EXPRESSION C'EST (‘IT IS!) Cest facil is easy. est difficile. It is difficult, Crest tres important. It is very important. Crest moins cher. It is less expensive EG possible possible impossible impossible magnifique wonderful affreux dreadful tot carly tard late FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS (MN THETIME. If you intend to keep appointments, catch trains and buses, and so on, you must be familiar with the way in which the French express the time: Quelle heure est-il? What time is it? Hest une heure. It is one o'clock. Hest deux heures. 1 is 1wo o'clock Hest trois heures. 11 is three o'clock. Mest quatre heures. tis four o'clock. Mest midi. It is midday. Mest minuit. 11 is midnight. Hest cing heures et quart. 11 is a quarter past five Mest cing heures et demie. 1t is half past five. Hest six heures moins le quart. It is a quarter to six. Mest six heures dix. 11 is ten past six est sept heures moins cing. tis five to seven A quelle heure? At what time? A uit heures. At cight o'clock WEEK 4 3354. A neuf heures du matin. At nine in the morning. A neuf heures du soir. At nine in the evening A deux heures de Vaprés-midi At two in the afternoon. RY Ie car ‘coach Ie bateau oat Vaéroglisseur (m.) hovercraft le président president, chairman la conférence de presse press conference arriver toarrive IRREGULAR VERB. partir (to leave) Present tense je pars tw pars iV/elle part ‘nous partons vous partez ils/elles partent IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (21) kel err ay tect; eel ay iin ert; eel ay der zert; wah zert; mee-dee; meen-wee; kabir; der-mee; ah kel err; ah ner verr dii mah-tang; dit swahr; der lah-pray-mee-dee; kab abi-ay-roh-glee-sert; pray-zee-dahiny pabr-torg; pahr-tay: pahrt FRENCH INTHREE MONTHS Exercise 20 ‘Add 15 minutes to the time stated: est deux heures. est quatre heures et quart est six he est huit heures cing. Le train arrive a dix heures. Le car arrive & onze heures et demie. Le bateau part a midi dix. Laéroglisseur part a minuit et demi, Le Président arrive a neuf heures, 10 La conférence de presse est a dix heures. *Demi’ agrees with ‘minuit’ (m); write ‘demie’ to agree with ‘heure’ (f) res moins le quart fay-ralyngss der press: ah-ree-vay; pah-teerr: pahr; (2B More NUMBERS Here are some more numbers: 33. trente-trois 40 quarante 18 dix-huit 41. quarante et un 19 dix-neuf 42. quarante-deux 20 vingt 50 cinquante 21 vingt etun 51 cinquante et un 22 vingt-deux 52 cinquante-deux 23 vingt-t 60 soixante 30 trente 61 soixante et un 31 trente et un 62 soixante-deux 32 trente-deux IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (22) set: deez-weet; deez-nerf; vang: vang-tay-ung; vangt-der; vangt-trwah; trahngt; kah-rahngt; sang-kahngt; swah-sahngt WEEK 4 5556 SEASONS OFTHE YEAR Ie printemps spring Vrété (m.) summer Yautomne (m.) aut Vhiver(m.) winter The seasons are all masculine. en été in summer 4 enautomne in autumn en hiver in winter but au printemps in spring IEG MONTHS OF THEYEAR janvier January fevrier February mars March avril April mai May ju June juillet July aoit August septembre September octobre October novembre November décembre December Note that the months of the year are not written with a capita letter in French IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (23/24) ler prang-talng; lay-tay; loh-ton; lee-vairr; zhahngv-yay; fayvr-yay: mahrss; ab-vreel; may: zhwang: zhwee-yay; 90 OF oot; sep-tahngbr; ok-tobr: no-vahgbr; day-sahngbr. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS (ER DATES Quelle date sommes-nous aujourd'hui? ‘What is the date today? Nous sommes le deux janvier. Ws the 2nd of January. ‘Nous sommes le huit février. Ws the 8th of February. Nous sommes le quinze mars. W's the 15th of March. Nous sommes le vingt avril. Ws the 20th of April Nous sommes le trente mai Ws the 30th of May Note for the ‘first’ of each month we use le premier: le premier juin the Ist of June Ie premier juillet the Ist of July but Te vingt et un aoat the 21st of August Ie trente et un octobre the 31st of October Note also how you say ‘in’ a certain month en aot in August en septembre in September en octobre in Ociober en novembre in November WEEK 4 5758 —Exercise 21 Exercise 22 Write in full the following dates: 1 New Year's Day 2 May Day the storming of the Bastille ristmas Day A istice Day 3 4 5 6 The first day of Spring IE Days OF THE WEEK lundi Monday mardi Tuesday Wednesday jeudi ‘Thursday vendredi Friday samedi Saturday dimanche Sunday Note that the days of the week are not written with a capita letter in French, Avex-vous travaillé lundi? Did you work on Monday? Pierre téléphone jeudi. Pierre is telephoning on Thursday, Pierre téléphone le jeudi. Pierre telephones on Thursdays. Note that the preposition ‘on’ is omitted in French. Le indicates that the action takes place regularly. IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (25/26) daht; oh-zhoor-dwee; lung dee; mabr-des vahng-drer-dee; mairr-krer-d FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Tianslate: 1 I worked on Monday. Ilistened to the radio on Tuesday. I watched television on Wednesday. 2 3 4 [finished the report on Thursday. 5 I bought a book on Friday. 6 [telephoned my wife on Saturday. 7 I spoke Spanish on Sunday. 8 work on Mondays. 9 She listens to the radio on Tuesdays. 10 We watch televis on on Wednesdays, WEEK 4 59(EAI THE POSITION OF ADJECTIVES In French adjectives are usually placed after the noun: un livre difficile a difficult book un médecin frangais a French doctor une voiture américaine an American car une langue importante an important language The following adjectives normally precede the noun: bon, bonne (f) good mauvais bad petit small grand large joli pretty jeune young vieux (m. sing. & pl) old vieil (m. sing, before a vowel or h) vieille (£) vieilles (f. pl) nouveau (m.sing.) new nouvel (m. sing before a vowel or hy nouvelle (f.) nouveaux (m. pl.) nouvelles (f. pl.) Examples un bon employé a good employee tun jeune pilote a young pilot un vieil ordinateur an old computer un nouvel appareil-photo a new camera une mauvaise cliente a bad client une jolie secrétaire a pretty secretary IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (27) ‘ho-lee: zhern; vyer; vyay’ee; noo-voh; noo-vel: ahnyg-plwah-yay; klee-yahngt; ser-kray-tairr. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. IMITATED PRONUNCIATION longdr; alr-zhahing: day-pahr; kong-vairr-sah-see-ong; ser-men; vah-kahngss; noo-ree-tiirt; shah-lerr; vee-7ee-tay: tro0-vay; kong-siil-ay; eel foh; ang-dee-zhest; ang-sti-porr-tahbl; mwah; ung per: ah lah-vahyss: day. WEEK 4 612 VERSA) A une agence de voyages @ Londres Une conversation entre un employé francais et une cliente américaine qui habite a Londres. La cliente saisit l'occasion pour parler francais. CUENTE Mon mari et moi, nous désirons passer deux semaines en France au printemps. ‘Nous avons visité I'Italie en aodt, mais. nous n/avons pas passé de bonnes vacances. Ewptové Ah? Pourquoi pas? CUENTE Nous avons trouvé la nourriture un peu indigeste, nous avons trouvé la chaleur insupportable, et nous avons dépensé beaucoup d’argent. employe Avez-vous Vintention de voyager en avion? ‘CUENTE Non, par le train, c’est plus agréable. emploYé Un petit instant, Madame, je consulte Vhoraire de "Eurostar. Il y a un départ a huit heures, a neuf heures, a dix heures, & onze heures, ete. Il faut réserver les places & Vavance. CLENTE Oui, d’accord. Départ 9 avril, retour 23 avril. empcové Un instant, s‘l vous plaft. Ata travel agency in London Acconversation between a French clerk and an American client who lives in London. The client seizes the opportunity to speak French, CLIENT My husband and I want to spend two weeks in France in the spring. We visited Italy in August, but we didn’t have a good holiday. GLERK Oh? Why not? UIENT We found the food a little heayy [literally “indigestible’], we found the heat unbearable, and we spent a lot of money. CLERK Do you intend to travel by plane? ‘CUENT No, by train, it's more pleasant. CLERK Just one moment, Madam. I'll consult the Eurostar timetable. There's a departure at eight oelock, at_nine o'clock, at ten o'clock, at eleven ofelock, etc. One must reserve seats in advance. CLIENT Yes, 0.K. Departure 9 April, return 23 April LERK One moment, please, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. WEEK 4 “3____Self-assessment test 1 A-C This self-assessment test, based on weeks 1-4, will enable you to check on your progress and to see whether any revision is needed. Deduct one mark for every grammatical mistake or wrong spelling. The answers and score assessment are in the Key. A Nouns Total: 8 marks Give the French for: 1 the doctor 5 my car 2 the computer 6 my keys 3. some wine 7 this train 4 some beer 8 these newspapers B Adjectives Total: 5 marks Give the opposite of: 1 pauvre 2 malheureux 3 intéressant © Verbs Total: 10 marks Which French verb do you associate with the following? 1 la télévision 2 laradio 3 la méthode Hugo 4 un sport 5 la ceinture de sécurité 6 une chambre d'hotel 7 une agence de voyages 8 occasion pour parler frangais 9 Mhoraire des trains 10 la Manche Self-assessment test 1 D-H D The time Total: 8 marks Add fifteen minutes to the time mentioned: 1 Le train part six heures. 2 Le car part a huit heures et der 3 Le Pr 4 ident arrive a dix heures cing, La conférence de presse est 8 onze heures et demic E Days of the week Total: 4 marks Write down the day before the one shown: 1 jeudi 3 samedi 2 nd 4 mercredi F Total: 4 marks What difference in meaning is there between ‘jeudi’ and ‘le jeudi’? G Months of the year Total: 4 marks Write down the date a month after the one shown: 1 le deux janvier 2 Ie cing mars 3 le douze mai 4 Ie wente et un juillet H The perfect tense Total: 8 marks {tall happened on Monday! Answer these questions in the perfect past, as in this example: Q- Avez-vous l'intention de regarder le film? A. Non, j'ai regardé le film lund 1 Avez-vous Vintention de 2A. 3. A-telle intention de copier le document? il Vintention de finir le li FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS: WEEK 4 6___Self-assessment test 1 FKL | The perfect tense (negative) Total: 16 marks Give the French for: 1 Thaven’t finished the report 2 She didn’t telephone her husband on Saturday. 3. We haven't visited Italy. 4 They (m,) haven't lost weight J Numerals Total: 18 marks Complete the following, writing the totals in words: a) 14415 f) 30420 b) 20+ 16 g) 10+ e) 23422 h) 30432 a) 2744 i) 1442 e) 14430 K Do you remember ...?- Total: 1 mark Which verb do the French use when talking about a person's age? L Conversation (role-play) Total: 14 marks Play the part of the customer in this short scene: CCUENTE We want to spend two weeks in France in the spring. We visited Italy in August, but we found the heat unbearable. | ewptove Avez-vous l'intention de voyager en avion? CUENTE No, by train, it’s more pleasant. ewpLove Un petit instant, Madame, je consulte Vhoraire de I'Burostar. Il faut réserver les places a Vavance. CUENTE Yes, O.K.! Departure 9 April, return 23 April. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Week — f= regular and irregular ‘-re' verbs, in both present and perfect tenses m= introduction to adverbs '= the pronoun ‘it’ '= object pronouns (me, him, her, to him, to her, ete) = using object pronouns with the perfect tense = more irregular verbs, including the perfect tenses of ‘etre’ and ‘avoir’ IEG REGULAR VERBS ENDING IN -RE A number of impurtant verbs end in -re: vendre to sell rendre to give back attendre to wait (for) entendre to hear descendre tw take/bring down, répondre to reply perdre to lose We form the present tense by removing the -re from the infinitive and adding je -5 nous -ons tw | vou er iVelle -d ——ils/elles._ -ent je vends nous vendons tu vends vous vendez ‘elle vend _ils/elles vendent The perfect tense is formed by changing the -re of the infinitive into -w jai vendu nous avons vendu tuasvendu vous avez vendu ivelle a vendu__ilsielles ont vendu WEEK 5les parents (m.) parents le frere brother Ja musique music maison house la mere ‘mother cela that dépendre de to depend on défendre to defend, 1 forbid IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (28) vahngdr; raligdr; ah-tahngdr; alvyg-talmgdr day-sabngdr; ray-pongde; pairrdr; vahng; vahing-dong: nuigd; valnig-dil: pah-rabuig; fraiet: ‘may-zong: mairr; set-lah; day-pahngdr der; day-fahiadr. vahng-day; ___Exercise 23 Translate: 1 Lam selling my car. He is waiting for his wife We give back 60 euros. ‘That depends on my parents. Do they ({.) hear the music? She has sold her house. We have not replied, Have you brought down the luggage? Are you (fam. sing.) waiting for your brother? 10 Have you (fam, sing.) lost your mother? IEEIIRREGULAR VERBS ENDING IN -RE The following -re verbs are irregular, taking a slightly different pattern in the present tense and a very different pattern in the perfect tense: Prendre —totake —comprendre 1 understand apprendre to learn surprendre to surprise Present je prends Lake (or Lam taking) tu prends ivelle prena nous prenons vous prenez ils/elles prennent Perfect Wai pris 100k (or I have taken) Vai appris Hearnt (i compris Yai surpris T understood I surprised IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (29) prahngdr, ah-prahngdr; kong-prahngde; stir prahngdr; rahng; pret-nong; prer-nay; pren; pree; ah-pree; kong-pree: siir-pre Exercise 24 Change the present to the past and vice versa’ 1 Est-ce que vous pre 2_Sapprends le frangais. 3. Ave7-vous appris la a 4 Avez-vous compris 5 exe train? ‘Tu surprends souvent ton professeur? FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. WEEK 5 o70 OTHER IRREGULAR -RE VERBS a The following irregular -re verbs have a similar pattern to that of the ‘prendre’ group but the consonant is doubled in the nous, vous, and ils/elles forms: mettre to put permettre to permit promettre to promise soumettre to submit Present Je mets 1 put (or tam putting) tu mets ilfelle met nous mettons vous mettez, ils/elles mettent Perfect vous avez you put (or you have put) vous avez permis you permitted vous avez promis you have promised vous avez soumis you have submitted VOCABULARY Je matin ‘morning le dictionnaire dictionary le projet project, plan Venfant (m.&f) child Yannonce (f.) advertisement la lettre letter permettre de 10 allow to promettre de to promise to, rentrer to rewm, } tot arly | tard late aga already FRENCH INTHREE MONTHS Note the construction with défendre and permettre: Je défends a Paul de parler. | forbid Paul to speak Je permets a Paul de parler. | allow Paul to speak. IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (30) mmetr; pairr-metr; pro-metr; soo-metr; may; mel-ong met-ay; met; mee; pairr-mee; pro-mee; so0-me mah-tang; deeks-yo-nairr; pro-zhay; aling-falig ah-nongs; letr; rahvg-tray; toh; tahr; day-zhah Exercise 25 Change the present to the past and vice versa: 1. Je mets une annonce dans le journal. 2 Il permet a sa seerétaire de partir tt 3. Vous prometiez de répondre a la lettre? 4 Elle soumet le rapport ce matin, 5 Avez-vous mis le di 6 7 8 onnaire dans la valise? Ontils permis 3 leurs enfants de rentrer tard? Nous avons promis de parler francais. Aver-vous dé} soumis le projet? [EIN ADVERBS: SAYING HOWTHINGS ARE DONE We often need to describe how things are done, for ‘example: rapidly, admirably, carefully In French, adverbs are formed by adding -ment to the adjective, which is the equivalent of -ly in English: rapide (rapid) becomes rapidement (rapidly) admirable becomes admirablement rare becomes rarement If the adjective ends in a consonant, e.g. malheureux (unfortunate, -ment is added to the feminine: WEEK 5 nn immédiat_—_immédiate (£) __immeédiatement général générale ({) __généralement malheureux matheureuse (f.) malheureusement UW attentif, attentive (f.) careful ‘complet, complete (f.) complete lent slow normal normal principal ‘main temporaire temporary IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (31) rah-peed: rah-peed-mahiy; ahd-mee-rahbl; ahd-mee-rah-bler-maling; rah; rar-mahng, ‘ee-mayd-yahit-mahny; zhay-nay-rall-mahiny; ah-talung-teet; ah-tahing-teev; Jahn: nore-mabl; prang-see-pal; mab-ler-rere-mahng kong-play; kong-plet; tahing-po-rairr Exercise 26 Form adverbs from the following adjectives: 1 rapide 2 facile 3 final 4 heureux 5 auentif 6 lem 7 complet 8 normal 9 principal 10 temporaire FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. IER THE PRONOUN ‘IT’ When ‘it’ refers to something which has just been mentioned, we use the same word in French as for, ‘he’ or ‘she’, depending on the gender of the noun: Le vin? Il est tres bon, ‘The wine? It’s very good. La voiture? Elle est chere. The car? I's expensive Referring to things, ‘they’ is expressed by ils or elles: Les trains? Ils sont rapides. ‘The trains? they're fast. Les places? Elles sont réservées. ‘The seats? They're reserved, ‘machine restaurant product message telephone answering machine pocket Ta qualité quality Vexplication (f.) explanation lair clear en anglais in English, excellent. excellent IMITATED PRONUNCIATION ah-pah-ray'ee; res-to-rahng; pro-dwee; may-sahzh; ray-pong-derr: oh-toh-mah-teck; posh; kah-lee-tay: ceks-plee-kah-see-ong; klairr; ahng nabng-glay: ek-sel-ahiy, WEEK 5 B4 Exercise 27 Translate: ‘The report? It’s very important ‘The beer? Irs bad. ‘The pocket? Iv’s full, ‘The machine? It’s excellent ‘The restaurant? It’s closed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The quality? I's very good. 7 The products? They're French. 8 The messages? They're in English. 9 The explanation? I's not clear, 0 The answering machine? It’s not expensive OBJECT PRONOUNS: ME, HIM, HER, TO HIM, ‘TO HER, IT, ETC Study the following Michel le rencontre Michel meets him Michel la rencontre Michel meets her Michel les rencontre Michel meets them Hélene le vend (mase. word) Hélene sells it Héléne la vend (fem. word) Helene sells it Paul nous félicite Paul congratulates us Paul vous félicite Paul congratulates you Sophie me choisit Sophie chooses me Sophie te choisit Sophie chooses you Sophie vous comprend Sophie understands you You will have noticed that: ‘me, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘us, ‘them’, ete come before the verb; the words for ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘it, and ‘them’ are just like the words for ‘the the words for ‘us’ and ‘you’ are just ike those for ‘wo" ‘and ‘you' (subject); FRENCH INTHREE MONTHS ‘me’ in French is me; ‘you’, familiar singular, is te; ‘you, familia plural, remains vous. Me, nous, vous, and te can also mean ‘to me, “to us, “to you' il me parle he speaks to me il nous répéte he repeats 10 us elle vous répond she replies to you elle te vend she sells to you {lam.) Both “to him’ and ‘to her’ are translated by lui: je lui répete 1 repeat to him (or to her) We express ‘to them’ by leur: Je leur parle 1 speak to them Sometimes the ‘to’ is not expressed in English, although clearly intended. Compare the French and the English Je lui vends la voiture. 1 sell him the car. Nous leur téléphonons. We telephone them. NOTE: me, le, la, and te become m’, I, ¢” in front of a vowel or h: il m‘invite; elle I’écoute; je Vinvite (OCABULARY client client _lemode d'emploi operating instructions Yami (m.) friend - Yamie (f.) friend Jalegon Tesson lacommercante shopkeeper | brancher to plug in “mettre en marche to start, to set going WEEK 5 B76 IMITATED PRONUNCIATION klee-yahng; mod dahng-plwah; ah-mee; ah-mee: ler-sony, ko-mairr-sahngt; braling-shay; metr aig mahrsh, Exercise 28 Answer the questions using pronouns, as follows: Vous me comprenez? Do you understand me? Qui, ie vous comprends. Yes, | understand you. 1 Blle me cherche? 2 Ele vous consulte? 3. Veus rencontrez le client? 4 Vous copiez la legon? 5 invite Nicole? 61 7 Comprenons-nous le mode d'emploi? 8 Branchons-nous la radio? 9 Mettons-nous appar 10 Copions-nous le document? Elles nous répondent en frangais? éphonent a Pierre? 13 Ils téléphonent a Nicole? 14 Ils téléphonent a Pierre et a Nicole? 15 Vous parlez a la commergante? 16 Vous répondez.a vos amis? 17 Vous défendez a vos enfants de rentrer tard? porte les voi en marche? FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS | OBJECT PRONOUNS WITH THE CT TENSE ‘When you use a direct object pronoun with the perfect, tense, the past participle of the verb has to agree in gender and number with the pronoun: invited him invited her invited them (men or men, and women) Tinvited them (women) Je Vai invite je Vai invitée Je les ai invités je les ai invitées vous avez copié —_you copied it (le document) vous avez copiée you copied it (la lecon) vous les avez copiés you copied them (les documents) vous les avez copiées you copied them (les lecons) vous les avez copiés you copied them (les documents et les legons) il mya trouvé he found me (man speaking) inva trouvée he found me (woman speaking) nous a trouvés il nous a trouvées il nous a trouvés he found us (men speaking) he found us (women speaking) he found us (nen and women speaking) elle vous a consulté she consulted you (m. doctor) elle vous a consultée she consulted you (I. doctor) elle vous a consultés she consulted you (im. doctors) elle vous a consultées she consulted you (f, doctors) elle vous a consultés she consulted you (JE, doctors) Note that this does NOT apply when the pronoun is the indirect object, meaning ‘to me, ‘to him’, etc. WEEK 5 78 Exercise 29 FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. ‘The pronunciation of all these endings is the same, i.e. ‘ay. However, when the past participle ends in a consonant, for example compris, the addition of the feminine ending ‘e" or ‘es’ results in this consonant being sounded: je Vai comprise I understood her ‘her lay kong-preez je les ai apprises I learnt them (les legons, for example) ‘her lay zay ah-preee ‘Answer the questions as follows: ‘Avez-vous rencontré le client? Did you meet the client? Oui, je Iai rencontré. Yes, | met him, 2 Avez-vous invité Nicole? 3 Aver-vous invité Pierre et Nicole? 4 Avil exporté les voitures? 5 A-telle consulté le médecin? 6 A-telle consulté la diététicienne? 7 A-telle consulté le médecin et la diététicienne? 8 Ontils branché la radio? 9 Ont-ils réservé les chambres? 10 Ont-ils perdu la cle: 11 Avons-nous compris le mode d'emploi? 12 Avons-nous compris la legon? 13 Avons-nous compris les legons? 14 Avons-nous compris les livres? Avez-vous mis le CD dans votre poche?80 IRREGULAR VERBS Hire (to read) Present tense Je lis nous lisons tulis vous lisez iVelle lit ils/elles lisent Perfect tense Jai lu, etc faire (to do, to make) Present tense Je fais tu fais Welle fait nous faisons vous faites ils/elles font Pe‘ect tense Fai fait, ete atre (10 be) avoir (10 have) Perfect tense Perfect tense Fai été, otc Jai eu, etc IMITATED PRONUNCIATION ah-pel tay-lay-fo-neek; ee-see; too; mem; der-pwee: per-tetr; eel yah; ser; ti-tee-lee-zay: ‘her ray-pet; tii ray-pet: eel ray-pet; noo ray-pay-tong: vvoo ray-pay-tay; eel ray-pet; leerr; zher lee; tit lee; eet lee; noo lee-zong; vo lee-zay; eel leer; zhay Ii; fairt; zhe: fay; ti fay; eel fay; noo fer-zong: voo fet; eel fons; zhay fay; etr; zhay ay-tay; ah-vwahr; zhay t, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS NEEM | Une conversation entre une commercante et un client CUENT Bonjour, Madame. Il y a deux semaines vous m’avez vendu un répondeur automatique. Malheureusement, il ne répond pas aux appels téléphoniques de ' mes amis. | CONIMERCANTE Je suis surprise d’apprendre cela, Mon- sieur. Nos répondeurs sont d’excellente qualité. Avez-vous lu le mode d'emploi? ‘CUENT Oui, je Iai lu trés attentivement, Attendez, je Vai ici dans ma poche. Mais, oii est-il? Je I'ai peut-€tre perdu. COMMERCANTE Ce nest pas grave, Monsieur. Avez-vous branché appareil correctement? Avez- vous mis Vappareil en marche? Avez- vous compris les explications? CLIENT Oui, j‘ai tout compris et j/ai tout fait correctement. J’ai méme défendu 4 mes enfants de utiliser. COMMER¢ANTE Permettez-moi de vous répéter, Mon- : sieur, que nos produits sont d’excellente qualité. Si vous n’avez pas eu un seul message depuls deux semaines, la seule explication possible, c’est que personne ne vous téléphone! WEEK 5 81Weeki oa a TSW ‘= prepositions: in, to, from, ete = the expression ‘ily a’ (‘there is/are’) "= the comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs, and irregular forms ('good/better/best’) '= talking about the weather "= verbs that form their past tense with ‘étre’ "= the expressions je voudrais’ and ‘il faut’ (‘I would like ...; one must/has to’) IEGIPREPOSITIONS: IN,TO,FROM,ETC | Here are some useful French prepositions. Many of them, are used to indicate position dans in en into sur on sous under devant in front of, derrigre behind pres de near a cote de next t0 en face de ‘opposite a auiio de of/from pour for avec with sans without apres after avant before We saw in previous chapters that the French do not say ‘ale’ or ‘a les’ but au and aux; instead of ‘de le’ and ‘de les, they say du and des. Examples: au musée auito the museum Ala boulangerie ——_av/to the baker's aux magasins ato the shops du bureau de poste ol/irom the post office 82. | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS WEEK 684 dela pharmacie __offirom the chemist’s KGB ILY A (‘THERE IS/ARE’) des hotels offirom the hotels dans la voiture in the car ‘We have already met il y a, but let us look at this very fen France in/to France Useful expression more closely. It means “there is’ or a cote de la next to the butcher's ‘there are’ and can, therefore, be used with both singular boucher and plural nouns: en face de la ‘opposite the fishmonger’s poissonnerie My a un taxi devant ’hétel. pres de l’épicerie near the food store There's a taxi in front of the hotel. sur la table ‘on the table My a des journaux ici. sous la chaise under the chair ‘There are some newspapers devant h6pital in front of the hospital Est-ce quiil y a une banque derrigre Funtversité behind sans difficulté with my husband without difficulty apres le petit after breakfast déjeuner Je restaurant avant le diner before dinner le supermarché Je tunnel NOTE: Both dans and en mean ‘in’, but dans is more Te numéro de specific, ie. dans is generally used before le, la, les, un, téléphone une, mon, votre, etc; otherwise en is used. Contrast Je cinema dans la voiture de ‘mon frere in my brother's car en voiture by (in) car dans le sud de la France in the south of France en France in France Note also the following difference dans deux semaines in hwo weeks’ time (Vil begin the work ‘dans deux semaines’) ‘cest difficile de ‘en deux semaines within two weeks (1did the work “en deux semaines’) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS university Is there a bank here? restaurant supermarket tunnel telephone number ‘nema theatre show friend United States briefease, towel, napkin church bookshop library telephone booth friend itis difficult to England WEEK 6 85,Exercise 30 Translate: IRREGULAR VERBS ibis ¢ 1 There's a briefcase on the table. alten (o.20), 2 There’s a taxi in front of the hotel. Present tense 3 There’s a restaurant behind the church. ee 4 ‘There's a supermarket next to the bank. tu vas {elle va 5 ‘There's a bookshop opposite the university. nous allons 6 Is there a telephone booth near the station? vous allez. 7 Are there any English books in the lib ? yooks in the library’ Nera on 8 Is there a tunnel under the Channel? rouse GHEN 9 1'm going to the cinema. teeta 10 She's going to the United States an 11 Do you have the telephone number of the theatre? ‘tuviens ; 4 42 Thave bought a newspaper for my friend iWelle vient aa 13: She's learning French with some CDs. nous venons vous venez aa eee 414 I’ difficult to work without my secretary. 15 Let's eat after the show. 16 Ler’s telephone before 9 o'clock IMITATED PRONUNCIATION i We feel that you should now be fairly confident as far as the pronunciation is concerned and we are discontinuing, the imitated pronunciation at this point. You are advise of course, to continue using the CDs in conjunction wit this book to perfect your pronunciation or consider purchasing them if you haven't already. IEA COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES In English we make comparisons by adding ‘er’ to the adjective or by using ‘more’ or ‘less’; in French we simply ut plus (more) and moins (less) in front of the adjective: Cet hotel est grand. This hotel is large Cet hdtel est plus grand. This hotel is larger: Cette lettre est importante. This leter is important, Cette lettre est plus importante. This letter is more important. Ce livre est moins difficile. This book is less difficult, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS WEEK 6We express ‘than’ by que: VOCABULARY Jebanquier banker La cathédrale est plus belle que Véglise. Tefacteur postman The cathedral is more beautiful than the church. Te russe Russian language Le film est moins intéressant que le livre. Vactrice actress. ‘The film is les interesting than the book, courageux brave distinct distinct Note also beau (m.) beautiful bbel (m. before a vowel or h) aussi. que as... as beaux (m. pl.) Pas sin. que — not so...as belle (£) belles (f pl) Lagroglisseur est aussi ray la Manche. The hovercraft is as fast as the Channel tunnel, Le train nest pas si rapide que Vavion. ‘The train is not as fast as the plane, le que le tunnel sous [EE COMPARISON OF ADVERBS ‘Adverbs follow the same pattern as adjectives: Pierre travaille lentement. Pierre works slowly. Paul travaille plus lentement que Pierre. Paul works more slowly than Pierre. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Exercise 31 Translate: 1 The banker is richer than the teacher. 2 The postman is poorer than the lawyer. 3 The pilot is as brave as the astronaut. 4 French is not so difficult as Russian (say the French ... the Russian). 5 She speaks more distinetly than Paul. 6 He listens more attentively than his brother WEEK 690 NOTE We have seen that ‘than’ is translated by que. However, when ‘than’ is followed by a number, we use de in place of que: Jai plus de 40 euros. I have more than 40 euros. ‘SUPERLATIVE OF ADJECTIVES In English, we form the superatve by adding “est to the adjective or by using ‘most’; in French, we use le plus, la plus, or les plus Pierre est le plus petit de la classe. Pierre is the smallest in the class. Annette est la plus grande de la famille. Annette is the tallest in the family, Pierre et Nicole sont les plus intelligents du groupe. Pierre and Nicole are the most intelligent in the group. Michel est le plus jeune pilote de la compagnie Michel is the youngest pilot in the airline company. Note that ‘in’ is translated de after a superlative. If the adjective is one that normally follows the noun, lefla/les are placed both before and after the noun Ie vin le plus cher the dearest wine les livres les plus intéressants the most interesting books ENE SUPERLATIVE OF ADVERBS With adverbs we use the masculine form le plus, even if the person or thing carrying out the action is feminine: Annette travaille le plus rapidement de tous. Annette works the fastest of all FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS BETTER, BEST, WORSE, WORST There are a few irregular comparisons and superlatives: bon (good) meilleur (beiter)le meilleur (the best) bonne meilleure 1a meilleure (f.) mauvais (bad) pire (worse) le pire (the worst) Note that plus mauvais and le plus mauvais are also possible and, in fact, are more usual. bien (well) ux (belter) Te mieux (the best) peu (little) moins (less) Te moins (the least) beaucoup plus (more) _e plus (the most) (much) Examples: Un bon restaurant. ‘A good restaurant. Un meilleur restaurant. A betier restaur Le meilleur restaurant. The best restaurant Je chante bien, Ising well Vous chantez mieux. You sing better. I chante le mieux de tous. He sings the best of al. TA ETONN le pare park le monde world laville town. chic smart célebre famous agréable pleasant confortable comfortable impressionnant impressive WEEK 6 192 Exercise 32 Exercise 33 Respond to each sentence with the superlative: Ce parc est grand. This park is large. Oui, c'est le plus grand parc du monde. Yes, this is the largest park in the world. 1. Ce restaurant est chic. 2 Cette librairie est grande. 3. Ce magasin est célebre, ce Cette bidre est bonne, cathédrale est belle. Ce pare est agréable. Londees est une ville intéressante La Cadillac est une voiture confortable. Le ‘747" est un avion impressionnant. worvons Which French expression describes the weather in the following situations? 1 An umbrella would be useful, 2 Due to poor visibility, there could be some road accidents, 3. Hold on to your hat! 4 You'll need a warm overcoat. 5 Dark glasses would be a great help. 6 I's nice when this happens at Christmas. 7 Open the window and let in a little cool air. & Probably best to stay at home. 9 A walk through the park would be pleasant. [ZN TALKING ABOUTTHE WEATHER The Fiench often discuss the weather. The verb faire appears in many expressions connected with this topic: Wait beau, ‘The weather is fine. fait mauvais. The weather is bad. I fait chaud, Ws hot. I fait froid. Ws cold, I fait du vent. W's windy, M fait du soleil Ws sunny. Mfait du brouillard. 1's fogs MI pleut. Ws raining. Mneige. Ws snowing. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS “1 | KEIVERBS FORMING THE PAST WITH ‘ETRE’ ‘We saw in section 17 that the past tense of most French verbs is formed with avoir (to have) Jai téléphoné I telephoned vous avez fini you finished But some verbs, often denoting motion, form their past, with @tre. The following verbs, some of which are irregular, are the most important aller (irreg.) 10 go. arriver to arrive retourner to return monter to go up to rester stay Partir (irreg.) to leave sortir (irreg.) 10 go out venir (irreg.) to come revenir (irreg.) to come back descendre to go down WEEK 6 93.94 Examples: suis allé I went je suisarrivé — Larrived lest parti he left est sortt he went out vous @es venu you came vous étes you went down descendu NOTE: When monter and descendre mean, respectively, ‘to take up’ and 'to bring down’, they forrn the perfect tense with avoir (see Exercise 23). The past participles (allé, parti, venu, etc) of these verbs agree in gender and number with the person carrying out the action (the subject), just as if they were adjectives: masculine singular je suis allé illest arrive vous @tes retourné tu es resté feminine singular je suis partie elle est sortie vous étes venue tw es descendue masculine plural nous sommes allés vous étes partis ils sont revenus feminine plural nous sommes restées vous @tes sorties elles sont descendues le bureau office tout (m.) all Vétudiant (m.) student ‘tous (m. pl.) laréunion meeting toute (f) lajournée day (daytime) _toutes (f. pl.) Jamaison —_house, home Vinfirmiére (f.) nurse Vétudiante (f.) student FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Exercise 34__ ‘A. Imagine for a moment the following: You are a doctor (male). You arrived at the hospital this morning at 7 o'clock, You went to a meeting at 10 o'clock. You left the hospital with two nurses. Now complete these sentences: 1. Je suis (doctor) 2 Ce matin je (artiver) V'hopital a 7 heures. 3 Je (aller) & une réunion a 10 by 4 Je (pamtir) avec deux infirmi B Imagine the following: You are a journalist (female). Yesterday you went to a press conference. At one o'clock you went upstairs to the restaurant. You returned to the office very late. Now complete these sentences: 1 Je suis (journalist 2 Hier je jaller) & une conférence de presse. 3 Je (monter) au restaurant a une heure. 4 Je (retourner) au bureau tres tard. © Consider the following: Nicole and Sophie are students. They went to the University this morning at 9 o'clock, They stayed the whole day in the library. They came back home at 5 o'clock, Now complete these sentences: 1. Nicole et Sophie sont (students), Ce matin elles (aller) a luniversité & 9 heures. 3 la bibl Elles (revenir) a la maison a 5 heures, 2 3. Billes (rester) toute la journé otheque, 4 WEEK 6 896 Vingénieur (m.) engineer hier yesterday aga already tot early, Exercise 35 1. The engineers arrived yesterday ‘The nurses (f.) have already left We (f.) came back early You (fam. sing, m.) went downstairs, Did the doctor stay all day? onaen Did you come back very late? THE USEFUL EXPRESSION ‘JE VOUDRAIS’ ‘You wil want to ask for things and to say what you ‘would lke to do. Use je voudrais (| would like) Je voudrais un café. Td like a cofh Je voudrais de la confiture. rd like some jam. Je voudrais prendre le petit déjeuner dans ma chambre. T would like to have (lake) breakfast in my room. Je voudrais rester deux jours. T would like to stay two days FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS: NoTE 1 If you ask for un café, you will receive biack coffee; if you want white coffee, ask for un café créme oF, at breakfast time, un café au lait 2 voudrais is actually the conditional tense, which we shall be studying later. BULARY, timbre stamp Ie plan street map Ie lait ‘milk le sucre sugar le thé tea Ia carte postale postcard Ia note bill (in a hotel) Yaddition (f.) bill (in @ restaurant) régler settle IRREGULAR VERB ‘envoyer (to send) Present tense Fenvoie tu envoies ivelle envoie nous envoyons ‘yous envoyez ils/elles envoient WEEK 6 o798 Exercise 36 Ask for the following, using je voudrais: a postcard a stamp a street map of the town an American newspaper some milk, some sugar some tea, Noasenas ‘And now, say that you would like: 7 tw wlephone New York 8 to seutle the hotel bill Exercise 37 If you want to say that something has to be done, you can use il faut (one must, itis necessary): 1 faut conduire a droite. You have to drive on the right. II faut aller a la pharmacie. You have to go to the chemist’, Also note this useful way of talking about what you need: M1 nous faut un dictionnaire. We need a dictionary (itis necessary to us a dictionary). FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Say you need the following 1 a pencil 2 a ball-point pen Now, she needs: 3 a rubber 4 some writing paper Now, they need: 5 some envelopes 6 some cigarettes 7 some matches WEEK 6le port Ie pain Yarticte (m.) la place larue la marque la promotion la porte Yannée (f.) tourner recommander tout droit a gauche a droite dhabitude au revoir si voila autre rouge quelques dernier, derniére (f.) 100 | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS WTO port bread item square street brand special offer door year totum to recommend straight on, ‘onito the left onito the right usually goodbye there is (pointing) other red afew last Un touriste passe la journée Boulogne Tounisté Pardon, Madame. Je cherche une bonne épicerie, ici prés du port. PASSANTE La meilleure épicerie de Boulogne est sur la place, en face de la banque. Vous allez tout droit et vous prenez la premiére rue a gauche. youniste Merci, Madame. [II répéte] droit, je tourne a droite ... non, non ... je tourne a gauche. Anh, voila I'epicerie. epicigxe Bonjour, Monsieur. Vous désirez? yoURISTE Bonjour, Madame. Je voudrais du fromage, du vin et de la biére, sil vous plait. epiciéne Voici le fromage. Crest la meilleure marque. Il est plus cher que les autres fromages, mais il est excellent. Je vous recommande aussi ce vin rouge. Il est moins cher que d’habitude; il est en promotion. TOURISTE Bien, Je prends ces trois articles. Merci. Est-ce que vous vendez. aussi du pain? tPicitne Non, Monsieur. Pour cela, il faut aller & la boulangerie. La boulangerie est a cOté du bureau de poste. ToURISTE Merci. Au revoir, Madame. [Il va a la porte] ... Oh, il pleut! Et il fait du vent. Attendez. quelques instants. Ici A Boulogne il fait rarement beau. Il pleut souvent et il fait toujours du vent. ToURISTE Oui. Lannée dernigre ma femme et moi, nous sommes venus passer la journée ici, ‘mais il a fait si mauvais. Nous avons attendu un jour, deux jours. Finalement, nous sommes restés une semaine a Boulogne! WEEK 6 101NNO 102 | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS = adverbs of quantity (much, many, enough, eto) ® the future tense (including the irregular forms of some key verns’ ) ® the allimportant modal verbs ‘pouvoir, ‘devoir; ‘vouloir’ and ‘savoir’ = countries = more numbers (up to 100) = four more irregular verbs ‘On occasions, you will need to tak about quantities — you may have too much of something, or too little, oF not enough, and so on. ‘Study the following: beaucoup much, many trop to0 much, too many tant so much, so many peu little, few assez enough When a noun follows these words, they are linked by de (dy: beaucoup de temps (m.) _ much time beaucoup de legumes (m.) many vegetables trop d’argent 100 much money trop de vétements (m.) too many clothes peu de patience (f.) litte patience assez de fruits (m. pl.) enough fruit ‘The following are also linked to the noun by de (dy plus more moins less, fewer autant és much, as many WEEK 7 103Exercise 38 Examples: Jai Vintention de boire plus d'eau. Tintend to di Jai Vintention de manger moins de pain. intend to eat less bread, Rémia autant de CD que Marie-Claude. Rémi has as many CDs as Marie-Claude. nk more water, VO! ARY Te chapeau hat le pantalon pair of trousers te foulara scart Te cardigan cardigan Te costume suit la chemise shirt la cravate tie la robe dress lajupe skirt 104 | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS ‘Answer the questions Example: Vous fautil une chemise? Do you need a shirt? Non, j'ai beaucoup de chemises. No, | have many shirts, 1 Vous fautil une cravate? 2 Vous fautil un costume? 3. Vous fautil une robe? Example: Michel a acheté un chapeau? Has Michel bought a hat? ui, la mantenant trop de chapeaux. Yes, he now has too many hats. 4 Berard acheté un pantalon? 5 Héléne a acheté une jupe? 6 Marie-José a acheté un foulard? Translate: 7 He has litle patience, 8 Have you put enough shirts in the suitcase? 9 Thave more cardigans than Monique. 10. You haye fewer suits than Pierre, WEEK 7 105106 TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE i elle exportera she will export nous choisirons we will choose ‘You wil often want to talk about what you plan to do in vous finirez you will finish the future, There are three ways of doing this: garantiront they will guarant elles réussiront they (1) will succeed 1 In conversation, you can often use the present tense with a future meaning: ‘To form the future of -re verbs, drop the final e of the Un petit instant, je finis ce rapport. infinitive before adding the endings: One moment, I'll just finish this report Bien, Je prends ces trois articles. Jattendrat 1 will wait Fine. Ill ake these three items. il apprendra he will learn arrive lundi. nous comprendrons we will understand Vil arrve on Monday. vous mettrez ‘you will p ils promettront they will prom 2 Youcan do what we do in English, i.e. use ‘to 90% followed by another verb’ ‘Some important verbs have an itregular future and Je vais téléphoner demai perhaps we should learn them now: 'm going to telephone tomorrow. avoir jfaurai will have Aujourd’hul il va manger dans un restaurant chic. etre jeserai——_ Twill be ‘Today he’s going to eat in a smart restaurant. aller jfirai Twill go Nousallons regarder la télévision ce soir. faire jeferai Iwill do, make We're going to watch television this evening, venir je viendrai_1 will come envoyer jfenverrai I will send 3 You can use the future tense which is formed by adding the following endings to the infinitive of the verb: ilya —ilyaura there will be ilfaut —ilfaudra it will be necessary je sai w -as iWelle -a Is/elles - ont Examples: je consultera tu chanteras il fumera FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Twill consult you (fam.) will sing he will smoke WEEK 7 107Exercise 39 WOW Ie tennis tennis Te week-end weekend le pere father Vappartement (m.) flat Ja réunion. meeting la conférence conference la mére mother les courses (f.) shopping, international international étudier to study réparer to repai jouer to play visiter to visit tapisser to wallpaper organiser to organise IRREGULAR VERB écrire (to write) Present tense Séeris tu écris, iVelle écrit nous écrivons vous écrivez lis/elles écrivent Perfect tense Sai écrit, etc FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Here isa lst of things you plan to do tomorrow (demain). Tansiete the list into French, using the construction with aller. Write complete sentences. 1 Listen to radio 2 Buy newspaper 3. Study French 4 Do shopping Here is Michel's list for next week (la semaine prochainel. Translate, using the future tense in complete sentences: ® Flepair car 6 Play tennis 7 Write letter 8 Visit museum Here is Pierre and Héléne's list for next month (le mois prochain). Use the future tense, and write complete sentences: 9 Wallpaper flat 10 Organise meeting 11 Go to international «4 12 Spend weekend in London nference Translate: 13 She wil finish her letter. 14 We will go to the theatre next week 15 You will surprise your father, 16 You (fam.) will choose your dress next month, WEEK 7 109110 CAN, MUST, WANT, KNOW (MODAL VERBS) These are auxiliary verbs that are used in conjunction ‘with the infinitive of a following verb ~ for example, ‘I can come’ or ‘We must telephone’. There are four important ‘examples of this type of verb in French pouvoir to be able to (can) devoir to have to (must) vouloir to want to savoir to know (know how to) 1 Pouvoir Sometimes you will want to talk about what you can or cannot do, Use the irregular verb pouvoir: Present tense: I can, ete Je peux tu peux ilvelle peut nous pouvons vous pouvez ils/elles peuvent Past tense (perfect) jai pu, I was able to Future tense je pourrai, I will be able to Examples: Je peux faire les courses maintenant. Tcan do the shopping now. Pouvez-vous me dire oi est la gare? Can you tell me where the station is? Avez-vous pu téléphoner a Paris ? Have you been able to telephone Paris? In formal situations puis-je is sometimes used in place of est-ce que je peux to express ‘oan |...” for ‘may I. ..? | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS 2 Devoir You will also want to talk about what you must or have to do. Use the irregular verb devoir: Present tense: | must, ete Je dois tu dois iVelle doit nous devons vous devez ils/elles doivent Past tense (perfect) Jai dd Thaito Future tense Je devrai I will have 10 Examples: Je dois changer ma vie. Tmust change my life. Vous devez envoyer une carte postale a votre ami, ‘You must send a postcard to your friend, Mada partir. He had to leave. Elle devra apprendre espagnol. She will have to learn Spanish. 3 Vouloir You have already met je voudrais meaning ‘I would like’ this comes from the iregular verb vouloir (to wanth: Present tense: | want, ete je veux tu veux Welle veut nous voulons vous voulez ils/elles veulent, WEEK 7 un12 Past tense (perfect) Yai voulu I wanted Future tense je voudrai 1 will want Examples: Je veux changer mon argent américain en euros. Twant to change my American money into euros. Nous voulons une chambre pour deux personnes. ‘We want a double room. A request can be made more polite by putting ‘Voulez-vous . . ‘at the beginning of the sentence: Voulez-vous signer ici? Will you sign here? 4 Savoir The irregular verb savoir means ‘to know’ Present tense: | know, ete je sa tu sais ilvelle sait, vous savez ils/elles savent Past tense (perfect) Fai su knew Future tense je saurai 1 will know Examples: Je sais que vous voyagez a l’étranger. I know that you travel abroad. Savez-vous ot je peux louer une voiture? Do you know where I can hire a ear? Pierre saura demain sil va étre en chomage. Pierre will know tomorrow if he’s going 10 be unemployed (lit. “in unemployment’) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Savoir can also mean ‘to know how to Je sais jouer du piano. Tecan (know how to) play the piano, Note the difference between pouveir and savoir: Je ne sais pas jouer du piano. Tean’t play the piano. (I don’t know how to) Je ne peux pas jouer du piano, [can't play the piano. (my hand is bandaged) le diplomate diplomat le marché market le contrat contract Yécriture (f) handwriting arréter to stop. arréter defumer 0 stop smoking décourager to discourage nager to swim ‘garer to park faire le tour 10 tour the world du monde. IRREGULAR VERB. conduire {to drive) Present tense Je conduis tu conduis iVelle conduit nous conduisons vous conduisez lls/elles conduisent Perfect tense Jai conduit, etc WEEK 7 3na Exercise 40 Say that you can: 1 buy the vegetables at the market 2 prepare the report Say that we cannot: 3 arrive on Monday 4 read his handwriting Say that she must 5 sign the contract 6 stop smoking Say that they must not: 7 discourage the students 8 park the car in front of the hospital Say that he wants to: 9 tour the world 10 spend less money ‘Ask your friend whether he/she knows how to: W drive 12 swim FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. COUNTRIES In French, ccuntries can be either masculine or feminine: le Danemark Denmark le Portugal Portugal Je Luxembourg Luxemburg Je Canada Canada Je Japon, Japan le Pays de Galles Wales les Etats-Unis (m.) United States le Royaume-Uni United Kingdom la France Prance la Belgique Belgium la Grande-Bretagne Great Britain la Grece Greece la Hollande Holland la Chine China a Russie Russia Angleterre (L.) ingland Ecosse (f.) Scotland YAllemagne (f.) Germany Italie (f.) aly Espagne (1) Spai Virlande (f.) Ireland Before a masculine country ‘in’ or ‘to’ is translated au au Pays de Galles in/to Wales au Portugal in/to Portugal au Japon into Japan Before a feminine country ‘in’ or ‘to’ is translated en: en Angleterre infto England en Ecosse infto Scotland en France in/to France en Chine infto China’ We use aux for a country with a plural form: aux Etats-Unis in/to the United States WEEK 7 usv 16 Exercise 41 Exercise 43 With your book closed, write a list of 15 countries, indicating whether they are masculine or feminine. Then check your list against the lists above __— Exercise 42 - Translate: 1 We spend our holidays in Greece. 2 Do you intend to go to Japan? 3. Germany exports cars to France. 4 Has the diplomat arrived in Russia? Complete the following, writing the answers in words: NUMBERS Let's continue our study of the numbers: 63 soixante-trois 81 quatre-vingt-un 70 soixante-dix 82 quatre-vingt-deux n 88 quatre-vingt-huit R 90 quatre-vingt-dix 73 soixante-treize 79 soixante-dix-neut 80 quatre-vingts Note that the s in quatre-vingts is omitted when another number follows, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. a 10+10 g 40+30 = b lo+12 h 19 +60 = © 11420 i 40441 d 27+20= i 41+50 e 30429 k 19480 = f 21440 1 50450 = TG 1a résolution resolution la liste list Ia promesse promise Ja gymnastique physical exercises Ia santé health certain certain neuf, neuve (f.) brand-new quoi what quoi de neut? what's new? eh bien? well? vraiment really ga =cela that souhaiter to wish décider (de) to decide (10) excuser to excuse IRREGULAR VERBS boire (10 drink) die (to say, to tell) Present tense Present tense Je bois Je dis tu bois tw dis ilelle boit iWelle dit nous buvons nous disons vous buvez vous dites ils/elles boivent _ils/elles disent Perfect tense Perfect tense Jai bu, ete Jai dit, etc WEEK 7 71s. CONVERSATION Héléne MicHeL HELENE MICHEL HELENE ice HELENE prend des résolutions pour la nouvelle année Bonjour, Héléne. Je suis venu vous souhaiter une bonne année. Bonjour, Michel. Bonne année a vous aussi. Quoi de neuf? Eh bien, j’ai décidé de changer ma vie. J’ai pris beaucoup de résolutions pour la nouvelle année. ‘Vraiment? Et quelles sont ces résolutions? Voici ma liste: 1 Je vais maigrir. 2 Je vais regarder la télévision moins souvent. 3 Je mangerai plus de légumes. 4 Je mangerai plus de fruits. 5 Je dépenserai moins d’argent en vétements, Mon mari m’a fait aussi quelques promesses. Voici sa liste: 111 va boire moins de biére. 2.11 va boire plus d’eau. 3 arrétera de fumer. 411 fera de la gymnastique chaque matin. TRANSLATION Héléne makes [takes] some New Year resolutions Miche HELENE Miche HELENE MicHEL HELENE Good morning, Hélene. I've come to wish you a happy New Year. Good morning, Michel. Happy New Year to you too. ‘What's new? Well, Ive decided to change my life. 've made a lot of resolutions for the New Year. Really? And what are these resolutions? Here's my list: 1 I'm going to lose weight. 2.1'm going to watch television less often. 3.11 eat more vegetables. 4 Til eat more fruit 5 Tll spend less money on {literally “in’] clothes. My husband has also made me a few promises. Here's his list: 1 He's going to drink less beer. 2 He's going to drink more water. 3 He'll stop smoking. 4 He'll do exercises each morning, 5 He'll come home earlier in the evening. 5 11 rentrera plus t6t a la maison le soir. Mickel. Do you think you'll be happier? Mickel. Et vous pensez que vous serez plus heureux? HELENE Yes. We'll have more time and more money. HELENE Oui, Nous aurons plus de temps et plus ‘We'll both [literally ‘all the two} be in better argent. Nous serons tous les deux en health meilleure santé. ickeL_ And how will you spend all this money? IMicHeL Et comment est-ce que vous dépenserez tout HELENE We'll buy a brand-new car. We'll travel abroad et argent? ‘more often. We'll go to Japan. We'll go to China HELENE Nous acheterons une voiture neuve. Nous and to the United States. We'll tour the world voyagerons a l’étranger plus souvent. Nous Literally “We'll do the tour of the world’). irons au Japon. Nous irons en Chine et aux micket I'm sory {literally “Excuse me'} but I have to say Etats-Unis. Nous ferons le tour du monde. that I've heard all that before (literally I've hich Excusez-mol, mais je dois dire que jal déja already heard that]. {heard it last year. 1 don’t entendu ¢a. Je Vai entendu Yannée derniere. ‘want to discourage you, but I'm sure that you'll Je ne veux pas vous décourager, mais je suis never do anything! [literally ‘that you will never certain que vous ne ferez. jamais rien ! do nothing’) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS WEEK 7 9120 Week — the imperfect tense (‘used to do’, ‘was doing’) relative pronouns (who/whom/which/that) the conditional tense ("what we would do, if ...’) ‘more about pronouns the distinction between ‘savoir’ and ‘connaitre’ both meaning ‘to know’ Ea THE IMPERFECT TENSE (‘USEDTO DO’, ‘WAS DOING’) We have already used the perfect tense to talk about the past Sai acheté un livre. This sentence can be translated by ‘I have bought @ book’, ‘I did buy a book’, or ‘I bought @ book. But sometimes you want to say what you ‘used to do’ at some period in your life. For this you use the imperfect, tense. To form this tense, take the nous form of the present tense, drop the -ons ending and add: ie sais nous - ions tu vous - iez Welle - ait ils/elles - aient There is only one exception to the above rule, namely the verb @tre, Examples: je fumais used to smoke tu chantai you (lam.) used to sing ilorganisait he used to organise elle choisissait she used to choose nous finissions we sed to finish vous vendiez you used to sell ent they used to read elles écrivaient they used to write FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS FEtais 1 used to be (was) iLétait he used to be (was) etc Favais 1 used to have (had) ilavait he used to have (had) etc We also use the imperfect tense when translating such sentences as ‘I was reading the newspaper, when the telephone rang: In other words, if the English construction is ‘was/were ...ing’, we require the imperfect tense in French, Examples: Jécoutais la radio, quand Michel a téléphoné. [was listening to the radio when Michel telephoned Elle prenait une douche, quand le facteur est arrive, She was taking a shower when the postman arrived stamp noise purse burglar Ja traduction: translation, en haut upstairs en bas downstairs collectionner to collect, jouer au football to play football aller a la péche to go fishing faire de la to do photography photo(graphie) entrer dans la to enter the house ‘maison. WEEK 8 11122 Exercise 44 Here are some things that Bernard and Marie-Claude used to do when they were younger; translate using the imperfect tense: 1. He used to play football 2 He used to go fishing. 3. He used to collect stamps. 4 She used to sing. 5 She used to listen to records. Now translate: 6 We used to learn Spanish 7 We used to live in a small house. 8 We used to go in for photography. 9 Twas finishing the translation, when I heard noise upstairs. 10 She was doing the shopping, when she lost her purse, 11 They were watching television, when the burglar centered the house. & RELATIVE PRONOUNS: WHO, WHOM, WHICH, THAT Study the following: qui who, which, that (subject) que whom, which, that (object) Note: que becomes qu’ in front of a vowel or h, Examples: Lautomobiliste qui parle frangai ‘The motorist who speaks French, La voiture qui est en panne (f.). ‘The car which has broken down (lt. ‘whieh is in breakdown’ FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Lauto-stoppeur que jai pris. ‘The hitch-hiker whom I picked up. Le camion que vous avez réparé, ‘The lorry which you repaired. If you're having difficulty in deciding whether ‘who’ ‘which, ‘that’ is the subject or the object, here's a rule to help you: if, in English, the verb comes immediately after ‘who, ‘which, ‘that’, use qui; if, in English, there is another word between ‘who, ‘which, ‘that’, and the verb, use que Examples: the ear which has broken down qui the ear which I prefer que NOTE: In English, ‘whom’, ‘which, and ‘that’ are sometimes omitted, but they must always be expressed in French: Le moteur que vous vérifier. ‘The engine you are checking. ‘We learnt in section 34 that in the perfect tense the verb linvité, copié, trouvé) has to reflect the gender and number of pronouns such as ‘me’ or ‘him’ which are used with it; the same principle applies to que: Voici le permis de conduire que j'ai trouvé. Here is the driving licence that I found. Voici la carte que j/ai achetée. Here’s the map that I bought. Voici les pneus que j'ai choisis. Here are the tyres which I've chosen. Ater a preposition, ‘whom is also translated by qui (00 est le mécanicien a qui vous avez téléphoné? Where's the mechanic to whom you telephoned? (Where's the mechanic you telephor WEEK 8 13ia BUT ‘which after prepositions, is translated as follows: lequel (m.)—__lesquels (m. pl.) laquelle (f.) _lesquelles ¢f. pl) ‘The above words combine with a and de in the usual way: auquel, duquel, desquels, desquelles. For example: Le eric avec lequel il a changé la roue. The jack with which he changed the wheel. La galerie sur laquelle nous avons mis les valises. The roof rack on which we put the sultcases, Le garage auquel elle a envoyé son cheque. ‘The garage to which she sent her cheque. In place of de qui, duquel, de laquelle, desquels, desquelles, the French often prefer to use dont: Lautoroute dont nous parlons. The motorway which we are speaking of (about), We also use dont to mean ‘whose’ Lautomobiliste dont la femme est malade. The motorist whose wife is ill Le garagiste dont je connais le frere. ‘The garage owner whose brother | know. Note the unexpected word order in the last French sentence, Also note the way the French use ce qui (subject) or ce que (object) where the English use ‘what’ as a link word: Je ne peux pas lire ce qui est écrit ici Teannot read what is written here Je ne peux pas lire ce que Michel a écrit ici. cannot read what Michel has written here. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS le petit déjeuner breakfast le poste de télévision television set le vestibule hall lefla réceptionniste receptionist le fils son Yascenseur (m.) it Ja femme de chambre chambermaid la fille daughter, gil lourd heavy bilingue bilingual malade ill correct correct apporter to bring ‘commander to order marcher to walk, to work (machines) donner sur to overlook Exercise 45, Translate 1. The hotel that you are looking for is on the right 2 1 would like the room which overlooks the park. 3. The room, which we have reserved for you, is next to the lift 4 I've brought the breakfast that your husband ordered. 5. Where's the television set which doesn’t work? 6 ‘The suitcases, which are in the hall, are very heavy, 7 The receptionist (f.), to whom you spoke, is bilingual, 8 The client, whose son is ill, is in room 5. 9 Didn't you understand what the chambermaid said to you? 10 The bill, that you have prepared, is correct WEEK 8 Rs126 THE CONDITIONAL TENSE (‘WHAT WE WOULD DO IF ...") We form the conditional tense by adding the following endings to the infinitive of the verb: je -ais nous ions wu cals vous iez Welle -ait —ilsielles__-aient ‘As with the future tense, ifthe infinitive ends in -re, omit the final e before adding the endings. Examples: je louerais tu inviterais il habiterait elle étudierait I would hire you ({am.) would invite he would live she would study nous choisirions we would choose vous finiriez you would finish comprendraient they would understand elles écriraient they would write When a verb is irregular in the future tense, it will have the same irregularity in the conditional tense: Yaurais I would have tu serais you (fam.) would be irait he would go elle ferait she would do vous pourriez ils voudraient we would send you could, would be able they would like elles sauraient they would know i faudra it would be necessary ily aurait there would be ‘The ‘if part of the sentence (i.e. if | had the time’, if | spoke French, etc) is expressed by si (if) and the imperfect: FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS si favais le temps if {had the time sl parlait frangais if he spoke French si vous vendiez votre maison if you sold your house Note: si becomes x” before il and ils, The conditional is also used in French when the speaker Cr writer is repeating something he or she has heard but is unable to vouch for its accuracy. Compare: Le pére a donné son consentement au mariage. The father has given his consent to the marriage. Le pére aurait donné son consentement au mariage. Apparently, the father has given his con the marriage Je travail work Pisce at ale) 0) Aira Yerfun (6-6) na eee Firipici marié ‘married Genel nae IRREGULAR VERB peindre (\o paint) Present tense je peins tu peins iVelle peint nous peignons vous peignez ils/elles peignent Perfect tense ai peint, te WEEK 8 127128 Exercise 46 ‘Answer the questions as follows: Qu'est-ce que vous feriez, si vous aviez beaucoup de temps? What would you do, if you had a lot of time? (write @ book) Si /avais beaucoup de temps, j'écrirais un livre IF Thad a lot of time, | would write a book. 1. Qu’est-ce que vous feriez, si vous étiez riche? (tour the world) 2 Qurest-ce que vous feriez, si vous ne travailliez pas? (paint and draw) 3 Qurest-ce que Pierre ferait, s'il avait beaucoup de temps? (learn Portuguese) 4 Qurest-ce que Nicole ferait, si elle parlait francais? (work as an interpreter) 5 Qurest-ce que Monique ferat, si elle parlait allemand? (work as a bilingual secretary) 6 Qu’est-ce que je ferais, si étais marie? (return home earlier in the evening) 7 Qu’est-ce quis feraient, sils étaient en chomage? (look for work) 8 Qu’est-ce qu’elles feraient, si elles avaient des enfants? (stay at home) 9 Qu’est-ce que tu ferais, si tu avais le temps? (read a great deal) 10 Qu’est-ce que nous ferions, si nous voulions maigrir? (eat less and do exercises) FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. MORE ABOUT PRONOUNS We have already seen in week 5, section 33 how the French express ‘me’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘to us, ‘to you’, etc, when these pronouns are the object of a verb. But some of these pronouns have a different form when they: 1 follow a preposition 2 form part of a comparison 3 stand alone 4 follow the verb étre (to be) Thus moi ime nous we, us tol you (lam) vous you lui he, him eux they, them (m.) elle she, her elles they, them (L,) Examples: Est-ce qu'il y a des lettres pour moi? Are there any letters for me? Je travaille en face de lui T work opposite him. ‘Nous sommes partis sans eux. We left without them. lest plus petit que moi. He's smaller than I. Qui parle anglais ici? Elle. Who speaks English here? She does. Crest lui qui écrit toutes les lettres. Ws he who writes al the letters WEEK 8 12910 IOEOWGT le président president le programmeur computer programmer: le poste de radio radio set. le traité treaty la femme de ménage daily help travailleur, hardworking travailleuse (f.) paresseux, lazy paresseuse (f.) casser to break ___Exercise 47 Replace the words in italics with a pronoun 1 Je suis arrivé avec Paul. 2 Je voudrais avoir une place a cOté de la seeré 3. Nous avons Vintention de partir sans Pierre et Monique 4. Anne est plus travailleuse que les nouvelles infirmizres 5 Michel est moins paresseux que le nouveau programmeur 6 Qui a cassé mon poste de radio? La femme de ménage. 7 Crest le président et le premier ministre qui le traité hier, *SAVOIR’ AND ‘CONNAITRE'’ (‘TO KNOW") In section 48 we learnt that ‘to know’ is translated by savoir. This verb means to know a fact Savez-vous oi est Paul? Do you know where Paul is? Je sais a quelle heure le train part Tknow at what time the train leaves FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS BUT, when we talk about knowing a person or a place, that is to say when the meaning is ‘to be acquainted with, then we must use the irregular verb connaitre: Present tense Je connais! know, | am acquainted with tu connais iifelle connai vous connaissez lls/elles connaissent Past tense (perfect) J'ai connu, I knew, | was acquainted with Examples: Je connais Paul, mais je ne sais pas oit il habite. I know Pau, but I don’t know where he lives, Vous connaissez Paris? Do you know Patis? EG Yoncle unde libre free latante aunt occupé busy Exercise 48 Translate: 1 [don’t know if Paul has finished his work. 2 I don’t know the Duponts. 3. Do you know where I can hire a computer? 4 Do you know if the doctor is free? 5 Does Marie-Claude know my aunt? WEEK 8 BLExercise 49 In the conversation at the end of this chapter change all the familiar forms (tu, te, toi, ton) into the more formal vous/votre forms and make all necessary i changes to the verbs. pe iete eters MERRE Bonsolr Nicole, Jfespere que je ne te dérange pas. VOCABULARY NICOLE Pierre! Bonsoir. Je pensais justement a toi. le cas «ase, situation PIERRE TU n’es pas trop occupée? les gens (m. pl.) people NICOLE Non, non. J’écrivais une lettre, quand tu as la visite visit frappé a la porte. la porte door PIERRE Ah bon? A qui est-ce que tu écrivais? la retraite retirement nicole Aux Dupont. au-dessus de above iene Les Dupont? Je ne les connais pas. chez at someone's home or shop NICOLE Mais si! Les Dupont sont les gens qui bonsoir ‘good evening habitaient au-dessus de chez nous a Paris, justement just qui voyageaient beaucoup et dont les si 0: yes (emphiatic use after a enfants étaient si bruyants. negative) PIERRE Ah oui. Je ne les connaissais pas trés bien. | a propos by the way A propos, comment va ton travail? & mi-temps part time NICOLE Pas trop bien. Si seulement je pouvais tout de suite immediately travailler a mi-temps, ¢a m’arrangerait trop too bien, inattendu unexpected PIERRE Qu’est-ce que tu ferais de tout ce temps bruyant noisy libre? déranger to disturb NGOLE Je peindrais, je dessinerais. Michel et moi, arranger to suit nous sortirions plus souvent, nous irions au frapper to knock ‘cinéma, au restaurant. Je ferais du sport, penser a to think of (thoughts) Japprendrais Vanglais, je lirais tous les penser de to think of (opinion) livres que fai achetés Vannée demiére, je... ‘espérer to hope PIERRE Tu ferais mieux de prendre ta retraite tout {See week 12, section 81 for how espérer slightly de suitet changes its. spelling in the present tense.) 132. | FRENCH INTHREE MONTHS weeks | 133ba PIERRE nicoe PIERRE ‘NICOLE PIERRE cout PIERRE ‘wicoLe PIERRE wicoue PIERRE coe PIERRE SENSE An unexpected visit Good evening Nicole, I hope I'm not disturbing you. Pierre! Good evening. 1 was just thinking of you. You're not too busy? No, no. was writing a letter, when you knocked at the door. Really? [literally ‘oh good?"]. Who were you ‘writing to? ‘othe Duponts ‘The Duponts? I don’t know them. Yes, you dot The Duponts are the people who used to live above us [literally ‘above at our place’] in Paris, who used to travel a lo, and ‘whose children were so noisy. ‘Oh yes. I didn’t know them very wel [literally used not to know them very well]. By the way, how's your work going? Not too well. only I could work parttime, that ‘would suit me fine. ‘What would you do with [literally ‘of’ all that free time? Vd paint, Yd draw. Michel and I [literally “Michel and I, we'] would go out more often, ‘we'd go to the cinema, to restaurants. Pd do some sport, dl learn English, I read all the books I bought last year, 1 ‘The best thing for you would be to retire immediately! [Literally “You would do better to take your retirement immediately. Self-assessment test 2 A-C. ‘This self-assessment test, based on weeks 5-8, will ‘enable you to check on your progress and to see whether any revision is needed. Deduct one mark for every grammatical mistake or wrong spelling. The answers ard score assessment are in the Key. ‘A Prepositions Total: 8 marks Complete the following 1 Iya un taxi [in front of] ’hotel, Hy a.un restaurant [next to] la bangue. Ly a.une librairie [opposite] 'université. My aun tunnel {under} la Man st-ce qu‘il y a une cabine tééphonique {near} la gare? © Nous pouvons manger [after] le spectacle, 8 Téléphonez [before] neul heures. est difficile de travailler {without] ma secrétaire, Noasen B The perfect tense Total: 10 marks Imagine the following: You are a journalist (male or female). Ths morning you arrived at the hotel at seven O'clock. You went to an international conference at ten’ O'clock You left very late, Now complete these sentences: 1 Je suis 2 Com... je va... Photel a sept heures. 34 dune c... 1... dix heures, 4 tres t © The weather Total: 10 marks Suggest the likely weather at the times and in the places indivated 1 En Grande-Bretagne, au mois d’avril 2 ANice, au mois d’aoat 3. A Lonéres, au mois de novembre 4 En Russie, au mois de décembre, 5 En Beasse, en hiver FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. WEEK 8 Bs136 ___Self-assessment test 2 D-F. D Countries Total: 12 marks Below are some simple clues to the names of countries. Identify the country and give its French name. 1. Son porto est trés bon, 2 Le mont Fuji-Yama. 3 La statue de la Liberté. 4 La capitale? Athénes. 5 Cervantes, 6 Léonard de Vinci. 7 Ses ulipes sont belles. 8 La Revolution culturelle, 9 La capitale? Bruxelles 10 Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité 11 Shakespeare. 12 La capitale? Copenhague. E Numbers Total: 14 marks | Complete the following, writing the totals in words: a 30428 b 40 +30 15 +60 40443 50+40 10489 50 +50 e@ncae F The imperfect tense Total: 14 marks, Talk about your French friends, Helene and Pierre: 1. He used to play football ed to learn English ised to live ina large house. 4. They were doing the shopping when she lost her purse. Self-assessment test 2 G-I G The conditional tense Total: 8 marks “If only ...”. Answer the questions as indicated: 1 Qu’est-ce que vous feriez, si vous étiez riche? {visit Japan and China] 2 Qu'est-ce que Monique ferait, si elle parlait italien? [work as a bilingual secretary] 3 Qu'est-ce que je erals, si€ais au chOmage? Llook for work ~ use ‘tu’) 4 Qu’est-ce que nous ferions, si nous avions beaucoup de temps? Iread a great deal ~ use H Do you ren @ What's the diffe ember...2- Total: 4 marks ence between the verbs ‘savoir’ and ‘connaitre’, both meaning ‘to know"? b_ What's the difference in meaning between ‘je ne sais pas jouer du piano’ and ‘je ne peux pas jouer du piano’? 1 Conversation (role-play) Total: 20 marks Play the part of Helene in this dialogue HELENE I've decided to change my life. I'm going to watch television less often. I'l eat more fruit. Ill do exercises each morning. I'l spend less money on clothes. MicHeL Tu penses que tu seras plus heureuse? HELENE Yes, I'll have more time and more money, and I'l be in better health, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. WEEK 8 B3718 Week ~ demonstrative pronouns (‘this one’, ‘that one’ ‘these’, ‘those’) possessive pronouns ('mine’, ‘yours’ ‘hers’ etc) ‘more question words and formations ‘more about adverbs and adverbial expressions another quartet of isregular verbs DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS: THIS ONE, THAT ONE, THESE, THOSE In English, a sentence like 'I prefer my doctor to the doctor who came this morning’ would normally be shortened to ‘I prefer my doctor to the one who came this morning’. In French, we express ‘the one’, ‘those’ as follows: celui (m.) the one ceux (m. pl) those celle (f) the one celles (Fpl) those Examples: Je préfére mon médecin a celui qui est venu ce matin. I prefer my doctor to the one who came this morning. Cette infirmiére et celle qui a pris votre tension. This nurse and the one who took your blood pressure. Jai apporté vos comprimés et ceux de votre mari. ve brought your tablets and your husband's (lit. “those of your husband’), We would normally change ‘this dentist and that dentist to ‘this dentist and that one’. In French, ‘this one’, ‘that | one’, ‘these’, ‘those’ become: masculine feminine celui-ci thisone —celle-ei_ this on celui-la that one celle-la__ that one ceux-cl these celles-ci__ these ceux-la those celles-la_ those FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Examples’ Cet hépital-ci ou celui-la? ‘This hospital or that one? Quelle ambulance préférez-vous, celle-ci ou celle-1a?, Which ambulance do you prefer, this one or that one? Quels médicaments prenez-vous, ceux-ci ou ceux-la? Which medicines do you take, these or those? If you prefer not to refer to an object by name but to cal it simply ‘this’ or ‘that’, you can use the following words ceci this cela (or ga) that Examples: Je voudrais acheter ceci Vd like to buy this Le (or la) malade m’a donné cela. The patient gave me that “This, ‘that, ‘these’, ‘those’, followed by the verb ‘to be! are all normally translated by c’est or ce sont: Crest votre petit déjeuner, Monsieur. This is your breakfast, Sir Ce sont (or est) les ordonnances que vous avez demandées, These are the prescriptions you asked for. est, ce sont can also mean ‘he/she is’ and 'they are’ Crest un dentiste (or Hest dentiste). He’s a dentist, WEEK 9 B9140 Wee ETOWGNS le rhume cold le coeur heart le prince prince le chirurgien surgeon lefla kinésithérapeute physiotherapist le pharmacien chemist le rendez-vous appointment la greffe transplant la soeur sister la princesse princess la pharmacienne (f.) chemist moderne ‘modern effectuer to carry out Exercise 50 —— Translate 1 My cold is worse than my sister's, 2 This hospital is more modern than the one the Princess visited last year, 3. Which surgeon carried out the heart transplant? ‘This one or that one? 4 Have you an appointment with this dentist or that one’ ‘The physiotherapist gave me this, \e chemist prepared that ‘This is your new secretary. ‘These are your patients, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS: MINE, YOURS, HERS, ETC Instead of saying ‘The waiter has brought your soup but not my soup’, we would usually say “The waiter has brought your soup but not mine’. In French, the form of the possessive pronouns ('mine, ‘yours’, ‘hers’, etc) must reflect the gender and number of the noun they replace. Pronouns repacing masculine nouns: singular le mien sin letien les tiens yours (fam,) Iesien —lessiens —_his/hers Iendtre les ndtres ours le votre les vatres. yours leleur —lesleurs theirs Pronouns replacing feminine nouns: la mienne les miennes mine latienne lestiennes yours (fam.) lasienne les siennes _his/hers landtre les notres ours la votre les votres yours laleur les leurs theirs Examples. Le garcon a apporté votre soupe, mais pas la mienn The waiter has brought your soup, but not mine Voici son croissant, mais oit est le votre? Here’s his/her croissant, but where’s yours? Notre jambon est trés bon; comment est Ie leur? Our ham is very good; how's theirs? Ma biére est excellente; est-ce que la votre est bonne aussi? My beer is excellent; Is yours good 100? ai payé mon café, mais je n’ai pas payé les leurs. I've paid for my coffee, but [haven't paid for theirs. WEEK 8 1411az When following the verb ‘to be’ and having the meaning of ‘belonging to,, the possessive pronouns are often, translated by: amoi a nous a vous a eux (m. ph) elles (f. pl) Its also possible to say a Pierre, a ma femme, etc, meaning ‘Pierre's, ‘my wite’s Pardon, Madame, est-ce que ce parapluie est & vous? Excuse me, Madam, Is this umbrella yours? Ces gants (m.) ne sont pas a moi; ils sont a mon fréve. These gloves are not n they belong to my brother, [EGE MORE QUESTION FORMS 1 ‘What ...” is expressed as follows: After a preposition, by qu A quoi pensez-vous? What are you thinking about? Je pense a mon dejeuner. {'m thinking about my lunch, Avec quoi avez-vous payé le diner? What did you pay for the dinner with? Jai payé avec ma carte de erédit. T paid with my credit card Before the verb ‘to be’ and a noun, by quel, quelle, quels, quelles: Quel est votre nom? What is your name? Quel est votre numéro de téléphone? What is your telephone number? FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Quelle est votre adresse? What is your address? Quels sont les prix? What are the prices? When subject of the sentence, by qu’est-ce qui: Délicieux? Qu’est-ce qui est délicieux? Delicious? Whar's delicious? When object of the sentence, by qu’est-ce que or que (qu) Qu'est-ce que vous avez comme Iégumes? or Qu’avez-vous comme légumes? What have you got in the way of vegetables? As an exclamation, ‘What!” is translated by Quoit Quoi! Le service n’est pas compris? What! The service isn’t included ? Quoi! Le bar est fermé? What! The bar is closed? Quoit Le café n'est pas ouvert? What! The cafe isn't open? ‘As an exclamation, ‘what’ followed by @ noun is translated by quel, quelle, quels, quelles: Quel repas! Quelle cuisinizret What a meal! What a cook! 2. ‘Who, Whomn ...?" is expressed as follows: When subject of the sentence, by qui or qui est-ce qui Qui est-ce qui a réservé la table? Who reserved the table? When object of the sentence, by qui or qui est-ce que WEEK 9 143a Qui est-ce que vous avez payé? La serveuse? Whom did you pay? The waitress? Avec q mangé? Whom.) did you eat with? 3 ‘Which one(s) ...?" is expressed by lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles: Voici trois bons vins. A vi meilleur? Here are three good wines. In your opinion, whieh one is the best? ‘Toutes les tables sont libres, Madame; laquelle préfére7-vous? All the tables are free, Madam; which one do you prefer? Des légumes? Oui, lesquels voulez-vous? Vegetables? Yes, which would you like? lequel est le 4 We saw in section 16 that ‘Which book?’, ‘Which house”, etc, are vanslated as Quel livre?, Quelle maison? etc. For example: Quel vin avez-vous bu? Which wine did you drink? Note that where, as in the last example, quel appears in a sentence with a perfect tense verb using avoir, the past participle must agree with it in gender and number Quelle viande avez-vous mangée? Which meat did you eat? Quels plats avez-vous recommandés? Which dishes did you recommend? Quelles pommes avez-vous achetées? Which apples did you buy? This does not apply it quel is preceded by a preposition A quelle femme avez-vous donné le livre? Which woman did you give the book to? 5 ‘Whose ...2" is translated by & qui: FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. A qui est ce dessert? Whose is this dessert? 1a cuillere les baguettes (f.) frais, fraiche ({.) chinois italien commander IRREGULAR VERBS, sentir (10 smell) Present tense je sens ‘tu sens iVelle sent nous sentons vous sentez ils/elles sentent Partir (to leave) Present tense Je pars tu pars iVelle part nous partons vous pariez ils/elles partent barman, whisky fish meal knife hat fork spoon chopsticks fresh Chinese Italian to order servir (to serve) Present tense je sers tu sers iVelle sert nous servons vous servez ils/elles servent WEEK 9 as146 NOTE: payer (to pay) is not irregular, but is one of those verbs which change their spelling in the stem (see section 81). As seen in the following present tense, y becomes i before a silent e, Je paie nous payons tupaies vous payex il/elle paie _ils/elles paient __—Exercise 51 Translate: 1. The barman has served you your whisky, but where's mine? My fish is deliciou ve paid our bill a Yours is not fresh. id they've paid theirs. Does this hat belong to you or to your friend (m.)? What do you want to eat this Chinese meal with? With chopsticks? What! No! With a knife and fork. 6 What is the telephone number of the alian restaurant? 7 Which 8 What smells so good? sgetables did she order? 9 Here's a list of the best restaurants in Paris; which do you prefer? 10. Whose is this spoon? MORE ADVERBS We can form adverbs from adjectives ending in -ant, ent by changing the -nt to -mment constant becomes constamment ‘constantly’ évident becomes évidemment ‘obviously’ Note: an important exception is Tent, lentement. ‘slowly’ FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS ‘A few adjectives can be used as adverbs without any change: La soupe sent bon. The soup smells good. Le poisson sent mauvais. ‘The fish smells bad. Frappez fort. Knock loudly. Parlez plus bas. Speak more softly. Here is alist of useful adverbs and adverbial expressions (see also section 31): Time tot catly tard late maintenant now tout de suite immediately immédiatement immediately ensuite afterwards toujours always, still hier yesterday aujourd’hui today demain tomorrow ce matin this morning cet aprés-midi this afternoon ce soir this evening souvent often rarement rarely Place ici here la here, there la-bas over there a droite onfto the 1 a gauche onto the left en haut upstairs en bas downstairs partout everywhere Certainty sGrement certainly, surely certainement certainly WEEK 9 14748 Doubt peut-étre perhaps probablement probably Manner bien well mal badly ensemble together surtout especially expres on purpose vite quickly rapidement rapidly Ientement slowly gia already encore still, yet POSITION OF ADVERBS In French, adverbs are placed after the verb, never between the subject and verb, as in English: 1 parle rarement anglais. He rarely speaks English, Elle va souvent au théatre. She often goes to the theatre In compound tenses (e.g. the perfect tense) the following adverbs are normally placed between avoir {or @tre} and the past participle: bien toujours mal souvent vite beaucoup encore déja Examples: ‘Vous avez bien répondu a la question. You have answered the question well Je n’ai pas encore lu votre lettre. Thaven’t read your letter yet FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Votre frére est déja parti? Has your brother already left? But when the adverb is an important word in the sentence, it generally comes at the end. Je vais écrire la lettre maintenant, Tm going to write the letter now. Ie bain bath neiger to snow pleuvoir to rain Exercise 52 Give the opposite of: 1 Ils chartent bier Ne parlez pas si fort Iva rarement chez ses parents. Nous n/avons pas encore mangé. I va peut-étre pleuvoir ou Elle prend un bain en haut, iger. Elles feront les courses demain. WEEK 9Te mariage ‘wedding, marriage Je mannequin model, dummy Une veste & la mode la veste jacket la taille size ‘cLeNT Bonjour, Madame. Je vais 4 un mariage la Ja couleur colour semaine prochaine ... heureusement pas le la mode fashion mien ... et je voudrais acheter une veste la laine wool une veste trés chic. Ja vitrine shop window Venoeuse Oui, quelle est votre taille, Monsieur? la vente sale ‘CUENT Je fais du 42, bleu marine navy blue VeNoEUSe Quelle couleur préférez-vous? aris clair light grey CUeNT Je yeux surtout une couleur a la mode. pur pure VeNoEUSe Eh bien, j'ai cette veste-ci en bleu marine court short en pure laine, et celle-Ia en gris clair. Jong, longue (f) long cent Hm, Yaurais préféré une veste comme celle (malheureusement _(un)fortunately que vous avez.en vitrine. Elle me plait exactement exactly beaucoup. étre en train de to be in the middle of Venoeuse Malheureusement, je n’ai plus votre taille, (doing something) Monsieur. Je n’ai que des petites tailles. essayer to try to try on cunt Et celle sur le mannequin, ici dans le ne ... que only magasin? VENOEUSE C'est aussi une petite taille. Je pense IRREGULAR VERB qu'elle sera trop courte pour vous. arrears CUENT Mais ... regardez! Regardez celle-Ia! Crest RI a exactement ce qu'il me faut. Je vais Present tense Yessayer tout de suite. je plais VeNoeUse Non, non, non, Monsieur! Cette veste-Ia ‘tu plais nest pas en vente. Elle est 4 ce monsieur ifelle plait la-bas qui est en train d’essayer un nous plaisons costume! vous plaisez ils/elles plaisent Perfect tense Yai plu, ee 150 | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS weeks | 151FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. 1 reflexive verbs (‘se laver, ‘to wash oneself, as distinct from ‘laver’ ‘to wash’) = verbs preceded by prepositions ‘= the translation of ‘to’ before an infinitive ‘= the order of pronouns ‘= the pronouns ‘en’, ‘y, ‘on’ Study the following: laver to wash Se laver to wash oneself rasertoshave —serraser 10 shave oneself braler toburn se baler 10 burn oneself perdre tolose se perdre 10 lose oneself couper tocut se couper 10 cut oneself préparer to prepare se préparer_ to prepare onesell amuser toamuse sfamuser 10 enjoy oneself habiller to dress s‘habiller to dress oneself ‘The verbs in the second column are being used retlexively. ‘The present tense of a reflexive verb goes like this: Present tense je me lave T wash myself ‘tu te rases you (fam.) shave yourself ise brale he burns himself celle se prépare she prepares herself nous nous amusons we enjoy ourselves vous vous habillez you dress yourself (yourselves) ils se perdent they (m.) lose themselves elles se coupent they ({,) cut themselves Note: me, te, and se become mY, t’, and s’ before ‘vowel or All reflexive verbs use tre to form the perfect tense. ‘The past participle agrees in gender and number with the person or persons performing the reflexive action: WEEK 10 153154 Porfect tense je me suis lavé(e) T washed mysell tu es habillé(e) you (fam.) dressed yourself he shaved himself she did not enjoy herself nous nous sommes préparé(e)s_we prepared ourselves vous ne vous étes pas perdu(e). you didn’t lose yourself vous ne vous étes pas perdu(e)s you didn’t lose yourselves ils se sont bralés they burnt themselves elles ne se sont pas coupées they didn’ themselves iL s'est rasé elle ne sfest pas amusée Imperfect tense je me lavais used to wash or I was washi myself Future tense je me laverai 1 will wash myself Conditional tense Je me laverais 1 would wash myself Note that in English we don't always add the reflexive pronoun, but say simply ‘I wash, ‘he shaves’. In French the reflexive pronoun must always be used. Compare: Je me rase. I shave Je rase mon pére. I shave my father. Reflexive verbs are much more common in French than in English. Here is a lst for reference se déshabiller to undress stendormir to fall asle se réveiller to wake up, se lever to get up sedépécher to hurry se promener to go fora walk. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. se reposer to rest se coucher to go to bed se tromper to make a mistake sappeler 1 be called se marier to get married se débarrasser de to get rid of se servir de to make use of se souvenir de to remember Itis important to distinguish between ‘myself, ‘yourself’, etc used reflexively and the same words used for ‘emphasis. Compare: Je me lave. Twash myself Je lave les enfants moi-méme. Twash the children myself The ‘self’ words used emphatically are: moi-méme nous-mémes toi-meme vous-méme(s) lui-méme eux-mémes elle-meme elles-mémes VOCABULARY se peigner to comb one’s hair se maquiller to put on one’s make-up se laver les mains (f.) to wash one’s hands ‘se brosser les dents (f.) to brush one’s teeth WEEK 10 155156 Exercise 53. This is what Paul does each day. Translate’ 1 He wakes up at 7 a.m. 2 He washes. 3. He shaves. 4 He goes to work. And now Monique: 5 She gets up at 8 a.m, 6 She takes a shower, 7 She 8 She puts her make-up on, combs her hair, 9 She goes to the station. This is what you and I do: 10 We wash. 11 We dress quickly. 12 We go for a walk. 13 We go to bed at 10 pam Transtete’ 14 1 ({,) have enjoyed myselt. 15 You (L.) have not made a mistake. 16 They (L.) are resting 17 They (m.) have washed the car themselves. 18 We brush our teeth each morning. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS: Reflexive pronouns are used in sentences where in English we use ‘one another’ or ‘each other’ Nous nous sommes souvent rencontrés. We often met (one another). Les Américains et les Chinois ne se comprennent pas. ‘The Americans and the Chinese don’t understand each, other Note: In the perfect tense the past participle of the verb (téléphoné) does not agree with me, se, etc when the meaning is ‘to or for myself, himself, tc”. Compare: Is se sont rencontrés. ‘They met each other. Us se sont téléphoné. They telephoned (to) each other. [GEM VERBS PRECEDED BY PREPOSITIONS Study the following 1 I'm used to getting up very early 2 He left without saying goodbye. 3 She hesitated before replying. 4 After buying a computer, he worked much more quickly. 5 These CDs are excellent for improving one’s pronunciation. 6 He began by criticising the managing directo You will notice that, in English, verbs preceded by a preposition end in -ing. In French, the infinitive is used 1 Je suis habitué a me lever tres tOt. 2 Ilest parti sans dire au revoir. 3 Elle a hésité avant de répondre. 4 Apres avoir acheté un ordinateur, il a travaillé beaucoup plus vite. 5 Ces CD sont excellents pour améliorer sa 6 1a commence par critiquer le président- directeur général. WEEK 10 157158 ‘There is one exception to the above rule, namely the preposition en, which is followed by the present participe. This will be dealt with in section 71. Note also that, although the English is usually ‘efter ‘buying’ eto, the French has to be ‘after having bought’, apres avoir acheté or, in the case of those verbs that instead use étre, apres Gtre Te mot word le ménage housework Vélectricien (m.) electrician la lampe Jamp partir to leave quitter to leave (with object) toutle monde everyone Exercise 54. Translate: 1 He left the house without saying a word, 2 She's used to listening to the radio in her bedroor 3. Before repairing the lamp, he telephoned the strician, 4 Awer preparing breakfast, he did the housework. 5 My mother began by saying that the family was in good health and finished by wishing everyone a happy New Year, 6 These CDs are excellent for learning French. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. TRANSLATION OF ‘TO’ BEFORE AN INFINITIVE Compare the following French and English sentences: 1 Je dois apprendre le francais have to learn French, 2 sai décidé d’apprendre le francais, Thave decided to learn French. 3 Jfai commencé a apprendre le frang have started to learn French 4 Jai acheté ce livre pour apprendre le francais. Thave bought this book to learn French. ‘You will see from the above sentences that ‘to’ coming before an infinitive is sometimes 1. not translated 2 translated by de (dy 3° translated by a 4 vanslated by pour Unfortunately, there is only one rule to help us decide ‘which preposition to use and it's this: when ‘to’ means in order to’, use pour. ‘The rest of the time it’s simply @ question of learning by heart which verbs take no preposition, which take de and which take a. Here are some lists for reference, followed by a few ‘model sentences as examples. "To' is not translated before an infinitive after these verbs: aimer to like, to love préférer to preter vouloir to want désirer to wish aller to go venir to come WEEK 10 159160 devoir falloir (il faut) espérer pouvoir to have to to be necessary to hope to be able to know how “To's translated by de before an infinitive after these verbs: conseiller décider demander dire empécher cessayer éviter finir oublier permettre persuader promettre proposer refuser regretter Note also: tre content de @tre heureux de etre ravi de etre triste de etre désolé de avoir Vintention de 10 int avoir Voccasion de le temps de avoir le plaisir de est fa de est difficile de il est possible de il est impossible de il est permis de to stop to advise to decide to ask totell to prevent to try to avoid to finish to finish to forget wallow to persuade to promise to propose to refuse to regret 10 be pleased to to be happy to 10 be delighted to to be sad 10 10 be sorry 10 to to have the opportunity to to have the time to to have the pleasure 10 itis easy 10 itis dificult itis possible to itis impossible 10 itis permitted 10 FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS il est défendu de illest temps de itis forbidden to itis time to "To’ is translated by a before an infinitive coming after these verbs: aider to help apprendre to learn avoir tohave commencer to begin continuer to continue encourager to encourage enselgner tw teach, hésiter to hesitate inviter to invite réussir to succeed Note also: etre préta to be ready to atre disposé to be willing to avoir de la difficulté a 10 have difficulty in avoir du mal a to have difficulty in Examples: Je préfere aller me baigner. [prefer to go for a swim. Nous espérons aller a la plage cet aprés-midi. We hope to go to the beach this afternoon. Is ont décidé de louer un pédalo. They have decided to hire a pedal boat. Je vous conseille de faire une promenade en bateau advise you to go on a boat trip. Nous sommes contents de voir le soleil We are pleased to see the sun Avez-vous réussi a trouver des chaises longues? Did you succeed in finding some deckchairs? Nous avons aidée a chercher des coquillages (m.).. We helped her to look for some shell, Hest temps de rentrer a hotel. Is time to return to the hotel. WEEK 10 161162 excursion (f.) excursion } les lunettes (f) de soleil sunglasses faire du ski nautique to go waterskiing faire de la planche a voile _ to go wind-surfing Exercise 55 Complete the following: 1 (intend to) acheter des Iunettes de soleil (Will it be possible 10) faire des excursions? (We pi (They (m.) invited me (f,) to) aller (I hesitate to) faire du ski nautique. + to) louer un appartement la peéche. ooeen (Will you have the oppor la planche a voile? ty t0) faire de NEEM ORDER OF PRONOUNS ('HE GAVE ITTO ME’) In sentences such as ‘he gave it to him’ or ‘'m sending them to you", French uses a different word order from English, Notice that le, la, I’, les follow me, vous, nous: Paul me le donne. Paul gives it w me. Nicole nous la vend. Nicole sells i to us. Je vous les enverrai. I send them 10 you. But le, la, V les precede lui and leur: Nous le lui avons déja montré. We have already shown it to him (or to her) Vous la leur avez donnée? Did you give it to them? Je ne les lui ai pas vendus. T didn’t sell them to him (or to her). FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Woe le dossier file le/la collegue colleague le fax fax la moto motorbike la facture invoice Exercise 56 Replace all nouns with pronouns (and make any necessary changes} Est-ce que vous m’avez donné le dossier? Notre directeur nous a promis les deux voi Mon collégue a intention de me vendre ses livres. Fai envoyé un fax a Paul. Pierre montre sa nouvelle moto a Monique, Nous avons donné les factures aux clients. WEEK 10 163164 (GGH USEFUL PRONOUNS: ‘EN’ En replaces a word or an idea introduced by de. En means, 1. ‘Some’ or ‘any’, when not followed by @ noun: Avez-vous des journaux américains? Do you have any English newspapers? Oui, nous en avons. Yes, we have some, Non, nous n’en avons pas. No, we don't have any. Note that ‘some, ‘any’ must be expressed in French, even if omitted in English: Avez-vous des enveloppes (f.)?_ Do you have any cenvelepes? Oui, jen ai. Yes, Ihave. 2 ‘Ofit, ‘of them’ Avez-vous acheté de lessence (f.)? Did yeu buy any petrol? Oui, fen ai acheté beaucoup. Yes, I bought a lot (of i). Ont-ils des enfants? Do they have any children? Oui, ils en ont deux. Yes, they have two (of then 3 ‘About it, ‘about them’ Avez-vous parlé de la navette spatiale? Did you talk about (of) the space shuttle? Oui, tous les astronautes en parlent Yes, all the astronauts are talking about itt FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS 4 ‘From there’ Est-ce que les ingénieurs vont au centre de controle? Are the engineers going to the control centre? Non, ils en viennent. No, they've just come (lit ‘they come’) from there, IGG USEFUL PRONOUNS: ‘Y” Y replaces a word or an idea introduced by a. ¥ means: 1 There’ Est-ce que Paul connait les Etats-Unis? Does Paul know the United States? Oui, il y a passé trois ans. Yes, he spent three years there. Est-ce que tu viens de la gare? Are you (lam.) coming from the station? Non, j’y vais. No, I'm going there, Note: when actually pointing, use 1a or la-bas for ‘there’. 2 Toit, ‘to them’ Il faut toujours faire la queue a Moscou. One always has 10 queue in Moscow. Oui, mais les Russes y sont habitués. Yes, but the Russians are used to i Note that y cannot be omitted: Est-ce que le directeur est dans son bureau? Is the director in his office? Oui, ily est. Yes, he is WEEK 10 165166 In English, when referring to people in general, we use words such as ‘one’, ‘they’, ‘you’, ‘people’, e.g. ‘In England people drive on the left” or ‘In China they eat with chopsticks’. In sentences like these the French use the pronoun on, followed by the same form of the verb {as with il or elle: En Angleterre on roule a gauche. In England they drive on the left. En Chine on mange avec des baguettes. 1 China they eat with chopsticks. On dit qu’il parle sept langues. People say he speaks seven languages. On is often used to translate the English passive: On a inyité les diplomates chinois a I’ Ambassade de France. ‘The Chinese diplomats have been invited to the French Embassy. Informally in conversation, the French often use on in place of nous: Alors, on va partir aujourd’hui ou demain? Well, are we going to leave today or tomorrow? Note: on sometimes becomes Von after et and si; the French find this sound more pleasant to the ear. FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. WEEK 10 167Langlais en trois mois English in three months DAVID. Est-ce que vous vous server toujours de la DAVID. Are you still using the CD player you bought platine laser que vous avez achetée recently? récemment? ISABELLE_No, I'm not using that one any more. I've got 'SABELLE Non, je ne me sers plus de celle-Ia. Je m’en rid of it and I've bought myself a much more suis débarrassée et je me sttis acheté un sophisticated [literally ‘perfected! personal baladeur beaucoup plus perfectionné. stereo, Davo. N’est-il pas difficile d’apprécier la musique DAVID Isn't it difficult to appreciate music with such a avec une si petite machine? small machine? ‘SABELLE Yous vous trompez, ce mvest pas de la IsaveLLe You're mistaken, i's not music {listen 10, i's musique que j’écoute, ce sont des CD English-language CDs [literally ‘CDs of English’. anglais. Je les ai achetés parce que je Thought them because I have to learn English in dois apprendre l'anglais en trois mois. three months. | DAV. Est-ce que vous avez le temps d’écouter ces ‘AVIO._Do you have the time to listen to these CDs? | cp? ISABELLE Yes, of course. I listen to them in the morning | IsABeLLe Oui, bien sd. Je les écoute le matin lorsque when I'm washing, when I'm getting dressed, je me lave, lorsque je m’habille, lorsque je when I'm combing my hair, when I'm putting | me peigne, lorsque je me maquille ... ce qui my make-up on ... which takes a while [literally | prend un certain temps. Mon mari écoute ‘acertain time]. My husband also listens to the les CD aussi quand il se rase, quand il se Ds when he’s shaving, when he’s washing and lave et se brosse les dents. Le dimanche bushing his teeth. On Sundays we like to g0 nous aimons sortir et j’écoute encore mes out and I listen to my CDs again when we're €D lorsque nous nous promenons au pare walking in the park and when we sit down on a et lorsque nous nous asseyons sur un bane bench fora rest. Pour nous reposer. DAVID. That’s not a very sociable attitude. DAVID. Ce n’est pas une attitude trés sociable. 'SABELLE That's true, but if I succeed in learning English, ISABELLE C'est vrai, mais si je réussis a apprendre in three months, it will be possible for me to get anglais en trois mois, il me sera possible promotion and to travel to England and the «obtenir une promotion et de voyager en United States. Angleterre et aux Etats-Unis. DAVID. Good, well, good luck or, as they say in English, Avip Bon, alors, bonne chance ou comme on dit ‘good luck’? cen anglais ‘good luck’! 168. | FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS week 10 | 169170 Week — conjunctions: words like ‘because’ and ‘while which join parts of a sentence together numbers over 100 the passive voice the present participle ‘more about the imperative form the pluperfect ('I had spoken’, etc) using ‘depuis’ (‘since’) and ‘venir de’ ‘to have just ...’) [GEE CONJUNCTIONS: BUT, BECAUSE, WHILE, ETC Study the following: Mon pére n’aime pas I'italie, done nous sommes allés en Allemagne. My father doesn’t like taly, so we went to Germany, Puisque tu es fatigué, nous pourrions camper i Since you're tired, we could camp here Pendant que tu vas chercher de la bide, je vais, regarder la télévision. While you go and get some beer, I'l watch television. Crest un bon camping, mais oit sont les toilettes? sa good campsite, but where are the toilets? Note that you must use the future tense after quand, lorsque, des que, arid aussitor que when the future is referred to: Quand nous ferons du camping l'année prochaine, toute la famille s‘amusera bien. When we go camping next year, the whole fan have a good time, Aussitot que tu seras prét, je préparerai a manger. ‘As soon as you're ready, Ill prepare something to eat, ly will BUT not if when’ means ‘whenever’ Quand je suis en vacances, je dépense toujours beaucoup d'argent. Reason parce que because car for, because puisque since done so, therefore Time quand when lorsque when das que as soon as aussitét que as soon as pendant que while maintenant que now that Contrast mais but tandis que whereas Examples: Nous avons acheté une tente, car nous voulons faire du camping. We have bought a tent, because we want to go campin FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS When I'm on holiday, | always spend a lot of money Wee esac de couchage sleeping bag le champ field Ia piscine swimming pool supplémentaire extra tomberen panne —_1o break down WEEK 11 imim Exercise 57 Translate: we'll have to buy an extra sleeping bag. 2 When you can speak French, we'll go campin in France, when you're in Belgium? 4 1 don’t like this campsite because there's no swimming pool, have only three sleeping bags. 6 The car broke down, so we decided to camp ina field, 1. As Paul’s friend (m.) is coming camping with us, 3. Do you take every opportunity to speak French, 5 There are four of us (say ‘We are four’) but we NUMBERS OVER 100 100 cent 101 cent un 110 cent dix 150 cent cinquante 200 deux cents 300 trois cents 400. quatre cents 520 cing cent vingt 640 six cent quarante 750 sept cent cinquante 800 huit cents 960. neuf cent soixante 1000 mille 1250. mille deux cent cinquante 2000 deux mille 8000. huit mille 9000 neuf mille 1,000,000 un million FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. Look ét these numbers between a hundred and a milion: NOTE cent drops the s when followed by another number: trois cents livres BUT trois cent quarante livres when followed by a noun, un million takes de: un million de franes in dates mille is sometimes written mi en mille (or mil) neuf cent quatre-vingt-seize Ordinal numbers (first, second, etc) are formed lke this: Ist premier sth huitiéme 2nd deuxitme ——-9th_—_neuvieme 3rd troisitme 10th dixitme 4th quatritme —20th__vingtiéme Sth cinquiéme —2Ist_vingt et unigme 6th sixieme 22nd vingt-deuxieme 7th septi¢me NOTE Premier has a feminine form: premigre deuxitme has an alternative: second, seconde (f.) the spelling of cinquiéme and neuvieme in French we don't say ‘Louis the Fourteenth’, we say “Louis fourteen’, etc: Louis quatorze, Henri huit Exercise 58 Complete the following, writing the answers in full A 150 + 100 D 450 + 120 B 260+40= E 580 + 100 = © 320+ 110 F 1000 + 440 = week | 173174 le casino casino le concert ‘concert le ballet ballet Vopéra (m.) opera la discotheque disco la boite de nuit night club la patinoire skating tink: Exercise 59 e Transiate: 1 the first disco, the second casino the third night club the fourth theatre the fifth concert 2 3 4 5 6 the sixth opera 7 the seventh cinema 8 the eighth skating rink 9 the ninth ballet 0 the tenth restaurant ‘THE PASSIVE ‘The passive is formed as in English with the verb ‘to be’, tre, and the past participle, e.g. fait (done). The past participle agrees with the subject; by is translated by par: Un tunnel sera construit "année prochaine. ‘A tunnel will be built next year. Le traité a été signé par les deux gouvernements. The treaty has been signed by both governments, FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS. By’ is usualy par, but may also be de, especially after verbs of feeling. Note also that the past participle changes to reflect the gender and number of the subject, of the sentence: La Reine est respectée de tout le monde. ‘The Queen is respected by everyone, The French have a tendency to avoid the passive and do 0 in one of the following ways: 1 By using the pronoun on (see week 10, section 67): On a déja oublié le tunnel que les Britanniques ont annulé en 1975, ‘The tunnel which the British cancelled in 1975 has. already been forgotten. ‘The use of on is essential in the case of verbs after ‘which the preposition ‘to’ is used or implied - donner (to give to}, dire a (to tell, to say to), répondre a (to reply to, to answer), demander a (to ask). Although we ‘can say in English ‘I've been given’, ‘he's been told’, the letter has been answered, ‘she's been asked, and so on, this construction is impossible in French. You must use on: On m’a dit qu’il y aura un train toutes les trois, minutes. I've been told there will be a train every three minutes, On lui a demandé ce qu’il pensait du projet. He was asked what he thought of the project, On a déja répondu & la lettre. The letter has already been answered. 2 By using the active instead: La construction d’un lien fixe trans-Manche a eréé beaucoup d’emplois. Many jobs have been created by the buildi Channel fixed link. of a cross WEEK 11 175176 Exercise 60 3 Occasionally by using a reflexive verb: Cela ne se vend pas en France. That’s not sold in France. VOCABULARY le continent continent Ia traversée crossing a république republic Ia décision decision Yimportance (f.) importance: ferroviaire rail routier, routiére (f.) road historique historic étranger, étrangére (£) foreign relier to link annoncer to announce souligner to emphasise IRREGULAR VERB construire (to build) Present tense Je construis tu construis iV/elle construit nous construisons vous construisez ils/elles construisent Perfect tense Fai construit, etc FRENCH IN THREE MONTHS Britain and France took the decision to build the Channel Tunnel in 1986. Read the following sentences, taken from a newspaper article published at the time. Then change them into the passive: 1 Le président de la République francaise a souligné Vimporiance de la décision, 2. Un tunnel! ferroviaire reliera la Grande-Bretagne au continent en 1993, 3. On cnstruira plus tard un lien routier. 4 Onaannoncé cette décision historiqu a Lille 5 La traversée de la Manche a souvent découragé rangers. [EAM THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE The present participle in English ends in ing, and itis often preceded by ‘while’, ‘on, ‘by, ‘in’; in French it ends, in -ant and is often preceded by en: 11 sest cassé la jambe, en jouant au football. He broke his leg while playing soccer: En étudiant un peu tous les jours, vous apprendrez, le frangais en trois mois. By studying a litle every day, you will learn French in three months. The present participle can be used, as in English, without a preceding preposition: Voyant que le patron était de bonne humeur, il a demandé une augmentation de salaire. Seeing that the boss was in a good mood, he asked for an increase in salary. WEEK 11 7178 ‘The present participle is formed by removing the -ons from the first person plural of the present tense and adding -ant chantant singing finissant finishing vendant —

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