French Conversation

Paul

Salut Claire.

Claire

Salut, Paul. Comment a va?

Paul

Bien merci, et toi?

Claire

Je vais trs bien.

English Translation
Paul

Hi Claire.

Claire

Hi Paul. How's it going?

Paul

Good thanks, and you?

Claire

I'm doing very well.

French Conversation
Claire:

Est-ce que tu as ton forfait?

Paul:

Bien sr. Sais-tu o je peux louer des skis?

Claire:

Il y a un magasin de location juste en bas des pistes.

Paul:

J'espre que je suis encore capable de skier!

Claire:

Qu'est ce que tu veux dire?

Paul:

Ca fait longtemps que je n'ai pas ski.

Claire:

On peut louer une luge.

Paul:

Non, c'est pour les enfants! Je veux des skis.

Claire:

Ah bon, t'es plus un enfant?

English Translation
Claire:

Do you have your ski pass?

Paul:

Of course. Do you know where I can hire some skis?

Claire:

There is a hire shop, just at the bottom of the trails.

Paul:

I hope I can still ski!

Claire:

What do you mean?

Paul:

It's been a long time since I've been on skis.

Claire:

We could hire a sled.

Paul:

No, they are for kids! I want skis.

Claire:

Right, and you're not a kid anymore?

Day -2

Making things really clear with Articles!

Articles are the little words that make language really clear: The, A,
Some, Several, Of, Of the and Any.
As you work through this Lesson, you will inevitably come across new words
and new expressions. You may feel that youre having to deal with a lot of
new material and unpredictable rules. Not all of it will make sense at first!
But if we dissect the rules too much, you will find yourself caught up by the
technical side of the language. Rather, allow yourself the benefit of enjoying
the experience even when you have questions left un-answered... for the
time being! You will see that by the time you reach the end of this Lesson,
the exercises and activities will clarify and reinforce your progress.

Define it .
In English the word the is what we call a definite article. That is because
the word the points to a very specific thing. For example, you may tell
someone, I want the mug assuming that they will bring you the mug you
have in mind.

Or not!
If you tell them, I want a mug, you will get whichever mug they choose to
hand you! That is because the words a or an or some are indefinite
articles and point to a general group of items, things, people or places.

Making Things Specific (Definite) in French

In French, the short defining word before the noun is really part of the noun.
For instance, le musicien and la musicienne for musician.
In French, the is not just one word. Rather there are a total of 4 versions of
the, depending on the gender and quantity of the noun to which you are
referring.

The French word for the, if followed by a masculine noun, is Le If followed

by a feminine noun, it is La and when followed by any noun in the plural, it
is Les For example, if there is one (male) cat, we say Le chat If there
are two or more cats, we say Les chats If there is one woman, we say La
femme If there are two or more women, we say Les femmes

Le chat

Les chats

Any singular noun beginning with a vowel or an h is always preceded by an

apostrophe after the definite article: L - for example, Lhomme,
Lhiver, Lescalier. The apostrophe is inserted in between the article and
the noun. This is because two vowel sounds in French cannot follow from one
word to another.

In summary:

The + masculine noun

= le

The + feminine noun

= la

The + any noun beginning with a vowel

= l

The + any plural noun

= les

Le garon
The boy
Les garons
The boys

Les filles

La fille
The girl
Les filles
The girls

Les pommes

Linvit
The guest (a
man)
Les invits
The guests
Lenfant
The child
Les enfants
The children
Le livre
The book

Le jeu

Les livres
The books
La pomme
The apple
Les pommes
The apples
La librairie
The bookstore
Les librairies
The bookstores

Lenfant

Le jeu
The game
Les jeux
The games
Lhtel
The hotel
Les htels
The hotels

Making Things General (Indefinite) in French

The previous section referred to making things specific using the in French,
in the form of Le, La, Les and L. In this section, we talk about the
ways to make things general, or indefinite. In French, there are 3 ways of
using the indefinite articles a, an, some or several.
A or An + masculine noun

= un

A or An + feminine noun

= une

Some or Several + any plural noun

= des

Une fleur
A flower
Des fleurs
Some flowers
Une copine
A friend (a woman)
Des copines
Several friends (women)
Un crayon
A pencil
Des crayons
Several pencils

Des crayons

Un crayon

When Indefinite and Definite Work Together in

French
"Some" and "several" in French are interchangeable with "any" and "of the."
We refer to words like "some" and "several" as articles. These articles help to
define words and quantities, and just like everything else in French, they
have to follow gender rules.
This means that almost everything new you learn in French will be subject to
the following questions:
Is it a female group of words?
Is it a male group of words?
Is it singular or plural?
Does it begin with a vowel?

A Versatile Word: De
The next group of defining words, of the, of, some, several, or any
have lots of different uses, and once again, they change according to
whether the thing or things you are talking about are masculine or feminine,
singular or plural. The root word de is very versatile indeed , and
generally changes form as follows to mean of and of the.
of or of the + masculine noun

= de or du

of or of the + feminine noun

= de la

of or of the + any noun starting with a vowel

= d or de l

of or of the + any plural noun

= des

Sounds in Pronunciation
Before we carry on, its worth discussing some points of pronunciation,
because the word de can be a slippery one and tends to change its own
sound and the sound of surrounding words when they all get together. When
speaking French, words must be linked to one another by sound so that they

flow. When there are too many vowel sounds together, they are simply
eliminated. In French, the expression thats used to explain this principle is
faire la liaison entre les mots, which means, to make connections
between words.
As you get used to the various forms of de, as it is used in of, and of
the, youll start noticing lots of examples of la liaison.
Vowels cant follow straight on from one word to another, so if you see a
word ending in a vowel, and the next word beginning with a vowel, be alert!
We have given you two examples so far:
Li nvit and lenfant start with a L instead of a Le.
This is because Le would be followed by the sound i in invit, and by the sound
e in enfant, and would be grammatically and phonetically incorrect.
Try saying Le invite and Le enfant and youll notice how jerky it sounds.

A very similar principle applies when using of and of the with a noun like
Le garon. The word of is de and the word boy is le garcon. But
of the boy, meaning belonging to the boy isnt de le garon as you
might expect, but du garon. De le always gets shortened to du. Its
really because de and le sound odd so close together.
In other words, when the sound of two vowels together clashes, such as de
le, a kind of shortcut rule applies, making it du for the purpose of
sounding more fluid. For feminine words, de la doesnt change, unless the
word begins with a vowel, when de la becomes de l.
You will also note from the following examples that a literal translation has
been included in brackets, because there is no equivalent in French for the
use of the apostrophe as it is used in English. The childrens game, for
example, is literally translated as the game of the children. This is where
de, in its various forms as explained above, comes into action.
Le jeu des enfants.
The childrens game. (The game of the children)

Le jeu de lenfant.
The childs game. (The game of the child)
Le jeu de la fille.
The girls game. (The game of the girl)
Le jeu du garon.
The boys game. (The game of the boy)
Le jeu de linvit.
The guests game. (The game of the guest)
Le got du fromage. (masculine)
The taste of the cheese.
La couleur du vin. (masculine)
The color of the wine.
La fracheur du pain. (masculine)
The freshness of the bread.
La qualit de la confiture. (feminine)
The quality of the jam.
La beaut de lactrice. (feminine + vowel)
The beauty of the actress.

La couleur du vin

As well as being used to say of or of the in the plural, as we saw above,

du, de la, d, de l and des are also used to mean some and several. In
effect, this is when the article a or an becomes a plural, to mean more
than just one.
Du fromage (masculine)
Some cheese
Du vin (masculine)
Some wine
Du pain (masculine)
Some bread
De la confiture (feminine)
Some jam

De largent (masculine + vowel)

Some money

De lomelette (feminine + vowel)

Some omelet

Day-3
French Conversation
Claire
Paul:
Claire
Paul:
Claire
Paul:
Claire
Paul:

Bonjour!
Salut!
Comment vous appelez-vous?
Je mappelle Paul.
Do venez vous?
Je viens des tats-Unis.
Vous parlez bien franais.
Juste un petit peu. Jadore apprendre.

English Translation
Claire
Paul:
Claire
Paul:
Claire
Paul:
Claire
Paul:

Chapter- 4

Hello!
Hi!
What's your name?
I'm called Paul.
Where do you come from?
I come from the United States.
You speak French well.
Just a little bit. I love learning.

Heres the conversation that you learned in the last lesson:

French Conversation
Claire

Bonjour

Paul

Salut

Claire

Comment vous appelez-vous ?

Paul

Je mappelle Paul

Claire

Dou venez-vous ?

Paul

Je viens des tats-Unis.

Claire

Vous parlez bien franais

Paul

Juste un petit peu. Jadore apprendre.

Now, have a look at the same conversation through familiar eyes...

English Translation
Claire

Hello!

Paul

Hi!

Claire

What's your name?

Paul

I'm called Paul.

Claire

Where do you come from?

Paul

I come from the United States.

Claire

You speak French well.

Paul

Just a little bit. I love learning.

Getting Formal or Informal with French Grammar

As you will find out in your conversations with French people, so much of the
dialogue depends on how other people interact with you! Its just as
important to understand whats being said to you as it is to know what to say
in a new language. Introducing yourself and introducing other people to each
other is a good place to start establishing your ease with dialogues.

In French, there are two ways of addressing someone or a group of

people directly. This tradition stems from a time when it was considered
vital to treat authority figures with deference.
The sense of respect prevails today in many cultures around the globe, albeit
adapted to modern day norms. In some French families today, parents are
still addressed by their children in the formal way! To some this appears to
create distance, while to others it maintains a sense of respect.
In French today there is still a clear language code where both formal and
informal greetings are relevant. This formal code is useful when you are
asking for anything in the commercial arena in France, from shops, health
care, touring, making bookings, and as you meet new people.
The only exception to using the formal vous would be when visiting your
family, your friends or when addressing very young children.

Formal Context
You will notice that in a typical dialogue in French, a person is always
addressed by their appropriate title, even if you dont know their actual
name, as in Sir, Monsieur, Madam, Madame, and more traditionally,
addressing adolescents as jeune homme, young man, or jeune fille,
young lady.

Monsieur
Its quite natural for people to refer to this young man over there, le petit
jeune homme l bas, or la petite (in abbreviated form) when referring

to the young girl. There are some subtle distinctions, for example,
Monsieur across the board, refers to Sir, or to a gentleman, whereas
lhomme, means the man. Its probably safer to address any adult
woman as madame as opposed to mademoiselle miss regardless of
their actual status.

Casual Context
In contrast, when addressing family or very young children, its not
necessary to be so formal. However, its probably good to follow the general
guideline that, when in doubt, be formal!

Remember that when you already know someone relatively well, there is no
need to introduce yourself formally anyway. You may need to introduce a
friend to another friend, in which case it is useful to follow the expected
pattern.
The following examples show casual greetings using varying degrees of
familiarity, from casual through to very laid back.

Casual Conversations
Salut Marie, a va comme tu veux?
Hello Mary, are you doing ok?
Oui, a va plus ou moins, merci.
Yes, things are not bad, thanks.
Salut, quoi de neuf?

Hi! Whats new?

a va?
How are things?
Bonjour Jean, tout se passe bien aujourdhui?
Good morning Jean, everything ok today?

Two more Casual Exchanges:

Bonjour Marie, comment vas-tu? Tu connais Jeanne?
Good morning Marie, how are you? Have you met Jeanne?
Non, on ne se connat pas. Salut Jeanne, a va?
No, we havent met. Hi Jeanne, hows it going?
Bonjour, Marie. a fait longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vue!
Good morning Mary, its been a while since weve seen each other!
Oui! a fait plaisir de te voir, tout va bien de ton ct?
Yes! Its great to see you again, is everything going well with you?

There, that should cover your bases and keep you out of trouble for a while,
however informal you'd like to be.