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! It’s just as important to understand what’s 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 don’t 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
It’s quite natural for people to refer to “this young man over there,” “le petit jeune homme là 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 “l’homme,” means “the man.” It’s probably safer to address any adult woman as “madame” as opposed to “mademoiselle” “miss” regardless of their actual status.
Monsieur
Casual Context
In contrast, when addressing family or very young children, it’s not necessary to be so formal. However, it’s 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, ça va comme tu veux?
Hello Mary, are you doing ok?
Oui, ça va plus ou moins, merci.
Yes, things are not bad, thanks.
Salut, quoi de neuf?
Hi! What’s new?
Ça va?
How are things?
Bonjour Jean, tout se passe bien aujourd’hui?
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 connaît pas. Salut Jeanne, ça va?
No, we haven’t met. Hi Jeanne, how’s it going?
Bonjour Marie, ça fait longtemps qu’on ne s’est vue!
Good morning Mary, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other!
Oui! Ça fait plaisir de te voir, tout va bien de ton côté?
Yes! It’s 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.
Tune in for tomorrow's lesson when we hear what it should sound like when you ask for what you want, what you need, and exactly how you'd like it. What else is there in this world to say??
In this lesson, we've got a few basic but absolutely essential tasks to accomplish:
how to introduce yourself in French,
how to ask someone's name, and tell them your own,
tell someone where you are from (though it will be obvious that you're not from "around here"!), and
explain to people how much - or how little - French you know
The audio track below is the second track from the Rocket French Interactive Audio Course. This Introduction track is about 25 minutes long, so make sure you've cleared a space, even if that only means a "headspace," so you can devote the full force of your learning powers to it.
All you have to do is double click on the audio button below to listen to the track on Introducing yourself in French. As you follow the lesson, you’ll not only be able to understand the conversation, but you'll be asked to take part in it yourself. By the end of it, you'll be making a winning first impression in the most beautiful language on the planet.
So let’s get started!
Use the controls below to play, stop and pause the audio track. You can download this audio on the right.
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 you’re 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, “ L’homme,” “ L’hiver,” “ L’escalier.” 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 garçon The boy
Les filles
Les pommes
Le jeu
L’enfant
Les garçons The boys
La fille The girl
Les filles The girls
L’invité The guest (a man)
Les invités The guests
L’enfant The child
Les enfants The children
Le livre The book
Les livres The books
La pomme The apple
Les pommes The apples
La librairie The bookstore
Les librairies The bookstores
Le jeu The game
Les jeux The games
L’hôtel The hotel
Les hôtels 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
Un crayon
Des crayons
Des fleurs Some flowers
Une copine A friend (a woman)
Des copines Several friends (women)
Un crayon A pencil
Des crayons Several pencils
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, it’s 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 that’s 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,” you’ll start noticing lots of examples of “ la liaison.”
Vowels can’t 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:
L’i nvité and l’enfant start with a L’ instead of a Le. This is because Le would be followed by the sound i in invité, and by the sound e in enfant, and would be grammatically and phonetically incorrect. Try saying “Le invite ”and “Le enfant ”and you’ll notice how jerky it sounds.
A very similar principle applies when using “of” and “ of the ” with a noun like “ Le garçon.” The word “of” is “ de” and the word “boy” is “ le garcon.” But “of the boy,” meaning “belonging to the boy” isn’t “ de le garçon” as you might expect, but “ du garçon.” “ De le” always gets shortened to “ du.” It’s 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” doesn’t 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 children’s 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 children’s game. (The game of the children)
La couleur du vin
Du fromage
Le jeu de l’enfant. The child’s game. (The game of the child)
Le jeu de la fille. The girl’s game. (The game of the girl)
Le jeu du garçon. The boy’s game. (The game of the boy)
Le jeu de l’invité. The guest’s game. (The game of the guest)
Le goût du fromage. (masculine) The taste of the cheese.
La couleur du vin. (masculine) The color of the wine.
La fraîcheur du pain. (masculine) The freshness of the bread.
La qualité de la confiture. (feminine) The quality of the jam.
La beauté de l’actrice. (feminine + vowel) The beauty of the actress.
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
Du vin (masculine) Some wine
Du pain (masculine) Some bread
De la confiture (feminine) Some jam
De l’argent (masculine + vowel) Some money
De l’omelette (feminine + vowel) Some omelet
That's more than enough technical stuff for one day. I have to mention that you've been a most excellent student for sticking through the tricky bits. Next time we'll be back on the conversational side of things!
In tomorrow's lesson you'll find out all about how to introduce yourself in French, ask someone's name, and tell them your own. You'll also be able to explain to people how much - or how little - French you know. Don't miss this one - we all know how important first impressions are!
Welcome to Day 1 of the Rocket French 6 Day course!
This is the first in a series of lessons that I'll be sending you. I put these lessons together to help people start speaking French in no time!
Unlike other courses, I’m not going to start you on memorizing vocabulary words or practicing grammar. Instead, you’re going to start learning to SPEAK French in a conversation, right from the get-go!
The Audio Track below is the Introduction track from the Rocket French Interactive Audio Course. This Introduction track is 15 minutes long, and the remaining 30 audio tracks in the course are each around 25 to 30 minutes long. Double click on the audio button below to listen to the Introduction track on basic greetings in French. Each audio lesson will begin with a conversation between me and my good friend Paul.
As you follow the lesson, you’ll not only be able to understand the conversation, but you'll actually take part in it yourself.
Because you will be participating in the lesson, make sure that you listen in a quiet place where you can speak aloud without being disturbed. By the end of it, you’ll be able to greet someone in French and ask how they are.
Let’s get started!
Use the controls below to play, stop and pause the audio track. Or you can download this track on the right.
So ther you have some basic building blocks of entering into a French conversation. Sound easy? ... Good, that's the sort of confidence we like to hear.
Here is Your Example of an Advanced Lesson...
...Just click the button to hear track 7.2 of Claire and Paul going skiing!
Track 7.2 Rocket French Interactive Audio Course
French Conversation
Claire:
Est-ce que tu as ton forfait?
Paul:
Bien sûr. Sais-tu où je peux louer des skis?
Claire:
Il y a un magasin de location juste en bas des pistes.
Paul:
J'espère que je suis encore capable de skier!
Claire:
Qu'est ce que tu veux dire?
Paul:
Ca fait longtemps que je n'ai pas skié.
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?
In tomorrow's lesson we’ll take a look at the conversation you just heard in written form. The best way to figure out how something works is by taking it all apart and then examining all of the component parts. Language is no different. Of course, taking it apart is the easy bit. Eventually, you'll have to get good at putting it all back together. But there's plenty of time for that!
