tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17417926413156211302024-02-08T08:43:35.242-08:00Channel LapinLizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-42566784388631085292011-05-08T13:10:00.000-07:002011-05-08T13:14:27.077-07:00Lesson 18: Days of the WeekA quick lesson on the days of the week:<div><br /></div><div><b>Lundi</b> = Monday</div><div><b>Mardi</b> = Tuesday</div><div><b>Mercredi</b> = Wednesday</div><div><b>Jeudi</b> = Thursday</div><div><b>Vendredi</b> = Friday</div><div><b>Samedi</b> = Saturday</div><div><b>Dimanche</b> = Sunday</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Le jour</b> = day</div><div><b>Aujourd'hui</b> = today</div><div><b>Hier</b> = yesterday</div><div><b>Demain</b> = tomorrow</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Quel jour est-il aujourd'hui</b> <b>?</b> <i>What day is it today?</i></div><div><b>C'est dimanche.</b> <i>It's Sunday.</i></div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-63598096416547159722011-05-05T17:20:00.000-07:002011-05-05T17:26:23.250-07:00Learning Tip: Keeping Up With VocabularyHere's a quick tip about learning a language: make sure that you're keeping up on your vocabulary. Once you fall behind it's hard to catch up.<div><br /></div><div>When I'm trying to learn new vocabulary, I usually use <a href="http://quizlet.com/">Quizlet</a> to help me remember the words. One of my friends told me about this site, and I've found it really useful since it's based on the same concept as using flashcards, but it's better because it makes sure that you know how to spell the words by having you type the vocabulary.</div><div><br /></div><div>Granted, if you don't spend a lot of time on the internet then you may want to make traditional flashcards. Or if flashcards don't work for you, then find another way to study the vocabulary. Just don't fall behind!</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-46640109808622764742011-04-30T18:01:00.000-07:002011-05-02T18:25:05.859-07:00Lesson 17: Asking Questions IIMore common question words for you to learn:<div><br /></div><div><b>Qui ?</b> (Who?)</div><div><b>Quoi ?</b> (What?)</div><div><b>Quand ?</b> (When?)</div><div><b>Où ?</b> (Where?)</div><div><b>Pourquoi ?</b> (Why?)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Qui</b> mange ma pizza ? <i>Who's eating my pizza?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Quoi ? </b>Est-ce que c'est vrai<b> </b>? <i>What? Is it true? (Literally: is it that it's true?)</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Quand</b> est la fête ? <i>When is the party?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Où</b> est votre maison ? <i>Where is your house?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Pourquoi</b> est-ce que vous me posez tant de questions ? <i>Why are you asking me so many questions? (Literally: why is it that you ask me so many questions?)</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Vocabulary:</div><div><br /></div><div>La pizza (pizza)</div><div>La fête (party)</div><div>La question (question)</div><div>Vrai (true)</div><div>Poser (to pose/to ask)</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-16831166164227351672011-04-30T17:48:00.000-07:002011-05-01T07:03:01.888-07:00Lesson 16: Asking Questions IComment?<div><br /></div><div>Okay, so you're sitting in a restaurant and you want to ask your waiter for a <i>croque-monsieur</i> (it's like a grilled cheese with ham). Except that you can't because you don't know how to ask questions in French.</div><div><br /></div><div>At least you didn't, until now.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Est-ce que</b>. Learn this phrase. Right now. It sounds like <i>ess-kuh</i> when you say it.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>Est-ce que</b> je peux avoir un croque-monsieur ? Où <b>est-ce que</b> j'ai mis mes clés ? Qu'<b>est-ce que</b> vous avez dit ?*</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Est-ce que</b> means<i>, </i>literally, <i>is it that...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>If we were translating it we would replace it with the words <i>do/does/did...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>*Can I have a croque-monsieur? Where did I put my keys? What did you say? </i></div><div><i>(Literally: Is it that I can have a croque-monsieur? Where is it that I put my keys? What is it that you said?)</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Next lesson I'll hook you up with more question-words.</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-24263279837950496682011-04-30T14:13:00.000-07:002011-04-30T14:17:15.818-07:00Lesson 15: VenirThis is the last in the <i>very irregular verb</i> series. Before you move on to the following lessons, I would urge you to go back and memorize the conjugations for the <i>very irregular verbs</i>... they're widely used and knowing them will serve you well.<div><br /></div><div><b>Venir</b> (to come)</div><div><br /></div><div>Je<b> viens</b></div><div>Tu<b> viens</b></div><div>Il/elle/on<b> vient</b></div><div>Nous<b> venons</b></div><div>Vous<b> venez</b></div><div>Ils/elles<b> viennent</b></div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-49267588646375477692011-04-26T14:45:00.000-07:002011-04-26T14:50:42.977-07:00Lesson 14: être<b>être</b> (to be)<div><br /></div><div>A lot of English speakers get confused about the verb <i>to be</i>, probably because this verb is irregular in English as well as in French. So first I'll give you the conjugation in English:</div><div><br /></div><div>To Be</div><div><br /></div><div>I <b>am</b></div><div>You <b>are</b></div><div>He/She <b>is</b></div><div>We <b>are</b></div><div>They <b>are</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>In French:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>être</b></div><div>Je <b>suis</b></div><div>Tu <b>es</b></div><div>Il/Elle/On <b>est</b></div><div>Nous <b>sommes</b></div><div>Vous <b>êtes</b></div><div>Ils/Elles <b>sont</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Je <b>suis</b> une fille. (I <b>am</b> a girl.)</div><div>Il <b>est</b> un garçon. (He <b>is</b> a boy.)</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-52830351649866238712011-04-19T18:14:00.001-07:002011-04-20T12:18:48.796-07:00Lesson 13: FaireI'm sorry -- I didn't have a lot of time to write a lesson today so I'll leave you with another <i>very irregular</i> verb conjugation: <b>faire</b> (to make/to do). You might be getting sick of verb conjugations but don't worry, there are only a couple <i>very irregular</i> verbs left to learn and then it'll get easier. So...<div><br /></div><div><b>Faire</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Je fais</b></div><div><b>Tu fais</b></div><div><b>Il/elle/on fait</b></div><div><b>Nous faisons</b></div><div><b>Vous faites</b></div><div><b>Ils/elles font</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Examples of sentences with the verb <b>faire</b>:</div><div><br /></div><div>Je <b>fais</b> un gâteau. (I make a cake.)</div><div>Tu <b>fais</b> tes devoirs. (You do your homework.)</div><div>Elle <b>fait</b> un dessin. (She does a drawing.)</div><div>Ils <b>font</b> du sport. (They do sports.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Vocabulary:</b></div><div><b>Les devoirs</b> = homework</div><div><b>Le dessin</b> = drawing</div><div><b>Le sport</b> = sports</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted to mention, if you have any questions about the lessons you can feel free to leave a comment!</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-20723471801930347552011-04-17T08:21:00.000-07:002011-04-19T04:09:50.363-07:00Lesson 12: Comment ça va ?When you greet somebody it's polite to ask them how they're doing. In order to ask "how are you?" you would use the phrase "<b>comment ça va?</b>, or simply <b>ça va?</b>" You could also say: "<b>comment vas-tu?</b>" or "<b>comment allez-vous?</b>" (depending on whether you're using the formal or informal "you").<div><br /></div><div>Some appropriate responses to the question: <b>comment ça va?</b> would be:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ca va.</b> (I'm fine)</div><div><b>Je vais bien</b>. (I'm good/I'm doing well)</div><div><b>Je vais très bien.</b> (I'm doing very well)</div><div><b>Je ne vais pas bien. </b>(I'm not doing well)</div><div><b>Je vais mal. </b>(I'm not doing well)</div><div><b>Je vais très mal.</b> (I'm not doing well at all)</div><div><br /></div><div>After responding to the question <b>comment ça va?</b> you could return the question by saying: <b>et vous?</b> (and you?, formal) or <b>et toi?</b> (informal).</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to ask how another person is doing (your friend's mom, for example), you would say: <b>comment va </b>(insert person's name)<b>?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>A conversation could look like this:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bonjour Brigitte.</b></div><div>Bonjour Linda.</div><div><b>Comment ça va?</b></div><div>Je vais bien. Et toi?</div><div><b>Je vais bien aussi.</b></div><div>Comment va ta* maman?</div><div><b>Elle va tres bien, merci.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>*<b>ta</b> = your (we'll talk more about possessive pronouns in a later lesson)</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-85564220152033711872011-04-17T08:12:00.000-07:002011-04-18T04:10:25.907-07:00Lesson 11: Aller<b>Aller</b> -- which means <i>to go</i> -- is another irregular verb that has no conjugation pattern. However, like the verb <i>avoir</i>, it would be very difficult to have a conversation in French without knowing this verb.<div><br /></div><div>The conjugation that you'll have to memorize for the verb <b>aller</b> is:</div><div><br /></div><div>Je <b>vais</b></div><div>Tu <b>vas</b></div><div>Il/elle/on <b>va</b></div><div>Nous <b>allons</b></div><div>Vous <b>allez</b></div><div>Ils/Elles <b>vont</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Now that you know the conjugation for <b>aller</b> you can say things like:</div><div><br /></div><div>Je <b>vais</b> à la plage. (I go to the beach.)</div><div>Il <b>va</b> à l'école chaque jour. (He goes to school every day.)</div><div>Nous <b>allons</b> au café ensemble. (We're going to the café together.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Vocabulary:</div><div>La plage = the beach</div><div>Chaque = every</div><div>Le jour = day</div><div>Le café = the café</div><div>Ensemble = together</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-68495167661417245232011-04-17T07:34:00.000-07:002011-04-17T08:02:51.630-07:00Lesson 10: NegationsIt's important to know how to say no. Otherwise you could end up doing a lot of things that you never really wanted to do.<div><br /></div><div>Grammatically speaking, we would call this a negation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Do you want to go to the beach today?</div><div><i>No, I do not want to go to the beach today.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Do you like this chocolate cake?</div><div><i>No, I do not like the chocolate cake.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>May I borrow your dress for the party tonight?</div><div><i>No, you may not borrow my dress.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Negations.</div><div><br /></div><div>In French we form negations by using the following fomula:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ne + Verb + Pas</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Let's use the following example: <b>Je marche avec ma mère.</b> I walk with my mother.</div><div><br /></div><div>To turn this sentence into a negation you would first find your verb which in this case is "marche," a conjugation of the verb "marcher." You plug the verb into the formula and it turns into "ne marche pas." Put it back in the sentence and you end up with: <b>Je <i>ne marche pas</i> avec ma mère.</b> I don't walk with my mother.</div><div><br /></div><div>Est-ce que tu manges le gâteau ? (Are you eating the cake?)</div><div>Non, je <i>ne mange pas</i> le gâteau. (No, I'm not eating the cake).</div><div><br /></div><div>Est-ce que tu donnes le livre à ton professeur? (Are you giving the book to your teacher?)</div><div>Non, je <i>ne donne pas</i> le livre à mon professeur. (No, I'm not giving the book to my teacher.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Vocabulary:</b></div><div><b>Avec </b>= with</div><div><b>le gâteau (plural: les gâteaux)</b> = cake</div><div><b>le professeur</b> = teacher</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-88274098984292987962011-04-16T09:20:00.000-07:002011-04-16T09:32:07.752-07:00Lesson 9: Avoir<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Avoir --</span> which means <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">to have --</span> is an irregular verb, and it's one of the most important verbs that you will learn. Not only will you need it for the obvious reason of saying "I have" but you'll need it later in order to form sentences in the past tense.<div><br /></div><div>Since <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">avoir</span> is a decidedly irregular verb, it doesn't have a conjugation pattern to follow. You'll just have to memorize the conjugations.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Avoir</span></div><div>J'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">ai</span>*</div><div>Tu <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">as</span></div><div>Il/elle/on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">a</span></div><div>Nous <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">avons</span></div><div>Vous <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">avez</span></div><div>Ils/elles <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">ont</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div>*The reason that we say "j'ai" as opposed to "je ai" is that in French you often can't have two vowels next to each other. Since "je" ends with a vowel and "ai" begins with a vowel, the "e" in "je" has to be replaced with an apostrophe. It's the same reason that we say "l'école" as opposed to "le école."</div><div><br /></div><div>Now that you know the verb for "to have," you can make sentences such as:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">J'ai un frère</span>. I have a brother.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Tu as un livre</span>. You have a book.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Il a un chat qui s'appelle Fluffy</span>. He has a cat named fluffy.</div>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-64093462875621104442011-04-14T16:03:00.000-07:002011-04-14T17:04:52.472-07:00Lesson 8: àThe French word <span style="font-weight:bold;">à</span> is a little word that gets a lot of use. It means <span style="font-style:italic;">to</span>, although the rules for using it aren't quite the same as they are in English.<br /><br />In some cases you can use the word <span style="font-weight:bold;">à</span> as it is, with no modification. For example, you could say:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Je donne le livre à mon frère.</span><br />I give the book to my brother.<br /><br />If, however, the word <span style="font-weight:bold;">à</span> is followed by the article <span style="font-weight:bold;">le, l'a, les, or l' followed by a vowel</span>, you'll need to modify it so that it will agree with the noun.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">à + le = au*<br />à + la = à la<br />à + les = aux*<br />à + l' (followed by a vowel) = à + l' (followed by a vowe</span>l)<br /><br />*note that the terms <span style="font-style:italic;">à le </span>and <span style="font-style:italic;">à les</span> <span style="font-weight:bold;">do not exist </span>in French -- they have to be modified.<br /><br />So, for example:<br /><br />Je marche <span style="font-weight:bold;">au</span> musée.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I walk to the museum.</span><br /><br />Je marche <span style="font-weight:bold;">à la</span> bibliothèque.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I walk to the library.</span><br /><br />Je marche <span style="font-weight:bold;">aux</span> maisons.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I walk to the houses.</span><br /><br />Je marche <span style="font-weight:bold;">à l'</span>école.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I walk to school.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Vocabulary:</span><br />Le musée = the museum<br />La bibliothèque = the library<br />La maison = the house<br />L'école (f) = the schoolLizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-82974246919399411682011-04-13T16:25:00.000-07:002011-04-14T13:24:38.933-07:00Lesson 7: Je m'appelleIt's time for you to learn how to introduce yourself in French.<br /><br />The verb <span style="font-weight:bold;">s'appeler</span> means <span style="font-style:italic;">to be called</span>.<br /><br />If you want to say "my name is" you would say <span style="font-weight:bold;">je mappelle...</span> plus your name. (Literally, this translates to: "I call myself...")<br /><br />If you want to ask what somebody's name is, you have to first think: should I use the formal version or the informal version?<br /><br />Unless you're talking to a child, you'll probably want to use the formal version in this case.<br /><br />Formal: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Comment vous appelez-vous?</span><br /><br />Informal: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Comment t'appelles-tu?</span><br /><br />If you want to ask what somebody's name is, you would say: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Il s'appelle comment ?</span> (masculine form), or E<span style="font-weight:bold;">lle s'appelle comment ?</span><br /><br />Then, to respond to this question, you would say: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Il s'appelle...</span> or <span style="font-weight:bold;">elle s'appelle...</span><br /><br />Finally, if you want to say "pleased to meet you," you would simply say: <span style="font-weight:bold;">enchanté</span> (if you are a male) or <span style="font-weight:bold;">enchantée</span> (if you are a female).<br /><br />So a conversation could look like:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bonjour !</span><br />Bonjour !<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Comment vous-appelez vous ?</span><br />Je m'appelle Isabelle. Et vous ? Comment vous-appelez vous ?<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Je m'appelle Brigitte.</span><br />Enchantée !<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Et ton ami? Il s'appelle comment ?</span><br />Il s'appelle Jean.Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-48467788599046432082011-04-12T16:00:00.000-07:002011-04-12T16:16:01.069-07:00Lesson 6: Verb Conjugations, Present TenseHave you ever heard the term "verb conjugations?" Do you know what it means?<br /><br />Don't feel bad if you don't -- it's something that we hardly pay attention to in English. We pretty much only conjugate verbs in the 3rd person. (I eat, you eat, we eat, but he <span style="font-style:italic;">eats</span>.)<br /><br />The French, however, are a bit more picky about their subject-verb agreements. They have a different conjugation for every one of their pronouns.<br /><br />Conjugating regular verbs is actually quite simple. You take the infinitive form of a regular verb (see lesson 5) and remove the -er ending.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Marcher</span> (to walk) becomes <span style="font-weight:bold;">March-</span> This is called the root of the verb.<br /><br />Then you add an ending depending on the subject. The conjugation pattern for regular verbs is:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Je.................-e<br />Tu................-es<br />Il/elle/on.....-e<br />Nous............-ons<br />Vous ...........-ez<br />Ils/elles .......-ent</span><br /><br /><br />So the formula is: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Subject + Root + Ending</span><br /><br />Say you want to say <span style="font-weight:bold;">I walk</span>. In this case your subject is "I." By looking at your pronoun list you can see that the the subject "I" goes with the ending "-e."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Je + march- + -e</span>, right?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Je marche. I walk.</span><br /><br />In case you want to see what a present-tense conjugated verb looks like:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Marcher (to walk)</span><br /><br />Je march<span style="font-weight:bold;">e</span> (I walk)<br />Tu march<span style="font-weight:bold;">es</span> (you walk, informal)<br />Il / elle / on march<span style="font-weight:bold;">e </span>(he/she/one walks)<br />Nous march<span style="font-weight:bold;">ons</span> (we walk)<br />Vous march<span style="font-weight:bold;">ez</span> (you walk, plural, formal)<br />Ils / elles march<span style="font-weight:bold;">ent</span> (they walk, m/f)Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-1973386897467727752011-04-12T14:47:00.000-07:002011-04-12T15:02:24.606-07:00Lesson 5: Regular VerbsThis may seem like a quick transition from last lesson's pronouns but you'll see how it ties in.<br /><br />I'd like to introduce to you the <span style="font-weight:bold;">French Regular Verb</span>.<br /><br />Now, in French there is only one form of a regular verb -- almost any verb whose infinitive ends in -er. If you've never heard of regular verbs: <br /><br />Regular verbs, as opposed to <span style="font-style:italic;">irregular</span> verbs, have a predictable conjugation pattern that applies to almost all verbs ending in -er (I can only think of one verb -- aller -- that ends in -er and doesn't fit this pattern). All you have to do is memorize the conjugation pattern and add it to the end of the verb. I'll explain this more in detail later.<br /><br />For now, I'm going to give you a list of common regular verbs and I want you to notice how the endings are all the same.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Aimer</span> = to love/to like<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Chanter</span> = to sing<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Commencer</span> = to begin<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cuisiner</span> = to cook<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Danser</span> = to dance<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Dessiner</span> = to draw (pictures)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Manger</span> = to eat<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Marcher</span> = to walk<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Parler</span> = to talk<br /><br />These verbs are all shown in what is called the <span style="font-weight:bold;">infinitive form</span>. That is, they haven't been conjugated yet. If you were to look up a verb in the dictionary, this is the form you would see.Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-33093224104623471492011-04-10T06:45:00.001-07:002011-04-10T06:51:40.309-07:00Lesson 4: Pronouns IIIAny English speaker will obviously be able to tell you that there is a difference between the pronouns "he" and "she." But what about the pronoun "they?"<br /><br />In French there are two words to express the concept of "they:" "ils" and "elles." The former is the masculine form of the word, which means that it would be used when one is referring to either a group of males or, since the masculine form is dominant, any group of people that includes a male. "Elles," on the other hand, refers to any group that is comprised of females.<br /><br />So, the rule is:<br /><br />a group of men = <span style="font-weight:bold;">ils</span><br />a group of men and women = <span style="font-weight:bold;">ils</span><br />a group of women = <span style="font-weight:bold;">elles</span>Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-21522376215437473522011-04-08T11:59:00.000-07:002011-04-08T12:12:57.186-07:00Lesson 3: Pronouns IIYou might have noticed that in French there are two different words for "you:" <span style="font-style:italic;">tu</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">vous</span>. <br /><br />The difference is that <span style="font-style:italic;">tu</span> is known as the "informal, singular <span style="font-style:italic;">you</span>." That is to say, it would be used to address either a single person whom the speaker knows very well (family or close friends), a young child, or an animal. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">vous</span>, on the other hand, is the formal version. It would be used to address a stranger or an acquaintance, a person of authority (e.g. a teacher), a person older than oneself (if one is a child), in general anybody that the speaker doesn't know well. <br /><br />In addition, <span style="font-style:italic;">vous</span> can be the plural form of <span style="font-style:italic;">you</span>. It's used any time more than one person is being addressed, even if the people would normally fall under the informal <span style="font-style:italic;">tu</span> category. Thus, both a group of strangers and a group of close friends would be addressed as <span style="font-style:italic;">vous</span>.Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-76675592918239952172011-04-08T11:42:00.000-07:002011-04-08T11:56:41.758-07:00Lesson 2: Pronouns IYou may know that in English we have three different types of pronouns: 1st person (<span style="font-style:italic;">I</span>), 2nd person (<span style="font-style:italic;">you</span>), and third person (<span style="font-style:italic;">he/she/one</span>). We also have plural forms of these pronouns: w<span style="font-style:italic;">e, you, and they</span>.<br />In French, it's the same. Thus, we have:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Je</span> (I)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Tu</span> (you, informal)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Il/Elle/On</span> (he/she/one)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Nous</span> (we)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Vous</span> (you, formal)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ils/Elles</span> (they, m/f)<br /><br />It's worth memorizing this list to the point where you can name all the pronouns in order without hesitation. In the next lesson I will give a more in-depth explanation of some of the pronouns.Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-66037237520919099822011-04-03T09:16:00.000-07:002011-04-14T17:08:14.887-07:00Lesson 1: ArticlesOne of the first things that you should know about the French language is that every noun is defined by one of two articles: the feminine "la" or the masculine "le." In addition, there is a plural form, "les," that encompasses both masculine and feminine nouns. <br /><br />Whenever you're learning new vocabulary you should be sure that you pay attention to the articles of your nouns... not only will your sentence structure depend on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, but the French will be taken aback (and a bit offended in some cases) if you assign the wrong article to a word.<br /><br />Sometimes you will be able to guess the gender of the noun based on whether the word is referring to a male or a female. For example:<br /><br />le père / le papa (father/dad)<br />l'homme [m] (man)<br />le mari (husband)<br />le garçon (boy)<br />le fils (son)<br />le grand-père (grandfather)<br /><br />and<br /><br />la mère / la maman (mother/mom)<br />la femme (woman/wife)<br />la fille (girl/daughter)<br />la grand-mère (grandmother)<br /><br />In other cases, however, the gender of the word isn't as obvious and the article will simply have to be memorized as part of the noun. For example:<br /><br />le chat (cat)<br />le chien (dog)<br />l'arbre [m] (tree)<br />la maison (house)<br />l'école [f] (school)<br />la rue (street)<br /><br />If you wanted to use the article "a" instead of the article "the," you would use <span style="font-weight:bold;">une</span> (feminine form) or <span style="font-weight:bold;">un</span> (masculine form). So <span style="font-style:italic;">la mère</span> would be u<span style="font-style:italic;">ne mère</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">le père</span> would be <span style="font-style:italic;">un père</span>. The plural form is <span style="font-weight:bold;">des</span>: <span style="font-style:italic;">les femmes</span> would change to <span style="font-style:italic;">des femmes</span> (translated as "some women.")Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1741792641315621130.post-11613932441446488122011-04-03T09:08:00.000-07:002011-04-12T16:22:11.122-07:00Bienvenue !After some deliberation I've decided to create a blog to provide online French lessons to anybody who is interested. My reasoning is simple: more people should speak French. Granted, learning a language online isn't the same as learning with a teacher but on the upside you can always go back into a blog's archives and look up something that you might have missed or forgotten.<br />All the best!Lizzy Hanleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09187276671645969502noreply@blogger.com0