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Lesson

2

Plus PublicationsBramleyDouglas RoadCorkIreland(t) 353-(0)21-4847444(f) 353-(0)21-4847675(e) [email protected](i) www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com

LEARN FRENCHBY PODCASTAUDIO PODCASTSFOR LEARNERS OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Talking about friends and family

The verb “avoir” – to have

s’appeler

�� © Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

Lesson 02: Wednesday, June 14th, 2006Level: beginner.

• the verbs “avoir”, “passer” and “lire”• saying how you get on with people• speaking about things in general• talking about playing instruments• adjectives ending in “–if”

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Verb!

avoir [to have]J’ai ............................ I havetu as ......................... you haveil a ............................ he haselle a ......................... she hason a .......................... one hasnous avons ............... we havevous avez .................. you haveils ont ....................... they haveelles ont .................... they have

Hello once again, and welcome to Learn French by Podcast. My name is Hugh Nagle and here with me is Amélie Verdier. Welcome back, Amélie!

Bonjour!

Today we’re going to talk about friends and family. To get started, Amélie, let’s hear a little about your own friends and family. We’ll hear what you have to say 3 times, as usual, right?

Bien sûr!

On y va!J’ai une soeur. Ma soeur s’appelle Aurélia et elle a dix-huit ans. Elle habite avec mes parents dans le sud de la France. Elle passe, cette année, son baccalauréat. Je m’entends bien avec elle. Elle est très littéraire, elle aime la musique et la lecture.

Excellent. Now, you’re going to tell us a little more later, but let’s deal with this part first. Let’s hear that a second time…

J’ai une soeur. […]

Ok. And a final time…J’ai une soeur. […]

Ok. Let’s look at a couple of things. First you said you had a sister…

J’ai une soeur.

“J’ai” that’s the first person, present tense of the verbe “avoir”. “I have a brother” would be…

J’ai un frère.

“I have a boyfriend”…“J’ai un petit ami”.

“He has a girlfriend”…“Il a une petite amie.”

“… une petite amie” – let’s here the difference again between those two:

“… un petit ami”. “… une petite amie”

Now, your sister, again, her name is…Elle s’appelle Aurélia.

“Elle s’appelle…”. Now, in our first lesson we met the expression “Je m’appelle…”. This time, we have “Elle s’appelle…” – “Her name is…”. Of course, “his name is…” …

“Il s’appelle…”

Ok. Let’s remember all three of these: “Je m’appelle…”,

Remember!

“his name is” / “her name is”…il s’appelle ................ his name iselle s’appelle ............. her name is

Remember!

“le baccalauréat”This is the final exam in French secondary schools. By students, it is almost invariably referred to simply as “le bac”.

“le brevet”This exam takes place at the end of Junior High School.

avoir – when saying how old someone is

north, south, east, west

passer – “to sit” (an exam)

© Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved. �

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eLesson 02: Wednesday, June 14th, 2006Level: beginner.


Watch it!

We said “avoir” is the verb “to have”…

J’ai un frère .............. I have a brother.Elle a un chien ......... She has a dog.

But this verb is also used when talking of someone’s age:

Elle a quarante ans .. She is 40.Paul a quinze ans .... Paul is 15.

“Il s’appelle…” and “Elle s’appelle…”

Then you said how old Aurélia was…Oui. Elle a dix-huit ans.

“Elle a…”. That’s the verb “avoir”, which we must use when talking about age, right? Your uncle – how old is he?

Mon oncle? Il a cinquante ans.

And your aunt…Ma tante? Elle a quarante-neuf ans.

Ok, then. We must remember this: it’s the verb “avoir” when we’re talking about someone’s age.

Moving on… Aurélia, où habite-elle?Elle habite dans le sud de la France.

“Dans le sud de la France…”, “In the south…”. Now, “in the north” is?…

Dans le nord…

And the west?…Dans l’ouest…

And the east?…Dans l’est.

Let’s hear those one more time… “In the south”?…Dans le sud…

“In the north”…Dans le nord…

“In the west”…Dans l’ouest…

“And, in the east”…Dans l’est…

Now, on the subject of Aurélia’s exams… cette année, elle passe son baccalauréat, n’est-ce pas?…

C’est exact. Elle passe ses examens en juin.

The verb “passer” – now that could be confusing. It has several meanings but, in relation to exams, it means “to sit”, right? Not “to pass”! How would you say “My cousin is sitting his law exams?”…

Mon cousin passe ses examens de droit.

And… Carole is sitting her Junior High School exams?Well, in France, we refer to those as “Le Brevet”, so we would say…

Elle passe son Brevet.

“passer”

In relation to exams, this verb means “to sit”:

Elle passe ses examens en juin. [She sits (or “is sitting”) her exams in June.]

“s’entendre avec” – to get on well with

speaking about things in general




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e Now, you said you get on well with your sister…Oui, je m’entends bien avec elle.

Let’s hear that one more time…Je m’entends bien avec elle.

You could use this expression in relation to your father, too, right? You would say…

Je m’entends bien avec lui.

“… avec lui” – “… with him”. Once again?…Je m’entends bien avec lui.

Now in the case of your sisters, or your brothers, or your parents, if it were the case that you get on well with them all, you would say:

Je m’entends bien avec eux.

And one more time?…Je m’entends bien avec eux.

“… avec eux” – “… with them.” So, to summarise, we have “… avec elle”, “… avec lui” and “… avec eux”. “… with her”, “… with him”, “… with them”.

Now, you spoke about the things your sister likes…Oui. Elle aime la musique et la lecture.

“Elle aime…” – that’s the verb “aimer” – “to like”. Now we must remember to use the article “le”, “la” or “les” when we’re talking about things in general. Things we like doing, activities that interest us. We would also have “J’aime le théâtre…”, and so on. Let’s try a few more. How would we say “She adores chocolate!”?…

Elle adore le chocolat!

“… le chocolat” – the article is there again. How about “My brother loves football”?…

Mon frère adore le foot.

“Pascale loves reading”?…Pascale adore la lecture.

Once again, “… la lecture”, with the article “la” accompanying the noun “lecture”.

verb: “s’entendre avec”…

This verb means “to get on with [someone]”

Je m’entends bien avec Philippe.

Here are the other parts of the verb:

Je m’entendstu t’entendsil s’entendelle s’entendon s’entendnous nous entendonsvous vous entendezils s’entendentelles s’entendent

This is called a “reflexive” verb. We’ll be studying these more closely later.

things in general

You need to include a definite article (le, la, les) when talking about things in general.

J’aime le sport .......... I like sport.Elle aime la danse .... She likes dancing.

verb: “aimer”

This verb means “to like”J’aime ....................... I liketu aimes ................... you likeil aime ...................... he likeselle aime .................. she likeson aime .................... one likesnous aimons ............ we likevous aimez ............... you likeils aiment ................. they likeelles aiment ............. they like

Note!There is a large group of verbs in French which end in “–er”. You’ve already met a few: habiter, passer, aimer. They all have the “bold” endings (above) in common.

the verb “lire”

“jouer de” + instrument


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Excellent. Now you are going to tell us a little more about Aurélia… Allez-y!

Elle lit beaucoup et elle joue du saxophone et de la guitare. Elle est aussi sportive: elle fait de l’escalade.

Let’s hear all that a second time…Elle lit […]

And a final time…Elle lit […]

Ta soeur, Aurélia, elle lit beaucoup, n’est-ce pas?Oui, elle lit beaucoup.

Et toi?…Moi aussi, je lis beaucoup.

“Je lis…” – that’s the verb “lire” – “to read”. In the singular, we have a simple sound: “Je lis…”, “tu lis…”, “il lit…”. In the plural, it’s different. If we were talking about several people, we’d say…

“Ils lisent…”

Now, Aurélia is musical, right?Oui. Elle joue du saxophone et de la guitare.

Du saxophone? De la guitare? Now, what about these words in front of those instruments? Well, you know that nouns are either masculine or feminine in French. When we’re talking about playing instruments, if the instrument we’re talking about is masculine, we say “du”. If it’s feminine, we say “de la”. Amélie, how should we say “Paul plays the piano”?…

Paul joue du piano.

“… du piano” because “piano” is masculine. “Pascale plays the flute”?

Pascale joue de la flûte.

“… de la flûte” because “flûte” is feminine. “Jeanne plays the clarinet”?

Jeanne joue de la clarinette.

“… de la clarinette” because “clarinette” is, again, feminine. Now we should mention instruments which begin with a vowel or a mute “h”. How about “Eric plays the harmonica”?…

Eric joue de l’harmonica.

“… de l’harmonica”. Ok, once again, we see that this “h” is effectively redundant. It is not pronounced.

‘lire’

This is the verb “to read”Je lis.......................... I readtu lis ......................... you readil lit ........................... he readselle lit ....................... she readson lit ......................... one readsnous lisons ................ we readvous lisez .................. you readils lisent .................... they readelles lisent ................ they read

adjectives ending in “–if”

chez




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chez

“chez” means “someone’s ‘place’”Je vais chez Paul.Elle va chez le docteur.

Not only is your sister musical, but she’s also a sports enthusiast.

Oui. Elle est sportive. Elle fait de l’escalade.

“sportif” – “keen on sport”. We find a number of adjectives which end in “–if” in French. In the feminine, they change to “–ive”, right? So, we get “sportif”, and…

“sportive”

Then there’s “actif”, and…“active”

“Nocif”, which means “harmful” or “noxious”, would become…

“nocive”

… “nocive”, that is, if we were talking about a feminine item – a chemical, or something – which was unhealthy or whatever.

Now, you said Aurélia lives with your parents…Oui, elle vit chez mes parents.

“… chez”. That’s a very important word. It means “(to) someone’s place” or, to a particular place, without mentioning the exact location. How would we say “My mother is going to the doctor”?…

Ma mère va chez le docteur.

“… chez le docteur” – “to the doctor’s (place)”, if you like.

“Are you coming to my place?”…Est-ce que tu viens chez moi?

And one more time?…Est-ce que tu viens chez moi?…

“… chez moi” – “… to my place”. “I’m going to Paul’s place”…

Je vais chez Paul.

“… chez Paul”.

Ok, we’ve covered a lot today. Don’t forget that you can find all of this information in the accompanying PDF Guide, available from our website at learnfrenchbypodcast.com. In our next lesson, Amélie, we’re going to talk about…

… le monde du travail

That is, “the world of work”. Until next time…A la prochaine!

adjectives

Adjectives which end in “–if” in the masculine form normally change to “–ive” in the feminine:

masculin ................. fémininactif .......................... activesportif ....................... sportivenocif ......................... nocive

verb!

“aller” [to go]Je vais ....................... I gotu vas ........................ you goil va ........................... he goeselle va ....................... she goeson va ........................ one goesnous allons ............... we govous allez .................. you (pl.) goils vont ...................... they goelles vont .................. they go


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If you understood our lesson, then you should be ready for the following…

1. They have a sister. [Suppose that you are talking about Philippe and Marc.]

2. Karl has a girlfriend.

3. Diane has a boyfriend.

4. We live in the north of France.

5. He sits his exams in June.

6. He gets on well with them.

7. We like chocolat.

8. They like sport. [Suppose that you’re talking about your brothers.]

9. I play the piano.

10. He reads.

11. I’m going to Marie’s (place).

See the answers at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htmNow

it’s

your

turn

…

Vocab extra!• année (f) ............... year• beaucoup .............. a lot, many• bien sûr! ................ certainly!• C’est ....................... that’s• ce, cette ................. this• droit (m) ................ law• escalade (f) ........... (rock) climbing• examen (m)........... exam• faire ....................... to do• frère (m) ................ brother• jouer ...................... to play• lecture (f) .............. reading• littéraire ................ literary• moi ........................ me• mon, ma, mes ....... my• monde (m) ............ world• où .......................... where• soeur (f) ................ sister• travail (m) ............. work• venir ...................... to come

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm




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