Posted by Chanda
Demonstrative articles are a little bit different in French as opposed to English. And since they are words that you often want to use when speaking, well, I thought we’d discuss them today. First of all, not only is there a singular and plural form, but there are also masculine and feminine forms. So, that makes it a little more complicated than in English.
Singular THIS (an object that is close to you)
Masculine - ce (but careful… cet is used with a word that begins with a vowel or with a word that begins with a silent consonant!!)
Feminine - cette
Plural THESE (more than one object that is close to you)
Masculine and Feminine - ces
Now, if you want to use THAT / THOSE for objects that are further away, you can either use the same as the translations for this/these or you can use là or là-bas like this to insist on the fact that you are talking about objects that are not close to you:
Singular: Ce (masc. noun) là-bas / Cet (noun begins with vowel or silent consonant) là-bas / Cette (fem. noun) là-bas
Plural: Ces (plural noun) là-bas
Here are some examples:
J’aime ce tableau. (I like this painting.)
Cet ami est un bon ami. (This friend is a good friend.)
Cet homme est mon mari. (This man is my husband.)
Pose les livres sur cette table. (Put the books on this table.)
Ces tables sont marrons. (These tables are brown.)
Ces amis vont à la même école. (These friends go to the same school.)
Ces hommes travaillent à Paris. (These men work in Paris.)
J’aime ces tableaux-là-bas. (I like those paintings over there.)
Some other useful expressions using demonstrative adjectives include:
à ce moment-là (at that moment)
à cette époque-là (at that time)
Elle est allée par là. (She went that way.)
Posted by Chanda
Last night, the 34th annual César Awards were handed out in Paris at the Theatre du Chatelet. These are the French equivalent of the Oscars. The major winner of the night was the film Séraphine, which took away seven awards including best film. Yolande Moreau won best actress for her role in that film and Vincent Cassel won the best actor award for his role in Mesrine, despite a posthumous nomination in the same category for Guillaume Depardieu for his role in Versailles. Laurent Cantet won for Best Screenplay Adaption for Entre les murs, the movie I told you about in a recent article which was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category. Sean Penn’s Into the Wild was up for Best Foreign Film at the Césars, but it did not receive the award. The winner in that category was Israel’s Waltz with Bashir about the horrors of the 1982 Lebanon war.
If you’re looking for a good French film to watch, besides those mentioned above, you might want to check out one of these since they were also the focus of the 2009 Césars:
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime
Paris
Le premier jour du reste de ta vie
Coluche, l’histoire d’un mec
2 jours à tuer
Un conte de Noël
La Fille de Monaco
Here’s a link to an article in Le Monde about last night’s ceremony if you want to see a photo presentation and read about it in French:
Posted by Chanda
Another of my favorite French-language singers is Garou. As did many French people, I first fell in love with this Quebec-born singer listening to the Notre Dame de Paris CDs. He played Quasimodo in the musical drama that toured Paris, Montreal, Lyon, Brussels and London.
The winner of many international music awards, he got his first guitar as a present from his parents at the age of three. At five, he learned piano and the organ. His first stage appearances were in front of audiences 300-strong in his school auditorium as part of a Beatles-inspired band formed by his classmates. After graduating, he played trumpet in the Canadian Armed Forces band for about a year but left since he was a bit of a rebel. He spent time working odd jobs while performing in night clubs and Montreal metro stations. He gained fame as Quasimodo and then appeared with various French-language singers on albums and at shows. When Celine Dion, with whom he recorded Sous le vent, decided to take a two-year break, she entrusted her team to Garou. His first album Seul sold 2.5 million copies.
His latest album is entitled Piece of My Soul and is topping the music charts in several countries. It is his first English-language album and is filled with songs from all over the world, written by international songwriters and stars including Enrique Iglesias. He is currently on tour across the former Soviet Union.
Check out Garou’s official website.
Belle from Notre Dame de Paris
Posted by margie
This Valentine’s Day, send free French Valentines ecards that are animated, musical, and—best of all—say “I love you” in any of 9 languages! It’s our way to celebrate the holiday…
Also, learn how to say “I love you” in French and 15 other languages by watching the new love sayings video starring a very musical Transparent Language employee! Hint: forward this video to your sweetheart for extra points!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
