Posts tagged with "French language"

French Language – Body Slang

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Apr 9 2009

As I’ve written before, understanding and then being able to use expressions and slang in another language is a huge step forward in the language learning process.  So, I’ll let you in on some more French slang.  These expressions sound like they have something to do with the body, but in fact, do not.  Be careful when using them!

(être) à deux doigts de J’étais à deux doigts de parler quand il m’a interrompu.
to be on the verge
  		  

 
(ne pas) bouger d’un poil Assis-toi !  Ne bouge pas d’un poil! 
not to budge an inch
 		   

 
(se) bouffer le nez Ces deux se bouffent le nez sans arrêt !
to fight
 		   

 
ça saute aux yeux Quelle voiture ! Ça saute aux yeux qu’il n’est pas pauvre.
it’s obvious
 		   

 
(se) casser la gueule Attention à la descente! Tu vas te casser la gueule !
to break one’s neck
 		   

 
(se) casser la tête Je me suis cassé la tête pour trouver mes amis d’école.
to rack one’s brain over something
 		  
un casse-pieds Quel casse-pieds!  Il ne me laisse jamais tranquille!
a pain in the neck   

 
dégueuler J’ai dégueulé dans l’avion.
to vomit
 		  
faire la gueule Ne fais pas la gueule parce que tes parents t’ont dit non.
to pout
 		  
foutre un coup de main Est-ce que tu peux me foutre un coup de main avec ça ?
to give someone a hand
 		  
les bras m’en tombent On m’a volé le sac!  Les bras m’en tombent.
I’m stunned!
 		  
(s’en) mordre les doigts Je n’ai pas acheté la robe que j’ai vue hier.  Je m’en mords les doigts.
to regret something  

Make a Byki list of the expressions to learn them more easily with Byki Deluxe.

French Language – Negation

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Mar 28 2009

In the French language, there are different ways to be negative…to express negativity.  Perhaps the most common is when you want the sentence to be negative.  In that case, you place ne before the main verb and pas after it.  Or, if you want to say that you never do something, you place ne before the main verb and jamais after it.  Here are some examples:

Je ne sais pas.  (I don’t know.)
Elle ne mange pas de pain. (She doesn’t eat bread.)
Vous ne voulez pas de vin ?  (You don’t want any wine?)
Je ne fais jamais de vélo.  (I never ride a bike.)
Il ne boit jamais de lait.  (He never drinks milk.)
Ils ne sortent jamais la nuit.  (They never go out at night.)

To express negation towards a noun or noun group (as opposed to the verb in the above cases), you do the following:
Tu veux de l’eau?  Non, pas de l’eau, du vin.  (No, not water, wine.)
Tu viens en train?  Non, pas en train, en voiture.  (No, not by train, by car.)
Tu veux manger quelque chose ?  Non, je ne veux rien.  (No, I don’t want anything.)
Tu entends quelqu’un ?  No, je n‘entends personne.  (No, I don’t hear anyone.)

To express negation towards an adverb, you do as follows:
Elle le voit toujours.  Non, elle ne le voit plus.  (No, she doesn’t see him anymore.)
Tu as déjà essayé ce vin?  Non, pas encore.  (No, not yet.)

Finally, you can use the negative form to express some kind of restriction:
Je ne travaille que le matin.  (I only work mornings.)

OK.  No more being negative.  Il faut être positif!

French Language – Semi Auxiliaries

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Mar 27 2009

In the French language, semi-auxiliaries are the same as in the English language.  They are multi-word verbs that occur before main verbs.  In English, these semi-auxiliaries include: have to, get to, be about to, used to, mean to, be going to, etc.

In French, many of the semi-auxiliaries are the same as the English ones.

To express the future:
ALLER + infinitive (near future)
Mon bébé va s’endormir.  (My baby is going to go to sleep).
J’allais partir quand mon copain est arrivé.  (I was going to leave when my boyfriend arrived.)

***Be careful though as aller + infinitive can be used to express movement and in that case, it is not considered a semi-auxiliary.  Ex: El bébé va marcher.

ÊTRE SUR LE POINT DE + infinitive (immediate future)
Nous sommes à table ; nous sommes sur le point de manger.  (We are at the table.  We are about to eat.)

DEVOIR + infinitive
Mes amis doivent arriver à la gare ce soir à 8 heures. (My friends should be arriving at the station this evening at 8 o’clock.)

To express the past:
VENIR DE + infinitive (recent past)
Mon mari n’est pas là ; il vient de sortir. (My husband is not here; he just left.)

To express duration:
ÊTRE EN TRAIN DE + infinitive
J’étais en train de faire le linge quand le lave-linge s’est brisé. (I was doing the laundry when the washer broke down.)

To express the beginning of an action:
COMMENCER À / SE METTRE À + infinitive
Les gens commencent à arriver.  (The people are starting to arrive.)
Tout le monde s’est mis à rire.  (Everybody started to laugh.)

To express the end of an action:
FINIR DE / CESSER DE / S’ARRÊTER DE + infinitive
J’ai fini d‘écrire le livre.  (I’ve finished writing the book.)
La neige a cessé de tomber.  (The snow has stopped falling.)
Je lui ai demandé de s’arrêter de fumer ; donc, il a éteint sa cigarette.  (I asked him to stop smoking so he put out his cigarette.)

**Be careful, cesser de and arrêter de in the negative form express duration.
Ex: La neige ne cesse de tomber.  (The snow keeps falling.)
Il n’arrête pas de fumer.  (He smokes all the time.)

To express probability:
DEVOIR + infinitive
J’ai faim; il doit être environ midi. (I’m hungry.  It must be around noon.)
POUVOIR + infinitive
La salle est pleine; il peut y avoir 500 personnes. (The hall is full; there could be 500 people here.)

To express obligation:
DEVOIR + infinitive
On doit éteindre les portables. (Cell phones must be turned off.)

But, be careful, some of these multi-word verbs may occur in other contexts in which they are not considered to be semi-auxiliaries.  You will know this when there is no other main verb.  For example:

DEVOIR: Je dois beaucoup à mes parents. (I owe a lot to my parents.)

French Language – Voilà or Il y a

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Mar 17 2009

Voilà is one of my favorite expressions in French.  It just seems so French and much more appealing than its English equivalents: ‘there is’ and ‘there are’.  However, you must be careful because Il y a has the same English translation so to speak, but the meaning or useage is different.  Voilà is used as if you are pointing to the object(s) you are talking about, whereas Il y a simply states the existence of the object(s) you are talking about.  One practical example that you can use in an email is: Voilà, ci-joint la liste. (You can replace the underlined part with anything you are attaching).  Here are some other examples to show the difference between the two expressions.

Il y a beaucoup de couples ici. (There are a lot of couples here.)
Regardez, voilà, Madame et Monsieur Dupont.  (Look, there’s Mrs. and Mr. Dupont.)

Il y a un magasin de chaussures par ici.  (There’s a shoe store nearby.)
Est-ce qu’il y a des grandes chaussures ?  (Are there large-size shoes?)
Voilà, la pointure que vous cherchez. (There’s the size you’re looking for.)

Il y a des marchés en France.  (There are markets in France.)
Voilà, le marché aux pouces de la Port de Vanves.   (There’s the Port de Vanves flea market.)

How to Make French Nouns Plural

Posted by Transparent Language 4 Comments
Mar 11 2009

Making nouns plural in the French language can be a bit more complicated than English, but perhaps not.  Just like in English, you normally add an -s to the written form of the singular.  I say written form, because usually the pronunciation doesn’t change one bit when using a plural noun, except for the links from the article to the noun.  But, just as in English, there are exceptions, of course.

→ Nouns that end in -s, -z, -x do not change in the plural form.
un fils → des fils
un gaz → des gaz
une voix → des voix

→ Nouns that end in -eau, -au, -eu take on an -x in the plural.
un tableau → des tableaux
un tuyau → des tuyaux
un jeu → des jeux
Careful!!!  There are some exceptions to this rule.  un pneu → des pneus

→ There are seven nouns that end in -ou which take on an -x in the plural.
un bijou  → des bijoux
un caillou → des cailloux
un chou → des choux
un genou →des genoux
un hibou →des hiboux
un joujou → des joujoux
un pou → des poux

→ Some nouns that end in -ail or -al take on -aux in the plural.
un travail → des travaux
un corail → des coraux
un émail → des émaux
un vitrail → des vitraux
un animal → des animaux
un journal → des journaux
un cheval → des chevaux
un hôpital → des hôpitaux

→ Others, however, follow the general add an -s rule.  For example:
un bal → des bals
un carnaval → des carnavals
un festival → des festivals

→ There are of course irregular plurals.
un œil → des yeux
un jeune homme → des jeunes gens
un monsieur → des messieurs
une madame → des mesdames
une mademoiselle → des mesdemoiselles
un ciel → des cieux

→ Proper nouns do not change in the plural.  Only the article does:
les Goldman, les Roi, les Fabre.

→ However, an -s can be added to names of artists to when referring to their work.  For example: un Monet → deux Monets (in other words, two Monet paintings).

→ Some nouns are only used in the plural form.  Examples:
les environs, les gens, les mœurs, les vacances (holidays)

Finally, compound nouns have all sorts of different rules, so we’ll leave them for another article.
Till then, Bonne soirée (Have a good evening).

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