Dialogue

Want to Understand & Master the French Dialogue 100%?

Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Today's phrase will help you take matters into your own hands. In today's lesson, we'll take a look at "please," when we are asking for something.
GRAMMAR POINT
In French, "Please" is S’il vous plaît. S’il vous plaît.
Let's break it down by syllable: S’il vous plaît.
Now, let's hear it once again, S’il vous plaît.
The first word, S'il, is actually the contraction of two words: Si and Il. Si means "if," and il, in this case, means "it."
So, altogether, we have "S'il," which means "if it."
Let's hear it one more time, S’il, and s'il.
This is followed by Vous, which in French is "you" or "to you." Vous. Vous, and vous.
So, to recap here, we have, S'il vous. Literally, this means "if it you."
This is followed by Plaît, which means "pleases." Plaît, and plaît.
So, altogether, we have S’il vous plaît. Literally, this means "If it pleases you."
The most rudimentary way of using "please" is pointing at something while saying, S’il vous plaît.
But let's try and build this up a bit, shall we?
Let's start with the expression "This, please," which in French is Ça s’il vous plaît. In English, this comes before "please." In French, the word order is the same. In French, the word for this Ca, precedes S’il vous plaît.
Let's take a look at the word for "this." "This" in French is Ca. Ca, and ca.
Looking at the word for "this" warrants a look at the word for "that," which for our purposes is the same word, Ca.
The phrase "That, please" is the same as "This, please." Ça s’il vous plaît. Ça s’il vous plaît. Let's break it down by syllable: Ça s’il vous plaît. Now, let's hear it once again, Ça s’il vous plaît.
The phrase S’il vous plaît, can be used in many ways. It can be used at the beginning or the end of the sentence. For instance, it can be used to mean "Excuse me," when we want to get someone's attention.
You can say to someone on the street, "S’il vous plaît. Où est le métro?" "Excuse me. Where's the metro?"
Or, you can use it at the end of the sentence. "Passe moi le sel s'il vous plaît." “Pass me the salt, please.”

Outro
Okay. To close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what we've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase, and you're responsible for saying it out loud in French. You'll have just a few seconds before I give you the answer. So, bonne chance. That means "good luck" in French. Okay. Here we go.
"Please."
S'il vous plaît.
S'il vous plaît.
S'il vous plaît.
"This, please."
Ca s'il vous plaît.
Ca s'il vous plaît.
Ca s'il vous plaît.
This is the end of today's lesson. See you soon. À bientôt!

Review Track

Comments

Hide