Learn how to ask "Why?"
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| Introduction |
| Becky: Asking why? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask why in French. |
| Body |
| Becky: Here's the formal way to ask 'Why are you late?' in French. |
| Yasmine: [Normal] Pourquoi êtes-vous en retard? |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'why' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] Pourquoi [Slow] Pourquoi |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'are' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] êtes [Slow] êtes |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'you' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] vous [Slow] vous |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'late' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] en retard [Slow] en retard |
| Becky: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning 'Why are you late?' |
| Yasmine: [Slow] Pourquoi êtes-vous en retard? [Normal] Pourquoi êtes-vous en retard? |
| Becky: Now, imagine you are late because you missed the train. Here's the way to say, 'I missed the train.' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] J'ai raté le train. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'I ' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] j' [Slow] j' |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'have' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] ai [Slow] ai |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'missed' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] raté [Slow] raté |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'the' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] le [Slow] le |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'train' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] train [Slow] |
| Becky: Note again the rising intonation. Listen again to the sentence meaning 'I missed the train.' |
| Yasmine: [Slow] J'ai raté le train. [Normal] J'ai raté le train. |
| Becky: Here's another formal sample question using ‘why’ - 'Why do you leave so early?' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] Pourquoi partez-vous si tôt? |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'why' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] pourquoi [Slow] pourquoi |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'leave' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] partez [Slow] partez |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'you' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] vous [Slow] vous |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'so' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] aussi [Slow] aussi |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'early' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] tôt [Slow] tôt |
| Becky: Listen again to the question meaning 'Why do you leave so early?' |
| Yasmine: [Slow] Pourquoi partez-vous si tôt? [Normal] Pourquoi partez-vous si tôt? |
| Becky: Here's a response meaning, 'Not to miss the train.' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] Pour ne pas rater le train. |
| Becky: First is a word meaning 'in order to' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] pour [Slow] pour |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'not' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] ne pas [Slow] ne pas |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'miss ' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] rater [Slow] rater |
| Becky: Next is the word meaning 'the' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] le [Slow] le |
| Becky: Last is the word meaning 'train' |
| Yasmine: [Normal] train [Slow] train |
| Becky: Listen again to the response, 'Not to miss the train.' |
| Yasmine: [Slow] Pour ne pas rater le train. [Normal] Pour ne pas rater le train. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Becky: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Yasmine: In French you can reply with pourquoi pas? meaning “Why not?” It's used the same way as in English. |
Outro |
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| Becky: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
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