Learn how to ask for a day off
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
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.
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.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Maryssa: Asking For Time Off Work in French. Maryssa Here. |
| Aurore: Bonjour, I'm Aurore. |
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you’ll learn about asking for a day off. The conversation takes place at the marketing department. |
| Aurore: It's between Thomas and Laurène. |
| Maryssa: The speakers are co-workers, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal French. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Thomas: Je voulais vous demander, est-il possible de prendre un jour de congé ? |
| Laurène: Tu as droit a des jours de congé certes. Mais quand veux-tu le poser ? |
| Thomas: Vendredi prochain. Si possible bien sûr ! |
| Laurène: Je pense que c'est possible pour moi. Il faut que tu remplisses ce formulaire que je signerais puis je l'enverrais aux RH. |
| Thomas: Parfait, merci ! Dois-je donner une raison ? |
| Laurène: Non ce n'est pas nécessaire. C'est ta vie privée. |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Thomas: Je voulais vous demander, est-il possible de prendre un jour de congé ? |
| Laurène: Tu as droit a des jours de congé certes. Mais quand veux-tu le poser ? |
| Thomas: Vendredi prochain. Si possible bien sûr ! |
| Laurène: Je pense que c'est possible pour moi. Il faut que tu remplisses ce formulaire que je signerais puis je l'enverrais aux RH. |
| Thomas: Parfait, merci ! Dois-je donner une raison ? |
| Laurène: Non ce n'est pas nécessaire. C'est ta vie privée. |
| Maryssa: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Thomas: I wanted to ask you, is it possible to take a day off? |
| Laurène: You are entitled to days off, of course. But when do you want to ask it? |
| Thomas: Next Friday. If possible of course! |
| Laurène: To me, I think it is. You need to fill in a form, I'll sign it, and then I'll send it to HR. |
| Thomas: Perfect, thank you! Do I need to give a reason? |
| Laurène: It's not required. It's your private life. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Maryssa: Thomas needed a day off, and he got it pretty easily. |
| Aurore: Yes, Laurène was happy to give it. |
| Maryssa: What can you tell us about applying for leave from work? |
| Aurore: There’s many rules and conditions. If you’re a permanent employee, you’re given a specific number of paid leave days. |
| Maryssa: Do these cover sick days, too? |
| Aurore: No, they’re separate. If you take sick leave above four days, you’ll get paid. |
| Maryssa: Would you need to provide a medical certificate? |
| Aurore: Yes, you would. If you’re a permanent employee, you’re also entitled to congé maternité. |
| Maryssa: "Maternity leave." It sounds like employees have access to lots of types of leave in France. |
| Aurore: They do. It can make it difficult to find permanent employment, though. |
| Maryssa: Why is that? |
| Aurore: Not every employer wants to, or are able to, give these rights. |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Maryssa: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Aurore: congé [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "leave" |
| Aurore: congé [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: congé [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: poser un jour de congé [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to take a day off" |
| Aurore: poser un jour de congé [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: poser un jour de congé [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: avoir le droit de [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to be entitled to" |
| Aurore: avoir le droit de [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: avoir le droit de [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: raison [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "reason" |
| Aurore: raison [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: raison [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: RH / ressources humaines [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "HR / human resources" |
| Aurore: RH / ressources humaines [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: RH / ressources humaines [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: possible [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "possible" |
| Aurore: possible [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: possible [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: Next we have... |
| Aurore: remplir [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "to fill" |
| Aurore: remplir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: remplir [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: And lastly... |
| Aurore: formulaire [natural native speed] |
| Maryssa: "form" |
| Aurore: formulaire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Aurore: formulaire [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Maryssa: Let's have a closer look at the usage of one of the phrases from this lesson. The phrase is... |
| Aurore: avoir droit à |
| Maryssa: meaning "being entitled to." |
| Maryssa: This is a common expression. |
| Aurore: Avoir is the verb. |
| Maryssa: It means "to have." |
| Aurore: Droit is a noun. |
| Maryssa: It means "right" or "law." When we use this to mean "law," it doesn’t just mean serious legal issues. |
| Aurore: You can use it with children too, when talking about game rules, for example. |
| Maryssa: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Aurore: Sure. For example, you can say... J'ai le droit d'espérer, même si je ne suis pas sûr que cela arrivera |
| Maryssa: ... which means "I have the right to hope, although I'm not sure it will happen." |
| Maryssa: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Maryssa: In this lesson, you'll learn about asking for a day off. Your first step will be asking your manager if you can have the day off. You might need to contact HR, too. |
| Aurore: You’ll need to tell them the date you want. |
| Maryssa: In France, dates are written and spoken in a day, month, year format. |
| Aurore: For example, 4 juillet. |
| Maryssa: "July 4th." |
| Aurore: 27 mai 2017 |
| Maryssa: "May 27th, 2017." Some companies will also ask for a reason why you want to take the day off. |
| Aurore: Most of the sentences will start with either J’ai "I have," or Je dois. |
| Maryssa: "I need." Let’s hear some examples. |
| Aurore: J’ai un rendez-vous chez le médecin. |
| Maryssa: "I have a doctor’s appointment." |
| Aurore: Je veux prendre des vacances. |
| Maryssa: "I want to go on vacation." |
| Aurore: Je dois aller à l’hôpital. |
| Maryssa: "I need to go to the hospital." Occasionally, you’ll need to ask for a day off with very short notice. If it’s the current day, you’ll need to call and speak to your manager or HR as soon as possible. |
| Aurore: In this case, speak directly. For example, J’ai besoin de prendre un jour de repos car j’ai une migraine. |
| Maryssa: "I need to take today off as I have a headache." |
| Aurore: Je ne peux pas venir aujourd’hui car je n’ai personne pour garder les enfants. |
| Maryssa: "I can’t come in today as I don’t have any childcare." Remember, it’s very important to be polite with your employer. |
| Aurore: It’s good to use J’aimerais when you request something. |
| Maryssa: This is "I would like," and it is then followed by an infinitive verb. |
| Aurore: J’aimerais is the first person singular, conditional mood, of aimer, |
| Maryssa: "to like," or "to love." You can also make a question by using "can." |
| Aurore: That is pouvoir. Again, it would be followed by an infinitive verb. |
| Maryssa: Here are some examples of polite sentences. |
| Aurore: Puis-je poser un jour de congé ? |
| Maryssa: "Can I take a day off?" |
| Aurore: Est-ce possible de travailler depuis chez moi? |
| Maryssa: "Is it possible to work from home?" |
Outro |
| Maryssa: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Aurore: A la prochaine! |
Comments
Hide