Learn the key pattern to ask for clarification
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Theodore introduces himself? |
| "Nice to meet you. My name is Theodore." |
| Enchanté. Je m'appelle Théodore. |
| First is enchanté, meaning "glad." Enchanté (enunciated). Enchanté. |
| Enchanté is actually a shortened version of Enchanté de vous rencontrer, meaning "Glad to meet you." Enchanté de vous rencontrer. |
| Theodore uses the shortened version, Enchanté, in his introduction. This is the standard version when meeting someone for the first time, and is appropriate for both informal and formal situations. |
| Next is Je m’appelle Théodore. “My name is Theodore.” Je m’appelle Théodore. |
| First is Je. "I." Je (enunciated). Je. |
| Next is m’appelle, which translates as “call myself.” M’appelle (enunciated). M’appelle. |
| Note me is contracted with appelle to form m’appelle. |
| Me. "Me." Me (enunciated). Me. |
| Next is appelle. "Call," as in “I call.” Appelle (enunciated). Appelle. |
| Appelle is from the verb appeler, meaning “to call.” Appeler. |
| Together, m’appelle, “call myself.”M’appelle. |
| After is Theodore’s given name: Théodore (enunciated). Théodore. |
| Note: Theodore only uses his given name. Sasha and Theodore are young adults in an informal situation, so he only uses his given name. |
| Together, it’s Je m’appelle Théodore. Literally, “I myself call Theodore,” but translates as "My name is Theodore." Je m’appelle Théodore. |
| All together, Enchanté, je m’appelle Théodore. "Nice to meet you. My name is Theodore." |
| Enchanté. Je m'appelle Théodore. |
| Sasha can’t catch his name. |
| Do you remember how she asks, |
| "Excuse me. Can you repeat that? |
| Excuse-moi, peux-tu répéter ? |
| First is Excuse-moi. "Excuse me." Excuse-moi (enunciated). Excuse-moi. |
| Note: Excuse-moi is the informal form of "Excuse me." In this conversation, Théodore and Sasha are of similar age, so the informal excuse-moi is more natural. |
| Next is peux, "can," as in “can you.” Peux (enunciated). Peux. |
| Peux is from the verb, pouvoir, "to be able." Pouvoir. |
| Next is tu. "You." (informal) Tu (enunciated). Tu. |
| Together, it’s Peux-tu, “Can you?” Peux-tu (enunciated). Peux-tu. |
| Notice the word order when asking a question: verb, "peux," followed by the subject, "tu." “peux-tu, in this case.” |
| When this inverted word order occurs in French, there is a hyphen between the verb and the subject. |
| Last is répéter, “repeat,” Répéter (enunciated). Répéter. |
| Note: the verb répéter, “to repeat,” is in its infinitive form. |
| All together, Excuse-moi, peux-tu répéter ? Literally, "Excuse me, can you repeat?" but it translates as, “"Excuse me, can you repeat [that]?" Excuse-moi, peux-tu répéter ? |
| Pronunciation note: notice the rising intonation indicating a question. |
| Finally, do you remember how Theodore says, |
| “My name is Theodore.” |
| Hint, you’ve heard it before. |
| Je m’appelle Théodore. "My name is Theodore." |
| Enchanté. Je m'appelle Théodore. |
| In this lesson, you learned how to ask for clarification in an informal situation: |
| Excuse-moi, peux-tu répéter ? |
| Excuse me, can you repeat? |
| To ask for clarification in a formal situation: |
| Excusez-moi, pouvez-vous répéter ? |
| Excuse me, can you repeat? |
| Excusez-moi, pouvez-vous répéter ? |
| Note the following changes in the formal form. |
| First, Excusez-moi, replaces Excuse-moi. |
| Excusez-moi, "Excuse me,” in the formal form. Excusez-moi. |
| Second, pouvez-vous, replaces peux-tu. |
| Pouvez-vous, “can you,” when using formal French. Pouvez-vous (enunciated). Pouvez-vous. |
| Pouvez is from the verb pouvoir, meaning "to be able." Pouvoir. |
| Next is vous, a formal form for "you," which is singular in this context. Vous is the second person plural word for "you," but in formal contexts can be used with just one person. |
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