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Lesson Transcript

Salut, je m'appelle Ingrid. Hi everybody! I’m Ingrid.
Welcome to FrenchPod101.com’s “Le français en 3 minutes”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn French.
In the last lesson we learned how to count in French. I hope you spent some time practicing the numbers, because they will come in handy today. We’re going to learn how to go shopping in France!
Before we go, you need to know how to say “How much is it?”
Combien ça coûte?
[slowly] Combien ça coûte?
Are you ready to go shopping in France? Let’s go!
You see something you like and want to ask the shop clerk how much it costs. The first thing to say to a shop clerk is…excusez-moi, do you remember what that means? "Excuse me!"
Excusez-moi, Combien ça coûte?
[slowly] Excusez-moi, Combien ça coûte?
If we want to be more specific when asking "how much is this?" and refer to a certain type of object, we first need to drop the word ça. Next, we need to know if the object is a feminine or masculine object. If it is masculine add ce when referring to it, or cette for a feminine object. And then say the noun.
For example, "hat" is a masculine. Chapeau.
Excusez-moi, Combien coûte ce chapeau? "Excuse me, how much is this hat?"
[slowly] Excusez-moi, Combien coûte ce chapeau?
And “skirt” is a feminine noun. Jupe.
Excusez-moi, Combien coûte cette jupe?
"Excuse me, how much is this skirt?"
[slowly] Excusez-moi, Combien coûte cette jupe?
[E screen-ws]
At this point the shop clerk can answer by saying:
Ça coûte …
Ça fait…
or C’est…
For example:
Ça coûte trente-neuf euros!
Ça fait trente-neuf euros !
or
C’est trente-neuf euros!
What number is trente-neuf ? I’m not telling you! Okay, okay, it’s "thirty-nine"! "It costs thirty-nine euros."
Now it’s time for Ingrid’s Insights.
A quicker way to ask “How much?” is C’est combien? Which literally means “How much?” Even when you ask for a café at the counter of an French bar, you can ask the cashier un café c’est combien s’il vous plaiî? “One espresso please, how much is it?”
At this point, can you count euros in French? We are going to learn how to do this and much more in the next lesson!
Ill be waiting for you in our next Le français en 3 minutes lesson.
A bientôt!

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