Greg:Hello everyone, I’m Greg. At a French Job Interview. |
Mailys:Bonjour tout le monde. This is Mailys. In this lesson, we will review the plural and plural constructions with ‘de’. |
Greg:Jacques is interviewing for a manager position. |
Mailys:During the interview, informal French is used. |
Greg:Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Homme Pour terminer, pourquoi pensez-vous être la personne parfaite pour ce poste de gérant? |
Jacques Je suis responsable, j’aime travailler, j’aime les gens et je cherche toujours de nouveaux défis. |
Femme Très bien, merci. Veuillez attendre quelques minutes, s’il-vous-plaît. |
(…) |
Homme Qu’est-ce que vous pensez de Jacques? |
Femme J’adore ses réponses originales à nos questions difficiles; il semble être la bonne personne, surtout pour notre magasin du centre-ville. |
Homme Je suis d’accord avec vous. Alors, on le prend? |
Femme Oui. Demandez-lui s’il peut commencer demain. |
(…) |
Homme Jacques, nous avons de bonnes nouvelles pour vous, vous avez l’emploi! Vous pouvez commencer demain à 8 heures pile? |
Jacques Si je peux commencer demain?! Bien sûr! Je vais être à l’heure, évidemment. Merci et à demain! |
Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
Homme Pour terminer, pourquoi pensez-vous être la personne parfaite pour ce poste de gérant? |
Jacques Je suis responsable, j’aime travailler, j’aime les gens et je cherche toujours de nouveaux défis. |
Femme Très bien, merci. Veuillez attendre quelques minutes, s’il-vous-plaît. |
(…) |
Homme Qu’est-ce que vous pensez de Jacques? |
Femme J’adore ses réponses originales à nos questions difficiles; il semble être la bonne personne, surtout pour notre magasin du centre-ville. |
Homme Je suis d’accord avec vous. Alors, on le prend? |
Femme Oui. Demandez-lui s’il peut commencer demain. |
(…) |
Homme Jacques, nous avons de bonnes nouvelles pour vous, vous avez l’emploi! Vous pouvez commencer demain à 8 heures pile? |
Jacques Si je peux commencer demain?! Bien sûr! Je vais être à l’heure, évidemment. Merci et à demain! |
Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
Homme Pour terminer, pourquoi pensez-vous être la personne parfaite pour ce poste de gérant? |
Greg:In closing, why do you think you are the perfect person for this manager position? |
Jacques Je suis responsable, j’aime travailler, j’aime les gens et je cherche toujours de nouveaux défis. |
Greg:I’m responsible, I like to work, I like people and I’m always looking for new challenges. |
Femme Très bien, merci. Veuillez attendre quelques minutes, s’il-vous-plaît. |
Greg:Very well, thanks. Please wait a few minutes. |
(…) |
Greg(…) |
Homme Qu’est-ce que vous pensez de Jacques? |
Greg:What do you think about Jacques? |
Femme J’adore ses réponses originales à nos questions difficiles; il semble être la bonne personne, surtout pour notre magasin du centre-ville. |
Greg:I love his original answers to our difficult questions; he seems to be the right person, especially for our downtown store. |
Homme Je suis d’accord avec vous. Alors, on le prend? |
Greg:I agree with you. So, we’re taking him? |
Femme Oui. Demandez-lui s’il peut commencer demain. |
Greg:Yes. Ask him if he can start tomorrow. |
(…) |
Greg(…) |
Homme Jacques, nous avons de bonnes nouvelles pour vous, vous avez l’emploi! Vous pouvez commencer demain à 8 heures pile? |
Greg:Jacques, we have good news for you, you got the job! Can you start tomorrow at 8 o’clock sharp? |
Jacques Si je peux commencer demain?! Bien sûr! Je vais être à l’heure, évidemment. Merci et à demain! |
Greg:If I can start tomorrow?! Of course! I’ll be on time, obviously. Thank you and see you tomorrow! |
Post Conversation Banter |
Greg:So Mailys, preparing for an interview can be a scary task, and not everyone can be as cool as Jacques. |
Mailys:Yeah, I think preparing for a fake French interview can be a great way to practice your language skills and to use what you’ve learned so far. |
Greg:Let’s go over some questions you’re likely to hear in a French interview. |
Mailys:Pourquoi cherchez-vous un emploi? |
Greg:Why are you looking for a job? |
Mailys:Pourquoi voulez-vous travailler chez nous? |
Greg:Why do you want to work with us? |
Mailys:Quelles sont vos qualités les plus importantes pour ce poste? |
Greg:What are your most important qualities for this position? |
Mailys:I’d say they’re more or less the same kinds of questions you’d hear in an English interview. |
Greg:Yes, I think so! |
Mailys:Okay, now onto the vocab. |
Vocabulary and Phrases |
Greg:Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
The first word we shall see is: |
Mailys:terminer [natural native speed] |
Greg:to end |
Mailys:terminer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:terminer [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:poste [natural native speed] |
Greg:position |
Mailys:poste [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:poste [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:gérant [natural native speed] |
Greg:manager |
Mailys:gérant [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:gérant [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:défi [natural native speed] |
Greg:challenge |
Mailys:défi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:défi [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:veuillez + infinitive verb [natural native speed] |
Greg:please... + verb |
Mailys:veuillez + infinitive verb [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:veuillez + infinitive verb [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:surtout [natural native speed] |
Greg:especially |
Mailys:surtout [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:surtout [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:nouvelles [natural native speed] |
Greg:news |
Mailys:nouvelles [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:nouvelles [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:commencer [natural native speed] |
Greg:to start, to begin |
Mailys:commencer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:commencer [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:à l’heure [natural native speed] |
Greg:on time |
Mailys:à l’heure [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:à l’heure [natural native speed] |
Next: |
Mailys:évidemment [natural native speed] |
Greg:obviously |
Mailys:évidemment [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
Mailys:évidemment [natural native speed] |
Vocabulary and Phrase Usage |
Greg:Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson.. |
Greg:‘Veuillez’ is the imperative form of the verb ‘vouloir’ which means “to want”. |
Mailys:It's used when making a polite request and is roughly equivalent to "please do something". |
Mailys:Veuillez placer les livres sur la tablette. |
Greg:Please place the books on the shelf. |
Mailys:En cas d'urgence, veuillez téléphoner à ce numéro. |
Greg:In case of an emergency, please call this number. |
Greg:Next we have ‘Surtout’, which means “especially” or “mostly”. It usually comes after the verb. |
Mailys:Nous aimons bien visiter la Tour Eiffel, mais moi, j'aime surtout les restaurants de Paris. |
Greg:We like to visit the Eiffel Tower, but I especially like Paris' restaurants. |
Mailys:Il travaille surtout le soir. |
Greg:He works mostly in the evening. |
Greg:‘Surtout’ can also have a few other similar meanings. |
Mailys:Ne regarde surtout pas! |
Greg:Don't look, no matter what! |
Mailys:Surtout, n'oublie pas ton parapluie! |
Greg:Most of all, don't forget your umbrella! |
Greg:Next is À l'heure, which means on time. |
Mailys:Here are some examples. Le nouvel employé arrive toujours à l'heure. |
Greg:The new employee always arrives on time. |
Mailys:Mais où il est, lui?! Il est jamais à l'heure! |
Greg:Where is he?! He's never on time! |
Greg:Note that if something is done before a deadline, we use ‘à temps’ instead. |
Mailys:Vous devez remettre vos devoirs à temps. |
Greg:You must hand in your homework on time. |
Mailys:Le train part dans 2 minutes? Ouf! Je suis à temps! |
Greg:The train leaves in 2 minutes? Phew! I'm on time. |
Greg:Ok, and with that, now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Grammar Point |
Mailys:The focus of this lesson is to review the plural. |
Greg:We will review what we've introduced about the plural in the course of the previous lessons. |
Mailys:We will also explain some irregularities, especially with the preposition ‘de’. |
Greg:Most nouns simply take an ‘-s’ in the plural. This includes all nouns ending in a vowel or in a consonant, except for ‘s’, ‘x’ or ‘z’. This final ‘-s’ is always silent. |
Mailys:Examples of words that take an ‘s’ in the plural are - ‘fille’, ‘garçon’, ‘biscuit’ and ‘café’. |
Greg:If the noun ends in ‘s’, ‘x’ or ‘z’, then no ‘s’ is added and the noun stays the same. |
Mailys:For instance - ‘fois’, ‘héros’ and ‘amoureux’. |
Greg:Some nouns have an irregular, but predictable plural form. |
Mailys:For instance, words ending in ‘-al’, a-l, or ‘-ail’, a-i-l, become ‘-aux,’ a-u-x, in the plural. For example- |
Mailys:journal... |
Greg:“newspaper” becomes |
Mailys:journaux. |
Mailys:travail |
Greg:“work” becomes... |
Mailys:travaux |
Greg:A small number of nouns have a completely irregular plural. |
Mailys:For instance, ‘œil’ becomes ‘yeux’, meaning “eyes”. |
Greg:Adjectives also takes an ‘-s’ in the plural. The exceptions are roughly the same as with nouns - adjectives ending in ‘s’ or ‘x’ do not change. |
Mailys:For instance, the following words don't change - ‘délicieux’, ‘heureux’, ‘vieux’ and ‘gros’. |
Greg:Adjectives ending in ‘-al’, a-l, change to ‘-aux’, a-u-x, and those in ‘-eau’, e-a-u, take an ‘x’. |
Mailys:so “original” becomes ‘originaux’ and ‘nouveau’ takes an ‘x’. |
Greg:Note that this only applies to the masculine forms. |
Mailys:If the feminine form ends in ‘-e’, then it just takes an ‘-s’. |
Greg:An article, a noun and an adjective always agree in number and gender. |
Mailys:This means they will all be singular or plural, or masculine or feminine, depending on the noun. In ‘Les biscuits délicieux’... |
Greg:The delicious cookies |
Mailys:The article, the noun and the adjective are all masculine plural. In ‘La grande fille’... |
A.The tall girl |
Mailys:All words are feminine singular. |
Greg:The plural of the indefinite article ‘un’ is ‘des’ |
Mailys:un enfant, des enfants |
Greg:but when ‘des’ is followed by an adjective, it becomes ‘de’. |
Mailys:Un grand enfant |
Greg:A tall child becomes |
Mailys:De grands enfants |
Greg:Tall children |
Mailys:Une petite maison |
Greg:A small house becomes |
Mailys:De petites maisons |
Greg:Small houses |
Greg:Okay, and that’s it for this lesson! Join us for lesson 25 for the grand finale of our series of dialogues between Jacques and Mireille! |
Mailys:I want to know how it ends! Au revoir et à bientôt! |
Greg:See you soon! |
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