Learn how to use the French verb avoir, which means "to have"
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| Greg: Hi everyone, I’m Greg: and welcome to FrenchPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner Season 1, Lesson 5, Making a Reservation at a French Restaurant. | |
| Mailys: Bonjour à tous. This is Mailys. In this lesson, we will learn the verb “to have”. | |
| Greg: Jacques has invited Mireille to a restaurant. | |
| Mailys: ...and now he is calling to book a table. | |
| Greg: Since he is talking to a stranger on the phone, he will be using formal French. | |
| Mailys: Let’s listen to the conversation. | |
Lesson conversation |
|
|---|---|
| Restaurant Oui allô, Restaurant Chez Marcello. | |
| Jacques Allô! J’aimerais réserver une table pour deux, pour 19 h 30 ce soir. | |
| Restaurant Je suis désolé, c’est impossible, monsieur. Mais nous avons une table | |
| à 18 heures. | |
| Jacques À 18 heures! C’est beaucoup trop tôt! Vous avez une table pour 19 heures? | |
| Restaurant Non, mais j’ai une table à 18 h 30. | |
| Jacques Bon, d’accord pour 18 h 30. | |
| Restaurant Quel est votre nom, monsieur? | |
| Jacques Je m’appelle Jacques. | |
| Restaurant Alors je réserve une table pour deux à 18 h 30 pour Monsieur Jacques. À ce soir! | |
| Jacques Merci, au revoir. | |
| Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. | |
| Restaurant Oui allô, Restaurant Chez Marcello. | |
| Jacques Allô! J’aimerais réserver une table pour deux, pour 19 h 30 ce soir. | |
| Restaurant Je suis désolé, c’est impossible, monsieur. Mais nous avons une table | |
| à 18 heures. | |
| Jacques À 18 heures! C’est beaucoup trop tôt! Vous avez une table pour 19 heures? | |
| Restaurant Non, mais j’ai une table à 18 h 30. | |
| Jacques Bon, d’accord pour 18 h 30. | |
| Restaurant Quel est votre nom, monsieur? | |
| Jacques Je m’appelle Jacques. | |
| Restaurant Alors je réserve une table pour deux à 18 h 30 pour Monsieur Jacques. À ce soir! | |
| Jacques Merci, au revoir. | |
| Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. | |
| Restaurant Oui allô, Restaurant Chez Marcello. | |
| Greg: Hello, Marcello’s Restaurant. | |
| Jacques Allô! J’aimerais réserver une table pour deux, pour 19 h 30 ce soir. | |
| Greg: Hello! I would like to book a table for two, for 7: 30 tonight. | |
| Restaurant Je suis désolé, c’est impossible, monsieur. Mais nous avons une table | |
| Greg: I’m sorry, that’s impossible, Sir. But we have a table at 6 o’clock. | |
| à 18 heures. | |
| Greg: At 6 o’clock! That’s way too early! Do you have a table at 7? | |
| Jacques À 18 heures! C’est beaucoup trop tôt! Vous avez une table pour 19 heures? | |
| Greg: No, but I have a table at 6: 30. | |
| Restaurant Non, mais j’ai une table à 18 h 30. | |
| Greg: Well, ok, for 6: 30. | |
| Jacques Bon, d’accord pour 18 h 30. | |
| Greg: What’s your name, Sir? | |
| Restaurant Quel est votre nom, monsieur? | |
| Greg: My name is Jacques. | |
| Jacques Je m’appelle Marcel. | |
| Greg: So I’ll book a table for two at 6: 30 for Mr. Jacques. See you tonight! | |
| Restaurant Alors je réserve une table pour deux à 18 h 30 pour Monsieur Marcel. À ce soir! | |
| Greg: Thanks, bye. | |
| Jacques Merci, au revoir. | |
| Greg | |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER | |
| Greg: So Mailys, when people answer the phone in French, do they usually say ‘oui?’, ‘allô?’ or ‘bonjour?’ | |
| Mailys: They sometimes use a combination of these words, like ‘oui, allô?’ or ‘oui, bonjour?’ | |
| Greg: The other speaker will usually say ‘allô’ or ‘bonjour’ in reply, then ask for the person they want to speak to in this way... | |
| Mailys: Est-ce que je pourrais parler à Monsieur Leroux, s'il-vous-plaît? | |
| Greg: May I speak to Mister/Mrs. Leroux? | |
| Mailys: Then you can answer ‘Oui, un instant, s'il-vous-plaît.’ | |
| Greg: This means “Yes, one moment, please.” Alternatively, you can ask if the person is there... | |
| Mailys: Est-ce que Madame Leroux est là? | |
| Greg: Is Mrs. Leroux there? | |
| Mailys: The conversation usually ends with ‘au revoir’, or more informally, with ‘salut’. | |
| Greg: Ok, let’s move on to the vocab. | |
| VOCAB LIST | |
| Greg: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. | |
| The first word we shall see is: | |
| Mailys: restaurant [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: restaurant | |
| Mailys: restaurant [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: restaurant [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: chez [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: at someone’s house | |
| Mailys: chez [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: chez [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: j’aimerais + inf. [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: I would like | |
| Mailys: j’aimerais + inf. [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: j’aimerais + inf. [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: réserver [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: to book, to reserve | |
| Mailys: réserver [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: réserver [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: table [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: table | |
| Mailys: table [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: table [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: désolé(e) [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: sorry | |
| Mailys: désolé(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: désolé(e) [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: impossible [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: impossible | |
| Mailys: impossible [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: impossible [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: avoir [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: to have | |
| Mailys: avoir [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: avoir [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Mailys: votre [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: your | |
| Mailys: votre [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: votre [natural native speed] | |
| Last: | |
| Mailys: bon [natural native speed] | |
| Greg: good | |
| Mailys: bon [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Mailys: bon [natural native speed] | |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES | |
| Greg: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. | |
| Mailys: Let’s start with ‘chez.’ ‘Chez’ is a preposition that doesn’t have an exact English equivalent. | |
| Greg: It’s something like “in the house of”. It’s like [someone]‘s or someone’s place/house. | |
| Mailys: For instance, ‘chez Jacques’ means “at Jacques’ place.” | |
| Greg: We also use this with restaurants' and stores' names, especially when the name of the establishment contains a person’s name. | |
| Mailys: In the dialogue, ‘Chez Marcello’ is “Marcello’s.” | |
| Greg: It can also be used with some professions. | |
| Mailys: ‘Chez le dentiste,’ is “at” or “to the dentist’s office.” Here are more examples... | |
| Mailys: Chez Marcello | |
| Greg: Marcello’s | |
| Mailys: Chez le dentiste | |
| Greg: At the dentist’s office | |
| Mailys: Chez moi | |
| Greg: At my place/at home | |
| Mailys: Chez Jacques | |
| Greg: At Jacques’ place | |
| Greg: Now let’s look at the expression meaning “I would like” | |
| Mailys: j’aimerais | |
| Greg: This verb tense is called the conditional. It's a more advanced tense, but for now, you’ll find this expression to be very useful for making requests. | |
| Mailys: Just add a verb in the infinitive and you can ask for almost anything. | |
| Greg: Here are some examples. | |
| Greg: J’aimerais avoir un café. | |
| Mailys: I’d like to have a coffee. | |
| Greg: J’aimerais réserver une table. | |
| Mailys: I’d like to book a table. | |
| Greg: J’aimerais manger. | |
| Mailys: I’d like to eat. | |
| Mailys: and to be polite, add “please” at the end. | |
| Greg: s’il-vous-plaît | |
| Mailys: The adjective ‘bon’ means “good”. | |
| Greg: The feminine version is ‘bonne’. Let’s look at some examples | |
| Mailys: Elle aime les bons restaurants. | |
| Greg: She likes good restaurants. | |
| Mailys: Ils ont une très bonne table. | |
| Greg: They have a very good table. | |
| Mailys: Alors, les biscuits sont bons? | |
| Greg: So, are the cookies good? | |
| Mailys: La cuisine italienne est très bonne. | |
| Greg: Italian cuisine is very good. Ok, with that, let’s move on to the grammar. | |
Lesson focus |
|
| Greg: The focus of this lesson is the verb “to have” in French, which is.... | |
| Mailys: ‘avoir.’ ‘Avoir’ is a very common and irregular verb, just like ‘être’. The present tense conjugation is as follows... | |
| Greg: J’ai | |
| Mailys: Tu as | |
| Greg: Il a | |
| Mailys: Nous avons | |
| Greg: Vous avez | |
| Mailys: Ils ont | |
| Greg: Notice that the verb sounds the same with ‘tu’ and ‘il’, even though they are spelled differently. | |
| Mailys: tu as, il a. | |
| Greg: I want to mention that the letter ‘a’ in French never sounds like the English “a”, | |
| Mailys: that's really important. Be careful not to confuse ‘tu as’ and ‘il a’ with ‘tu es’, “you are”, and ‘il est’ meaning “he is”. | |
| Greg: As for the plural ‘ils’ and ‘elles’, a liaison ‘z’ is inserted before ‘ont’, | |
| Mailys: ils ont. | |
| Greg: and don’t get confused with ‘ils sont’ meaing “they are”, which has an ‘s’ sound instead of the ‘z’. | |
| Mailys: ‘ils ont’, “they have”, ‘ils sont’, “they are”. This sound is the only way to distinguish them. | |
| Greg: Spelling-wise, you might have noticed that the preposition ‘à’ as in ‘à 19 heures’, “at 7 pm”, is pronounced the same as the ‘a’ in ‘il a’, but it’s written with an accent grave so they can be told apart. | |
| Mailys: Let’s look at some examples | |
| Mailys: Jacques a une invitation pour Mireille. | |
| Greg: Jacques has an invitation for Mireille. | |
| Mailys: Vous avez une table pour deux? | |
| Greg: Do you have a table for two? | |
| Mailys: Ils ont deux heures. | |
| Greg: They have two hours. | |
| Greg: In previous lessons, we learned the numbers up to 20. Let’s continue up to 49. | |
| Mailys: It's much easier to remember numbers if you understand how to make them than if you try to learn them one by one. | |
| Greg: Let's first look at numbers 20 to 29. | |
| Mailys: vingt | |
| Greg: 20 | |
| Mailys: vingt et un | |
| Greg: 21 | |
| Mailys: vingt-deux | |
| Greg: 22 | |
| Mailys: vingt-trois | |
| Greg: 23 | |
| Mailys: vingt-quatre | |
| Greg: 24 | |
| Mailys: vingt-cinq | |
| Greg: 25 | |
| Mailys: vingt-six | |
| Greg: 26 | |
| Mailys: vingt-sept | |
| Greg: 27 | |
| Mailys: vingt-huit | |
| Greg: 28 | |
| Mailys: vingt-neuf | |
| Greg: 29 | |
| Greg: Number 21 uses ‘et un’. For other numbers, ‘et’ is not used. We use ‘vingt’ followed by the second digit. | |
| Mailys: The last ‘t’ in ‘vingt’ is only silent with number 20, ‘vingt’. | |
| Greg: With this pattern in mind, listen to the numbers 30 to 39. | |
| Mailys: trente | |
| Greg: 30 | |
| Mailys: trente et un | |
| Greg: 31 | |
| Mailys: trente-deux | |
| Greg: 32 | |
| Mailys: trente-trois | |
| Greg: 33 | |
| Mailys: trente-quatre | |
| Greg: 34 | |
| Mailys: trente-cinq | |
| Greg: 35 | |
| Mailys: trente-six | |
| Greg: 36 | |
| Mailys: trente-sept | |
| Greg: 37 | |
| Mailys: trente-huit | |
| Greg: 38 | |
| Mailys: trente-neuf | |
| Greg: 39 | |
| Greg: And now let’s go through 40 to 49. | |
| Mailys: quarante | |
| Greg: 40 | |
| Mailys: quarante et un | |
| Greg: 41 | |
| Mailys: quarante-deux | |
| Greg: 42 | |
| Mailys: quarante-trois | |
| Greg: 43 | |
| Mailys: quarante-quatre | |
| Greg: 44 | |
| Mailys: quarante-cinq | |
| Greg: 45 | |
| Mailys: quarante-six | |
| Greg: 46 | |
| Mailys: quarante-sept | |
| Greg: 47 | |
| Mailys: quarante-huit | |
| Greg: 48 | |
| Mailys: quarante-neuf | |
| Greg: 49 | |
| Greg: Ok, that’s it for this lesson! Thanks for listening, and join us for lesson 6 to find out how Jacques and Mireille’s dinner date will go! | |
| Mailys: À bientôt! | |
| Greg: See you soon! |
6 Comments
HideHi everyone!
What do you have in your bag now?
Merci Gwynn pour votre message !
Oui c'est tout aussi pratique.
Bon dimanche !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Je n’ai pas un sac, mais j’ai un portefeuille avec des billets!
Bonjour Janelle !
Bravo pour votre auto-correction !
On dira plutôt : "j'ai un portefeuille, mais pas d'argent."
Cela semble plus naturel.
Congrats for your auto-correction!
The French would rather say : "J'ai un portefeuille, mais pas d'argent."
It sounds more natural.
Merci pour votre commentaire !
Mélanie
Team FrenchPod101.com
oops meant to write mais not mas
J'ai mon portefeuille, mas aucun argent.:sweat_smile: