Learn how to use the French verb avoir, which means "to have"
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| Greg:Hi everyone, I’m Greg. 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. |
| 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. |
| Vocabulary and Phrases |
| 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] |
| Vocabulary and Phrase Usage |
| 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. |
| Grammar Point |
| 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:and Mailys:alternate lines] |
| 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! |
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