Learn how to use French demonstrative adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Greg: Hello everyone, I’m Greg. What Do You Take to a French Picnic? |
| Mailys: Bonjour à tous. This is Mailys. In this lesson, we will learn about French demonstratives - words like “this”, “that”, “these” and “those”. |
| Greg: Mireille is going to the grocery store to buy a few items for the picnic she’ll be having with Jacques. |
| Mailys: She is using informal French when talking to herself, but formal French when speaking to the store clerk. |
| Greg: Let’s listen the conversation! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mireille: Bon ! D'abord, j'ai besoin d'une baguette... Ah, le pain est ici. Cette baguette à 2 euros 50 est un peu chère, mais celle-ci à 1 euro 75 est parfaite. Ensuite, j'ai besoin de confiture... |
| Mireille: Bonjour madame, je cherche la confiture ? |
| Employée: Est-ce que vous voyez ces pommes ? |
| Mireille: Oui, oui, je les vois. |
| Employée: Eh bien la confiture est à côté des pommes. |
| Mireille: Parfait, merci. |
| Mireille: Oh là, là, 5 euros 40 pour de la confiture aux fraises, c'est trop cher ! Ouf, il y a aussi de la confiture à 3 euros Bon, à la caisse ! |
| Employée: Rebonjour, madame ! Une baguette à 1 euro 75 et de la confiture aux fraises à 3 euros 10. Ça fait 4 euros 85. |
| Mireille: Voici 5 euros. |
| Employée: Merci, et voici 15 centimes. Au revoir ! |
| Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mireille: Bon ! D'abord, j'ai besoin d'une baguette... Ah, le pain est ici. Cette baguette à 2 euros 50 est un peu chère, mais celle-ci à 1 euro 75 est parfaite. Ensuite, j'ai besoin de confiture... |
| Mireille: Bonjour madame, je cherche la confiture ? |
| Employée: Est-ce que vous voyez ces pommes ? |
| Mireille: Oui, oui, je les vois. |
| Employée: Eh bien la confiture est à côté des pommes. |
| Mireille: Parfait, merci. |
| Mireille: Oh là, là, 5 euros 40 pour de la confiture aux fraises, c'est trop cher ! Ouf, il y a aussi de la confiture à 3 euros Bon, à la caisse ! |
| Employée: Rebonjour, madame ! Une baguette à 1 euro 75 et de la confiture aux fraises à 3 euros 10. Ça fait 4 euros 85. |
| Mireille: Voici 5 euros. |
| Employée: Merci, et voici 15 centimes. Au revoir ! |
| Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Mireille: Bon ! D'abord, j'ai besoin d'une baguette... Ah, le pain est ici. Cette baguette à 2 euros 50 est un peu chère, mais celle-ci à 1 euro 75 est parfaite. Ensuite, j'ai besoin de confiture... |
| Mireille: Okay! First, I need a baguette... Ah, the bread is here. This baguette for two euros fifty is a bit expensive, but that one for one euro seventy-five is perfect. Next, I need jam... |
| Mireille: Bonjour madame, je cherche la confiture ? |
| Mireille: Hello, ma'am, I'm looking for the jam? |
| Employée: Est-ce que vous voyez ces pommes ? |
| Employee: Do you see those apples? |
| Mireille: Oui, oui, je les vois. |
| Mireille: Yes, I see them. |
| Employée: Eh bien la confiture est à côté des pommes. |
| Employee: Well, the jam is next to the apples. |
| Mireille: Parfait, merci. |
| Mireille: Perfect, thanks. |
| Mireille: Oh là, là, 5 euros 40 pour de la confiture aux fraises, c'est trop cher ! Ouf, il y a aussi de la confiture à 3 euros Bon, à la caisse ! |
| Mireille: Oh my, five euros forty for strawberry jam, that's too much! Phew, there is also jam for three euros ten. Okay, to the register! |
| Employée: Rebonjour, madame ! Une baguette à 1 euro 75 et de la confiture aux fraises à 3 euros 10. Ça fait 4 euros 85. |
| Employee: Hello again, ma'am! A baguette for one euro seventy-five and strawberry jam for three euros ten. It comes to four euros eighty-five. |
| Mireille: Voici 5 euros. |
| Mireille: Here are five euros. |
| Employée: Merci, et voici 15 centimes. Au revoir ! |
| Employee: Thanks, here are fifteen cents. Goodbye! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Mailys: So Greg, Mireille bought a baguette, a type of French bread - this is an easy dialogue to relate to! |
| Greg: Yes, French bread is known all over the world, and the most famous type of French bread is undoubtedly the baguette. |
| Mailys: The word baguette means stick or wand. |
| Greg: Indeed, baguettes are long loaves of bread. It's said that the shape allows for faster cooking times. A law went into effect in 1920 prohibiting anyone from cooking bread before 4 am, making it impossible to bake enough bread in time for customers' breakfast. |
| Mailys: Really? I didn’t know it had that kind of history! |
| Greg: Yes, and while stick-like loaves existed before that, it seems to have marked a rise in the popularity of the baguette. |
| Mailys: Baguettes are also commonly used at lunchtime for sandwiches in French cafés. |
| Greg: Definitely! And now 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: d’abord [natural native speed] |
| Greg: first of all |
| Mailys: d’abord [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: d’abord [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: avoir besoin de [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to need |
| Mailys: avoir besoin de [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: avoir besoin de [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: un peu [natural native speed] |
| Greg: a bit |
| Mailys: un peu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: un peu [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: cher [natural native speed] |
| Greg: expensive, dear |
| Mailys: cher [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: cher [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: ensuite [natural native speed] |
| Greg: then |
| Mailys: ensuite [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: ensuite [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: confiture [natural native speed] |
| Greg: jam |
| Mailys: confiture [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: confiture [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: chercher [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to look for |
| Mailys: chercher [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: chercher [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: à côté de [natural native speed] |
| Greg: next to |
| Mailys: à côté de [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: à côté de [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: caisse [natural native speed] |
| Greg: cash register, till |
| Mailys: caisse [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: caisse [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: voici [natural native speed] |
| Greg: here is, here are |
| Mailys: voici [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: voici [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB 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 ‘chercher’, meaning “to look for”. |
| Greg: We wanted to look at this verb to drive home the point that every verb has its own requirements in terms of how it introduces objects. |
| Mailys: Yes, in English, you say looking FOR, but in French, it’s just ‘chercher’, without a preposition. |
| Greg: There is no logic to it, you just have to learn it. So whenever you come across a new word, always look at how it’s used. For instance, to say “she’s looking for the apples”, you say... |
| Mailys: elle cherche les pommes. |
| Greg: “He’s looking for Mireille” is |
| Mailys: Il cherche Mireille. |
| Greg: Let’s now look at another verb that behaves very differently from its English equivalent, ‘avoir besoin de’, “to need”. |
| Mailys: It’s made up of ‘avoir’, “to have”, which will be conjugated, and 2 other words -, ‘besoin’ meaning “need”, and the preposition ‘de’ meaning “of”. |
| Greg: It literally means “to have need of”. Here are some examples... |
| Mailys: J’ai besoin de pain. |
| Greg: I need bread. |
| Mailys: Elle a besoin de café. |
| Greg: She needs coffee. |
| Mailys: Il a besoin de la voir. |
| Greg: He needs to see her. |
| Mailys: Nous avons besoin de parler français. |
| Greg: We need to speak French. |
| Greg: Lastly, let’s look at ‘un peu’ meaning “a little” or “a bit”. |
| Mailys: ‘Il est un peu grand.’ “He's a bit tall.” |
| Greg: You can also add ‘de’, to make ‘un peu de’ which then means “a bit of” and this is used with a noun. |
| Mailys: Un peu de pain. |
| Greg: A bit of bread. |
| Mailys: Il y a un peu de vent. |
| Greg: There is a bit of wind. |
| Greg: The variant ‘un petit peu’, meaning “a little bit”, is also used. For example... |
| Mailys: Nous sommes un petit peu en retard. |
| Greg: We are a little bit late. Ok, now let’s move to the grammar! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Greg: The focus of this lesson is French demonstratives. |
| Mailys: In the dialogue, the store clerk asked Mireille ‘est-ce que vous voyez ces pommes?’, “Do you see those apples?” |
| Greg: ‘ces’ means “those”, and the words “this”, “that”, “those” and “these” are called demonstratives. |
| Mailys: In French, we don’t usually indicate if the object is close or far, like “this” or “that”, but it’s important to use the right demonstrative with the right gender and number. |
| Greg: To point to a masculine noun, we use ‘ce --’ |
| Mailys: ‘ce garçon’, “this (or that) boy.” |
| Mailys: ‘ce biscuit,’ “this or that cookie.” |
| Greg: When a masculine noun starts with a vowel, ‘cet’ is used – |
| Mailys: ‘cet ami’, “this (or that) friend”. |
| Greg: To point to a feminine noun, we use ‘cette’ |
| Mailys: Like ‘cette fille’, “this (or that) girl.”, or ‘cette table’, “this or that table”. |
| Greg: When the noun is plural, regardless of its gender, we use ‘ces’ – |
| Mailys: Like ‘ces pommes’, “these (or those) apples.”, or ‘ces bouteilles’, “these or those bottles.” |
| Greg: Let’s listen to all the forms again. Listen carefully to the form of the demonstrative, it will tell you what gender the word is... |
| Mailys: ce garçon |
| Greg: this, that boy |
| Mailys: cet ami |
| Greg: this, that friend |
| Mailys: cette fille |
| Greg: this, that girl |
| Mailys: ces pommes |
| Greg: these, those apples |
| Greg: Mailys: said that French doesn't usually distinguish between objects that are near or far, but it is possible to make that distinction when comparing two objects. |
| Mailys: It’s very simple, just add, after the noun, ‘-ci’ for objects that are close and ‘-là’ for objects that are far. For instance, ‘cette pomme-ci’ meaning “this apple” and ‘cette pomme-là’, “that apple.” |
| Greg: Here are a few example sentences... |
| Mailys: J’aime ces biscuits-ci, mais ces biscuits-là ne sont pas bons. (I like these cookies, but those cookies are not good. |
| Mailys: Ces baguettes-ci sont un peu chères, mais pas ces baguettes-là. (These baguettes are a little expensive, but not those baguettes) |
Outro |
| Greg: Ok, that’s going to do it for this lesson! Join us for lesson 10 to find out how Jacques and Mireille’s picnic date goes! |
| Mailys: Exciting! À bientôt! |
| Greg: See you soon! |
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