Learn how to use French demonstrative adjectives
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| 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! |
| 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 10. 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 10. 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… |
| Greg:Ok! First, I need a baguette… Ah, the bread is here. This baguette for 2 euros 50 is a bit expensive, but that one for 1 euro 75 is perfect. Next, I need jam … |
| Mireille Bonjour madame, je cherche la confiture? |
| Greg:Hello ma’am, I’m looking for the jam? |
| Employée Est-ce que vous voyez ces pommes? |
| Greg:Do you see those apples? |
| Mireille Oui, oui, je les vois. |
| Greg:Yes, I see them. |
| Employée Eh bien la confiture est à côté des pommes. |
| Greg:Well, the jam is next to the apples. |
| Mireille Parfait, merci. |
| Greg: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 10. Bon, à la caisse! |
| Greg:Oh my, 5 euros 40 for strawberry jam, that’s too much! Phew, there is also jam for 3 euros 10. Ok, 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. |
| Greg:Hello again, ma’am! A baguette for 1 euro 75 and strawberry jam for 3 euros 10. It comes to 4 euros 85. |
| Mireille Voici 5 euros. |
| Greg:Here are 5 euros. |
| Employée Merci, et voici 15 centimes. Au revoir! |
| Greg:Thanks, here are 15 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. |
| Vocabulary and Phrases |
| 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] |
| 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 ‘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! |
| Grammar Point |
| 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) |
| 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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