Learn how to say something is "better"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Hi! My name is Sam, and welcome to FrenchPod101.com, Lower Intermediate Series, Lesson 16: Better than yours. |
| Céline: Bonjour, Sam. |
| Sam: Hello, Céline. Mine's better than yours! That's today's lesson. |
| Céline: Ok j’ai compris. Bonjour, Alex! |
| Alex : Bonjour, Céline. Bonjour, Sam. Vous allez bien? |
| Céline: Ça va. |
| Sam: Yeah, I'm great. But mine's better than yours. |
| Alex : What do you mean? Because you know...? |
| Sam: Hey! That's today's lesson actually. |
| Alex : Ok, because, you know, you should… préciser. |
| Céline: Yeah, you should precise. |
| Sam: Ok. Ok. But mine's still better than yours. |
| Céline: D'accord. Ok, so thank you for joining FrenchPod101.com. |
| Sam: Thank you, too. Today's conversation takes place between two people, Tiny Rémy and Pimpled Daniel. They're arguing. |
| Céline: Don't forget, there's also Alice. |
| Sam: Oh, yes. Wiz Alice. She's like the referee today, because these two are arguing about whose whatever is better. They're doing this over school lunch, and they're two children. |
| Céline: D'accord. Alors c'est parti. |
| Sam: Let's go! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Ma fourmilière est géniale. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est mieux entraînée. Elle peut nager de la baignoire jusque dans un seau d’eau. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis sont plus fortes. Elles sont de meilleures athlètes. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est plus agile que tes fourmis. Elle nage mieux. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis... |
| Céline: Stop! Vous deux, ça suffit! |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Christophe: Ma fourmilière est géniale. |
| Sam: My ant farm is awesome. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est mieux entraînée. Elle peut nager de la baignoire jusque dans un seau d’eau. |
| Sam: My eel is better trained. She can swim from the bathtub to a water bucket. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis sont plus fortes. Elles sont de meilleures athlètes. |
| Sam: My ants are stronger. They are better athletes. |
| Sylvain: Mon anguille est plus agile que tes fourmis. Elle nage mieux. |
| Sam: My eel is more dexterous than your ants. She swims better. |
| Christophe: Mes fourmis… |
| Sam: My ants… |
| Céline: Stop! Vous deux, ça suffit! |
| Sam: Stop it! You two, knock it off! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So guys, you know when you're kids and maybe you have something cool and your friend has something. Did you ever argue with your friends about whose whatever was better? |
| Alex : Well, maybe not about things, but maybe I'm arguing more about opinions, you know? More that sometimes I think that I'm correct and my opinion is right and my friend's opinion is not right. |
| Céline: Yeah, that's true. That's typically French. |
| Sam: Oh, really? Typically French? |
| Céline: Yes. Oui. Je dois admettre. |
| Alex : Typiquement français. |
| Céline: Typiquement français. We want to be. Yes. |
| Sam: Do you ever argue with your friends about who's right and who's not? |
| Céline: Always! |
| Alex : Tout le temps! |
| Sam: But, actually, when we argue, I'm always right, so it's ok. |
| Céline: I let you think that you're right, but tu n’as pas raison. |
| Sam: But I am right. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: My opinion's better than yours, usually. |
| Céline: Je ne sais pas. Ok. Let's get-- Je ne sais pas. I want to keep him... |
| Alex : C’est une façon de voir. |
| Sam: Ah, see I was right as always. |
| Céline: Bien sûr, tu as toujours raison Sam. Allez. |
| Sam: Thank you. |
| Céline: Allez. On va au vocabulaire? |
| Sam: Ok. Since I'm right, we can move on to the vocabulary now. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Let's look at some items from this lesson, ok? The first one is? |
| Céline: Fourmilière. |
| Sam: Ant farm. |
| Céline: Fourmilière. Fourmilière. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Anguille. |
| Sam: Eel. |
| Alex : Anguille. Anguille. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Génial. |
| Sam: Great. |
| Céline: Génial. Génial. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Alex : Entraîner. |
| Sam: To train. |
| Alex : Entraîner. Entraîner. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Nager. |
| Sam: To swim. |
| Céline: Nager. Nager. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Jusque. Jusque. Jusque. |
| Sam: Until. |
| Alex: Jusque. |
| Sam: Until. |
| Alex: Jusque. Jusque. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Seau. |
| Sam: Bucket. |
| Céline: Seau. Seau. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Fourmis. |
| Sam: Ants. |
| Alex : Fourmis. Fourmis. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Fortes. |
| Sam: Strong, feminine plural. |
| Céline: Fortes. Fortes. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex : Plus. |
| Sam: More. |
| Alex : Plus. Plus. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Agile. |
| Sam: Agile. |
| Céline: Agile. Agile. |
| Sam: Lastly? |
| Alex : Ca suffit. |
| Sam: That's enough. |
| Alex : Ca suffit. Ca suffit. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Let's look at the vocabulary usage from the section. Ok, guys? |
| Céline: Allez! |
| Alex : On y va. Alors, le premier mot c’est “génial”. It means 'awesome' or 'brilliant'. |
| Céline: “C’est génial” can be used to express excitement. Another term is “c’est d’enfer!”. |
| Alex : Mais ne le confondez pas avec “c’est l’enfer”, which means 'it's hell'. |
| Céline: Oui ouh là là. Bravo Alex! So next, there's the word “entraîner”. |
| Sam: It's from the first verb group meaning 'to train'. |
| Céline: Yes. As in train animals or train for a competition. Je m’entraîne pour le 100 mètres. |
| Sam: I'm training for the 100 meters. |
| Alex : Then the adverb 'plus'. |
| Sam: Ah! Like “plus ou moins”, 'more or less'. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. “Plus” ou “plus” is used to compare superiority. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Alex : Je suis plus grand que toi. |
| Sam: I'm taller than you. |
| Céline: Or “Je suis plus intelligente que toi”. |
| Sam: I'm more intelligent than you. But that's not true. |
| Céline: Hahaha… “ça suffit” is our next item. |
| Alex : I thought you were serious for a second. |
| Sam: What does it mean? |
| Céline: 'That's enough' or 'knock it off'. You can use it when someone is getting on your nerves. Sam. |
| Sam: Oh. I understand. But I would never get on anyone's nerves. Shall we move on to the grammar? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Ok. Today, we look at the common erreur. How to use “mieux” et “meilleur”. |
| Alex : First of all, let's remember that “mieux” is the comparative of 'bien' and “meilleur” is the comparative for 'bon'. |
| Sam: 'Bon' and 'bien' mean 'good' and 'well', respectively. |
| Alex : Exactement! “Mieux” and “meilleur” have, therefore, the same meaning. 'Better'. |
| Céline: Listen, Sam, and tell me if you can pinpoint the difference in the usage. Je parle mieux français que toi. Mon français est meilleur que le tien. |
| Sam: What did she say? |
| Alex : Only the truth. I speak better French than you. My French is better than yours. |
| Sam: I'm lost, but I know you just trashed my French. |
| Céline: Let me help. Je parle mieux français que toi. “Mieux” highlights the verb. “Mieux” is an adverb. |
| Alex : And, on the contrary, with “Mon français est meilleur que le tien”, “meilleur” highlights the noun 'français'. “Meilleur” is an adjective here. |
| Sam: Wow. So the difference comes with the usage, huh? |
| Céline: And one more thing. You might be confused with phrases with “être”. Most of the time, “mieux” is used. |
| Alex : Par exemple, “Il est mieux comme ami”. Here, “mieux” describes the way of being, therefore the action, and the adverb “mieux” is needed. |
| Céline: If a noun is described then “meilleur” is used. As in “Ce fromage est meilleur”. This cheese is better. Here 'cheese' is qualified by the adjective “meilleur”. |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Alex : Tout va pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes. N’est-ce pas Sam? |
| Sam: Ok. Whatever you say. |
| Céline: Ok. Everything is at its best in the best of the worlds. |
| Alex: World. |
| Sam: Ok. Let's practice. Can you give us an example with “mieux”? |
| Alex : Je me sens mieux aujourd’hui. |
| Sam: I feel better today. How about an example with “meilleur”? |
| Céline: Pour le meilleur et pour le pire. |
| Sam: For better or worse. |
| Céline: Or “Mes idées sont meilleures que celles de Sam”. |
| Sam: My ideas are better than Sam's. |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Sam: But we know that's not true. It was just an example. |
| Céline: That's a good example. |
| Sam: That's a bad example, but it's good grammar. |
| Céline: Oui. Tu as compris? |
| Sam: Yes, I understood. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: And I'm hungry, so let's wrap up this lesson. |
| Céline: You're always hungry. |
| Sam: No, I'm not always hungry. |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Just give me some steak with some ketchup on it. |
| Céline: Super! On y va? |
| Alex : On y va! |
Outro |
| Sam: Ok. But wait guys! We have to tell our listeners something. Don't forget to go to FrenchPod101.com. Drop by our forum. Leave questions. Leave comments. Leave suggestions. Anything is welcomed. A la prochaine! |
| Céline: Merci beaucoup! |
| Alex : Au revoir. |
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21 Comments
HideWhat toy were you possessive of when you were a child?
Bonjour Liz !
You are right ! It's a mistake ! :flushed:
We will correct the PDF lesson ! I'm sorry for the inconvenience !
Merci pour votre commentaire !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Hi there!
Bonjour! J'ai finée Leson 16, et j'ai une question.
I just finished Lower intermediate , lesson 16 and need some clarification. In the lesson notes, il y a une explanation de the difference between Mieux and Meilleures. Here is what the examples are given for Meilleures (note the examples use Mieux when explaining Meilleures). Je ne comprend pas...please clarify? Ç'il vous plait?
From lesson notes 16:
Meilleur is correct only when it is modifying a noun found in the sentence. For example:
Tu vas mieux maintenant. "You're feeling better now." Julie est mieux comme amie. "Julie is better as a friend." C'est mieux de dire la vérité. "It's better to tell the truth."
Merci!
Liz:-)
Bonjour Jane de Vries,
Merci pour votre commentaire ! C'est très gentil ! :smile:
A bientôt !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Appreicate the clarity betwen mieux et meilleur. C'est tres important!
Hello Adrienne,
Thank you for your comment !
I am sorry you find our lesson difficult to understand. :disappointed:
But our teachers are not actors...
Don't hesitate to check our other lessons, we doesn't have baby voice on it :wink:
Bonne journée !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
I find it a little difficult to understand when the male voice mimics a female voice or a child. Could you get real children voices?::disappointed:
Thank you Mélanie. Your explanation is very helpful!:grin:
Hello Anais Xia !
Thank you very much for your comment, the PDF is correct now!
About your question, "avoir jusque-là" can be cut in three parts:
Avoir/ jusque-/là : to have/ until/ then.
This means that "Until this day (today or a specific date, depends on the context), the company had good results (but not anymore)".
I hope this helps !
Thank you again!
Mélanie
Team FrenchPod101.com
There seems like some mistakes in the pdf.
"Elle sont des meilleures athlètes."should be "Elles sont des meilleures athlètes."
the ENG translation "My eel is more dexterous then your ants" should be "than" not
"then"
And "L’entreprise avait jusque-là de très bons résultats" can't understand the meaning of "The company had until then good results." What's the meaning of "avoir jusque-la de" anyway?
Hello Catherine,
Thank you for your comments.
The line-by-line should be working soon (I just asked the tech team to fix it).
As for the vocab words, I will make sure we upload the audio as soon as possible.
And yes, it is very hard to type while lying down on your stomach! For me it usually results in a good "torticoli" ("neck pain")! I just thought I would use the word "torticoli" here, as it's one of my favorite French words (maybe because it sounds Italian....who knows?)
Thanks again,
Virginie