Learn how to talk about how long something will last using various French phrases
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Huff and Puff! I'm Sam. I'm joined here by my friends... |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Alex: Et Alexandre. |
| Sam: Hey, guys. How's it going? |
| Céline: Ça va. Et toi? |
| Sam: I'm ok, thank you. Today's conversation is about block party. Patti telling Emile about the comings and goings of the event. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Shall we start? |
| Céline: Allez! |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Alex: On y va! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Tu ne devineras jamais! |
| Sylvain: Quoi? |
| Céline: Je suis allée à la fête du village. La mascarade des soufflaculs! |
| Sylvain: C’était quel jour? |
| Céline: Samedi dernier. Les hommes avaient des soufflets pour soulever les jupes des femmes. |
| Sylvain: Qui t’a invitée? |
| Céline: Mon amie Psy Caro m’a demandé de venir pour oublier ses patients dérangés. |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Céline: Tu ne devineras jamais! |
| Sam: You’ll never guess! |
| Sylvain: Quoi? |
| Sam: What? |
| Céline: Je suis allée à la fête du village. La mascarade des soufflaculs! |
| Sam: I went to the village festivities. The butt-puffers’ masquerade! |
| Sylvain: C’était quel jour? |
| Sam: Which day was it? |
| Céline: Samedi dernier. Les hommes avaient des soufflets pour soulever les jupes des femmes. |
| Sam: Last Saturday. Men had bellows to lift up women’s skirts. |
| Sylvain: Qui t’a invitée? |
| Sam: Who invited you? |
| Céline: Mon amie Psy Caro m’a demandé de venir pour oublier ses patients dérangés. |
| Sam: My friend Psycho Caro asked me to come to help her forget her disturbed patients. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Céline: Alors Sam, tu es déjà allé à une fête de village en France? |
| Sam: Peut-être. |
| Céline: Non, écoute Sam, il n’y a pas de “peut-être”. C’est oui ou non! |
| Sam: Oh désolé! Je veux dire: non, pas encore. |
| Céline: Pas encore? Oh d’accord. Et toi Alex? |
| Alex: Oui plusieurs fois. J’ai bien aimé. |
| Céline: Alors c’est vrai? Ok. |
| Alex: Oui! Je me suis bien amusé. |
| Sam: Et toi? Céline? |
| Céline: Oui quand j’étais petite. |
| Sam: Beaucoup de fêtes? |
| Céline: Beaucoup de fêtes. Mais maintenant il n’y a que les jeunes et les petits enfants qui vont aux fêtes des villages. |
| Sam: Est-ce que tu as bu un peu de bière? |
| Céline: Non! Pas du tout! |
| Sam: Ah ouais? |
| Céline: Non, non, non. |
| Sam: Pourquoi pas? |
| Céline: Parce que j’étais trop jeune. |
| Sam: When you were young? But you're still young. |
| Céline: Bien sûr! C’est pas la peine de mentionner. |
| Sam: So what happened at these parties? |
| Céline: Souvent quand on est petit on a un amoureux, ou une amoureuse, et on est très impatient de le retrouver. |
| Sam: Oui? |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Oh, so back in the day when you went to these parties, you were really excited because you would see your boyfriend or girlfriend or...? |
| Céline: Exactement. C’est ça. |
| Sam: Ah. Alex, did you visit any such parties when...? |
| Alex: Oui mais j’ai rencontré personne. |
| Céline: Oh le pauvre! Mais qu’est-ce qui… pourquoi? |
| Alex: Ben je sais pas. |
| Sam: Pas d’amis? |
| Alex: Je devais être très timide. Voilà. |
| Sam: You were really shy? Oh. |
| Alex: Oui. Encore maintenant hein! |
| Céline: Et tu sais Sam, les amoureux ils s’offrent des pommes d’amour. |
| Sam: Les pommes d’amour? |
| Céline: Oui. Les pommes d’amour, c’est comme… C’est une confiserie. C’est une pomme, avec du caramel. |
| Sam: A candy apple? |
| Céline: Oui! C'est ça! |
| Sam: Oh. Sounds good. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: On a stick? |
| Céline: Exactement. Tout à fait. |
| Sam: Nous avons la même chose aux Etats-Unis. Sometimes, we have the same thing. Like at the fair or a big carnival. Candy apple. |
| Céline: Ah, d'accord. Ça va, Alex? |
| Alex: Oui, très bien. |
| Céline: Le pauvre… |
| Sam: Did you have a favorite? What was your favorite party snack? The candy apple? Or popcorn? |
| Céline: La barbe à papa! |
| Sam: Cotton candy? |
| Céline: Exactement! |
| Sam: Oh! I like cotton candy, too. |
| Céline: C'est bon. |
| Sam: It's about 100% sugar, though. |
| Céline: And do you like the vocab? |
| Sam: The vocab of cotton candy? Oh! The vocab of the lesson. |
| Céline: Voilà. Ok. |
| Sam: That's a good hint. Let's look at the vocabulary and phrases from this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is? |
| Alex: Deviner. |
| Sam: To guess. |
| Alex: Deviner. Deviner. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Jamais. |
| Sam: Never. |
| Céline: Jamais. Jamais. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Village. |
| Sam: Village. |
| Alex: Village. Village. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Fête. |
| Sam: Party. |
| Céline: Fête. Fête. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Mascarade. |
| Sam: Masquerade. |
| Alex: Mascarade. Mascarade. |
| Sam: Next? |
| CÉLINE: Dernier. |
| Sam: Last. |
| CÉLINE: Dernier. Dernier. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Soufflet. |
| Sam: Bellows. |
| Alex: Soufflet. Soufflet. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Jupe. |
| Sam: Skirt. |
| Céline: Jupe. Jupe. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Soulever. |
| Sam: To raise. |
| Alex: Soulever. Soulever. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Oublier. |
| Sam: To forget. |
| Céline: Oublier. Oublier. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Patient. |
| Sam: Patient. |
| Alex: Patient. Patient. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Dérangé. |
| Sam: Disturbed or deranged. |
| CÉLINE: Dérangé. Dérangé. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Alex: Let's take a look at the usage of some of the words. |
| Sam: Nous commençons avec le mot “deviner”. |
| Céline: It means 'to guess'. |
| Sam: How do you say riddle? |
| Alex: It is called, “une devinette”. Je ne les retiens jamais. |
| Sam: I never remember them. |
| Céline: But don't you remember? We talked about that in our previous lesson. You forgot! |
| Sam: Oh! No, no! I remember. |
| Céline: Mon Dieu. So now, let's talk about “jamais”. It is our next word and it's the opposite of 'toujours'. |
| Sam: Ok. So “jamais” is 'never' and 'toujours' means 'always'. |
| Alex: Right. But let's not forget that “jamais” is also used for 'ever', meaning at any moment. |
| Sam: Ok. Maybe you can give us an example? |
| Céline: Si jamais je déménage, je louerai un camion. |
| Alex: If I ever move, I would rent a truck. |
| Céline: Is that clear for you, Sam? |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: You're going to move? |
| Céline: No, no, no. It's an example. |
| Sam: Oh. What kind of truck? |
| Céline: So, what about next word? |
| Sam: Ok, ok. Never mind. |
| Céline: Mascarade. Qu’est-ce que c’est une mascarade? |
| Sam: I think it's a parade with people in costumes. It's actually not very common. It's not a very common word in everyday French. “Mascarade” is more a term used to nominate a celebration or something we use in written French. |
| Alex: The most the common one is “un défilé”, which is closer to a parade. |
| Sam: Are there a lot of parades in France? Like, in the States, there's like the Tournament of the Roses Parade, Halloween Parade. |
| Alex: The most known is for our national day: Le défilé du 14 juillet. Then: Le défilé du carnaval, par exemple. |
| Céline: Et aussi les défilés de protestations, ou manifestations. Like, when people take to the streets to express their political opposition or strikes. |
| Sam: Ah. Protests, marches, strikes. What a great way to be heard, huh? |
| Céline: Oui, and that's really French. |
| Alex: On l’utilise aussi pour le défilé de mode. |
| Céline: Oui, défilés de mode, fashion shows. |
| Sam: Fashion shows? Ah! Oui. |
| Alex: Next word is “soulever”. Depending on what is talked about it is either 'raise' or 'lift'. |
| Céline: Il peut être utilisé aussi comme verbe pronominal. Se soulever. |
| Sam: To raise one's self? |
| Alex: Yes, literally. Figuratively, it is 'to revolt'. Par exemple, Greenpeace se soulève contre la pollution. |
| Sam: Greenpeace protests against pollution. Yeah. |
| Céline: So to close out our vocab usage, we have the adjective “dérangé”. |
| Sam: Ne pas… ne pas être dérangé. One time I read a sign on a hotel door that said “ne pas être dérangé”. |
| Alex: C’est bien vrai. To tell anyone going by to not disturb. But in the dialogue, it is used as 'unsettled'. |
| Céline: 'Messed up' in terms of one's mental well-being. |
| Alex: Not me! |
| Céline: No! No, no. I didn't say you were. It's ok. |
| Alex: Sauf quand je pète un plomb. |
| Sam: Puis-je poser une question maintenant? |
| Céline: Bien sûr. |
| Sam: Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire “je pète un plomb”? |
| Alex: To blow a gasket or go crazy, for example. |
| Céline: Péter un plomb. |
| Alex: Tu peux dire aussi “péter un cable”. |
| Sam: To go nuts. |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Alex: Exactly. |
| Sam: Interesting phrase. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Can I ask another question? |
| Céline: Oh pardon excuse-moi oui. |
| Sam: Have you guys ever blown a gasket? Not on your car, but like...? |
| Céline: Je ne comprends pas. |
| Sam: Get angry or maybe throw a couple pieces of furniture across the room. |
| Céline: Bien sûr. Oui! |
| Sam: Or turn a car over, you know? |
| Alex: Ca nous arrive tous les jours! |
| Sam: Ah ouais? |
| Céline: Oui tous les jours. Et toi? |
| Sam: Non pas du tout. |
| Céline: C’est bien. |
| Sam: Now shall we move on to the grammar? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Ok. Let's talk about the past tense. Ca se complique. |
| Sam: It's getting complicated. |
| Céline: Not as much as you think, Sam. We're going to explain how “le passé composé” is used in conjunction with “l’imparfait”. |
| Sam: But they both relate to the past! |
| Alex: Oui! To compare with English, it is the same as the simple past and the past continuous. |
| Sam: So “l’imparfait” just describes continuous actions in the past. And “passé composé” corresponds to simple past or one-and-done type of events. Maybe one of you guys could give us an example. |
| Céline: Oui! Je parlais à Alex lorsque Sam m’a coupé la parole. |
| Alex: I was talking to Alex, when Sam cut me off. At the fact of talking was ongoing so the “imparfait” is used. |
| Sam: Ah! |
| Alex: When you cut me off, which is a sudden event rapidly completed, calling for the “passé composé”. |
| Sam: So if I understand, while “l’imparfait” or imperfect describes a longer event, habitual action, an ongoing action in the past, and “passé composé” is one-and-done type deals. |
| Céline: Absolument. |
| Céline: &Sam: Great minds think alike! |
| Sam: Ah! |
| Céline: Bravo! Ok je crois que c’est la fin de la leçon. Alex tu vas bien? |
| Alex: Oui! Très bien. Merci. |
| Céline: Ok. |
Outro |
| Sam: That's a good spot to end, so we'll thank you guys once again for listening. That's the end of today's lesson. So, we'll see you next time. Thank you, guys. |
| Céline: Oui! Merci Sam et merci Alex. |
| Alex: Merci à vous, à la prochaine! |
| Céline: A la prochaine! |
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