Learn how to express your ability to do something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, I'm Eric. |
| Yasmine: And I'm Yasmine. |
| Eric: And welcome to Must-Know French Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 16. Using the Auxiliary Verb "Can." |
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for expressing your ability to do something. |
| PATTERN |
| Eric: For example, "I can eat with chopsticks." |
| Yasmine: Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| Yasmine: [slow] Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| Eric: The pattern for expressing your ability to do something has 3 elements. First, the first person singular of the verb "can” or “to be able to." |
| Yasmine: Je peux. |
| Eric: Second, a verb in the infinitive form, in this case "to eat." |
| Yasmine: manger. |
| Eric: Third, the complement, in this case "with chopsticks." |
| Yasmine: avec des baguettes. |
| Eric: Altogether, we have "I can eat with chopsticks." |
| Yasmine: Je peux manger avec des baguettes. [slow] Je peux manger avec des baguettes. [normal] Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| Eric: First you have the expression "I can," then a verb in the infinitive form followed by a complement. |
| Yasmine: Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| Eric: So remember, to express your ability to do something, start with the expression "I can," followed by a verb in the infinitive form, describing what you can do. |
| Eric: Here's another example meaning, "I can do two things at once." First, the first person singular of the verb "can” or “to be able to." |
| Yasmine: Je peux. |
| Eric: Second, a verb in the infinitive form, in this case "to do." |
| Yasmine: faire. |
| Eric: Third, the complement, in this case "two things at once." |
| Yasmine: deux choses à la fois. |
| Eric: Altogether we have... |
| Yasmine: Je peux faire deux choses à la fois. [slow] Je peux faire deux choses à la fois. [normal] Je peux faire deux choses à la fois. |
| Eric: "I can do two things at once." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux faire deux choses à la fois. |
| Eric: How do you say - "I can write with both hands." To give you a hint, "to write with both hands" is... |
| Yasmine: écrire des deux mains. [slow] écrire des deux mains. [normal] écrire des deux mains. |
| Eric: "I can write with both hands." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux écrire des deux mains. [slow] Je peux écrire des deux mains. [normal] Je peux écrire des deux mains. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux écrire des deux mains. |
| REVIEW |
| Eric: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I’ll give you the English equivalent of the phrase, and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud in French. Here we go. |
| Eric: "I can eat with chopsticks." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| Eric: "I can do two things at once." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux faire deux choses à la fois. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux faire deux choses à la fois. |
| Eric: "I can write with both hands." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux écrire des deux mains. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je peux écrire des deux mains. |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for expressing your ability to do something, as in... |
| Yasmine: Je peux manger avec des baguettes. |
| Eric: meaning "I can eat with chopsticks." |
| Eric: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on FrenchPod101.com. Thanks, everyone, see you next time! |
| Yasmine: A la prochaine! |
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