Learn how to politely ask someone 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 21. Using the Auxiliary Verb "Could." |
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for politely asking someone to do something. |
| PATTERN |
| Eric: For example, "Could you close the window, please?" |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| Yasmine: [slow] Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: The pattern for politely asking someone to do something has 3 elements. First, the polite form of "could you." |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous. |
| Eric: Second, the verb "to close" in the infinitive form. |
| Yasmine: fermer. |
| Eric: Third, the complement, in this case "the window." |
| Yasmine: la fenêtre. |
| Eric: And last, the form of politeness "please," which can be omitted. |
| Yasmine: s'il vous plaît. |
| Eric: Altogether, we have "Could you close the window, please?" |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? [slow] Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? [normal] Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: First you have the expression "could you," followed by a verb in the infinitive form, and then a complement. “Please,” or… |
| Yasmine: S'il vous plaît |
| Eric: can come at the end of the sentence to show politeness, but it’s not obligatory. |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: So remember, to make a polite request, you first start with the expression "could you," followed by a verb in the infinitive form, and then your request. |
| Eric: Here's another example meaning, "Could you speak louder, please?" First, the polite form of "could you." |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous. |
| Eric: Second, the verb "to speak" in the infinitive form. |
| Yasmine: parler. |
| Eric: Third, the complement, in this case "louder." |
| Yasmine: plus fort. |
| Eric: And last, the form of politeness "please," which again can be omitted. |
| Yasmine: s'il vous plaît. |
| Eric: Altogether we have... |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous parler plus fort, s'il vous plaît? [slow] Pourriez-vous parler plus fort, s'il vous plaît? [normal] Pourriez-vous parler plus fort, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: "Could you speak louder, please?" |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous parler plus fort, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: How do you say - "Could you help me, please?" To give you a hint, "to help" is... |
| Yasmine: aider. [slow] aider. [normal] aider. |
| Eric: "Could you help me, please?" |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît? [slow] Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît? [normal] Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît? |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît? |
| 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: "Could you close the window, please?" |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: "Could you speak louder, please?" |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous parler plus fort, s'il vous plaît? |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous parler plus fort, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: "Could you help me, please?" |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît? |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plaît? |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for politely asking someone to do something, as in... |
| Yasmine: Pourriez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît? |
| Eric: meaning "Could you close the window, please?" |
| 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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