Learn how to use French possessive adjectives such as mon and ma, and instruct you on the rules for using them
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Christophe: Bonjour! Je m’appelle Christophe! |
| Céline: Bonjour! Et moi c’est Céline. |
| Sam: Sam here. Hi, my name is Sam and I’m joined here by... |
| Céline: Christophe. |
| Christophe: Et Céline. |
| Céline: Hello everyone! |
| Christophe: Bonjour tout le monde! |
| Céline: Comment ça va Sam? Comment ça va Christophe? |
| Christophe: Très bien, merci. |
| Sam: Moi aussi très bien et toi? |
| Céline: Ça va. Ça va. |
| Céline: Sam, I have a surprise for you. |
| Sam: A surprise! What is it? |
| Céline: I’ll rest while you play Robert’s coworker and Sylvain will play Robert. |
| Sam: Huh? But my French isn’t so hot, you know. |
| Christophe: You can do it, Sam. Like the Little Engine That Could? Imagine that Robert and his colleague are in the streets. |
| Céline: Robert is chatting with his colleague, while he’s waiting for someone from his family to leave work and go home. So “à tout de suite” after my three minute’s nap. |
| Sam: Three minute nap? |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Sam: oh, ok. Sorry. Shall we start? |
| Céline: Allez c’est parti! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Bonjour, Monsieur. |
| Christophe: Bonjour, Mademoiselle. |
| Sylvain: Henri, voici ma fille Aurélie. |
| Céline: Papa, qui est-ce? |
| Sylvain: C’est mon collègue. |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Céline: Bonjour, Monsieur. |
| Christophe: Bonjour, Mademoiselle. |
| Sylvain: Henri, voici ma fille Aurélie. |
| Céline: Papa, qui est-ce? |
| Sylvain: C’est mon collègue. |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Céline: Bonjour, Monsieur. |
| Sam: Hello, sir. |
| Christophe: Bonjour, Mademoiselle. |
| Sam: Hello, miss. |
| Sylvain: Henri, voici ma fille Aurélie. |
| Sam: Henry, this is my daughter Aurélie. |
| Céline: Papa, qui est-ce? |
| Sam: Dad, who is this? |
| Sylvain: C’est mon collègue. |
| Sam: This is my colleague. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Christophe: J’ai une question pour vous Sam et Céline. Avez-vous déjàa rencontré une personne qui vous a marquée? |
| Sam: So the question was, have we met anyone who’s left a lasting impression on us. |
| Céline: Souvent. |
| Christophe: Really? |
| Céline: Yeah. Always. I mean, usually. Yeah. Et toi, Christophe? |
| Christophe: Moi? Always! |
| Céline: Ah ben tu vois!? Qu’est-ce que c’est que cette question??... Et toi Sam? |
| Sam: Someone that’s left a lasting impression on me? There’s a lot of people. It wouldn’t be fair to say just one. But… |
| Céline: Moi?! |
| Sam: Of course, of course you, Céline. |
| Céline: Ah tu vois! Ben bien sûr. |
| Sam: I guess that’s the right answer. |
| Céline: Exactement. C’est ce que tu aurais dû répondre Christophe. You should have said that, Christophe. |
| Christophe: Désolé. |
| Céline: Yeah, ok. No problem. So let’s go to the vocab? |
| Sam: Sounds good. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is... |
| Christophe: Monsieur. |
| Sam: Mister. |
| Christophe: Monsieur. Monsieur. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Mademoiselle. |
| Sam: Miss |
| Céline: Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Voici. |
| Sam: Here is. |
| Christophe: Voici. Voici. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Mon. |
| Sam: My, masculine possessive. |
| Céline: Mon. Mon. |
| Christophe: Ma. |
| Sam: My, feminine possessive. |
| Christophe: Ma. Ma. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Collègue |
| Sam: Colleague or coworker. |
| Céline: Collègue. Collègue. |
| Sam: And lastly. |
| Christophe: C’est. |
| Sam: It is. |
| Christophe: C’est. C’est. |
| Sam: Now let’s have a look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we’ll look at is... |
| Christophe: Voici. |
| Céline: Voici is used to show something or introduce someone. |
| Sam: Ok, that sounds pretty easy, but could you give us an example or some examples? |
| Céline: Let’s say you’re making a presentation and want to show a useless invention. One way to present it is by saying, “Voici le protège-moustache”. |
| Sam: The mustache protector? That sounds quite useless. |
| Céline: It was invented and used in the 20th century. |
| Christophe: Let’s not forget the other use of “voici”. When introducing a person to a friend as in “Céline, voici Sam, notre animateur.” |
| Sam: So what you said was “Céline, this is our host, Sam.” Ok. I got it. So guys, let’s see how that came out in the dialogue. “Voici”. Can we hear it again? |
| Céline: Exactement. Robert says, “Henri, voici ma fille Aurélie.” |
| Sam: Ah. “Robert, this is my daughter, Aurélie.” |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Oh, that’s how “voici” is used in the conversation. That makes it even clearer, I think, now. Ok. How about our next word, “mon”. |
| Christophe: Par exemple, j’ai un trou dans mon pantalon et ma culotte. |
| Sam: So, I think you said you have a hole in your pants and your underwear? |
| Céline: Ah sup… ah ça c’est parfait hein, c’est bien, bravo! |
| Christophe: Ben oui c’est ça. |
| Sam: Ok, that’s interesting. |
| Céline: Yeah. I mean, I don’t really care, but-- Ok, and in the dialogue, Robert said, “voici ma fille”. |
| Sam: Here’s my daughter. Ma fille. |
| Céline: Exactement. Ma fille. So “ma” is feminine and “mon” is masculine. “Mon collègue” |
| Sam: Ma fille. |
| Céline: Ma fille. Mon collègue. |
| Sam: Oh, ok. That was clearly illustrated. Thank you. |
| Céline: Mais, avec plaisir! |
| Sam: For my pleasure. Thank you. You’re too kind. |
| Céline: Ok, how about the last word? |
| Christophe: The last word is “collègue”. |
| Sam: An example, please. |
| Céline: Je travaille en équipe avec mes collègues de travail. |
| Christophe: I work on a team with my coworkers. |
| Sam: That’s easy. “Collègue.” “Colleague.” “Coworker.” I Got it! I think “collègue” is a masculine noun? |
| Céline: Yes. That’s why the “mon collègue”. |
| Sam: Oh! You’re quick. |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Ok, let’s move on to our grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Sam! C’est mon micro! |
| Sam: It’s your mic? I’m sure it’s your microphone. Oh, that brings us to the grammar point, right? Possession and possessives. |
| Céline: Exactement! |
| Sam: Oh, I see. Like in the story, we heard “mon collègue” and “ma fille”. |
| Céline: Oui c’est ça. When “mon” and “ma” are used, it’s definitely a mark of possession. |
| Christophe: Sure. They’re possessive adjectives. |
| Sam: So “ma” is for feminine nouns, and “mon” for masculine nouns. |
| Céline: You got it, Sam. But there’s something you should know. |
| Christophe: Yes! Of course! You can also say “mon amie Marianne” or “mon orange” or “mon idée”. |
| Sam: I don’t get it. I thought “mon” was only for masculine nouns. Ok, so when you said “mon amie Marianne”, you said “my friend, Marianne” , “mon orange”, “my orange”, “mon idée” “my idea”. But those are all feminine nouns! |
| Céline: Yes, that’s right. It would be too simple if there wasn’t any loop in the grammar rule in French. |
| Christophe: Sam, I understand your pain. “Orange” and “idée” as well as “amie” are all feminine nouns with one particularity. |
| Céline: They all start with a vowel. When nouns begin with a vowel as A, E, I, O, or Y, use “mon” instead of “ma”. |
| Sam: Interesting. And strange. |
| Christophe: Yes. It’s French language. |
Outro |
| Sam: Ok guys. I think that’s a good spot to end. |
| Céline: Tout à fait! |
| Sam: Ok. So let’s end there, so have a nice day, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Christophe: Bonne journée! |
| Céline: À bientôt! |
| Sam: See you next time. Bye-bye. |
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