Learn how to use your French language skills to ask how much something costs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam : Hello and welcome back to FrenchPod101.com. I'm joined here by my two friends... |
| Alex: Bonjour c’est Alexandre. |
| Sam : And... |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Sam : Well, I think they're my friends. No, I'm joking. They're my friends. |
| Céline: Bien sûr. |
| Alex: Of course! |
| Sam : “How Much?” So, before we get started, what's the backdrop for today's lesson? |
| Alex: The focus of this lesson is to ask about prices. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. This dialogue follows the previous one and takes place in the subway where a man continues his conversation with Julie, asking for subway ticket prices. |
| Sam : Ok. So is this going to be formal French or informal French, Alex? |
| Alex: They will be speaking formally. |
| Sam : Oh, ok. So let's get into today's conversation. |
| Céline: C’est parti! |
| Sam: On y va! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Alex: Combien coûte le ticket Paris-visite? |
| Céline: Ça fait vingt-sept euros cinquante! |
| Alex: Deux tickets, s’il vous plaît. |
| Céline: Ça fait cinquante-cinq euros s'il vous plaît! |
| Sam : One more time, slowly. |
| Alex: Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Alex: Combien coûte le ticket Paris-visite? |
| Céline: Ça fait vingt-sept euros cinquante! |
| Alex: Deux tickets, s’il vous plaît. |
| Céline: Ça fait cinquante-cinq euros s'il vous plaît! |
| Sam : One more time with the English. |
| Alex: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Alex: Combien coûte le ticket Paris-visite? |
| Sam : How much is the ticket Paris Visite? |
| Céline: Ça fait vingt-sept euros cinquante! |
| Sam : It’s 27.50 Euros, please! |
| Alex: Deux tickets, s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam : Two tickets, please. |
| Céline: Ça fait cinquante-cinq euros s'il vous plaît! |
| Sam : It’s 55.00 Euros please! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam : So guys, when you're traveling around Paris, are there any special offers for tickets or monthly passes? |
| Alex: Yeah. If you're going to be in Paris for a month, you can get the monthly pass, allowing you unlimited trips on the subway. |
| Céline: Yes, and also on busses and trains in Paris. |
| Sam : Ok. Now, can tourists and French citizens get this special pass? |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Sam : Oh! Great. |
| Alex: I think you can even order it, now, via internet. Before you got France even, you know, you can get it. |
| Sam : Wow. You can do everything on the internet now, can't you? |
| Alex: Incredible. |
| Céline: C’est vrai. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam : Ok. Now, let's look at the vocabulary and phrases from this lovely lesson. The first item is? |
| Céline: Euros. |
| Sam : Euros. |
| Céline: Euros. Euros. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Alex: Coûter. |
| Sam : To cost. |
| Alex: Coûter. Coûter. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Céline: Combien. |
| Sam : How much. |
| Céline: Combien. Combien. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Alex: Ça fait. |
| Sam : It costs. |
| Alex: Ça fait. Ça fait. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Céline: Ticket. |
| Sam : Ticket. |
| Céline: Ticket. Ticket. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Alex: Deux. |
| Sam : Two. |
| Alex: Deux. Deux. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Céline: Vingt-sept. |
| Sam : Twenty-seven. |
| Céline: Vingt-sept. Vingt-sept. |
| Sam : Next. |
| Alex: Cinquante. |
| Sam : Fifty. |
| Alex: Cinquante. Cinquante. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam : Now let's take a look at how some of these words and phrases are used in the conversation. |
| Céline: Oui, Sam. The first word is "coûter." This verb is "to cost" in English. |
| Alex: "Coûter" belongs to the regular verbs. Par exemple: ça coûte 5 euros. |
| Sam : This cost five Euros. |
| Alex: Voilà ! |
| Céline: Tout à fait, and in the dialogue, the man asks, "Combien coûtre le ticket Paris-visite?" |
| Sam : How much is a Paris visit ticket? |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Sam : Great. |
| Céline: You can also ask, "Combien ça fait?" |
| Sam : How much is this? |
| Céline: Oui. So next word is... Alex? |
| Alex: Ça fait. |
| Sam : This costs. |
| Alex: In this phrase, even though the verb "faire," meaning "do" or "make" is conjugated, the expression is about indicating a price. |
| Céline: In the dialogue, Julie says, "Ça va vingt-sept euros cinquante." She could have said "Ça coûte vingt-sept euros cinquante." |
| Sam : And both of those basically mean this ticket costs twenty-seven point five Euros. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Sam : Ok. The next word is vingt-sept. |
| Alex: Well, actually it is a number. Number vingt-sept. It is the occasion to remind you that all the numbers under a hundred take a dash between each word. Donc entre “vingt” et “sept” you have a dash. Vingt-sept. |
| Céline: On a lighter note there's a controversy in France about part of this number. |
| Sam : On twenty or seven? |
| Céline: It is the number 20 by itself. Some people pronounce the last "t" and others don't. |
| Alex: For example, some say "vingte" and some say "vingt". What do you say, Céline? |
| Céline: Moi je dis “vingt”. |
| Alex: Moi aussi, moi je dis “vingt”. |
| Céline: Like wine. |
| Alex: But I think, it's original habit more than anything else right? |
| Sam : Yeah, such as "Po-tae-to, Po-tA-to." Shall we move on to some grammar? |
| Alex: Bien sûr! |
| Sam : Ok. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Today's grammar point is "how much." To give or ask for the price of things you want to buy, you have to use the verb "coûter" or "faire." |
| Alex: "Faire" has many meanings and can be used in many situations. It's as versatile as the verb "to do" in English. "Coûter" has a specific definition about indicating the financial value of something. |
| Céline: Combien ça coûte? |
| Sam : How much is it? |
| Alex: Or "Combien ça fait? |
| Sam : How much is it? |
| Céline: Ca coûte deux euros cinquante. |
| Sam : It's two and a half Euros. |
| Alex: Ca fait deux euros cinquante. |
| Sam: It's two and a half Euros. |
| Alex: Combien can also be used to ask for the quantity of something, as in: Combien de poissons rouges tu as? |
| Sam : How many goldfish do you have? |
| Alex: In this context, its English equivalent is "how many" or "how much." |
| Céline: Also you use "combien d' " for a noun that starts with a vowel. |
| Sam : Ok. That's a good point there and easy to remember. |
| Céline: Voilà. |
| Alex: Give us an example, Céline, please. |
| Céline: Combien d’argent tu as? |
| Sam : How much money do you have? |
| Alex: Rien. |
| Sam : Nothing? Ok. And how much time do we have left for this lesson? I think that's it. |
| Céline: Bravo! Combien de temps nous avons pour la leçon? |
| Sam : We're finished. |
| Céline: On a fini. |
| Sam : Ok. |
| Alex: Déjà? |
| Céline: Oui déjà! |
| Sam : Already! |
| Céline: Alex tu es triste?! |
| Alex: Oui. |
Outro |
| Sam : But no fear. We've got many more lessons to come. So until next time. |
| Céline: Merci Sam! |
| Alex: Merci à tous! A la prochaine! |
| Sam : Merci. A la prochaine. |
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