Learn how to ask, "Who is that?"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Sylvain: Bonjour! Je m’appelle Sylvain. |
| Céline: Et moi c’est Céline. |
| Sam: Sam here. “Wow, Pretty Hot.” Hello, my name’s Sam and I’m joined here by... |
| Sylvain: Sylvain. |
| Sam: And... |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Sam: Comment ça va? |
| Sylvain: Très bien. |
| Céline: Euh… ça va, mais je suis un peu malade. |
| Sam: That’s too bad. |
| Sylvain: Pauvre Céline! |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Well, anyway. Here we take a broad approach to the language, emphasizing listening comprehension, speech, grammar, vocab and usage. |
| Sylvain: With that you learn to speak French in a fun and interesting way. |
| Sam: So join us for this lesson of FrenchPod101.com. |
| Céline: By the way, Sam, I have a surprise for you. |
| Sam: Surprise? And what’s the surprise? |
| Céline: I will rest while Alex will play Robert, and Christophe will play the co-worker. Ok. That’s not a big surprise. |
| Sam: It’s a surprise to me. Well, anyway, this conversation takes place between two people at a party. One guy has noticed a beautiful young lady in the crowd. Clever Robert will be played by Alex, and his co-worker will be played by Christophe. |
| Sylvain: A tout de suite! After my third minute nap. |
| Céline: Yes. Me, too. I’m going to take a nap. |
| Sam: Three minute nap? Why didn’t you guys sleep last night? |
| Sylvain: We had some football thing. |
| Sam: Soccer? |
| Céline: Exactement. Soccer. |
| Sam: Ok. Well, anyway, shall we start, guys? |
| Céline: Yeah, allez c’est parti. |
| Sylvain: Let’s go. |
| Sam: Let’s go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Woaw! |
| Alex: Excuse-moi, je ne comprends rien! |
| Christophe: Qui est-ce? |
| Alex: Ben, qui? |
| Christophe: La jolie fille, là! |
| Alex: Ben, c’est ma fille! |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Christophe: Woaw! |
| Alex: Excuse-moi, je ne comprends rien! |
| Christophe: Qui est-ce? |
| Alex: Ben, qui? |
| Christophe: La jolie fille, là! |
| Alex: Ben, c’est ma fille! |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Christophe: Woaw! |
| Sam: Oh wow! |
| Alex: Excuse-moi, je ne comprends rien! |
| Sam: Excuse me, I don’t understand a thing! |
| Christophe: Qui est-ce? |
| Sam: Who is she? |
| Alex: Ben, qui? |
| Sam: Hmm, who? |
| Christophe: La jolie fille, là! |
| Sam: The pretty girl over there! |
| Alex: Ben, c’est ma fille! |
| Sam: That’s my daughter! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: Hey it seems like that co-worker’s into Robert’s daughter, huh? |
| Sylvain: Yeah. |
| Céline: Eh oui! Parce qu’elle est jolie. |
| Sylvain: Elle est belle. |
| Sam: Because she’s nice and beautiful, of course. |
| Sylvain: Did you have some time mistake recognizing somebody? |
| Sam: Have I ever mistaken somebody for someone else? Not so often. I’m pretty good with names and faces. |
| Sylvain: That’s good. Good for you. |
| Céline: Yeah. |
| Sylvain: I had one time an experience. Somebody suddenly stopped me and said “Igor!” He was completely mistaken. |
| Céline: Igor? |
| Sylvain: Igor! |
| Céline: Igor-r. |
| Sam: Maybe you looked like Igor, his friend. |
| Sylvain: Hello, Igor. |
| Céline: I told you you looked like a viking! Viking. Sorry. |
| Sylvain: Yeah, yeah. When I was young, I had longer hair. |
| Céline: That’s great! |
| Sam: I’ve been mistaken for a famous actor before. |
| Céline: Who? Denzel Snipes? |
| Sam: Yeah yeah I’ve been mistaken for Denzel Snipes before. Somebody wanted my autograph, actually. But it would be worth twice as much next year. Two times nothing. |
| Céline: For example, we are in France, and you think you recognize somebody in the street. So what would you say in French? |
| Sylvain: Comment ça va? |
| Céline: Just like that? Straightaway? Comment ça va? |
| Sylvain: Bien sûr! And when you don’t remember the name of the guy or the girl, you say-- the other person says, “Et toi, comment ça va?” and you never use names. |
| Céline: Yeah, that’s true. Sometimes you meet somebody and the person doesn’t know your name. But that happens everywhere. |
| Sam: That’s ok if the-- It seems ok, if the lady forgets the guy’s name, but if it’s vice-versa, some ladies get angry about that. Especially if you call them the wrong name. |
| Céline: Oh yes! |
| Sylvain: Sophie; Martha, Joséphine… |
| Céline: Exactly, for me every-- not everyone, but usually people, they call me “Cécile.” |
| Sam: Cécile? |
| Céline: Yeah, instead of Céline. Yeah that makes me feel angry. |
| Sam: Why? |
| Céline: Because my name is Céline. It’s not Cécile. |
| Sam: I understand. |
| Céline: Voilà. So why don’t we jump into the vocab? |
| Sylvain: Good idea. |
| Sam: That sounds like a hot idea. |
| Céline: C’est parti. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is... |
| Sylvain: Qui. |
| Sam: Who. |
| Sylvain: Qui. Qui. |
| Sam: Next is a phrase. |
| Céline: Qui est-ce? |
| Sam: Who is it? |
| Céline: Qui est-ce? Qui est-ce? |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain: La. |
| Sam: Which is “the,” feminine. |
| Sylvain: La. La. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Jolie. |
| Sam: Pretty. |
| Céline: Jolie. Jolie. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain: Fille. |
| Sam: “Fille” means “girl” or “daughter”. |
| Sylvain: Fille. Fille. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: C’est. |
| Sam: It is. |
| Céline: C’est. C’est. |
| Sam: And our last item is? |
| Sylvain: Ma. |
| Sam: My, which is a feminine possessive. |
| Sylvain: Ma. Ma. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sylvain: Let’s have a look at the usage of some words. The first we will look at is “qui”. |
| Céline: Qui. Qui est invité? Who is invited? |
| Sylvain: “Qui” is an interrogative pronoun to ask about people. |
| Sam: Ok. The next item is: |
| Céline: Jolie. Pretty. |
| Sam: Je suis joli. |
| Sylvain: Um, yes! |
| Céline: That sounds a little bit weird. As a man you would say “je suis mignon”. |
| Sylvain: Where it’s, literally, “I am handsome.” “Jolie” is an adjective used for feminine items. |
| Sam: Do you mean you treat objects like women? |
| Céline: No, no, no. |
| Sylvain: No, no, no. |
| Céline: No, no, no, no. Don’t be confused. For a feminine person or feminine things. |
| Sam: Ah, ok. |
| Sylvain: The next word is “c’est”. |
| Sam: An example please with “c’est”? |
| Céline: C’est une leçon amusante. It’s a fun lesson. “C’est” is used to identify a simple thing or person. |
| Sam: A single thing or person? |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Sylvain: Or show something with the finger. |
| Céline: C’est. because… I mean… |
| Sam: Oh, ok. That’s easy. |
| Céline: I mean, just one. Single. |
| Sam: I understand. |
| Céline: Voilà. So to conclude our vocab usage, the last word is “ma”. |
| Sam: My. To express possession, but it’s used with a masculine item? |
| Sylvain: It’s a possessive adjective that goes in front of feminine nouns. |
| Sam: Ah! Thanks for that. I got you. |
| Céline: voilà. Like in the dialogue, “ma fille”. |
| Sam: Which means “my girl” or sometimes “my daughter”. |
| Céline: Yeah. Which means “my daughter” actually. |
| Sam: Can you say “my girl”? Is that polite? Should you say “ma femme” or? “My lady”, “my woman”? |
| Sylvain: That’s complex. |
| Céline: I don’t think so. With “fille” is used only with parents. I mean only parents use it. If you want to say “my girl” it’s different. How would you say “my girl” in French? |
| Sylvain: That’s the difficult part. You know… |
| Céline: Ah bon? Ok. |
| Sylvain: Because we have “ma fiancée”, “ma petite amie”... |
| Céline: Voilà. |
| Sylvain: … “ma concubine”, “ma copine”, ma… |
| Sam: Ah, it depends on the level of the relationship. |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Ah, I got you. |
| Céline: Mon amie. |
| Sam: Mon amie. Let’s save that for another lesson. How about that? |
| Sylvain: yeah yeah yeah, exactement. |
| Céline: Voilà. Bravo. Donc je pense qu’on est prêts pour la grammaire. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Ok, let’s move on to some grammar. So guys, I think it was mentioned earlier that “qui” is used to ask about people. |
| Sylvain: C’est bien ça. That’s it. Questions with “qui” is the grammar point today. |
| Sam: Can you remind me what is the question with “qui” again? |
| Sylvain: Qui est-ce? |
| Céline: Who is it? Obviously, this question is to ask about someone’s identity, but there’s something you should know. There are three forms for this question. |
| Sylvain: Three? |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sylvain: Ok. |
| Céline: “Qui est-ce?” is the most polite form. It is sometimes used-- Oh, I’m sorry. My voice-- Sometimes used even among friends. It adds a sort of aristocratic flavor. |
| Sylvain: Polite flavor. |
| Céline: Aristocrate. |
| Sylvain: Qui est-ce? |
| Céline: So especially with a certain intonation, like Sylvain, it would be as in family where parents and kids use “vous” for extreme respect. |
| Sam: Is that common? |
| Sylvain: Yes and no. |
| Céline: It depends. Not in the middle class, and I guess not that much anymore in higher classes, but before it was yes. I’m sure there are still a few families maintaining the tradition. |
| Sam: Ah. I got you. |
| Céline: Then there’s “qui c’est?” which is considered standard French, neither informal, neither formal. |
| Sylvain: What do you think, Sam? |
| Sam: That’s interesting. I have a question, but maybe I’ll ask it next time. |
| Céline: No, no, no. If you have a question you have to ask because if you have a question that means that the listeners have a question. |
| Sam: Ah! You’re right. And I remember in school, our teachers taught us the only dumb questions are the ones that aren’t asked. |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Can you say “qui est-ce qui”, is that strange? |
| Sylvain: Qui est-ce qui est assis sur cette chaise? You can say it. |
| Céline: But that’s different. The point here is “Who is it?”, “qui est-ce?” |
| Sylvain: The same question, but with three different grammar structures. But “qui est-ce qui” is a relative sentence introduced in it, then it’s a completely different thing. |
| Sam: Ah. Ok. So maybe we should leave that alone for now. Maybe another time. |
| Sylvain: It’s nice anyway. |
| Céline: No, but it’s good. So, and finally, the third form “c’est qui?”. This is really informal. |
| Sylvain: C’est qui? |
| Céline: C’est qui? |
| Sylvain: C’est qui là-bas? |
| Sam: It’s like saying “Who?” |
| Céline: Who’s that? |
| Sam: Or who’s that? |
| Céline: Exactement. So ok, why don’t we just recap the three forms? |
| Sylvain: Oui. |
| Céline: The first one, “qui est-ce”? |
| Sam: Qui est-ce? |
| Sylvain: Qui est-ce? |
| Céline: The most polite form. The second one, “Qui c’est?”. And the last one “C’est qui?” |
| Sylvain: C’est qui? |
| Sam: That’s a mouthful. That’s interesting. So what’s the safest and easiest structure for our listeners to use if they’re not sure? |
| Céline: It’s the second form. Qui c’est? |
| Sam: Qui c’est? |
| Sylvain: I will be choosing the first one. “Qui est-ce que”? It’s more difficult, but... |
| Céline: Qui est-ce? Qui est-ce? |
| Sylvain: Qui est-ce? Qui est-ce? The more polite you are, the more secure you are. |
| Sam: Ok. The more polite, the better sometimes. |
| Céline: That’s true. |
Outro |
| Céline: So that’s the end of today’s lesson. |
| Sam: Oh, no! That’s the end already? |
| Céline: Yeah, yeah, my voice is so down. |
| Sylvain: (singing) This is the end, my friend… |
| Sam: That’s ok, but we’ll be back for more. So that does it for today’s lesson. So have a nice day, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Sylvain: Goodbye! |
| Céline: Au revoir! |
| Sylvain: Au revoir! |
| Sam: Au revoir! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide