Learn about French partitive articles and their use in asking for information
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Hello! Welcome back to FrenchPod101.com, “A Beer? That’s It?” Hello, Christophe. |
| Christophe: Hello, Sam! |
| Sam: Ça va? |
| Christophe: Oui! Et toi? |
| Sam: Oui plus ou moins. |
| Christophe: Et toi, Céline? |
| Céline : Oui ça va très bien, bonjour à tous! |
| Sam: Welcome back to FrenchPod101.com, guys. |
| Céline : Eh oui! |
| Sam: Yep. |
| Céline : Oh pardon je t’ai coupé. |
| Sam: Oh, you’re excited. That’s ok. We’ve got a great lesson today. It’s called “A Beer? That’s It?” |
| Céline : Oh! |
| Sam: Of course, we know... |
| Céline : Yes, because after a long day of dealing with people at work, I like to have a drink. |
| Sam: Me, too. How about you, Christophe? |
| Christophe: Well, for me, depends on where I am. |
| Céline : Ah! D’accord. |
| Sam: So let’s say you’re in Paris. You’re in downtown Paris. You finished a long day of work. What kind of drink would you have? |
| Christophe: A beer, for sure. A beer. |
| Céline : Oh, really? |
| Christophe: Yeah. |
| Céline : It depends on the situation and the temperature. |
| Sam: Oh! |
| Céline : So you would have like maybe a glass of red wine in winter. Yeah, in summer, I agree with you. A beer or a pastis. |
| Christophe: Yes. |
| Céline : But pastis is more in Marseille. |
| Christophe: Yeah, more in summer. |
| Sam: Sounds good. So cold red wine or warm red wine? |
| Céline : Not warm. Not cold. At... |
| Sam: Room temperature. |
| Céline : Room temperature. Always. |
| Sam: I always like it on the rocks, but maybe I’m strange. |
| Céline : Or you can have a Tariquet! |
| Sam: Oh, that sounds good. |
| Céline : Tariquet is really good. N’est-ce pas Christophe? |
| Christophe: Tout à fait d’accord! |
| Céline : On sent que tu aimes le Tariquet. We feel that he likes Tariquet. So maybe we can have a glass after this lesson. |
| Sam: Or two glasses. |
| Céline : But be careful, ok. L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé. |
| Sam: Yes. Too much alcohol is bad for your health. |
| Céline : D’accord. |
| Sam: How would you say “cheers”? |
| Céline : chin-chin. |
| Sam: Is that in a friendly way? |
| Céline : It’s really friendly. Or “santé”. |
| Sam: Sounds good, and I think in today’s conversation, Alice and Robert are ordering at a restaurant in the afternoon. |
| Céline : Tout à fait! |
| Sam: Ok. Shall we start? |
| Céline : Allez c’est parti! |
| Christophe: C’est parti! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Alors, une bière et un poulet frites, ce sera tout? |
| Sam: Oui. |
| Christophe: Et pour vous madame? |
| Céline : Vous avez de l’agneau? |
| Christophe: Bien sûr, avec de la salade ou des pommes dauphines? |
| Céline : De la salade. |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Céline : Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Christophe: Alors, une bière et un poulet frites, ce sera tout? |
| Sam: Oui. |
| Christophe: Et pour vous madame? |
| Céline : Vous avez de l’agneau? |
| Christophe: Bien sûr, avec de la salade ou des pommes dauphines? |
| Céline : De la salade. |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Céline : Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Christophe: Alors, une bière et un poulet frites, ce sera tout? |
| Sam: Let’s see, a beer, some chicken, and some fries. That’s it? |
| Sam: Oui. |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Christophe: Et pour vous madame? |
| Sam: And for you ma’am? |
| Céline : Vous avez de l’agneau? |
| Sam: Do you have lamb? |
| Christophe: Bien sûr, avec de la salade ou des pommes dauphines? |
| Sam: Of course, with some salad or Dauphine Potatoes? |
| Céline : De la salade. |
| Sam: Some salad. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So guys, in France, do you have happy hour? |
| Christophe: Oui. Bien sûr. |
| Céline : Of course, we have. |
| Sam: Oh? What time does it start? About? |
| Céline : It depends on the bar. It depends on the place, but maybe 7:00? I don’t know. Or maybe late, sometimes? |
| Christophe: 6:00. Sometimes 6:00, I think. |
| Sam: I think, in America, I think between 5:00 and 8:00, so about the same time. What kind of drinks are reduced during-- so like, when the price is cheaper? |
| Céline : Champagne. |
| Sam: Oh. Champagne. |
| Christophe: Beer aussi. |
| Céline : And beer, too. Yeah. |
| Sam: Champagne and beer marked down at happy hour. |
| Céline : Et Perrier. Non. |
| Sam: Ooh, Perrier. |
| Christophe: C’est quoi cette blague? |
| Céline : Mais non c’est une blague! You know Perrier, right? |
| Sam: Oh, of course! |
| Céline : It’s really good. |
| Sam: Yeah, it tastes like Coca-Cola. |
| Céline : Oh je ne crois pas hein. |
| Christophe: No, no, no. |
| Sam: Joking. Je rigole. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Céline : Ok, let’s check the vocab. |
| Sam: Ok. Sounds good. The first item is? |
| Christophe: C’est tout. |
| Sam: That’s all or that’s it. |
| Christophe: C’est tout. C’est tout. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline : Pour. |
| Sam: For. |
| Céline : Pour. Pour. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Agneau. |
| Sam: Lamb. |
| Christophe: Agneau. Agneau. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline : Salade |
| Sam: Salad. |
| Céline : Salade. Salade. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Frites. |
| Sam: In American English, French fries. In British English, chips. |
| Christophe: Frites. Frites. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline : Alors. |
| Sam: Then or well. |
| Céline : Alors. Alors. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: Pommes dauphine. |
| Sam: Dauphine Potatoes. |
| Christophe: Pommes dauphine. Pommes dauphine. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline : Bien sûr. |
| Sam: Of course, |
| Céline : Bien sûr. Bien sûr. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now let’s have a look at the vocabulary usage from this lesson. |
| Céline : The first word is “alors”. |
| Sam: I hear that word a lot among you two when you speak French. |
| Céline : Oui Sam tu as raison. We use “alors” a lot. It’s like “then” in English. |
| Sam: Yeah. |
| Céline : In the dialogue, the waiter says “alors, de la bière” like “so,” or “then”. |
| Sam: Ah. Like a hesitation device. |
| Céline : Voilà. Par exemple: Alors, tu viens au cinéma Sam? |
| Sam: You’re coming to the theater? |
| Céline : So are you coming? |
| Sam: Me? You’re asking? |
| Céline : Yeah. Oui! |
| Sam: Maybe. |
| Céline : Ok peut-être. |
| Sam: Peut-être. |
| Céline : Or you can say “bien sûr.” |
| Sam: Bien sûr. |
| Céline : And that’s a good link to our next word, “bien sûr.” |
| Sam: Of course. |
| Céline : Yes. So we use “bien sûr” a lot in French. |
| Sam: I noticed. |
| Céline : C’est vrai hein? |
| Christophe: Ouais. |
| Céline : So we have other words like “tout à fait”. |
| Christophe: “évidemment” |
| Sam: Of course. Evidently. |
| Céline : Exactement. This is my word. |
| Sam: Exactly. |
| Céline : And in the dialogue, when Alice asks “do you have some lamb.” “Bien sûr,” “Of course, we do”. |
| Christophe: The next word is “agneau.” |
| Céline : Oh! Agneau. |
| Sam: Sounds delicious. |
| Céline : C’est très très bon l’agneau. I love lamb. |
| Sam: With ketchup? |
| Céline : Non. Le gigot d’agneau. Succulent. |
| Sam: Oh, succulent. |
| Céline : Do you know gigot d’agneau? |
| Sam: Gigot d’aganeau? |
| Céline : Oui. Leg. |
| Sam: Leg of lamb! |
| Céline : Oui tout à fait! |
| Christophe: Mmm. Le gigot d’agneau! |
| Céline : And you know in summer, in France, we usually-- not usually, but sometimes. We eat “méchoui”. |
| Sam: What’s méchoui ? |
| Céline : It’s a roasted, whole lamb over fire. |
| Sam: Sounds good. |
| Céline : C’est très très bon. |
| Christophe: Oui. |
| Céline : So you have barbecue and we have méchoui. And méchoui comes from North Africa. |
| Sam: Do you have “pommes de frites” with the méchoui ? |
| Céline : We have “pommes frites.” |
| Sam: Pommes frites? |
| Céline : Ou pommes frites ou pommes dauphines. |
| Sam: Sounds good. |
| Céline : Oui. |
| Sam: With ketchup over everything. |
| Christophe: No! |
| Céline : Oh mon Dieu, c’est un sacrilège. |
| Christophe: So Sam, do you want to go to the méchoui party? |
| Sam: Bien sûr! I’ll bring the ketchup. |
| Christophe: D’accord! |
| Céline : Ok. So let’s go to the méchoui , but first let’s go on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Sounds good. C’est parti. |
| Céline : So we are going to look at the use of partitive articles. |
| Christophe: They are “du”, “de la”, “des” or “de l’ ”. They are used to indicate part of something. |
| Céline : In English, it is translated as “some”. |
| Sam: Could you give us an example please? |
| Christophe: For example, in the conversation, we have “de l’agneau,” “de la salade,” “des pommes dauphines,” “du poulet” ou encore “des frites”. |
| Céline : Tout à fait. The tricky part about this grammar point is how to distinguish between partitive articles and contracted articles. They have the same form, but are used differently. |
| Christophe: Contracted articles are used to complete a noun. As in “le stylo de la secrétaire”. |
| Sam: So guys, I don’t think it’s so difficult. For example, if we want to say “the secretary’s pen,” we would say “le stylo de la secrétaire”. So there, we’re literally saying “the pen of the secretary.” In our previous point, we’re talking about a piece or some of something. That’s the big difference between the two. |
| Céline : Tout à fait. And also you have to be careful about gender. |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Céline : For example, if it’s a masculine noun, like “poulet,” “du poulet”. If you want to say “I want some chicken,” “Je veux du poulet”. |
| Sam: You would never put “de” and “le” together. |
| Céline : Oh, no. Never. Never. We cannot do that in French. For example, if I would like some salad. “Salade” is a feminine noun. La salade. So if you want to say, “I would like some salad,” “Je voudrais de la salade”. |
| Sam: Yes, of course. |
| Céline : And if it’s plural, don’t bother. Just put “des”. |
| Sam: What if there’s a vowel in the noun? It’s “de l’ ”. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. Bravo Sam! Ok. |
| Sam: Let’s sum that again, ok? So if the item you’re talking about is masculine and you want to say “some of it,” “de” plus “le” never. It’s “du”. If it’s feminine, it’s “de la”. If it’s masculine, “des”. Remember guys with “d’”, if the word starts with a vowel, it’s always “de l’”. |
| Céline : Exactly. Masculine or a feminine noun, it’s the same. For example, eau is feminine. You would say “de l’eau”. |
| Sam: “De l’eau”: Some water. Ok. That’s pretty easy, I think. If you guys have any more questions, feel free to look at the PDF or send us a question or comment. We’d be happy to write you back. |
| Céline : So, I think it’s the end. |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Christophe: Oui, c’est la fin de la leçon. |
| Céline : So we are going to enjoy the méchoui ! |
| Christophe: Oui! |
| Sam: Let’s go get some lamb and some beer. |
| Christophe: Yeah! |
| Céline : Oui de l’agneau et de la bière. |
| Sam: With some ketchup! |
| Christophe: Non. |
| Céline : Et du ketchup… pourquoi pas de la mayonnaise? |
| Christophe: Ah oui de la bonne mayonnaise faite maison. |
| Céline : Homemade mayonnaise. |
| Sam: With eggs, and vinegar? |
| Céline : Yes and… et de l’huile! |
| Sam: And mustard? |
| Céline : Et de la moutarde. |
| Sam: Sounds good. |
| Céline : C’est bon. allez on y va! |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Céline : But I forgot something. |
| Christophe: What? |
| Sam: Go ahead. |
| Céline : No. I mean, I can’t wrap up. This is Sam’s job. Come on. |
Outro |
| Sam: Alrighty. Well, that’s a good place to end today’s lesson. I’ve got a nice juicy piece of lamb sitting next to me. Until next time! |
| Céline : Merci! À bientôt! |
| Christophe: À bientôt! Au revoir! |
| Sam: Au revoir. |
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