Learn how to use the formal and informal French forms of tu and vous when speaking
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Céline: Bonjour je m’appelle Céline. |
| Sylvain: Et moi c’est Sylvain. |
| Sam: Sam here. Bonjour à tous! |
| Céline: Bonjour! |
| Sylvain: Bonjour! |
| Céline: So, I'm Céline and in the back making some masticating noises is Sylvain. |
| Sylvain: As you may not know, it's early in the morning, and without a croissant, my morning cannot begin. I am Sylvain. |
| Sam: Ok guys, let's get into today's lesson. This conversation takes place between Julie Dupond and Robert Martin who are meeting for the first time. |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sylvain: I will be Robert Martin. |
| Céline: Ok, and I'll be Julie Dupond. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Enchantée, Monsieur Martin. |
| Sylvain: Moi aussi. |
| Céline: Au revoir. |
| Sylvain: Bonne journée, Madame Dupond. |
| Sam: One more time, slowly. |
| Céline: Ok, c’est parti, plus lentement. |
| Céline: Enchantée, Monsieur Martin. |
| Sylvain: Moi aussi. |
| Céline: Au revoir. |
| Sylvain: Bonne journée, Madame Dupond. |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Céline: Enchantée, Monsieur Martin. Nice to meet you, Mr. Martin. |
| Sylvain: Moi aussi. Me, too. |
| Céline: Au revoir. Bye. |
| Sylvain: Bonne journée, Madame Dupond. Have a good day, Mrs. Dupont. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So guys, that conversation was very short. |
| Céline: Yeah, I think so, too. |
| Sylvain: It was a fast meeting. |
| Céline: Yep. |
| Sylvain: Too short for me. |
| Céline: What would you say, Sylvain? |
| Sylvain: What would I say? |
| Céline: Yeah, after, for example, "Enchanté." "Mademoiselle" ? |
| Sylvain: "Moi aussi," it's ok, but, for example, if you have a higher level of conversation, "Enchanté," I will say "Moi de même," "Me too." |
| Céline: Yeah. That's true. I would say the same. |
| Sam: You can also say "Enchanté" back. |
| Sylvain: Yeah. You have a good point also. For example, we can say. "Enchanté." We can repeat "Enchanté" back to the person. |
| Sam: I think, also, too, if someone says "Enchanté" to you, if you say "Salut," for example, maybe that's not good. |
| Sylvain: Not good at all, I think. |
| Sam: It's too casual. |
| Céline: That's true. |
| Sylvain: The level of language is different. |
| Céline: Yeah, I think so too. So how about, “vous voulez prendre un verre”? |
| Sylvain: Hmm, bonne idée! |
| Céline: Are you ready for a drink? |
| Sylvain: Yes! Good idea. |
| Sam: Sounds like a good idea to me. Let's have a drink. |
| Sylvain: Let's have a drink. What do we drink? |
| Sam: Water, of course. |
| Céline: Oh, what?! |
| Sam: Yes! Ooh, I love water. |
| Céline: How about French wine? |
| Sam: Too early. |
| Céline: It's never too early for French wine. |
| Sam: Maybe later on. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Let's take a look at the vocab and the phrases from this lesson. First phrase. |
| Céline: Enchanté. |
| Sam: Pleased. Nice to meet you. |
| Céline: Enchanté. Enchanté. |
| Sam: Next phrase. |
| Céline: Bonne journée. |
| Sam: Have a good day. |
| Céline: Bonne journée. Bonne journée. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Au revoir! |
| Sam: Bye! |
| Céline: Au revoir. Au revoir! |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Salut. |
| Sam: Bye! or Hi. |
| Céline: Salut. Salut. |
| Sam: Next |
| Céline: Connaître. |
| Sam: To know people. |
| Céline: Connaître. Connaître. |
| Sam: Next |
| Céline: Content. Contente. |
| Sam: The first was the masculine form of content. The second was the feminine form of content. |
| Céline: Content. Contente. Content. Contente |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Moi. |
| Sam: Me. |
| Céline: Moi. Moi |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Aussi. |
| Sam: Also. |
| Céline: Aussi. Aussi. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Journée. |
| Sam: Day. |
| Céline: Journée. Journée. |
| Sam: Next phrase. |
| Céline: Moi aussi. |
| Sam: Me, too. |
| Céline: Moi aussi. Moi aussi. |
| Sam: Next phrase. |
| Céline: À bientôt! |
| Sam: See you soon. |
| Céline: À bientôt. À bientôt! |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Céline: Ok. Let's have a look at the usage from some of the words. We will see two phrases |
| Sylvain: "Moi de même" and "Moi aussi." |
| Sam: Céline, let's see an example. |
| Sylvain: J’aime les croissants. It is not Céline. It is Sylvain. |
| Sam: Oh, sorry, Sylvain. |
| Céline: J’aime les croissants. |
| Sam: I love croissants. |
| Céline: Moi aussi. |
| Sam: Moi aussi. Oops! I forgot to translate "moi aussi." Me, too. |
| Céline: In negative tenses, "moi aussi" turns into "moi non plus." |
| Sylvain: Je n’aime pas les araignées. |
| Sam: I don't like spiders. |
| Céline: Moi non plus. |
| Sam: Me, neither. Then what is the difference between "moi aussi" and "moi de même?” |
| Céline: "Moi de même" is really formal. |
| Sylvain: Let's have an example. |
| Céline: Enchantée, Monsieur Sylvain. |
| Sylvain: Moi de mêmeme. Quite simple. You just have to repeat after the "Enchanté" the "moi de même." |
| Céline: So then I used "Monsieur Sylvain" so that was formal. And now... |
| Céline: Enchantée, Sylvain. |
| Sylvain: Moi aussi. |
| Céline: See the difference? Ok. Let's have a look at two similar phrases. |
| Sylvain: "au revoir" et "à bientôt" |
| Sam: Céline, can we see some examples of "au revoir" and “à bientôt"? |
| Céline: Ok, “Il est tard, je rentre à la maison. Au revoir!” |
| Sylvain: It's late. I go back home. See you! |
| Sam: Is "à bientôt" more casual than "au revoir"? |
| Céline: Yes exactly. Let's add something. If, for example, you have to come back immediately from here, here you are-- you will say, "à tout de suite", "à tout de suite". |
| Sylvain: Alors, donc, for an example de, "à tout de suite", je… je… je sors du studio. |
| Céline: A tout de suite! |
| Sam: I'm leaving. I'll see you very soon. Where's he going? |
| Céline: Bathroom, I guess. |
| Sam: Céline, now it's just the two of us, can I ask you a question? |
| Céline: Yeah, sure. |
| Sam: When you part company with your friends in France, do you give them a kiss on the cheek? |
| Céline: Of course! Always. |
| Sam: How about a hug? |
| Céline: Yeah, a hug is maybe with family. But you know, I'm a woman. Women usually, in France, they kiss. But if you don't know-- I mean, you don't kiss your boss. Never. |
| Sam: Oh, I understand. |
| Céline: Or he looks like Olivier Martinez — He's the French Brad Pitt. |
| Sam: Oh! |
| Céline: But in France also, if the person is not a close friend or the family, we shake hands. But it really depends. |
| Sam: I understand. It's similar to the United States. If you're not sure you can shake hands. |
| Céline: Yeah. |
| Sam: That's always safe. |
| Céline: Exactly. |
| Sam: Well, perfect. That wraps it up for the vocabulary usage. |
| Sylvain: Hello, I'm back. |
| Céline: Hey, Sylvain. How was your meeting? |
| Sylvain: Busy. |
| Céline: Oh mon Dieu! |
| Sylvain: You want to details? |
| Céline: Non merci. Non merci. |
| Sylvain: Ok. |
| Céline: Ok. Last phrase. Bonne journée. |
| Sylvain: Bonne journée. |
| Sam: "Bonne journée" is quite similar to the English expression "Have a good day." |
| Céline: Ok, let's see an example. |
| Céline: Bonne journée, Sam. |
| Sam: Bonne journée, Céline. |
| Sylvain: Bonne journée à tous les deux. Have a nice day to you both. |
| Céline: Merci! |
| Sam: Thank you. |
| Céline: Do you usually say, "Have a nice day," in America? |
| Sam: Sure. All the time. When you're parting company, "Have a nice day." |
| Sylvain: That will be a nice transition to the grammatical part. |
| Céline: Yes! |
| Sylvain: Yes. We will see when we say "bonjour" or "bonsoir" and so on. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Ok, so different ways to say goodbye in French and hello. |
| Sylvain: Let's see it now. |
| Céline: In a formal situation, Sylvain? |
| Sylvain: In the morning or in the afternoon, you can use for a greeting, "Bonjour." In the evening or at night, you can use for a greeting "Bonsoir." |
| Céline: Ok, for the farewell, it's more complicated. |
| Sam: In the morning... |
| Céline: "Bonne journée." |
| Sam: In the afternoon... |
| Sylvain: "Bonne après-midi" |
| Sam: In the evening... |
| Céline: "Bonne soirée" or "Bonsoir." |
| Sam: At night... |
| Sylvain: "Bonne nuit." |
| Sam: Also, we can use "au revoir" all day long as a farewell. |
| Sylvain: And in the informal situation, as a greeting and as a farewell as well, we use... |
| Sam: "Salut!" |
| Céline: Salut! Exactly. In France, we also use "Ciao!" like Italian. |
| Sylvain: That's right. "Ciao. Ciao." And sometimes, as I said before, we add "allez" when we use "salut" for farewell. "Allez salut." |
| Céline: Allez salut. |
| Sam: Salut! Hey, can I ask you a question? |
| Céline: Sure. |
| Sylvain: We're up for that. |
| Sam: If someone says, "Salut," and you say "Bonjour," is that ok? |
| Céline: It's perfect. |
| Sylvain: No problem, I think. |
| Céline: Yeah, yeah. It's no problem at all. "Bonjour," it's formal and informal. Yeah, you can use it "bonjour" and "salut" at the same time. It's no problem. |
| Sylvain: I would like just to add that in French, one of the more important thing is not the word that you say, but the tone of your voice. |
| Céline: That's true. |
| Sylvain: For example, I will be the unpolite employee, and Céline will be the boss. |
| Sam: Ok, let's hear it. |
| Sylvain: Salut. |
| Céline: Bonjour. |
| Sylvain: She's telling me, "Please, be polite with me. I'm the boss." In all of this. |
| Céline: Yeah, the tone and the intonation in French is really important. |
| Sylvain: You maybe sometimes mean the opposite of what you say. |
| Sam: So guys, with your boss, you don't give them a kiss on the cheek? |
| Céline: No. |
| Sylvain: No way! |
| Sam: Why? |
| Céline: Just because, he or she is your boss. |
| Sam: Oh, I understand. |
| Sylvain: Good explanation! |
| Sam: That's a good reason. |
| Céline: Yeah! |
| Sam: Is there a special phrase for the greeting and farewell kiss on the cheek in French? |
| Sylvain: Faire la bise. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Faire la bise. |
| Céline &Sylvain: Faire la bise. |
| Céline &Sam: Faire la bise. |
| Sylvain: And for a kiss, "un bisou" |
| Sam: Un bisou. |
| Céline: Bisou. |
| Sylvain: Bisou. |
| Sam: I think in English, you would say a kiss, but for the kiss on the cheek, I don't think there's such a custom in America. |
| Sylvain: I don't know. There is traditions of hugs. Free hugs. |
| Sam: Sometimes people give a small kiss. It depends on your relationship with the person. |
| Sylvain: Yeah. |
| Sam: Yeah. |
| Céline: Yeah, and that's interesting because in France, in some parts, you kiss four times. |
| Sylvain: And in some other place, you kiss three times. |
| Céline: Yeah. |
| Sylvain: Or two times. And when you meet someone, you never know how much kisses you have to do to the person. |
| Sam: Oh wow. |
| Sylvain: Between French people. You know? |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sylvain: And from one cheek... |
| Céline: So you can cheat. So you can say, "Oh, no, no. I won't..." |
| Sam: Is there a safe number? |
| Céline: Yeah. Two. |
| Sam: Two. One and one. |
| Céline: One and one. |
| Sylvain: Yeah, but the usual rule is in cities, less kiss than in the countryside. |
| Sam: That's a good point. |
| Sylvain: But one other Cornelian question. From which kiss-- from which cheek begun? |
| Sam: Is it left to right? |
| Sylvain: Yeah. Just imagine two people, girl and boy, having hesitation... |
| Céline: Yeah. Yeah. That happened to me yesterday, actually. Yes, we almost kissed on the lips. |
| Sylvain: Was it the Brad Pitt, Olivier guy? |
| Céline: No. He was quite handsome. |
| Sylvain: Yeah, those kinds of situations can be a good introduction to something else. Ok, let's forget about it. |
Outro |
| Céline: Ok, so this is the end of today's lesson. |
| Sam: See you soon. |
| Céline: A bientôt! Merci! |
| Sylvain: A bientôt! |
| Sam: A bientôt! |
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