Learn how to use the French possessive adjectives mon an ma to claim possession of something Then we will talk a little about the French TV series, Un gars, une fille
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: “How to have to love.” Céline, what’s the focus of today’s lesson? |
| Céline: Well, the focus of this lesson is the possessive adjectives. |
| Sam: Okay, sounds good. And where does the conversation take place? |
| Céline: It takes place in a honeymoon and is between Julie and Marc. |
| Sam: Okay, they’re newlyweds. Shall we start? |
| Céline: Oui! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Male 1: Ma chérie... |
| Céline: Mon amour? |
| Male 1: Nous sommes ensemble! |
| Céline: Mes deux amours, toi et le chocolat! |
| Sam: Now, let’s try that again, slowly. |
| Male 1: Ma chérie... |
| Céline: Mon amour? |
| Male 1: Nous sommes ensemble! |
| Céline: Mes deux amours, toi et le chocolat! |
| Sam: Now, let’s try that with the English. |
| Male 1: Ma chérie... |
| Male 2: “My darling.” |
| Céline: Mon amour? |
| Male 2: “My love.” |
| Male 1: Nous sommes ensemble! |
| Male 2: “We are together.” |
| Céline: Mes deux amours, toi et le chocolat! |
| Male 2: “My two loves, you and chocolate.” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Céline: So, Sam, do you know the French expression “être chocolat”? |
| Sam: Yeah, it means “to be chocolate”. |
| Céline: No, it means “somebody takes you for a ride”. |
| Sam: I understand. |
| Céline: So, you’ve been fooled. |
| Sam: Being fooled? |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Can I ask a question? |
| Céline: Bien sûr. Of course. |
| Sam: Do French people love chocolate? |
| Céline: Oh oui! We always eat chocolate. Black, milk, praline. |
| Sam: Pralines. |
| Céline: Yes. We offer as a gift to friends or relatives. If you’re invited to a nice dinner, you should buy a chocolate box. But try to get good ones. |
| Sam: Should I buy chocolate or is the box made of chocolate? |
| Céline: No, chocolates. |
| Sam: Okay. Where can we get good chocolate? |
| Céline: Well, Switzerland for milk and black, Belgium for black and pralines. |
| Sam: Pralines. |
| Céline: And France for black. You know, Sam, we have in southern France some fantastic chocolate “artisans”, and I really recommend it to buy from them, they’re so delicious. |
| Sam: “Artisans”? What’s that? |
| Céline: It’s, you know, small shops and handmade chocolate, not factory made. |
| Sam: Like a small, cozy shop. |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Wow, delicious, I bet. Well, my dear Céline, that sounds fantastic. I’m sorry but we have to taste some vocab and phrases now. |
| Céline: Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Now, let’s take a look at some of the vocabulary from this lesson. The first item is? |
| Céline: Ma. |
| Sam: “My” - feminine. |
| Céline: Ma. Ma. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Mon. |
| Sam: “My” - masculine. |
| Céline: Mon. Mon. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Mes. |
| Sam: “My” - plural. |
| Céline: Mes. Mes. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Chéri(e). |
| Sam: “Honey” or “darling”. |
| Céline: Chéri(e). Chéri(e). |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Amour. |
| Sam: “Love”. |
| Céline: Amour. Amour. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Chocolat. |
| Sam: “Chocolate”. |
| Céline: Chocolat. Chocolat. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Ensemble. |
| Sam: “Together”. |
| Céline: Ensemble. Ensemble. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now, let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the items from this lesson. |
| Céline: So the first phrase is “ma chérie”, “ma chérie” and it’s the first line of our dialogue. It means? |
| Sam: “My darling.” |
| Céline: Yes. “chéri(e)” can be used as a noun as illustrated here or an adjective as “ma femme chérie”, “my darling wife”, “chéri” is widely used among couples to get your partner’s attention. Another way to call your future spouse is to use “amour” as in “mon amour”. Can you try, Sam? |
| Sam: Mon amour. |
| Céline: Bien! So this phrase means “my love”. That’s very sweet, right? |
| Sam: Yes, it is. That is very sweet. How about for a girl you’re just dating? |
| Céline: Ma puce. |
| Sam: Literally “my [flea]”. |
| Céline: Mon coeur. |
| Sam: “My heart”. |
| Céline: Ma biche. |
| Sam: “My doe”. |
| Céline: Ma crevette. |
| Sam: “My shrimp”. |
| Céline: Or “bébé”. |
| Sam: “Baby”. |
| Céline: Exactement, to women only. |
| Sam: Oh, I understand. So, Céline, can you give us the French for those just one more time? |
| Céline: Ma puce. |
| Sam: Literally, “my [flea]”. |
| Céline: Mon coeur. |
| Sam: “My heart”. |
| Céline: Ma biche. |
| Sam: “My doe”. |
| Céline: Ma crevette. |
| Sam: “My shrimp”. |
| Céline: Bébé. |
| Sam: “Baby”, to women. |
| Céline: Exactement. Exactly. To men its kind the same but you can use “mon lapin”. |
| Sam: “My hot rabbit”. |
| Céline: Non “my hot rabbit” is “mon chaud lapin”. |
| Sam: So “mon lapin” must mean “my rabbit”. |
| Céline: Exactement. Exactly. |
| Sam: Great. |
| Céline: Well, Sam, next phrase is “nous sommes ensemble”. |
| Sam: “We are together”? |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Can you break it down for us? |
| Céline: Nous sommes ensemble. |
| Sam: “We are together.” |
| Céline: So, in this phrase the irregular verb used is “être” at the present tense. The form “sommes” is the conjugation of “être” at the first person, plural. |
| Sam: Can you give us some more examples? |
| Céline: How about “Nous sommes ensemble pour le pire et le meilleur”? |
| Sam: “We are together for the better or the worse.” I like the better. |
| Céline: Bien sûr. Me too, moi aussi. So, in the last phrase, Julie says: Mes 2 amours, toi et le chocolat. |
| Sam: So it’s just fine, right? Her second love is the chocolate. |
| Céline: Yes… Haha, n’importe quoi. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: So, shall we take a bite out of some grammar? |
| Céline: Oui Sam. Yes. |
| Sam: Interesting French cultural insight. |
| Céline: Yes, mon chou. |
| Sam: “My cabbage”. |
| Céline: Yes, “my cabbage”. It’s a pet name in French, too. |
| Sam: Oh, wow, you use the possessive. That makes me think of “ma chérie” and “mon amour”. The focus of this grammar is possessive adjectives, right? |
| Céline: Oui Sam. So, “MA chérie” and “MON amour”. “Ma” is for feminine nouns and “mon” for masculine nouns and feminine nouns starting with a vowel. |
| Sam: “Ma chérie” means “my darling”. |
| Céline: Exactly and “mon” is used with a masculine noun as in “mon amour”. |
| Sam: “My love”. Oh, interesting. Can you give us an example with “mon” and a feminine noun? |
| Céline: Mon orange. |
| Sam: “My orange”, that sounds lovely. |
| Céline: So, orange is a feminine noun but it starts with a vowel. So, it’s “mon orange”. |
| Sam: Of course, Céline, “mon orange”. “Orange” is feminine but you could never say “ma orange” because that would be two vowels together. |
| Céline: Exactly. Never, never-ever. |
| Sam: Okay, we’ve covered “my” so next must be “your”. |
| Céline: Oui. “Ta” is used with feminine nouns and “ton” with masculine nouns or feminine nouns starting with a vowel. |
| Sam: Oh, same rule. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: But instead of “my” we’re saying “your”. |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Okay, great. So, we’ve covered “my” and “your”. How about “his” or “her”? Same rule? |
| Céline: But when in English is different, it’s her and his, in French, “her” is “sa”. |
| Sam: What about “his”? |
| Céline: “Son” |
| Sam: So, it’s the same rule! |
| Céline: Oui, ok. Yes, it’s the same rule. |
| Sam: So, let’s recap. Mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes, son, sa, ses. |
| Céline: Parfait. The pronunciation is very good, Sam. |
| Sam: Oh, thank you. Let’s remind our listeners, too, that when we’re using possessives, don’t think about if the owner’s male or female. Think about the object at hand. So, what if we wanted to say “my chair”? |
| Céline: Ma chaise. |
| Sam: “My chair”. And is “chair” masculine or feminine? |
| Céline: You tell me. |
| Sam: “Ma chaise”, sounds like it’s feminine. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. Yes. |
| Sam: Okay, that’s easy. What if I wanted to say “your chair”? |
| Céline: Ta chaise. |
| Sam: It’s still feminine. What about “his chair”? |
| Céline: Sa chaise. |
| Sam: What about “her chair”? |
| Céline: Sa chaise. |
| Sam: So, the possessive deals with the object at hand, not whether the owner’s male or female. Be very careful with that. Just remember, is the item masculine or feminine, and then just choose the possessive. It’s that easy. |
| Céline: Exactly. Don’t forget, Sam, about the plural forms. Don’t bother if it’s feminine or masculine. Use “mes”. |
| Sam: “My”. |
| Céline: Tes. |
| Sam: “Yours”. |
| Céline: Ses. |
| Sam: “Theirs”, okay. Céline, what if I wanted to say “my chair”? |
| Céline: Ma chaise. |
| Sam: What if I wanted to say “my chairs”? |
| Céline: Mes chaises. |
| Sam: What if I wanted to say “your chair”? |
| Céline: Ta chaise. |
| Sam: “Your chairs”. |
| Céline: Tes chaises. |
| Sam: How would we say “his chair”? |
| Céline: Sa chaise. |
| Sam: How about “her chair”? |
| Céline: Sa chaise. |
Outro |
| Sam: Well, that’s a nice place to end. Until the next time! |
| Céline: Merci Sam. |
| Sam: Merci Céline, au revoir. |
| Céline: A bientôt! |
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