French/Lessons/School

L'école Dialogue Culture Education in France Vocabulary School and students l'école (f) Fr-école.ogg /ekɔl/ school l'élève (m) Fr-élève.ogg /e.lɛv/ pupil l'étudiant (m)l'étudiante (f) Fr-étudiant.ogg /etydjɑ̃/Fr-étudiante.ogg /etydjɑ̃t/ student le collège (classes 6-4) Fr-collège.ogg /kɔ.lɛʒ/ jr. high school (grades 6-9) le collégienla collégienne /kɔ.le.ʒjɛ̃//kɔ.le.ʒjɛn/ jr. high school student le lycée (classes 3-terminale) Fr-lycée.ogg /li.se/ high school (grades 10-12) le lycéenla lycéenne /li.se.ɛ̃//li.se.ɛn/ high school student l'université (f)la fac(ulté) Fr-université.ogg /y.ni.vɛʁ.si.te/Fr-Paris--la fac.oga /fak/Fr-faculté.ogg /fa.kyl.te/ university l'enseignement supérieur higher educationgraduate school Grammar Present perfect with regular verbs The passé composé present perfect is a compound tense, and is therefore composed of an auxiliary verb and a past participle. With most verbs, that auxiliary verb is avoir. Meaning In English, verbs conjugated in the passé composé literally mean have/has ____ed. While there is a simple past tense in French, it is almost always only used in formal writing, so verbs conjugated in the passé composé can also be used to mean the English simple tense. For example, the passé composé forms of parler to speak, [avoir] parlé, literally mean has/have spoken, but also means spoke. Basic formation To conjugate a verb in the passé composé, the helping verb, usually avoir, is conjugated in the present indicative and the past participle is then added. Auxiliary verb - avoir Conjugate avoir in the present indicative. j'ai I have nous avons we have tu as you have vous avez you have il a he has ils ont they have elle a she has elles ont they have Past participle -er verbs: replace -er with é -ir verbs: replace -ir with i -re verbs: replace -re with u irregular verbs: varied; must be memorized Verb GroupInfinitiveStemPast Participle -er verbs jouerjoujoué -ir verbs finirfinfini -re verbs répondrerépondrépondu Avoir + past participle J'ai joué I have played Nous avons joué We have played Tu as joué You have played Vous avez joué You have played Il a joué He has played Ils ont joué They have played Elle a joué She has played Elles ont joué They have played Please also note: Fem. Subject or Person (Elles, Elle, Nous, On etc.)- Add another e with no aigu or grave to end of word- if a female person is partaking in the group. Plural Subject (On, Nous, Tu, Vous etc.)- Add another "s" to end of word. Finally, some verbs are irregular for the past participle, such as aller (to go), instead of using avoir to form the past participle, they will use être (to be) to form the past participle. Always check the verb's irregularities before using to form past participle. Some "past participle" irregulars are regular verbs when forming other tenses. Examples Vocabulary At school À l'école le professeurprofla prof Fr-professeur.ogg /pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ//pʁɔf/ teacher, professor la bourse Fr-bourse.ogg /buʁs/ scholarship le diplôme (professionnel) Fr-diplôme.ogg /di.plom/ diploma le bac(calauréat) Fr-bac.ogg /bak/Fr-baccalauréat.ogg /bakalɔʀea/ high school exit exam la bibliothèque Fr-bibliothèque.ogg /bi.bli.jɔ.tɛk/ library la note Fr-note.ogg /nɔt/ grade, mark (as on a test) les cours Fr-cours.ogg /kuʁ/ classes or courses la classe Fr-classe.ogg /klas/ grade (e.g. 6th Grade) en cours de [...] in [...] class Pendant les cours le tableau Fr-tableau.ogg /ta.blɔ/ chalkboard la craie Fr-craie.ogg /kʁɛ/ chalk le pupitre Fr-pupitre.ogg /pypitʁ/ school desk l'examen (m) Fr-examen.ogg /ɛɡzamɛ̃/ /eɡzamɛ̃/ exam, test les devoirs /dǝ.vwaʁ/ homework la classe Fr-classe.ogg /klas/ class la cantine /kɑ̃.tin/ cafeteria la récréationla cour Fr-récréation.ogg /ʁe.kʁe.a.sjɔ̃/Fr-cour.ogg /kuʁ/ recesscourtyard Describing teachers and students intelligent(e) Fr-intelligent.ogg /ɛ̃teliʒɑ̃//ɛ̃teliʒɑ̃t/ intelligent strict(e) Fr-strict.ogg /stʁikt/ strict prof The word professeur is considered masculine at all times, even if the teacher is female. The only case when "professeur" can be preceded by feminine determinant is either when contracting it in colloquial language "la prof", or when adding a few words before : "madame/mademoiselle la/le professeur". Vocabulary Actions passer un examen to take a test étudier Fr-étudier.ogg /e.ty.dje/ to study Il étudie nuit et jour. He studied night and day. écrire Fr-écrire.ogg /e.kʁiʁ/ to write lever (la main) to raise (your hand) poser (une question) to ask (a question) répondre (à) Fr-répondre.ogg /re.pɔ̃dʁ/ to answer, to reply (to) Il a répondu à toutes les questions. He answered all of the questions. parler Fr-parler.ogg /paʁle/ to speak Ils ont parlé plusieurs heures avant d'aller se coucher. They talked for several hours before bedtime. écouter Fr-écouter.ogg /ekute/ to listen (to) J’écoute la radio. I listen to the radio. entendre Fr-entendre.ogg /ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ/ to hear (of) Elle entend des voix. She hears voices. regarder Fr-regarder.ogg /ʁǝ.ɡaʁ.de/ to watch déjeuner Fr-déjeuner.ogg /de.ʒœ.ne/ to (eat) lunch Déjeunez- vous á onze heure ? You (formal) eat lunch at eleven O'clock? In French, you do not "own" body parts. While in English, you would say my hand or your hand, the definite article is almost always used in French: la main my hand la jambe my leg le bras my arm To and of are part of the verbs écouter and entendre respectively. It is not necessary to add a preposition to the verb. Other verbs, such as répondre (à), meaning to respond (to), are almost always followed by a preposition. Examples french-actions-examples C’est un auteur que j’ai peu étudié. He is an author that I have little studied. On ne devient pas savant sans étudier. You do not become learned without studying. Ce pianiste étudie plusieurs heures par jour. This pianist exercises several hours a day. Il étudie l’écriture sainte. He studies scripture. Elle parle couramment le français. She speaks French fluently. Ne parlez pas si haut. Do not talk so loud. Écoutez, j’ai quelque chose à vous dire. Listen, I have something to say to you. J'ai entendu plusieurs fois ce chanteur à la Scala. I heard this singer several times at La Scala. Tu dois répondre aux questions que je te pose. You must answer the questions I ask you. Il répond à toutes les lettres qu’il reçoit. He responds to all the letters that he receives. Usage notes Entendre french-entendre-usage-notes Grammar To write and to read Écrire et lire Écrire Écrire is an irregular French verb, meaning to write. It varies from other -re verbs in the plural conjugation, by adding a v. Its past particple, écrit, is also irregular. écrire /e.kʁiʁ/ Fr-écrire.ogg to writej'écris /e.kʁi/ Fr-écris.ogg I writetu écris /e.kʁi/ Fr-écris.ogg you writeil écrit /e.kʁi/ Fr-écrit.ogg he writesnous écrivons /e.kʁi.vɔ̃/) we writevous écrivez /e.kʁi.ve/ you writeils écrivent /e.kʁiv/ they writeécrit /e.kʁi/ Fr-écrit.ogg written The verb coécrire to co-write /ko.e.kʁiʁ/ is conjugated the same way. The nouns écriture f /e.kʁi.tyʁ/ Fr-écriture.ogg, meaning writing or handwriting, and écrivain m, f /e.kʁi.vɛ̃/ Fr-écrivain.ogg, meaning writer, are derived from écrire. Lire Lire is an irregular French verb, meaning to read. Its plural conjugation adds an s, and its past participle is lu. lire /liʁ/ Fr-lire.ogg to readje lis /'li/ Fr-lis.ogg I readtu lis /'li/ Fr-lis.ogg you readil lit /'li/ Fr-lit.ogg he readsnous lisons /li.zɔ̃/ Fr-Paris--Lison.ogg) we readvous lisez /li.ze/ you readils lisent /liz/ they readlu /ly/ read The verbs élire /e.liʁ/ to elect and relire /ʁǝ.liʁ/ Fr-relire.ogg to reread are conjugated the same way. The adjective lisible /lizibl/, meaning readable or legible, is derived from lire. Examples Mon père écrit des poèmes pour ma mère. My father writes poems for my mother. As-tu écrit ce slogan sur le mur ? Have you written that slogan on the wall? Il a une mauvaise écriture. He has bad handwriting. Jean lit très souvent. Jean reads very often. Il faut lire et relire les auteurs de l’antiquité. You must read and reread the authors of antiquity. On a relu le projet de loi. We have reviewed the bill. Son écriture n’est pas belle, mais elle est lisible. His writing is not beautiful, but it is readable. Je pense que ce candidat va être élu, et toi ? I think this candidate will be elected, and you? J'ai coécris ce livre avec Marc. I wrote this book with Marc. Vocabulary School supplies Les fournitures scolaires school-supplies la craie Fr-craie.ogg cray /kʁɛ/ chalk J'ai écrit au tableau avec de la craie. I wrote on the blackboard with chalk. le tableau Fr-tableau.ogg tah-bloh /ta.blɔ/ the board le stylo (stylo à bille) Fr-stylo.ogg steel-oh ah bee-yuh /stil.o/ (ballpoint) pen le crayon Fr-crayon.ogg kreh-yuhoh(n) /kʀɛ.jɔ̃/ pencil la calculatrice /kal.ky.la.tʁis/ calculator le livre Fr-un livre-fr-ouest.ogg leevr /livʁ/ book une livre f is a pound le bouquin Fr-bouquin.ogg /bu.kɛ̃/ book colloquial; also rabbit J'ai commencé un nouveau bouquin hier. I started a new book yesterday. le cahier Fr-cahier.ogg kah-yuhay /ka.je/ notebook le papierla feuille de papier Fr-papier.ogg pah-pyuhay /pa.pje/ papersheet of paper le bloc-notes /blɔk.nɔt/ blohk-noht notepad le sac à dos /sak.a.dɔ/ sahk-ah-doh backpack la gomme Fr-gomme.ogg gum eraser la règle Fr-règle.ogg rehgl /ʁɛɡl/ ruler le feutre /føtʁ/ fewtr marker le cartable backpack Vocabulary School subjects Les matières d'enseignement french-school-subjects l'informatique (f) /ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma.tik/ computer science la littérature Fr-littérature.ogg /li.te.ʁa.tyʁ/ literature la musique Fr-musique.ogg /myzik/ music les langues l'anglais Fr-anglais-fr.ogg /ɑ̃.ɡlɛ/ English le français Fr-le français-fr-ouest.ogg /fʁɑ̃.sɛ/ French Il parle très bien français. He speaks French very well. l'espagnol (m) Fr-espagnol.ogg /ɛs.pa.ɲɔl/ Spanish l'allemand (m) fr-allemand-fr FR-Paris.ogg /al.mɑ̃/ German L’allemand est une langue germanique.Mon stagiaire parle un allemand impeccable. German is a Germanic language.My trainee speaks perfect German. le russe Fr-russe.ogg /ʁys/ Russian l'italien (m) Fr-italien.ogg /i.ta.ljɛ̃/ Italian les sciences naturelles la biologie Fr-biologie.ogg /bjɔ.lo.ʒi/ biology la chimie Fr-chimie.ogg /ʃi.mi/ chemistry la physique Fr-physique.ogg /fi.zik/ physics Ses matières préférées sont la chimie et la physique. His preferred subjects are chemistry and physics. les mathématiques l'algèbre (f) Fr-algèbre.ogg /al.ʒɛbʁ/ algebra le calcul Fr-calcul.ogg /kal.kyl/ calculus la géométrie Fr-géométrie.ogg /ʒe.ɔ.me.tʁi/ geometry les sciences sociales l'économie (f) Fr-économie.ogg /e.kɔ.nɔ.mi/ economics la géographie Fr-géographie.ogg /ʒe.ɔ.ɡʁa.fi/ geography l'histoire (f) Fr-histoire.ogg /is.twaʁ/ history Vocabulary Classes/grades french-classes The way that grades are numbered in France is opposite the way they are in the US. Whereas American grade numbers increase as you approach your senior year, they descend in France. Classe Terminale 12th Grade Age 17-18 1ère (la première classe) 11th Grade Age 16-17 2ème (la deuxième classe) 10th Grade Age 15-16 3ème (la troisième classe) 9th Grade Age 14-15 4ème (la quatrième classe) 8th Grade Age 13-14 5ème (la cinquième classe) 7th Grade Age 12-13 6ème (la sixième classe) 6th Grade Age 11-12 CM2 (CM = cours moyen) 5th Grade Age 10-11 CM1 4th Grade Age 9-10 CE2 (CE = cours élémentaire) 3rd Grade Age 8-9 CE1 2nd Grade Age 7-8 CP (CP = cours préparatoire) 1st Grade Age 6-7 Text Exercises Present perfect translation Translate each phrase. I finished. (finir) J'ai fini. I have listened. (écouter) J'ai écouté. We played. (jouer) Nous avons joué. Jacques has waited. (attendre) Jacques a attendu. We finished. (finir) Nous avons fini. He studied. (étudier) Il a étudié. They watched. (regarder) Ils ont regardé. We studied. (étudier) Nous avons étudié. They listened. (écouter) Ils ont écouté. Present perfect Rewrite each phrase in the present perfect. Je regarde J'ai regardé Vous jouez Vous avez joué Elle écoute Elle a écouté Elles finissent Elles ont fini Ils regardent Ils ont regardé Nous entendons Nous avons entendu Elle joue Elle a joué Je finis J'ai fini Culture